Definitely, writing a letter to a friend who has known me for years is far more easy to handle for me. Hardly do I need to consider about the tone, the grammar, the spelling, and even the thesis, because he understands me so much that he can pick out my mood simply from my handwriting. However, while writing to the editor, I have to take notice to everything, including the thesis, the frame, the wording, and the punctuation mark.
Writing to the editor is more time consuming and less casual. I have to focus on something in my essay. Actually, even in China I did not feel like writing a letter, because seldom do I express myself vividly and thoroughly. In the letter to my friend, I was always just talking about how much I miss the days we spent together and about everything interesting that happened to me those days. I did not have emphasis at all. However, in the letter to the editor, I tried to describe the situation first, then put forward my idea with analysis and think twice before every sentence is completed.
Talking about the difference between writing in Chinese and English, without a doubt, I am more familiar with my native tongue. I can quote hundreds of classic idioms and poetry to express myself implicitly or exactly. But when writing in English, I have to rely on the dictionary, even with which I still cannot use various vocabulary and sentence patterns.
All in all, there is still a long way for me to go before I can use fluent English to compose the essay to different audiences.
