I have a slightly different angle to Spanish than most other forum members. I was born in Nicaragua but lived there only from age 5-10. The rest of the time I lived in other countries where the native tongue is not Spanish, and occasionally took Spanish classes on the side of my regular schooling.
I now live in the US, and barely use my Spanish at all. To say the truth I have used Spanish minimally since I was 10 years old (I'm 30).
I have good listening comprehension (unless it is Mexican slang) and my reading comprehension is slow but workable. I have a good intuitive grasp of syntax and grammar - but no explicit concepts.
My major problem lies in language production. My spoken Spanish is filled with errors, constant pauses occur when I search for words, and my (lack of) vocabulary is annoying. Even worse, my written Spanish is horrendous. I can construct sentences referencing back to my speaking skills, but given that my spoken Spanish is bad in itself, and that written Spanish is more formal than written English vis-a-vis speech, I think I need to practice this aspect much more.
What can I do? Can anybody recommend good composition material? Websites to improve written Spanish? Stuff about business writing (letters, memos etc) and more formal stuff such as academic writing, expository writing etc.?
I know that ultimately it is important to take classes/have direct feedback to improve ones writing, but I want to at least start (re)learning on my own.
Any feedback is appreciated!
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