If I keep a diary, will this help me gradually to improve my English?
如果我记英语日记，这能否帮助我逐步提高自己的英语水平?
Keeping a diary is an excellent way of improving your written English for the following reasons:
1) It is constant practice. Even the dullest days will always give you something to write about. The big problem is maintaining the discipline needed to write, so you don’t skip days.
2) You are writing about true experiences, so your subject matter is ready-made. A lot of people have difficulty writing because they don-t know what to write about.
3) Writing a diary gives you constant practice in three writing styles: narration, description and reflection. You need narration (and therefore plenty of practice in using the past tense) to say what happened during each day. You need description to record your impressions of people and places. You need a reflective style to say what you think about people and events.
4) Finally, don’t be too ambitious. It’s better to write briefly and within your command of English. So don’t try to write at length, or to use words and structures taken from a bilingual dictionary. After all, you don’t want to practise mistakes!
坚持记日记是提高英语写作的很好方式，理由如下：
1)它是一种经常性的练习，即使最枯燥的日子也会给你提供要写的内容。然而最大的问题是要保持坚持记日记的制度，不偷懒。
2)你写下的是自己的真实经历，所以你的主题是现成的。有很多人感到写作很难，那是因为他们不知道该写些什么。
3)记日记可以经常训练三种文体的写作：记叙、描写和议论。你需要用记叙的方式(这样可以做许多过去时方面的练习)来记叙每天发生的事。你需要用描写的方式记录你对人物和地点的印象。你还需要用议论的方式来阐述你对一些人和事的看法。
4)最后，不要好高骛远。在你的英语水平内，写一些简单的文章，不要长篇大论或用双语词典中的词或语言结构，因为你并不想犯那么多错误。
文：路易亚历山大 新概念英语作者