How to Learn English
How we learn English
Two English Languages.
Everyone has had problems using English language as effectively as it should be used.
Many, if not most, of our problems with English develop when we forget that there are two closely related but essentially different kinds of English - spoken English and written English. To use the language effectively, we have to be able to switch from one of its forms to the other with ease. If these two forms of English were identical, we could simply apply one set of rules to both, and many of our problems would disappear. But, unfortunately, spoken English and written English is not the same thing. And you simply can¡¦t ignore their differences.
When we speak, we don¡¦t have to worry about spelling, punctuation and capitalization, or neatness and legibility. But when we write, these things become very important. When we speak, we can correct ourselves immediately if our listener doesn¡¦t understand. But when we write, our writing must stand alone and explain itself without us. When we speak, our words vanish in the air. But when we write, they remain for everyone to see. Small wonder that speaking seems so easy and natural; writing, so difficult and forced. Small wonder, too, that others are more critical of the way you write than of the way you speak.
Because people from different parts of the country and different backgrounds speak English differently it¡¦s very difficult, if not impossible, to establish hard-and-fast rules for a standard spoken English. But while people may expect varieties of spoken English to ¡§sound¡¨ different, they expect written English to ¡§look¡¨ the same. This is why fairly rigid and universal standards for written English have been established and why these standards are taught in schools. In fact the sort of ¡§good¡¨ English an educated person is expected to use is called Standard English ¡V or, more accurately, Standard Written English.
To be successful in school and in the
Two English Languages.
Everyone has had problems using English language as effectively as it should be used.
Many, if not most, of our problems with English develop when we forget that there are two closely related but essentially different kinds of English - spoken English and written English. To use the language effectively, we have to be able to switch from one of its forms to the other with ease. If these two forms of English were identical, we could simply apply one set of rules to both, and many of our problems would disappear. But, unfortunately, spoken English and written English is not the same thing. And you simply can¡¦t ignore their differences.
When we speak, we don¡¦t have to worry about spelling, punctuation and capitalization, or neatness and legibility. But when we write, these things become very important. When we speak, we can correct ourselves immediately if our listener doesn¡¦t understand. But when we write, our writing must stand alone and explain itself without us. When we speak, our words vanish in the air. But when we write, they remain for everyone to see. Small wonder that speaking seems so easy and natural; writing, so difficult and forced. Small wonder, too, that others are more critical of the way you write than of the way you speak.
Because people from different parts of the country and different backgrounds speak English differently it¡¦s very difficult, if not impossible, to establish hard-and-fast rules for a standard spoken English. But while people may expect varieties of spoken English to ¡§sound¡¨ different, they expect written English to ¡§look¡¨ the same. This is why fairly rigid and universal standards for written English have been established and why these standards are taught in schools. In fact the sort of ¡§good¡¨ English an educated person is expected to use is called Standard English ¡V or, more accurately, Standard Written English.
To be successful in school and in the