Improve English Writing | Simplify

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:00welcome to the effortless English show

0:02with the world's number one english

0:04teacher AJ Hoge where AJ's more than 40

0:07million students worldwide finally learn

0:09English once and for all

0:11without the boring textbooks classrooms

0:13and grammar drills here's AJ with a

0:15quick piece to help you learn to speak

0:17fluent English effortlessly

0:20hi I'm AJ hope the author of effortless

0:22English learn to speak English like a

0:25native go to effortless English . com

0:29enter your e-mail for a free copy of my

0:33audio book writing writing is important

0:40you're looking for a job a new job you

0:45need to write a cover letter or an email

0:47to the company in that letter you need

0:53to look great

0:54the writing needs to be perfect no

0:57mistakes the writing needs to be

1:01powerful in that short letter you must

1:04sell yourself you must convince them to

1:08call you for an interview now once you

1:15get a job if you're working in an

1:17international company if you're working

1:20with international team members you may

1:23need to write in english at the job you

1:26may need to write proposals you may need

1:30to write summaries certainly you'll

1:33write emails you might have to write

1:38large reports and again you're writing

1:43needs to be great if you're writing is

1:44bad you will look back you will not look

1:48professional and of course there are the

1:52tests the TOEFL and the I else and they

1:55have writing sections and you have to

1:58write essays and again you know they're

2:00looking for every little mistake so can

2:05be a bit stressful writing the reason

2:08writing can be stressful is that it

2:09needs to be perfect in some situation

2:13if you don't succeed if you write badly

2:22in those situations the failure can be

2:25quite bad you can fail to get a job that

2:29you really want simply because your

2:31writings bad you'll never get an

2:33interview if your first email your first

2:36letter is terrible

2:38they look at it you'll see mistakes and

2:40they immediately throw it away

2:42you never get called for an interview

2:44it's no fun

2:45it's stressful and then you might have

2:49to take a worse job simply because

2:51you're writing is not good it's no fun

2:53to get a low score on the toefl test for

2:55the IELTS because you're writing is bad

2:57and it's no fun to be in a job to write

3:02a report and then have your balls come

3:05back and tell you that the writings

3:06terrible and you need to do it again

3:09it's embarrassing on the other hand the

3:11rewards are big if you're writing is

3:14great then you have a big advantage when

3:17you're job-searching because you can

3:19write those great cover letters you can

3:21write those great emails you can get the

3:24attention of good companies you can get

3:29a lot of calls for interviews because of

3:33your writing ability same thing on the

3:36job when you're writing ability is good

3:38we have great professional writing you

3:41just you look more professional you look

3:44more skilled you look better you get

3:46better respect you get more respect it

3:51helps you get higher scores of course on

3:53tests and things like that

3:55now remember i was teaching in san

3:59francisco and it was one of my first

4:03classes in san francisco and in this

4:07class we're supposed to do some writing

4:08so I gave it a easy assignment to my

4:12class and I said okay please write an

4:15essay just one page 1 page essay really

4:18simple just tell me you know something

4:22about yourself where are you from and

4:25you know why did you come to

4:27America to study English that's all this

4:32was a high intermediate class that's

4:35what they told me I intermediate and so

4:39everybody you know i'll start writing

4:41their sh and i gave them i don't

4:44remember 30 minutes something like that

4:46to write the essays everybody writing

4:49the essays writing essays writing essays

4:51worried faces everybody looks so serious

4:54i was telling just relax relax you know

4:57this is not a serious academic paper

5:01just can't just tell me about yourself

5:04and tell me why you came to America

5:05that's all really simple

5:08this should have been a very easy

5:11assignment for their level should have

5:14been very very easy but I was shocked

5:21so they all handed me the SAS I told him

5:25to do some reading while I reviewed the

5:27SAS and I could not believe how fucking

5:33terrible they were they were horrible

5:37and when I say horrible i mean i could

5:41not understand them

5:43I'm not exaggerating i would pick one up

5:47and start reading and I read about four

5:51or five sentences and the sentences were

5:56so confusing that really i just didn't

5:59even know what the main idea was I

6:02didn't understand what they were trying

6:04to say the senses were super long and

6:14they used the the most difficult

6:17vocabulary they could remember I thought

6:20maybe it's just one and put that one to

6:22the side picked up the next one

6:24same exact thing super super super

6:29complicated long-running sentences and

6:36then all these very academic vocabulary

6:39words which were not used

6:41correctly and it was just confusing

6:45confusing that I could not understand

6:49their ideas at all

6:51I bitch its it should have been so

6:53simple just tell me why you came to

6:56America it's really simple if i had

6:58asked him if I just if we just chatted

7:01no writing right if I just just sitting

7:03at the table and I kind of said

7:05one-by-one hey tell me speaking just

7:08tell me you know why did you come to

7:10America where are you from everyone in

7:13that class easily could have done it

7:16they would have spoken in a nice clear

7:19short sentences their ideas would have

7:22been clearer

7:23yes maybe they would have made some

7:26mistakes maybe a few grammar mistakes if

7:29you know cabinetry mistakes something

7:31like that but their meaning would have

7:33been clear no problem they could speak

7:36they could communicate very very clearly

7:38with speaking but something happened in

7:43their brain as soon as they picked up

7:45the pen to write it's like their whole

7:48brain just stopped working

7:51we're actually it's quite the opposite

7:52is like their brain started working too

7:55much and that's what really happened

7:57they started over thinking everything

8:01trying to make everything so complicated

8:05so advanced like they were trying to

8:10write the phd thesis or something and it

8:16was in comprehensible in comprehensible

8:20there's a new work for you

8:21comprehensible means understandable can

8:27be understood easy to understand its

8:30comprehensible now the opposite of that

8:34word is in comprehensible at the end of

8:37the beginning it makes it negative and

8:39comprehensible not understandable cannot

8:42be understood that was their writing

8:45weird really weird strange

8:49so what happened why I just you know it

8:52took me awhile they they went they

8:54left and you know class ended and I went

8:56home and I just kept thinking about it

8:58really bothered me outside why what

9:00happened

9:01you know I couldn't figure out for a

9:03while what happened

9:06how can they speak so well but they're

9:09writing is so terrible of me will

9:11why don't they just write the same way

9:13they talk and then it would have been

9:15fine would have been tier perfectly fine

9:21well the problem is the school system

9:24our old friend our old enemy i should

9:27say the school system right because

9:29here's what I found out and start

9:31talking to them start asking them

9:32questions because the next day I said

9:34guys you know I'm nice i I know yell at

9:37people for mistakes or anything like

9:39that mistakes are fine in life that's

9:41how we learn but I just told us it guys

9:43you know what youre your essays really

9:45suck

9:45I'm sorry but they're horrible

9:48I can't even understand what you're

9:51trying to say i can't even understand

9:53the main ideas they're so horrible and I

9:57told him I I just told them my problem

9:59is it's what i don't understand because

10:00when I talk to you you easily

10:03communicate and you communicate clearly

10:05but then when you start writing what

10:08happens

10:09why why there's why are they so

10:11different they actually should be quite

10:13close and then I started to listen to

10:16them and they they all told me basically

10:18the same thing and that is in school in

10:21the school systems right there taught a

10:23style of writing that is super super

10:27super complex the opposite of simple

10:31complex complex or complicated similar

10:36meanings not simple they had this idea

10:40the teachers do that you know

10:43good writing must be difficult in

10:46advance

10:48meaning lots and lots of big words and

10:53really long sentences and complicated

10:59sentences

11:00that's good writing that's what they

11:03were taught all my students in their

11:05schools they were from many different

11:07countries they were from Asia South

11:09America and Europe and get all of them

11:12wrote the same style that same

11:15overcomplicated style so bad and I have

11:24since found out this is a common problem

11:26all over the world

11:27this is why most English learners even

11:31if they speak very very well are just

11:34terrible writers quite honestly horrible

11:36writers but it's because they all have

11:38this academic idea academic means

11:42related to school right so they all

11:44learning this very academic style of

11:47writing trying to write like a PhD you

11:52know someone with a PhD someone with a

11:53doctorate degree

11:55well I've said this before I'll say it

11:57again say it many times in the future

11:59most ah

12:02academics most professors are terrible

12:07writers a suck suck means to be really

12:11bad at something they suck they're

12:14terrible terrible terrible writers you

12:18do not want to write like a professor to

12:23copy their writing

12:25don't listen to their advice they're

12:27horrible writers who are good writers

12:32well I mean we all have our different

12:36opinions about who the best riders are

12:38but a basic level good riders are people

12:43who get paid for their writing people

12:45who write books for example and sell

12:48books they're generally pretty good

12:51writers right JK Rowling's wrote the

12:55Harry Potter books she's a good writer

12:57now you may like Harry Potter you may

12:59hate it but in general her writing is

13:01quite good it's good enough to make

13:03millions of dollars so that's a pretty

13:06good example I someone like Ernest

13:09Hemingway who who's writing has been

13:11popular for decades and decades and

13:13decades even after he had died still

13:16people talk about how great is writing

13:19is love his writing

13:20so your professional authors are good

13:27writers and you can find some very good

13:32professional writers that write in a

13:34very very simple way and i always use

13:36the Hemingway example those of you who

13:38watch my show know that he's one of my

13:40favorite examples because in general

13:42he's famous for having a very simple

13:44style compared to other writers tends to

13:50attended because he's dead now when he

13:53tended to use short sentences simple

13:57direct sentences whenever possible even

14:02better example for you because you

14:04probably you're not trying to write a

14:07great artistic novel in English right

14:11I'm guessing you need more just

14:12practical writing like for business for

14:17general communication and 44 that is you

14:20know non-fiction books non-fiction books

14:23business books you know like to meet in

14:26my book right this is just this this

14:28book is written in a very simple style

14:33right i tried to use short direct

14:37sentences simple common vocabulary and a

14:43lot of great writers who write books

14:45about business even books about history

14:48or science good nonfiction writers tend

14:52to use a very simple direct style

14:56why because it's the most clear it's the

15:00best for communicating information in a

15:03clear and powerful way that's what you

15:06want to do that's what good writing is

15:08it's not using a bunch of huge

15:12vocabulary words it's not necessary in

15:15fact usually it's a bad idea usually the

15:19simplest word is the best so I'm gonna

15:23do a few shows about writing because a

15:25lot of you have asked me about writing

15:27and it's a big topic that you want me to

15:30talk about so in this

15:33show going to give you just one little

15:35bit of advice for your writing how to

15:37improve your writing and then some

15:39future shows i'll give you other tips

15:41today show is just simplify simplify

15:46simplify simplify as another great

15:49writer said American writer named henry

15:52david thoreau simplify simplify simplify

15:55use the shortest possible sentence

16:00instead of writing a paragraph this

16:05local right on this long tried to put

16:07your ideas in the shortest possible

16:10sentence sentences and the shortest

16:12possible paragraphs short short short if

16:17you have a long sentence break it into

16:19two or three sentences

16:21I mean the most basic basic basic

16:25sentence in English subject-verb-object

16:28I hit him right three word sentence it's

16:35super-clear it's very clear i hit him

16:39there's no confusion that's a great

16:41sentence that's a good example of clear

16:44writing I hit him not i reared back my

16:49arm and then I swallow and connected

16:53with his face in a forceful way now that

16:57might be more artistic that second one

17:00and if you're trying to win the nobel

17:03prize for literature if you're trying to

17:06write a big artistic novel you can try

17:12that second style but for business

17:15communication foremost written

17:17communication in life I hit him is a

17:22much more powerful direct clear sentence

17:26it's much better writing that's the

17:30first thing I want you to do

17:32you're already riding first of all

17:33practice every day you can practice on

17:35Twitter one of the good things about

17:36Twitter its forces you to be short you

17:39cannot be long on twitter you have a

17:41hundred and forty characters on gab you

17:44you only have three hunt

17:46gap g a b . AI 300 characters that

17:52limits what you can write it forces you

17:54to be short and direct so every day

17:57right on Twitter send me some messages

18:00on Twitter send other effortless English

18:02members messages on Twitter write your

18:05opinion about something

18:07doesn't matter short direct sentences

18:10Twitter can actually train you to write

18:13good sentences now a lot of people on

18:17Twitter they don't write full sentences

18:18because you know they're trying to

18:21communicate quickly and they use it

18:24texting style that's ok but if you're

18:27trying to improve your writing i

18:28recommend use full sentences on Twitter

18:31use full sentences but make them short

18:34this is a good way to train and improve

18:38your writing just doing tweets every day

18:40in fact I would say this is the first

18:42thing to do so short short short every

18:49time you write something go back and

18:51look at it and think how can I make this

18:55short

18:56how can I say the same thing but shorter

18:59how many words can I cut your job is to

19:02always try to cut more words cut more

19:05words cut cut cut

19:07don't add words cut words a great writer

19:12can say something in one or two

19:14sentences a bad writer needs 20

19:18sentences to say the same thing that's

19:21what professors usually are bad writers

19:23they'll write 45 pages to say something

19:26that usually could be said directly with

19:30one sentence so short direct short

19:37direct practice on Twitter's practice

19:39with me you can send me tweets every day

19:41but use a full sentence if you're

19:43improving your writing you need to use a

19:44full sentence very very very short

19:48simplify simplify simplify

19:56for free texts every one of my shows

19:59go to my blog at effortless English

20:02club.com free text guides at effortless

20:07English club . com see you next time bye

20:10for now