Writing in a foreign language at first may seem to be very like writing in your native language, but of course it isn't. The problem stems from more than a mere difference between words or symbols. It is also a matter of the arrangement of words together in a sentence. The words and words groups of one language don' t fit together in the same way as the words of another language do. Perhaps even more important, ideas don' t fit together in the same way from language to language. A Russian, an Egyptian, a Brazilian, and a Japanese tend to arrange their ideas on the same subject in quite different ways within a paragraph. These differences exist because each culture has its own special way of thinking. And how a person thinks largely determines how he writes. Thus, in order to write well in English, a foreign student should first understand how English speakers usually arrange their ideas. This arrangement of ideas can be called a thought pattern. And, even though English thought patterns are not native to you, once you understand them you can more easily imitate them. By doing this, you will succeed in writing more effective English.