When at Rome do as the Romans do. This saying concerns things that are often unfamiliar to us, but we have to adapt to them. ESL students face many difficulties. It is hard to be a foreign student in an English-speaking environment. Besides constant learning, one has to cope with multiple tasks and try to catch up with others to get a good rating. Projects and essays have peculiarities. ESL students have to understand the language to manage the task and not to sound weird.
A custom essay writing service like CustomWritings always hires native speakers and professional academic writers who can create compelling essays online. An agency seldom deals with non-natives who can tarnish the reputation because of poor vocabulary or calque. Unfortunately, students cannot write like native speakers all at once. Consequently, they have to adapt to college rules and requirements to succeed. 7 tips will help to do everything right.
Tip 1. Study Samples to Get Acquainted with Styles and Requirements
The best method to understand something is to study an example. Visual perception of the material helps to memorize the structure and formatting, especially for those who have a visual memory. One can find free samples on the Internet. Below you can see a list of websites that introduce free examples and provide worksheets.
- Learn English Team
- Web home
- iSLCollective (samples, worksheets, and other helpful materials)
- Citrus College
- LearnAlberta
Tip 2. Structuring Matters
An essay needs proper structuring. It demands logical connection and completeness. An average essay consists of an introduction, a body, and a conclusion.
An introductory part presents the main idea of the paper. It involves readers and provides an intrigue that stimulates further reading of the text. This part usually has a thesis statement and facts to support the idea of the thesis statement. By the way, one can use online thesis generators to see how it works.
A body discusses an introduction. It develops the idea. Depending on the essay type, it can support the argument, depict a picture of the event, retell or inform about something.
The last part (conclusion) paraphrases a thesis statement and draws conclusions. Just like in the case with a thesis statement, you can use online conclusion generators.
Tip 3. Learn about Essay Types and Their Peculiarities
There are four major types of essays. The first type is descriptive. It involves means of world perception (taste, touch, sight, hearing, smell) to present a complete picture. The second one tells a story. It is a narration that introduces the experience of a teller. The third type aims at presenting facts to define notions and explain the topic. The fourth type serves to reassure the reader. It needs opposite arguments. A person chooses one side and supports it in his or her essay using facts, statistics, samples, etc.
Each essay type has a similar structure but differs in the content and means of its presentation. For example, expository essays have no connection to personal opinion (veracity to 100%) and are not rich in literary devices. Descriptive ones, on the contrary, demand diversity of synonyms, antonyms, metaphors, epithets, etc.
If you do not differentiate between these essay types, you might fail. So, learn about them on reliable websites like PurdueOwl, Grammarly, Literary Devices, and others.
Tip 4. Use Essay Writing Software and Apps
The epoch of speed Internet and smartphones provides a variety of software and apps to use in essay writing. Besides Microsoft Word, one can use other writing tools like Google Docs or Zoho Docs. These aids identify typical mistakes and are easy to use. Grammarly and ProWritingAid highlight grammar mistakes and suggest a general improvement. Their Pro versions let a user check an essay for plagiarism, cliche phrases, and other mistakes
One can download or use apps and software online. They can be free, chargeable, and partially free. Thanks to them, ESL students can identify plagiarism, grammar mistakes, calque, improper punctuation, poor readability, improper formatting, and other mistakes. It is very comfortable to sync some of them without the need to switch them.
Tip 5. Read Only Authentic Literature
Adapted texts are good for understanding the content but not for good English learning. Only authentic texts show real-life language. The best option is to read fiction and non-fiction. Fiction helps to master literary language. One sees comparisons, literary devices, nice expressions, etc. Non-fiction provides terminology that ESL students will need in their thesis papers and some projects. Scientific language is also an integral part of expository essays.
Tip 6. Practice All the Time
The most useful recommendation is to practice daily. The best option is to write a personal diary or news journal trying to preserve the structure of a typical essay. The first ESL essay is the most difficult assignment. Experience simplifies the task. Graduates fight more with the content than with the formatting and structuring. Why? They have written so many essays and projects that such things turn into elementary details.
Tip 7. Don’t Be Afraid to Experiment
The worst thing one can do is to stop self-education and get satisfied with the minimum. It is impossible to be successful without trying to become better. Experimental writing, unusual topics, and a unique writing manner will be rewarded.
So, it is not easy to write an ESL essay but experience, patience, and practice will make it simpler. The more you read, the better your English becomes. The more you write, the better your essays become. Use your imagination and writing tools to reach the goal.