I was wondering, what is the best method to write a journal? Should we write journals on a paper or is the way to write on a screen is better than paper journaling? Here is a debate on this topic and I really want your opinion too because it is kind of opinion based journal so let’s get started.
Two months ago my father caught me writing a journal on MS word. The moment then turned into a debate. He actually had robust point on that. He explained his points in various ways. He said as a student of language learning I should prefer paper over screen. He said our mind storm faster when we write anything on the paper and at the same time our eyes keep searching for the right vocabulary, the sooner our hands automatically remember the spelling of a word. As he said we auto corrected our spelling so early and our mind does not grasp it properly. Does it really make sense?
No doubt with the change of the time our techniques also change. Now we are able to post our journals here and gladly corrected by someone who is interested in reading journals. When we write on a paper, we personally need a teacher to correct those errors. While in the online journaling we have amazing people from all over the world who push us to write better. I personally feel online journaling is the best method. I really want to know your opinions too because I want to know what types of struggle people do to write better in their target languages. Feel free to write anything because different people might have different views. I am also looking forward to seeing my grammatical mistakes. Your feedback is so important for me. Here you go, the comment box is yours. Thanks :)
There's some point that I'm not sure if it correct, I haven't practised my English for quite a while now and maybe it got rusty, feel free to correct my correction :)
Hi Deepak, very interesting journal and I have gone through the same thinking process in my own German studies. At first, for Journaly, I wrote everything out on paper, for the quite correct reasons your father gave. Then, however, I became frustrated, because I could not write fast enough or make changes fast enough and so the process became quite slow. But I did not want MS Word to become my tutor. So I developed a new method. I type on MS Word, but switch OFF all the tools, grammar and spell-checking and auto-complete. That forces me to type in every word and every letter and allows me to make mistakes. Now that I am learning German grammar, I have also put in a new step. I print out a draft and using a red pen correct my own work, recycle this once or twice then publish. So far so good. I learn a lot from my mistakes and see no point in putting out perfect work done by MS Word. I am also very thankful to have the help of others on Journaly to correct my writing.
Hi Deepak. This is an interesting post about an equally interesting topic!
I guess we are all a little bit biased, since Journaly is a web application :) and hence a digital medium, but I (obviously?) prefer "digital" over "paper". Concretely I prefer using a computer (instead of a smartphone or tablet). For me, writing on a piece of paper is, like Peet says, a little bit too 'slow' and therefore frustrating. Writing is by itself a kind of brainstorming, where you correct and refine what you're writing while you're writing it or immediately after having done so. Paper is not the right medium for that (I mean, sure, you can cross things out and so on, but the resut looks quite messy and distracting). The more or less chaotic or random process of refining your stories is better achieved (this is my personal opinion) using an electronic device where you can type as fast as possible.
To complement (again) Peets comment: I'm not fond of M$ Word (or any M$ product for that matter) either. I agree with Peet: The autocorrection functionality is quite annoying and distracting for a language learner. A language learner wants to, well, learn. Any automatism is therefore (again, a matter of personal taste) not very helpful in the long term. I personally use a plain text editor like Notepad++ or (in my case) Geany. Such simple programs have the advantage of combining the plainness and simplicity of paper and the speed and comfort of a computer keyboard. I guess I simply use the computer like a (fast) typewriter :). That's what works best for me.
I agree with Peet with his comment "That forces me to type in every word and every letter and allows me to make mistakes". That's the point of a text editor. You write as you write on paper, only faster and with the possibility to refine and correct, and with the 'chance' to make mistakes and learn from them.
Using a text editor does NOT mean publishing your texts unreviewed. I do personally find it sometimes a little bit annoying to see people "writing things and publishing them directly". If that's what you want to do, then paper may be the right thing (no need to review anything). If you're like me, then you'd like to reread what you wrote and correct or at least improve what you can. In other words: I try to write the best I can (this comment is of course an exception ;)). In other words: Learning a language doesn't mean you shouldn't try to write properly and/or express your thoughts the way you intend to. I mean, for me that's exactly the point of using a (any) language.
Excuse me, this comment turned out to be a little bit longer than I intended.
@Peet , Glad to see you. Hope you are well. Thanks for the correction again. Your points are really amazing, I would definitely try these techniques. Actually I do a lot of writing-mistakes every time, although I used those words before. Your rules to handle writing skill are really great. Take care :)
Eduard (@edufuga) Thanks for the great msg. Your feedback is longer than my journal which makes me nervous. You have good grip over Language techniques and English language. Your msg is very interesting and I really want to focus on those crucial tips for sure. Thanks for your valuable time. See you soon. Take care :)
this is bitching! look, for me, it's obvious that writing on a piece of paper is way more effective, but it has its limitations though, for example, here you can get corrections and recommendations from people all over the world, motivation and more, you know someone's reading your posts, you type faster, saving more time, and it's more comfortable, it's easy to type sat on a bad or a couch but I don't say the same about writing, but writing on a piece of paper does hone your memorization, writting and speaking skills much more, so, it all depends on the situation you're in my good friend, personally, I keep with me my personal physical journal and this online one, I use more the physical one, but both are crucial for me :)
Hi Deepak, for me it depends on the language I'm writing in and what I want to achieve with it. In languages where I'm on a beginner level and not able yet to write long and sophisticated texts, I prefer to write them on paper. That's what I usually do for Italian and Catalan texts. I write them in my Journal first and then type them into Journaly. This gives me the opportunity to correct some of my mistakes myself and publish the best possible version of the text. However, when I'm writing English or German texts, I tend to type them right away because they usually get too long to write on paper (except for those who get too long to write without a rough outline). So for me, a combination of both techniques is the ideal choice :)
@vins-12 thanks for your time. Glad to see you here. TC
Norival Monteiro (@Nori) Thanks again. Your feedback motivates me. TC
Caro (@MimmiCaro) firstly thanks. yes, I also use the same technique to write my journal. I also prepare a rough framework in my notebook too. we are twin :) have a great day. TC
Great topic and journal! For me I like writing stuff out on paper because I feel I am allowed to be messy and no one can judge me. I also use online Journaling though for corrections and sharing things. Its always a great feeling when you write about something and someone comments saying they learned something new.