If you ask me...

"What's the thing you always loved to do in your spare time?

I'd say, for sure, "to collect diaries and write in them."

Since I was a kid, I've always loved collecting diaries and having a secret one where I could write everything I wanted.I have tons of them stored in a big box...

This is why, even now, when I travel abroad, a diary is a gift that I always bring home with me!I wrote only in my mother tongue and I remember thinking about how magical it would have been to be able to write in another language. I could have written everything because no one would have been able to read and understand my words; but...I always thought it would have been impossible for me to write in another language simply because I didn't speak another language.

Until 2021.

Writing in English was the next thing I started doing after listening and reading.

As usual, it wasn't easy at all...I needed to focus my attention on every single word I wanted to write down, and at the end of that process, the meaning I wanted to express still wasn't clear.

Having someone to correct my texts wasn't always possible for me, so I started using ChatGPT to help me with that task.

This is what I did ( and still do!)

I wrote down my thoughts as they came into my mind without thinking too much about the grammar, and then I asked ChatGPT to correct my mistakes.

I wrote them down with a red pen - exactly as my teachers used to do with my homework - and after a few months of doing that, the magic started to happen.

The corrections ChatGPT gave me were always fewer... sometimes no mistakes were made...

As a result, my confidence in writing in English grew and I started doing it without thinking about it. It became natural for me to open my journal and start journaling in English.

As it happened with listening and reading, I never gave up, and I never stopped.

Now, I usually journal in English because it feels natural to me to do that.

I still ask ChatGPT to correct my mistakes just to be sure but my texts are often free from mistakes.

Embarking on the journey of learning a foreign language is undoubtedly an enriching experience; however, I understood that finding time for journaling in a busy schedule is still a struggle for me.

To overcome this, I try setting aside even just ten minutes each day, perhaps during a commute or before bed, to jot down my thoughts.

Sometimes I miss it, but I still try to do my best.

This is also why I decided to start a blog.

Even if I love handwriting more, having a blog allows me to set specific time for writing and dedicate more time to it.