How to up my 文書力(?)(Writing ability(?))

[Kirirao]

Well, It's almost time for me to make my entrance into the long uphill battle of getting a Job here in Japan. And I'm desperate for advice on how to up my writing ability mainly targeted for the 自己PR in my Entry Sheet.

I was told the first step for us 留学生(foreign student), we would need write the 自己PR at least at the average Japanese level.(日本人並み). Unfortunately my Japanese is ain't that good, especially when it comes to writing and reading. And It doesn't get any better today when I was told that my Japanese sucks by my teacher when I show him the stuff I wrote for my PR. We are learning on how to write the PR but to make the PR juicy is up to our own writing ability, which I'm really lacking at right now.

Currently I'm still working on upping my Japanese level, but when It comes to writing I'm stuck. So any advice/site/etc on how to up my kindergarten level writing to at least a more intelligent highschool+ level composition would be greatly appreciated. Don't know where else to look for help anymore.

 

[ajmd20]

PR? Public Relations? That doesn't make any sense, but I can't really think of anything else. Permanent Residency? Performance Rating? Press release??

 

[undrentide]

PR? Public Relations? That doesn't make any sense, but I can't really think of anything else. Permanent Residency? Performance Rating? Press release??

自己PR （じこピーアール）is a kind of self-introduction.
OP's teacher suggested to his students to write about themselves.

@Kirirao
As to how to improve your 文章力（ぶんしょうりょく = writing skill), I cannot think of the easy/quick way...

What I keep in mind when I'm learning a language myself and want to improve the writing skill are:
1. To read books/texts by natives as much/often as possible.
This is the best way to pick up vocabulary and learn how to use words/expressions.
2. To write as much as possible, and have the text read/corrected by the natives or those who are fluent.

 

[Buntaro]

Kirirao,

Improve your writing skills? Write a book. I am serious. When my Japanese language ability was "much lousier than it is now" I began writing a book in Japanese. What a mess! I had someone proof-read each sentence, and it was a painful process.

In the beginning I had to compose each sentence in English in my head, then try to translate it into Japanese. By the end, I was "kind of" composing the sentences in Japanese in my head.

All it takes is practice. Write something long and get it proof-read.

 

[Kirirao]

Thanks for the advice~ undrentide and Buntaro~

I guess I'll be adding reading and writing a book into my learning menu now. Getting a proof-reader going to be a bit hard. I guess I have to ask around for help then.

 

[Buntaro]

Kirirao,

I guess you could proof-read an entire book in this thread.... Write a sentence in English, then write it in Japanese the best you can. We will tell you how well you did.

 

[Elizabeth]

Thanks for the advice~ undrentide and Buntaro~

I guess I'll be adding reading and writing a book into my learning menu now. Getting a proof-reader going to be a bit hard. I guess I have to ask around for help then.

If you can speak fairly well and are in the midst of the 就職活動, reading and writing should mean little more than mastering the characters and I'm sure by this point with a little application will come extremely naturally.

Becoming proficient in all these areas from a beginner's level obviously isn't something that you can "switch on" in a few weeks or months for the purpose of getting a job. Where would the challenge or glory be in that ?? Besides, your competition from all of us would grow exponentially.