English Belongs to Everyone
English Belongs to Everybody by Robert MacNeil
Writing to Discover: Do you change the way you use language in different situations? Write about how your use of language changes and why?
Changing my spoken language seems to be an everyday occurrence for me in my job field of working with children. Many situations arise in my job that leaves me in situations in which I need to speak differently to different clients so they have a better understanding of what I am talking about. Many of the clients that I work with have been taught to speak improperly since the day they were born. They have been conditioned to mispronounce words and use horrible grammar. We have clients from all over the state and while they were all raised in different communities and situations, they have one thing in common, they all seem to have been neglected to be given the chance to speak properly. It is my job to help them succeed in the world and to me that starts with communication. I try to help them by teaching them the proper ways to say some words by spelling them out and repeating it back to them. It’s not easy for them to hear the difference in the sounds of the letters. So I just continue to correct them and try to recondition the way they speak. I, by no means, am a great speaker, great at pronunciation or even good at using proper grammar myself and catch myself speaking improperly at times. The kids are quick to correct me at these times and these are the times that I realize how much they really do pay attention. This is the rewarding part of the job.
Sometimes while talking to a client I think of how I use to be them when language is involved. I grew up in the inner city and for most of my childhood I spoke quickly and poorly. It wasn’t until I moved out of that environment that I noticed how ignorant I was to the spoken language. Every day is a learning experience as I try to improve my written and spoken language by reading, writing and speaking. Looking up words with the
Writing to Discover: Do you change the way you use language in different situations? Write about how your use of language changes and why?
Changing my spoken language seems to be an everyday occurrence for me in my job field of working with children. Many situations arise in my job that leaves me in situations in which I need to speak differently to different clients so they have a better understanding of what I am talking about. Many of the clients that I work with have been taught to speak improperly since the day they were born. They have been conditioned to mispronounce words and use horrible grammar. We have clients from all over the state and while they were all raised in different communities and situations, they have one thing in common, they all seem to have been neglected to be given the chance to speak properly. It is my job to help them succeed in the world and to me that starts with communication. I try to help them by teaching them the proper ways to say some words by spelling them out and repeating it back to them. It’s not easy for them to hear the difference in the sounds of the letters. So I just continue to correct them and try to recondition the way they speak. I, by no means, am a great speaker, great at pronunciation or even good at using proper grammar myself and catch myself speaking improperly at times. The kids are quick to correct me at these times and these are the times that I realize how much they really do pay attention. This is the rewarding part of the job.
Sometimes while talking to a client I think of how I use to be them when language is involved. I grew up in the inner city and for most of my childhood I spoke quickly and poorly. It wasn’t until I moved out of that environment that I noticed how ignorant I was to the spoken language. Every day is a learning experience as I try to improve my written and spoken language by reading, writing and speaking. Looking up words with the