When we change a statement into a question, we reverse the subject and verb. So: Why is English easier to write than to speak?

This is an interesting question. At 首师大, many Chinese students expressed similar feelings about this topic. I think the issue is educational. English education in China is centered around improving grammar and writing long and complicated sentence structures. At 首师大, I had the opportunity to proofread a lot of English essays. Oddly enough, students that had longest and most "complicated" sentence structures (even if their sentences were awkward and unnatural in spoken English), usually got the highest marks. I even distinctly remember a time where I had edited a student's essay and his professor took off marks because his sentence was too short, even though I fixed it to be less awkward! I also noticed that English education in China is more focused towards learning British English instead of other forms (ie American-style English). Speaking with an American might seem tough initially because the vocab is a little different or even foreign. Outside of this, you could argue writing is easier because you have more time to think about what you say, pose an argument, edit before submission, etc. If you think speaking is really hard, the best thing to do is practice :)! And don't get too nervous: take a deep breath, try your best to listen for the main idea of the discussion first, when you speak focus on being concise, focused, etc. I'm sure you'll improve fast!

why english is easier to write than to speak? Why IS English easier ..... Here is why: Every second language is more difficult to speak than to write. Teachers do not have enough time to teach you how to speak in class. Only one-on-one (person to person) practice can help (if the native speaker corrects mistakes). Every language has sounds (pronunciations) that are not part of your native tongue (language). That means that you have trained your mouth, tongue, lips, teeth, nose and throat to make your native language sounds. Some of the sounds in a second language are completely new to you, so your mouth, tongue...... is not programmed (able) to make the right sounds. That is one of the main reasons why you hesitate and you are afraid that you will not be understood. Then when you are nervous you even forget the vocabulary, verbs, grammar, and expressions that you already know. When I try to speak Chinese (a new experience for me) I seldom pronounce properly - because my English ears hear the sounds and try to find an English sound that is similar to the Chinese sound, and usually the English sound is not the same as the Chinese sound. And when I try to make the Chinese sound, my mouth, tongue, etc do not know what to do. If you speak a foreign language all day your mouth muscles will be sore. The only way to overcome this problem is to listen and speak the second language several hours every day. Hard to do (impossible) if you don;t have someone to listen to and speak to. Don't worry - most nice people don't mind if you don't speak perfectly - they will appreciate your effort and respect you for trying.

True, you have more time to think about what you write

A have also noticed, not all, but there are people like me, even when they use native language, due txt messaging they somehow able to chat all day, oposite to live conversation. As for my self I can keep oral conversation with a friend I know long time. -hi, -hi. -what's up? -nuttin. -i see -yea. -cool. -um...umm -umm... (30 mins and 100 "umms" later) -well, gotta go. -see ya -bye. (live chat example)