Accidental poetry: Improve your english through creative writing - Lisa Lieberman 2015

Accidental poetry

The words fall from my mouth

and the man in the bar

sweeps them away with his broom.

A college student in central Europe wrote those words while learning English. Neither her friends nor her family in her small village speak English, yet she made the bold choice to write her feelings, her thoughts, and her ideas with her limited vocabulary, allowing the words to flow without concern for grammatical correctness. I call this kind of creative writing Accidental Poetry. It’s colorful, it’s effective, and it gives new speakers of English the confidence to communicate in a language they’re still learning.

Another first-year student in Europe lives in a church with his sister and single mother. The family exchanges housekeeping chores for room and board. When asked to write about the glue that holds his family together, his response began,

We are the children of the garbage.

In one sentence, with his limited vocabulary, he conveyed with depth and sensitivity the way he and his family are seen by others.

A third student, musing about a new love, wrote,

Let’s travel around our day in eighty different worlds.

There you have it: Accidental poetry.

You might be wondering if it’s really possible to improve your English skills through creative writing. The answer is: yes. With only a basic grasp of English, you can begin writing now with confidence and depth.

By responding to prompts without fear of grammatical errors, you’ll experience the joy of being understood in a language you’re still in the process of learning. This proven approach helps new English speakers communicate with ease while increasing their skills as they continue to write.

Here’s how I created the Doctor Method—and why I know it works. While teaching American English idioms and grammar at a university in Spain, I was struck by a revelation: what if I were to offer my students the writing method I created and used with novelists and screenwriters back home in Los Angeles? In a career that has included being a movie executive, a television writer and a writing teacher, I’ve developed hundreds of writing exercises designed to connect authors with their fictional characters by exploring common emotions. I’ve worked with winners of the Academy Award, the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award, the Tony, and the Emmy, and I’ve also guided new writers approaching their first novel or screenplay. The Doctor Method has become a powerful tool that offers writers at every level the ability to write deeply and with ease. Why not share it with new English speakers, too?

I decided to ask my students in Spain to try this method of writing from their hearts and to read their work aloud. I knew from the start it was risky. After all, I was in a foreign culture where men and women were not accustomed to sharing the details of their lives in the classroom. Other foreign language teachers at the university used conventional textbooks with their students, and did not encourage personal writing. Introducing a new approach was surely a challenge, but I was determined to try it.

First, I gave each student an exercise of their own—I asked questions like, how has compassion for others changed your life? And, when were you held hostage by your own fears? They could answer with whatever vocabulary was available to them, without concern for grammar, spelling, or verb conjugation. It was, quite frankly, the opposite of what I was hired to teach, yet the results were extraordinary. Once the students began writing, they asked for more prompts until the writing exercises became our entire curriculum. To my delight, they wrote with passion about the love of their family and the rich cultural history of their homeland. They displayed no shyness when sharing their sadness about a recent break-up with a romantic partner, or their empathic concern when a close friend lost his way. Here’s how one student wrote of his financial woes:

I see myself in red numbers.

Another student wrote this about her new romance:

That French young man of hazelnut eyes.

Not only did these students with only a basic command of English write with depth and poignancy, their confidence about communicating in a foreign language skyrocketed!

By semester’s end I was eager to continue teaching English using my unique method. I returned to Spain three more times in as many years, expanding not only the circle of learners at the University, but also organizing private workshops. Next, I shared my method at one of Spain’s national language schools with a group of English language teachers. They immediately saw the power of using creative writing as an effective teaching tool, and invited their students to join in and give it a try. The outpouring of interest was so great that we had to bring a microphone into the meeting room to address all the enthusiastic students who attended. Everyone was amazed by the response. When the session ended, the administrators and participants thanked me and asked me to return, saying they’d never experienced anything quite like it.

I continued to work with new English speakers in foreign locales using the Doctor Method, and the feedback was thrilling. My students unanimously agreed that the learning was so easy and pressure-free that they wanted to keep writing from the heart.

Their joy became my joy as they connected with themselves and with each other in a truly profound way.

It’s been a most gratifying journey, watching so many new speakers of English communicate with confidence. This guidebook is the result of that journey. For years I was reluctant to put the exercises in a book, afraid that being absent during the process would hinder the results. And of course, I would miss the deep satisfaction of hearing my students’ words and feelings soar.

But this method works too well to keep it all to myself. It’s time to share it with everyone interested in jumping in and writing creatively. That means you.

So here you are. Whether you’re an instructor of English or learning the language on your own, you’ll find that these exercises will help to develop language skills creatively and effortlessly. This is not a book that will teach you grammar and conjugation. The purpose of this book, above all else, is to enjoy learning English—or help others learn—by communicating thoughts, stories, and feelings.

There’s no better time to begin than right now.

Have fun as you write, and don’t expect perfection. In my many travels, I’ve encountered new English speakers who won’t visit English speaking countries until they have perfected their language skills. I’m always disappointed by this. While waiting to achieve the impossible, they’re missing out on wonderful travel experiences. It’s a faulty belief that we must speak flawlessly in order to be understood.

Several years ago, while having dinner with my husband in a café in Italy, a woman seated at the next table asked us, “Pardon me. Are you American?” When I said that we were, she asked if she could join us. Soon, we learned that she was from a small town in Norway and was traveling on her own for several months. She described to us her exciting adventures in at least a dozen countries. When she was unsure of a word in English, we filled in the blank, easily understanding what she was trying to say in context. At the end of the meal and our lively conversation, I asked her if she’d ever been to the United States.

“No,” she said. “I won’t go there until my English is better.”

I was amazed. After assuring her that we understood all of her travel stories, I asked what would happen in the unlikely situation that she would be misunderstood while in the States.

“People might think I’m stupid,” she said.

I was so disheartened to hear this, that I incorporated the concept into my international teaching. Now, whenever I begin a workshop with new speakers of English, I offer a few words in their native language and I ask them, “How many of you think I’m unintelligent?” No hands go up. I then ask, “How many of you think I make mistakes because I’m new to your language?” Everyone in the room raises their hand. Nobody has ever seen me—or others learning a new language—as “stupid.”

Almost all speakers of a new language will make mistakes with conjugation and vocabulary. We all need to understand that when we’re new to a language, we’re not perceived by its native speakers as “stupid.” Rather, we’re seen for what we are: intelligent people who are making an effort to learn a new language, and who are courageous enough to try it without the fear of getting it wrong.

The lesson? Say and write what you feel in your heart, and your words will be embraced and understood.

Here are a few more lines of accidental poetry borrowed from first-year college students who were new to the English language:

I want to be an adult. My shoulders are too light.

The first time I saw you, your look became a treasure.

Everything is black and I feel blue.

You must be really brave to be loved.

A photograph is a piece of nature on a piece of paper that you can hold in your hand.

He moved his fingers across the strings, like a soft wind caressing the foliage.

My eyes follow him until I lose him.

I’m waiting for my king and practicing to be a queen.

The house was as empty as her soul.

How profound these sentences are. How telling and sensitive. In just a few words—most of them part of a basic English vocabulary—we feel deeply what the writer is trying to say. This proves that when we communicate with emotional truth, we’re easily understood—no matter the limitations of our vocabulary.

Of course, traditional books and audio tapes that instruct about grammar, usage and conjugation have great value, and I’m not suggesting you forsake them for my method. Rather, use the exercises in this book to augment what you’re learning elsewhere. The key is to relax, feel confident in your abilities, and enjoy the process of improving your English skills through creative writing. It’s Doctor approved!