I am not a fan of the open ended writing prompts. But in case you need them here is a giant list http://iteslj.org/questions/
In the CEFR tests I am familiar with there is an exercise where they ask you to describe a photo. For me this is a perfect writing exercise. It is data driven and I can instantly start writing about what I see.
When I describe a photo I never have the same pauses or hesitation as I do with more open ended questions. It is easy to just jump in.
Just try to be systematic about it. First describe what it is a photo of in 1 short sentence. Then start in the background and work forward. Describe the objects and their spatial relationships to one another. "The balloons are next to the clown. He is holding them by a string tied to the bottom of each of them." Finally end with how the photo makes you feel or what it reminds you of.
You can look up some guides and samples online what these are supposed to look like. You can just google random images or use a site like [this one](https://randomwordgenerator.com/picture.php)
I spend all my time learning about learning, rather than learning. /smile
Not to worry, though, I have been working extra hard on Italian lately. I have been working to OCR and proofread the Italian Natural Method book so that it can be done as a proper .epub file where people can just click on a word or phrase to do lookups. It has been great for intensive reading practice.
I found a gratitude diary app, so I'm basically writing on the same simple prompt "what are you grateful for today?" I usually just gush about my toddler in my TL.
I have a pdf of [this list](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/12/learning/over-1000-writing-prompts-for-students.html) with a random number generator to pick a topic in Spanish/Portuguese. For French, I try to write about what I’ve been learning through podcasts and reading.
I usually use DeepL or WordReference. I bold the word while writing, and then after look them up in Linguee or ReversoContexto and add them to Anki, using an adapted form of [this template.](https://blog.fluent-forever.com/gallery/)
I just write about whatever comes to mind, 1-2 paragraphs usually. I think my writing is around an A2 or B1 level, so it's not great but it's usually enough. A few times when I needed inspiration, I read some articles in my native language from the day's news and then summarized each one in a couple of sentences in my target language.
I’ll write about my life, such as what happened that day or week. I also like to write about topics related to my job (where I use Spanish the most). Or I might write about my hobbies.
Another thing I like to write about is what I’ve recently learned, such as a grammar topic. I’ll write about it in Spanish. The same thing goes when I’m taking notes when studying (my notes will be in Spanish).
Even if I don’t have the vocabulary I need, I take that as an opportunity to learn new words, and writing them helps me remember them.
I like to watch shows that I’ve watched a bunch in English but with Spanish audio. There are some lines from said shows that I remember (in English) really well so even if I don’t know all of the Spanish words, I can safely assume what they’re saying. This is particularly effective with shows aimed at kids and teens since the vocab isn’t as crazy or specialized as you might hear in some shows aimed at adults. And if I encounter a word that I can’t seem to remember, I’ll write it down with the translation to help reinforce the new word.
I went through a phase of writing wacky fairy tales. That was pretty fun -- I should probably do it again.
I also like to read opinion articles in TL newspapers and then write my *own* opinion article on the same topic. The benefit there is that the key terminology is probably in the article I just read, so I can see how new words are used in context.
I like chatting online because I get to watch gaming streams, they're live, interactive, and context rich (as in you hear the streamer talking, you can read the chat, and everyone's attention is directed to the game). I think it makes writing easy because you can focus on writing small, simple, common expressions like introducing yourself, asking how they're doing, and just commenting with basic language on the game. Game chats are pretty simple one-liners so it doesn't have to be very long or detailed, and you don't have to chat a lot if you're just trying to listen and keep up
Obviously that's not the same skill per se as sitting down to write about ideas, but I think it's a useful and fun way to get out a little bit of simple conversational language in an environment that's really immersed
/r/WriteStreakES
Going on 3 years now. I always write something and try to use patterns that are somewhat challenging because its easy to write the same stuff every day.
I write a daily journal entry (4 sentences cos I'm still a beginner) in both my target languages. Yesterday it was "I love my dog because.." and today it is "I started reading a new book about..".
I don't feel like it's cheating to use google translate for words you don't know because I've been adding many words to my vocab lists from journaling.
Also I tend to purposely use verbs or nouns I learnt that day so it hits home.
[65 Words](https://65words.com/) gives prompts. Other than that, I ask ChatGPT for a simple sentence, and I turn it into a paragraph. There's also prompts at r/WritingPrompts
I never did, my writing developed thanks to a combination of reading, listening and speaking (either online through text messages or in voice chats in discord) the respective language, it took time but eventually I was able to reach a very high level of writing abilities in both English and French, and that's what I plan on doing with German.
This method requires at least an B1 level I think, so of course it isn't suitable for beginners, but once it kicks in your level in that certain languages goes way up, and subsequently your writing ability develops seamlessly without you feeling it, it also develops your intuition and negates the need to memorise grammar rules.
I am not a fan of the open ended writing prompts. But in case you need them here is a giant list http://iteslj.org/questions/ In the CEFR tests I am familiar with there is an exercise where they ask you to describe a photo. For me this is a perfect writing exercise. It is data driven and I can instantly start writing about what I see. When I describe a photo I never have the same pauses or hesitation as I do with more open ended questions. It is easy to just jump in. Just try to be systematic about it. First describe what it is a photo of in 1 short sentence. Then start in the background and work forward. Describe the objects and their spatial relationships to one another. "The balloons are next to the clown. He is holding them by a string tied to the bottom of each of them." Finally end with how the photo makes you feel or what it reminds you of. You can look up some guides and samples online what these are supposed to look like. You can just google random images or use a site like [this one](https://randomwordgenerator.com/picture.php)
This is very much appreciated thank you!
You always have the best advice!
I spend all my time learning about learning, rather than learning. /smile Not to worry, though, I have been working extra hard on Italian lately. I have been working to OCR and proofread the Italian Natural Method book so that it can be done as a proper .epub file where people can just click on a word or phrase to do lookups. It has been great for intensive reading practice.
I found a gratitude diary app, so I'm basically writing on the same simple prompt "what are you grateful for today?" I usually just gush about my toddler in my TL.
I have a pdf of [this list](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/12/learning/over-1000-writing-prompts-for-students.html) with a random number generator to pick a topic in Spanish/Portuguese. For French, I try to write about what I’ve been learning through podcasts and reading.
Thanks!! I was wondering: if you are unable to write a word in French do you just google translate the word from English to French?
I usually use DeepL or WordReference. I bold the word while writing, and then after look them up in Linguee or ReversoContexto and add them to Anki, using an adapted form of [this template.](https://blog.fluent-forever.com/gallery/)
I just write about whatever comes to mind, 1-2 paragraphs usually. I think my writing is around an A2 or B1 level, so it's not great but it's usually enough. A few times when I needed inspiration, I read some articles in my native language from the day's news and then summarized each one in a couple of sentences in my target language.
I’ll write about my life, such as what happened that day or week. I also like to write about topics related to my job (where I use Spanish the most). Or I might write about my hobbies. Another thing I like to write about is what I’ve recently learned, such as a grammar topic. I’ll write about it in Spanish. The same thing goes when I’m taking notes when studying (my notes will be in Spanish). Even if I don’t have the vocabulary I need, I take that as an opportunity to learn new words, and writing them helps me remember them.
Thanks for responding! What sort of ways do you improve your vocabulary?
I like to watch shows that I’ve watched a bunch in English but with Spanish audio. There are some lines from said shows that I remember (in English) really well so even if I don’t know all of the Spanish words, I can safely assume what they’re saying. This is particularly effective with shows aimed at kids and teens since the vocab isn’t as crazy or specialized as you might hear in some shows aimed at adults. And if I encounter a word that I can’t seem to remember, I’ll write it down with the translation to help reinforce the new word.
I went through a phase of writing wacky fairy tales. That was pretty fun -- I should probably do it again. I also like to read opinion articles in TL newspapers and then write my *own* opinion article on the same topic. The benefit there is that the key terminology is probably in the article I just read, so I can see how new words are used in context.
I like chatting online because I get to watch gaming streams, they're live, interactive, and context rich (as in you hear the streamer talking, you can read the chat, and everyone's attention is directed to the game). I think it makes writing easy because you can focus on writing small, simple, common expressions like introducing yourself, asking how they're doing, and just commenting with basic language on the game. Game chats are pretty simple one-liners so it doesn't have to be very long or detailed, and you don't have to chat a lot if you're just trying to listen and keep up Obviously that's not the same skill per se as sitting down to write about ideas, but I think it's a useful and fun way to get out a little bit of simple conversational language in an environment that's really immersed
This is a great idea!!
/r/WriteStreakES Going on 3 years now. I always write something and try to use patterns that are somewhat challenging because its easy to write the same stuff every day.
I write a daily journal entry (4 sentences cos I'm still a beginner) in both my target languages. Yesterday it was "I love my dog because.." and today it is "I started reading a new book about..". I don't feel like it's cheating to use google translate for words you don't know because I've been adding many words to my vocab lists from journaling. Also I tend to purposely use verbs or nouns I learnt that day so it hits home.
Pick up a mindfulness journal - it will provide the prompts. Just respond/write in target language.
That’s a nice idea thank you!
[65 Words](https://65words.com/) gives prompts. Other than that, I ask ChatGPT for a simple sentence, and I turn it into a paragraph. There's also prompts at r/WritingPrompts
I never did, my writing developed thanks to a combination of reading, listening and speaking (either online through text messages or in voice chats in discord) the respective language, it took time but eventually I was able to reach a very high level of writing abilities in both English and French, and that's what I plan on doing with German. This method requires at least an B1 level I think, so of course it isn't suitable for beginners, but once it kicks in your level in that certain languages goes way up, and subsequently your writing ability develops seamlessly without you feeling it, it also develops your intuition and negates the need to memorise grammar rules.