"I keep hearing about English journals, but are they really effective?"
"What benefits can I expect from keeping an English journal?"
For those with these questions, this guide explains 3 key reasons why English journaling is essential and 5 specific learning benefits it provides. The conclusion is clear: it's an excellent study method that improves not only writing but also speaking skills! If you're considering starting an English journal, please read to the end.
Note: While this method works for various languages like French, Spanish, and others, this article focuses on English learning as an example.
Why English Journaling is Essential
Let's first explain why English journaling is necessary. There are three key reasons why English journaling is important for improving your English skills:
- It provides a place to output the English you've learned
- It allows you to assess your current English ability
- It helps build a daily English exposure habit
Let's examine each reason in detail.
Provides a Place to Output Learned English
The first reason English journaling is essential is that it "provides a place to output the English you've learned."
Language learning cannot be effective with input alone—it's crucial to actually use the vocabulary, expressions, and grammar you've studied. However, while many people input vocabulary and grammar through textbooks, few create opportunities for output. Some may feel they "lack a place to practice output."
This is where English journaling becomes invaluable. English journaling allows you to output learned expressions and grammar for free.
"Learn vocabulary and grammar from textbooks → Output them in your English journal"
This cycle of input and output directly reinforces vocabulary and grammar retention.
Allows Assessment of Your English Ability
The second reason English journaling is necessary is that it allows you to assess your current English ability.
Have you experienced understanding vocabulary and grammar through listening and reading, but finding they don't come out when you try to use them in writing or speaking? Writing an English journal gives you an opportunity to discover your current position—"how well can I actually use English?"
While it depends on your goals, English is about being able to "use" it, not just "understand" it. Through English journaling, you can gauge your current English ability, making it an essential study method for measuring your actual skills.
Helps Build Daily English Exposure Habits
The final reason is that it helps build habits of daily English exposure.
Continuing an English journal naturally means touching English every day, creating an English learning habit. While both input and output are important in language learning, the most crucial factor is maintaining consistent study.
By establishing a habit of writing your English journal at a fixed time each day, you create a trigger for continuing English study. This consistent learning leads to improved English ability.
5 Learning Benefits from Continuing English Journals
- Learn vocabulary and expressions used in daily life
- Memorize vocabulary and expressions efficiently
- Strengthen writing skills
- Expand vocabulary and expression range
- Improve speaking ability
Learn Vocabulary and Expressions Used in Daily Life
As the name suggests, English journals record what you experienced that day and how you felt—your daily life. This makes them the perfect place to learn vocabulary and expressions commonly used in everyday situations.
Even those familiar with textbook reading passages often don't know expressions used in daily life.
- I overslept so I hurried to get ready to leave
- I got off work early so I went to eat with a friend for the first time in six months
- I was sleep-deprived and almost fell asleep during class
Being able to smoothly express daily life situations in English can improve your communication abilities.
Memorize Vocabulary and Expressions Efficiently
Have you experienced quickly forgetting vocabulary or example sentences from textbooks, or having difficulty memorizing them?
This is nothing unusual—it's not easy for us to remember things we're not interested in or content unrelated to our lives. Conversely, vocabulary and grammar used daily, and expressions related to our own lives, are easier to remember. By writing about your daily life and surroundings in English, you can memorize vocabulary and expressions efficiently. For those who feel they're poor at memorizing vocabulary, using English journals is highly recommended.
Strengthen Writing Skills
Even writing short passages daily builds writing skills through habit formation. Many people say "I'm good at reading English, but writing is difficult..."
This is because the ability to understand content through listening and reading is completely different from the ability to create sentences from scratch. How to begin sentences, which conjunctions to use, how to conclude sentences—these are things we rarely consider during regular listening and reading.
Developing the habit of writing English journals becomes a valuable opportunity to learn not only diary writing but also fundamental writing rules.
Expand Vocabulary and Expression Range
English journals are also places to encounter new vocabulary and expressions. While using known vocabulary and grammar skillfully is an important ability, it's recommended to use and learn new vocabulary and expressions in your English journal.
- I was happy → I was so happy I almost cried
- I was sad → I was too sad to speak
- I was surprised → I was so surprised I looked twice
While the meaning doesn't change dramatically, slight variations in expression create a more powerful impression. If you find yourself "always using similar expressions," use your English journal to expand your vocabulary and expression range.
Improve Speaking Ability
While "journal" tends to focus attention on writing skills, it actually relates to speaking ability too. The ability to output your thoughts and feelings in English through journaling connects to improved daily communication skills. This is because outputting makes English "usable."
While writing and conversation are used in different contexts, writing and speaking share the common element of expressing in English. Learning to express your thoughts and feelings in English through journaling positively affects speaking improvement. Reading your written passages aloud repeatedly is especially recommended.
Summary
This article explained three reasons why English journaling is essential and five learning benefits. The five learning benefits expected from continuing English journals were:
- Learn vocabulary and expressions used in daily life
- Memorize vocabulary and expressions efficiently
- Strengthen writing skills
- Expand vocabulary and expression range
- Improve speaking ability
While English journaling offers various benefits, its greatest advantage is that you can start for free. Since it's a study method that allows you to create output practice opportunities at no cost, it's also recommended for those thinking "I want a place to learn for free!"