HOW TO WRITE YOUR OWN ENGLISH POEM
如何写出属于你自己的英文诗
You may wonder how you could write a poem in English while you still struggle on the way to learn English good enough to survive various English examinations. And I would like to tell you that English has a lot more to do with daily application than with mere tests, since language is a tool related to skill. Only practice and the purpose that sees you through the practice talks. Or you have no way to improve a skill except making it relevant to your daily life, applicable in daily expression, and closely connected to your labor of love.
I am glad to find my enthusiasm on translating Chinese lyrics into English version, and it polishes my proficiency in this language a lot. I enjoy reading poems and poem-like wordings, and if you are someone with the same hobby, you get lucky to have another way driving you a step closer to English. Get to know more about English poems, read a considerable amount of them, and get your own written. If you don't have anything to write, just try to translate something impressive to you, since according to idol, Mr Yuanchong Xu, translating itself is a process of creating something beautiful in your own wording.
It is true that one needs to accumulate and imitate until he could put his thought into words and make it look shinning. Therefore, for those who have a hard time expressing themselves, you could read more to make things friendly and smooth to you.
Read the English poems in bilingual version
You could start from the translate in Chinese, getting to know the beautiful scene described in our native language, then go back to the English original text, seeing how it is natively and perfectly conveyed by a foreigner. Something different from our mode of thinking and fresh in the way of expression may impress us, and that's the thing we could learn from and imitate to make what we write more reading friendly to English native speakers. You could also read the English version first, and then the Chinese one which helps you understand the poem better or correct something you have misunderstood while reading the English text for the first time. Both ways will do you good since it is a shuttle between both languages. English level of a non native speaker has something to do with his competence in his native language, so do not neglect Chinese or let it become the barrier of your improvement in English.
The series named English poems from famous poets available on snail reader would be a lovely choice for the beginners. Poems by Shakespeare, Wordsworth, Shelley, etc. are within your reach. And you can read them for free for an hour per day. That's the bonus offered by the platform, and you earn a snail shell after an hour's reading, which you can apply to exchange the book you like later on.
Poems available on PoemHunter provide you with more choices
You could have access to the entries based on poems and poets, and even quotations too if you just want to read the extract of poem from a certain poet. Tagore and Gibran are highly recommended.
Make the audio poems your BGM
If your eyes are well occupied by digital screens and you don't want to increase their burden, the poems read by narrators in Netease Music would be a perfect alternative.
Read Chinese poems translated in English
Getting to know how Chinese is translated to English may improve the efficiency when you need to put what's on your mind onto the paper in English. One of the masters making great achievement in this area is Mr Yuanchong Xu. He has translated tons of Chinese traditional works including poetries in Tang and Song dynasties. Some of his translation are available on WeChat and websites. You could get pdf of Mr Xu's works on line, too.
Choose the right rhyme with the help of Rhymer.com
Rhyme at the end of sentences is the shinning point bringing a breath of fresh air to your poem. You may accumulate lots of vocabularies with the same rhyme after reading abundant poems. And you could also locate more words sharing the same rhyme with this website.
If you like it, try what's mentioned above. Your English poem is around the corner.
