luent speakers of English (whether it is their first language, or a language that they speak very well) often assume that if they can speak English competently then they can write competently in English too. However, these are two very different skills. As children we acquire our native language through speaking and listening - skills that are learned naturally without being taught. Writing and reading are not acquired in the same way – they have to be specifically taught and only then are they learned. Some people, in fact, never learn to read and, consequently, never learn to write either.