keeping a diary in english is one of the effective ways to improve our english writing ability. compared with other forms of writing, it is shorter and takes less time. it can help us to cultivate the habit of thinking in english. if we persist in this practice, gradually we'll learn how to express ourselves in english. in keeping a diary in english, we inevitably run up against a lot of difficulties .in the first place, it often happens that we have trouble finding appropriate words and phases to give expression to our mind. secondly , there are many idiomatic ways of saying things in chinese. and it is extremely hard for us to put them into english properly. certainly, there are some other roadblocks we may come across in our keeping a diary in english. as far as i'm concerned, my suggestion is that we should always have a notebook and a chinese-english dictionary within easy reach. whenever something beats us, we can first put it down in our notebook and then consult our dictionary. we can also turn to our english teacher for help, if necessary. in short, i believe that it is of great use to keep a diary in english for the development of our writing skills.