How to enhance your Business English writing by relaxing

Sorry, this doesn’t mean not doing anything – although sometimes that’s exactly what you should do. Rather it’s to encourage you to make some time for relaxed reading in English.

When you’re reading work-related blogs and articles – and using extracts for active copying – you’re in a concentrated state.

But reading for pleasure puts you in a relaxed state.

And your brain notices patterns such as that a plural subject goes with a plural verb, when a and when the is needed, and keeping she for feminine and he for masculine nouns. All the details you already know yet often forget.

Then when it comes to writing or speaking, those pesky points become easier to use properly.

However, this subconscious reinforcement only happens if what you’re reading is fun. It’s not going to work well if all the time that you’re reading part of your brain is saying: “I don’t like this, boring, boring, boring”. So if what you’re reading is not interesting, drop it and find something that is.

As well, relaxed reading for at least 15 minutes a day is good, but 20 or 30 minutes is even better so that those patterns and expressions your brain is becoming more aware of are regularly repeated.

What can you read? Anything that’s fun so you want to read it and your brain can relax. For an easy start, how about something where you already know the story like the book of a movie or TV series or the English version of a book you’ve read in your language?

Stuck for book ideas? Email me for more suggestions to kick-start your relaxed reading habit.

Finally, alternating on a daily basis between active copying and speedwriting in the mornings plus adding relaxed reading in the evenings is a balanced way to build up your English writing skills for your business.

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