How Online Pen Pals Revive Interest in Writing Skills Among Middle Schoolers

How Online Pen Pals Revive Interest in Writing Skills Among Middle Schoolers

By Beisembaeva Ayana

As a teenager, I lived in a dormitory at the “Daryn” Gymnasium — a school for gifted children in my hometown of Petropavlovsk. You’d think I was always a straight-A student: I tried hard, studied well, and was proud of my achievements. But when I got there, for the first time in my life, I felt completely insecure. My English level was the lowest in the class. That’s not an exaggeration — it was a fact. I could ace math or literature, but when it came to English, I just wanted to disappear. Writing in English? That felt impossible.

But everything changed — not because of a lesson, not thanks to a textbook, and not even due to a good grade. It changed because of a random encounter on a chat roulette.

My roommates and I used to play around with it in the evenings. We were 15 or 16, and of course, we mostly giggled, clicked “next,” and looked for someone to chat with for fun. Then one day, a boy from Thailand popped up on the screen. He was different from the others we’d met in those endless chats — calm, kind, a little shy. We started talking. In English, of course — we had no other language in common.

At first, I stumbled over my words, wrote clumsily, got confused. But he waited patiently, responded, asked questions. We started texting almost every day. Not for a school project, not for practice — just because it was interesting. We told each other about our countries, food, school, music, even our dreams. Sometimes — just about how the day went. Those two or three months of talking became something new for me. For the first time, I wanted to learn English not for grades, but for connection. For a real person who truly cared about what I had to say.

It was thrilling. For the first time, I felt that my words mattered — even in a foreign language. That mistakes weren’t shameful, as long as I was speaking from the heart. I didn’t just improve my English — I fell in love with writing. Words could touch, laugh, pause — leaving silence between the lines. That was the first time I realized that writing wasn’t just a school task. It was the language of the soul.

Pen Pals as a Return to the Real

Years have passed, and now, watching today’s students, I see the same magic happening again — only now, it’s becoming almost systematic. Online pen pals are making their way back into schools, and it’s truly inspiring. Because in a world where children are born with phones in their hands, the ability to express thoughts through writing is quietly slipping away. Quick messages, emojis, voice notes — they’re convenient, but they shrink the richness of language.

But writing a letter — that takes time. It teaches patience and reflection. A child who knows their message will be read by someone far away, someone who’s been waiting — that child will try. They’ll choose words carefully, build sentences thoughtfully, explain their thoughts clearly. Not because they “have to,” but because they want to be understood.

Inspiration Over Grades

I’ve seen children who could barely write a sentence suddenly begin writing long, heartfelt letters. Maybe with mistakes — but full of real feeling. They write about their favorite movie, their cat, a fight with a friend. Then, about a dream, a worry, something hard. And that’s where true writing begins — not from a workbook, but from within.

When there’s a real person on the other end, motivation is born. The desire to grow appears. One boy I worked with even started keeping a journal in English, simply because “it helps me think how to say things.” He wasn’t doing it for the teacher. He was doing it for himself — and for his pen pal, who asked: “How was your day?”

Writing as a Mirror

We often underestimate how much teens need to talk about themselves. Writing is a form of talking to yourself. What matters to me? What do I think? How do I explain it? When a teenager writes, they’re not just forming sentences. They’re learning to listen to themselves. And — even more importantly — to see how they’re growing.

One girl printed out all her letters and kept them in a folder. A year later, she reread them and said: “It’s like I’m reading my old soul.” It was deeply moving — seeing a child realize how much they’ve grown, through their own words.

In Place of a Conclusion: Writing as a Path to Self and Others

That boy from Thailand is long gone from my life. Like many teenage friendships, our correspondence faded away. But it left a mark. If it weren’t for that one night in the dorm, maybe I’d still be afraid to write in English. Maybe I’d never have found that voice inside me that can speak through words.

Now I know for sure: real writing, even online, is not just a skill. It’s a journey. A path to language. A path to people. A path to yourself.

And if online pen pals can bring back a student’s interest in writing, in attentiveness, in thought — then they truly work. Sometimes, all it takes is one real person on the other side of the screen — and the courage to hit “send.”