Why are reading and writing in English so difficult for foreign language learners? The English language originates from dozens of languages such as Latin, French, German, and Greek. The diversity of English words and variations of nuances and sentence structure is nearly infinite. Here are some simple tips to help you begin improving your reading comprehension and writing.为什么对于其他国家的语言学习者来说英语阅读和写作这么难？英语这门语言源自多门语言，比如拉丁语，法语，德语和希腊语。英语词汇的多样，细微差距变化，以及句法结构无穷无尽。这里有一些小贴士来帮你提高你的阅读理解与写作能力。

Choosing a Reading Passage选择一篇精读

Choose an article or story that interests you. It's best to read about something related to your work or college major. Be sure you have a general understanding about the topic before you begin reading.选择一篇吸引你的文章或者故事。最好读一些与你工作或大学专业相关的文章。确保你在读之前对文章主题有一个大概的了解。

Skim the passage for unfamiliar vocabulary. You want to be sure there are some new words to learn, but that you are also capable of understanding the majority of the passage. Try to choose a passage of moderate length with an informative, logical structure.略读文章，找出不熟悉的词汇。你要确保有一些新的词汇来学习，与此同时也能够理解文章大意。选择中等长度，有信息有条理的文章

Reading Comprehension阅读理解

Paragraphs段落

Read the entire passage for a general understanding. What is the article discussing? Is the author's tone of voice informative, excited, angry…? You may then go back and focus on understanding one paragraph at a time.读整段来理解大意。这篇文章在讨论什么？作者的语气是客观提供信息式的，兴奋的，生气的等等？你可以再回头重读，并每次着重理解一段

Sentences句子

Go back and break apart a paragraph into individual sentences. Can you understand the main meaning of the sentence? If so, then you will be able to understand what the new vocabulary word(s) are referring to based upon context.回头把段落分为各个句子。你能理解句子的主要含义吗？如果能，你就能基于上下文理解新词汇。

Vocabulary Words词汇

Unfamiliar words may seem intimidating, but actually you are very capable of figuring out the meaning of the words all by yourself. Once you believe you know what the word means, you can then try to find the same vocabulary word used in the same way in another sentence. Does it seem to refer to the same concept? Check your answer by asking an English tutor or looking up the definition in a dictionary.不熟悉的词汇可能会显得令人生畏，但其实你自己完全有能力想出词汇的意思。一旦你确信你知道的词汇的意思，你可以尝试寻找在其他句子里以统一用法出现的同一词汇。它是否指的是同一概念？在问你英文教师或查词典之前对一下答案。

Note: Avoid reading articles pertaining to abstract topics until you feel comfortable reading daily news articles. Also, articles that use too many idioms may become very frustrating for a foreign reader to understand.注意：避免在你有信心读日常新闻文章前读有关抽象主题的文章。并且，使用过多习语的文章可能会让外国阅读者很难理解。

Writing an Entry写读后感

Being able to express your thoughts and ideas in English are just as important a skill as understanding what you are reading. Students often feel writing to be an impossible task because the English language has too many grammatical rules and ways of expression; however, writing is a skill that can definitely be achieved over time.能够用英语表达你的想法这个能力和能理解你读的文章的能力一样重要。学生经常感觉写作是一个无法完成的任务因为英语有太多语法规则和特定表达；然而，写作绝对是一个能通过时间提高的能力。

Organization组织

Have a plan before beginning your essay. Write down ideas you have about a particular topic. Is your essay an argument or opinion?在写文章前计划一下。写下你对某一话题的想法。你的文章是一个论证还是观点？

1.The first paragraph of an article is an introduction about the topic you plan to discuss.文章第一段是一个关于你要讨论话题的介绍。

2.All following paragraphs are the body of your essay. These paragraphs will relate to the main idea of your article. Only begin a new paragraph when you wish to begin the next idea..所有接下来的段落是你文章的主题。这些段落将和你文章的中心思想有关。只有当你想开始写下一个想法时再新起一段。

3. The closing paragraph is usually the solution or conclusion to your discussion. 结尾段通常是所你讨论问题的解决方案或结论。

Write a topic sentence for each of your paragraphs so the reader knows what the main idea of each paragraph is. The body sentences will pertain to your topic sentence. The last sentence of the paragraph should conclude what you just wrote about while leading into the next topic. Transition sentences are quite tricky to master; this is why you should have a plan as to what order you will discuss your ideas.对每一个段落写一个中心句，以便读者了解这个段落的中心思想。段内的句子所讲内容要与你的中心句有关联。段落最后一句应该总结你所写的，并引入下一个话题。过渡句很难掌握，因此你最好有一个大纲，关于你讲以何种顺序讨论你的想法。

Conjunctions连词

It is common for foreigners to write many sentences, but sometimes they are just too short. Combine these sentences by adding a conjunction such as “but, and, or, because, etc.”对于外国人来说，写很多句子很平常的事情，但是有时它们都太短了。通过加一个连词比如“但是，和，或者，因为等等”将可以讲这些句子结合起来。

Be Concise要简洁

Your boss or college professor would much rather you write quality instead of quantity. Although it is good to combine short sentences to make them longer, don't ramble. In other words, don't just write a bunch of extra words to meet the required word count. Instead, write a detailed response with better word choice.你的老板或者教授希望你写质量好而不是字数多的文章。虽然把短句结合成长句很好，但注意别啰嗦。也就是说，不要写一堆额外的词来凑字数。相反，用精简的措词写一个详细的回答。

Redundancy赘言

Because it is difficult for foreigners to express their ideas, they often write the same idea repeatedly in multiple ways. Avoid writing the same ideas over and over, because it becomes boring for the reader.由于对于外国人来说，用外语表达他们的想法很难，所以他们经常用不同的方式重复地表达同一意思。要注意避免重复写同一想法，因为这让读者觉得很枯燥。

Punctuation标点符号

Capitalization, spacing, and commas are commonly misused.大写，间距，逗号经常被误用。

Capitalize the first letter of every sentence and when using proper nouns.每一句的第一个字母要大写，使用特定名词要大写。

Incorrect: while she was in chicago, she went to lincoln park to walk her dog named rocky.不正确：当她在chicago时，她去lincoln公园去遛叫rocky的狗。

Correct: While she was in Chicago, she went to Lincoln park to walk her dog named Rocky.正确：当她在Chicago时，她去Lincoln公园去遛叫Rocky的狗。

Spacing is often wrong when I am reading italki users’ notebook entries. Be sure to leave a space between each word, after a comma, and after the period at the end of a sentence.当我读italki用户写的小作文时发现，间距经常被用错。确保词与词之间，逗号后，句尾句号后有空格

Incorrect: He went shopping for bread,milk,and eggs.He really needed breakfast food.不正确：他去买面包，牛奶，和鸡蛋。他真的需要早餐。

Correct: He went shopping for bread, milk, and eggs. He really need breakfast food.正确：他去买面包， 牛奶， 和鸡蛋。 他真的需要早餐。

Use commas when separating items in a list.列举时用逗号把不同项隔离。

Incorrect: My classmates Sarah John and Mary came over to my house after school.不正确：我同学Sarah John 和Mary放学后来我家。

Correct: My classmates Sarah, John, and Mary came over to my house after school.正确：我同学Sarah， John，和Mary放学后来我家。

It looks like Sarah's last name is John if a comma is NOT added.

你如果没有加逗号的话，会误以为Sarah的姓是John.

Don't forget to check for misspelled words and correct use of periods, quotes, parentheses, and exclamation marks. Please see other italki teacher articles for grammar tips.别忘了检查有没有拼写错误，有没有正确使用句号，引用号，括号，和感叹号。请参看其他italki老师写的关于语法小贴士的文章。

Note: Watch out for verb tenses when writing your articles!注意：写文章时注意动词时态。

Conclusion结论

Although reading and writing in English are very challenging tasks, each and every one of you is capable of learning these skills. When reading, keep your eyes moving ahead on the page to grasp the main idea of the article. Do not become fixated on one word or phrase, otherwise it will cause your reading fluency to lag. Break down the passage into parts when you are confused.尽管阅读和写作在英语中是非常具有挑战性的任务，但你们每个人都能学会这些技能。当阅读时，仔细阅读掌握文章中心思想。不要一个词或短语纠结过久，否则它将导致你阅读的流畅性滞后。当你不明白时，把文章分解成不同部分。

No matter what topic you are writing about, organize your thoughts and ideas before beginning. Once you finish, go back through the essay and read it aloud to see if it sounds fluent. You want your writing to flow from one idea to another. Double-check your spelling and punctuation. If you keep working to improve your reading and writing skills, you will soon look back and see the substantial progress you have made!不管你写什么主题，写之前组织好你的想法。一旦结束，检查你的文章并大声读出来，来看它是否流畅。你希望你的写作内容是流畅地从一个观点过度到另一个观点。仔细检查拼写和标点。如果你一直努力提高你的阅读和写作能力，不久当你回头看时，你将会看到你所获得的实质性进步！

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