It's been a month since I joined Journaly and I decided to share a few thoughts about the website and how it helped me improve my language skills. First things first, I'd never written an article before signing up here, let alone published it or allowed others to read it. I was notoriously neglecting writing as my goal was to become a fluent speaker and I thought it wouldn't get me any closer to that. I couldn't be more wrong. In fact, journaling is the perfect exercise not only if you want to master your writing but also to improve your communication skills in general.

First of all, it operates on the same part of the brain as speaking - the one responsible for creative thinking and production of the content. It's just another way to strengthen your brain "muscles" and increase the number of thoughts and ideas you have at your disposal whenever a certain topic pops up. Speaking is like being reactive - you only respond to questions depending on the knowledge you have as it's already too late to explore the subject and make the conversation more interesting. Conversely, writing is like being proactive in some sense. By doing it you broaden your knowledge and when the discussion finally takes place you're ready. You can take over as you have so much to say. You dived into the topic beforehand on your own and now there's nothing to scare you away.

Secondly, it forces me to search for new topics and expand my knowledge because I want to have something to write about. I don't even need to look for new ideas outside the website as I can take advantage of all the articles already published here. I enjoy reading and correcting others' writings. It gives me satisfaction as I'm giving something to others and receiving even more in exchange. Journaly hooked on me so much that I always look forward to having an opportunity to put my thoughts in black and white. I want to read more books and explore new subjects. I want to have my opinion and share it with others.

Additionally, it's a perfect opportunity to try out new vocabulary and grammatical structures I'm not sure about. I transitioned a lot of words from my passive vocabulary to the active one. It's easier to start using a new word in writing because you have the time to think about it and difficult pronunciation doesn't hold me back.

There was a moment of disappointment when I hadn't received any feedback on one of my articles for a couple of days. I even thought about quitting Journaly for a moment, but I endured that period and got a boost of energy to write more. I remember that the same happened with the speaking practice and it's crucial to stay consistent no matter the circumstances. Rome wasn't built in a day. The results come with time and usually, it takes approximately a month to see them. I'm glad and grateful that I'm still here since now I see the huge improvement I've made over the last month. It took me almost 2 hours to write the very first article and now the same comes much easier and quicker. I have more ideas and options at hand. Sometimes I even go too far and elaborate on a topic too much, so in the end, I have to cut some paragraphs out, because I don't want to bore readers.

I have a lot more to share and even more to discover. There're some drafts I need to finish off, but I have the motivation to do that. Expect me to publish a lot of interesting articles in the near future. You have my word.

I wish all the best to the very supportive and friendly community of Journaly.