Learning to Write

I wasn’t sure what I was going to blog about today. It’s Cinco de Mio, so I thought about maybe writing something pro Mexican, but I love tacos seems like a weird blog post. Then I got an email from a friend this morning that put everything into a new perspective. This friend of mine is a recent immigrant to the US. She isn’t Hispanic, but her country of origin isn’t what’s important to the point of this post. This friend of mine is a young adult thinking about college. But she’s only lived in the US for a couple of months, and English isn’t her first language.

In order to improve her English writing skills, so she can get into college, she has decided to write an essay a day this summer. She contacted me wanting essay topic ideas. Things like, visit an art museum and describe one of the paintings in great detail. Read a popular book and then write a one page summary of it. Interview a friend and write about the differences in your childhoods.

I think it’s great that this friend of mine is working so hard to teach herself how to write in English, so she can live the American dream and go to college. And I can’t help but notice the symmetry that I received this request for essay topic ideas on May 5th. I won’t get into the immigration debate, except to say that his self-motivated friend of mine does have a Green Card. Still as a writer I’m impressed. I’m impressed that a young immigrant is choosing to write an essay a day this summer to help her improve her English.

At the same time, I’m realizing how much I have in common with this girl. I grew up in US and learning vocabulary and grammar isn’t an issue for me. But I also write every day in order to improve my English. One of the reasons why I blog is because I think it’s fun. But also I blog because it keeps me writing. And even if the things I blog about have nothing to do with the fiction I’m writing, the more you write the better you get at writing. Maybe I should have just told my friend to start a blog. But writing formal essays may be better in terms of college prep.