How do you get to write so well in HN?

I would start blogging about what you know (if you don't do so already). Focus on explaining how to do X. Then write about your opinions. It can be as short as a paragraph, or as long as a novel. In terms of writing intelligently the key is to learn about new things. If you desire to write intelligently about software, then by all means study software from the bottom up. As you study and learn new things try and explain them in your own words. How you understood it. The more you explain and the more you write the better your ability do so will.

I'm horrible with English. But that did not stop me from getting published in a recognized tech magazine. If I can do it, you can definitely can too.

In addition to all these very useful answers above I would like to recommend the following approach:

1) Write an article 2) Do not hesitate to make any kinds of mistakes 3) Give it to a proofreader/editor 4) Compare your version versus edited one 5) Learn 6) Repeat form #1

P.S. for proofreading i would recommend oDesk, 300Editors or Wordy.

You speak well enough that most people won't point out problems in your language. That's an issue because you aren't getting enough feedback to make progress.

To wit, I haven't seen anyone given you concrete feedback on your writing.

Your writing is generally good, but you occasionally use words in non-idiomatic ways. The effect is jarring because the rest of the writing seems solid.

For example: "makes me believe that I will be stagnated" You are using the word "stagnate" improperly. One cannot "be stagnated". (It's not a transitive verb). You should write "makes me believe that I will stagnate"

Or, perhaps this is cultural, I couldn't really understand this sentence: 'I find it not justice that "Tim Cook Speaks Up" is eating my cake. What if I am only a heterosexual guy, a troll and my only goal is to get some karma points.' It came across really strangely, and made me feel uncomfortable, like there was some joke I didn't understand.

My main feedback is find a trusted native speaker who will actually point out when you say something in a non-standard way.

You should actively solicit criticism of how you speak, from people that you like and trust. Explain to these people that they won't hurt your feelings, but that they are helping you learn. Encourage them to point out to you when you say something that is understandable but sounds funny.

I am old enough that this was significantly more difficult in my time than it appears to be, now. Namely, lots of exposure.

Access to videos, even non-boring audio, not to mention to native speakers, was much more difficult and limited for the average language learner in the U.S. at that time.

For one foreign language, limited access to pop music that I rather enjoyed helped significantly. Listening to it repeatedly helped me absorb the sound of the language.

For another, a very early and successful foray into video taped lessons that had a running, dramatic and humorous story as a major component proved quite effective. SO much better than those dreadful, "repeter" audio cassettes. In addition to the language itself, the videos provided, without explicitly describing it all, a lot of cultural context.

Speaking and writing did, of course, also help. All the passive, listening and observing understanding does not fully form those neural pathways.

But when it did come to speaking and writing, I started off with a much better idea of how the language actually sounds, what the day-to-day idioms and colloquialisms are. I wasn't simply trying to translate my thoughts, word for word, into the other language -- something that often ends up sounding rather off and that, inadvertently, takes on different meanings from those intended.

When I arrived in one foreign city, acquaintances who eventually became friends told me that I sounded "like and old book". Because in my literature classes, that had been my primary exposure. With time in the "real", contemporary world of that language, this changed.

So, don't overdue or rely on "memorization". That conscious level activity has its limits. Take advantage of today's media-rich world to gain as much exposure as you can. And beware of the contexts of that media; just as in your native tongue, people speak differently in different contexts. Fortunately, e.g. in video, it's often easy to get some idea of what context is being portrayed.

Oh, and do read a lot, too. I have some exposure to a few languages orally, where I'd have a hard time writing down a few words much less complete sentences.

Nonetheless, you need the other exposure I describe to have a fuller sense of the language and to "sound right".

"Read books. A lot of books." An invaluable piece of advice from a distinguished philosophy professor of mine.

As a freshmen I'd somehow found my way into his ancient philosophy course–a junior/senior elective typically reserved for PHL majors. While I was able to pass the course, I was always embarrassed by my paper submissions because they'd be returned to me dripping in red ink from his observations. This was a man that had his own translations of Plato's works published in textbooks, and he cared enough to take the time to point out my juvenile grammatical errors on 20 page papers! At the close of the course I wanted to "make amends" for my shortcomings by asking him how I could improve my writing ability. I anticipated he'd recommend some tome on grammar [that I'd never end up reading] but instead he simply said "Read books. A lot of books" and he left it at that.

I've no idea of the count of books I've read since taking his advice to heart, but it's made an enormous difference in the way I structure prose, the vocabulary I use, the tone & voice of my writing, and I could go on... I feel that if you read the works of authors you like on topics that you enjoy, you'll absorb much of what makes their works great. You'll find yourself improving without consciously trying to improve your mechanics–but you need to enjoy what you read for it to work!

And as a check on your own development? Throw in works like "A Clockwork Orange" or "Fight Club" from time to time. These works have intentional errors and nonsense thrown in by their authors to mess with their readers. If your head begins to hurt while reading them then, in terms of your own development of skills, you've done something right!