As someone who studied English and teaches it, there is a tendency to want to correct the mistakes that I commonly hear in everyday conversation.  I usually don't to avoid being annoying.  However, here I offer a mini-lesson on the difference between sympathy and empathy, because I hear them misused a great deal.  

Empathy is identifying personally with what someone else may feel, which usually comes from a similar experience you have had yourself.  Dictionary.com defines it this way:


          "the intellectual identification with or vicarious experiencing of the feelings, thoughts, or attitudes of another."


Sympathy, in contrast, is acknowledgment or recognition of another person's feelings. 

A literal example of this is:

          When a woman complains about the pain she has from wearing high-heels all day long.  If a man says, "Oh,         
          you should wear more comfortable shoes," he is sympathizing with her.  But if he has worn high-heels  
          himself all day, and personally understands the pain of wearing them, he can empathize with her.  

Another example is:

          That a man can sympathize with the pain of a woman giving birth, but he can never empathize with a 
          woman in that way, because men cannot give birth themselves. 

Usually we use sympathy and empathy in situations when someone is suffering emotional pain, which makes it a little more difficult to distinguish between empathy and sympathy.  But I hope my examples help you to make the distinction and to use the words more properly next time.  :)

Over the years, the biggest complaint I've heard about writing is, "I'm not a good writer."  The truth is very few are naturally good at writing, and those that are usually write fiction.  Being a writer has much more to do with practice than talent.  The more you write, the better you become at it.  

I really like the Erasmus quote above, because I think it's so true.  The more you write, the more it becomes an expression of your own thoughts, feelings and what you want to communicate to others.  The more you write, the more you appreciate how it can increase your faculty for clearer thinking and communication which enables a more accurate expression of what you want others to understand.

For most people, the difficulty with writing comes from intimidation by the idea that their writing must be perfect.  But most, if not all writers will tell you that good writing requires editing, revision, editing, revision, and then more editing and revision.  This process naturally builds a skill to sort through immense amount of words that you encounter every day, not only in your own writing, but in what you also read and hear and helps you determine what is most meaningful.

If you want to learn how to write, but can't seem to get around to it, start with something simple.  Write just a couple of sentences a day about your thoughts.  You'll be surprise to see how that develops!  Bonne chance!   

Language is organic.  It is like a living creature whose growth needs continuous nourishment from various resources.  For a tree, nutrition comes from water, sun and rich soil.  For English nutrition comes from reading, writing and practice.  Irvine's challenging academic environment requires students to strive in their growth to thrive in articulate writing and speaking.  At the same time, southern California's friendly and relaxed environment provide the ideal situation for ESL learners to learn and practice their English. This blog is here to assist and provide resources to encourage students to grow in their English knowledge and thinking.  We hope you enjoy!  .