Words are the bricks of language. There are so many, and learning them is the most time-consuming aspect of language study.
Grammar rules and sentence structures can be mastered comparatively quickly, but learning words is never ending, even in our mother tongue.
In spoken English, the number of different words that the average person uses in everyday life is remarkably low. I don’t wish to make sweeping statements, but at least in part, this is due to the fact that people read less than they used to.
It is probably also true to say that the type of written material that people do read nowadays does not expose them to the same range of words as in the past.
This trend becomes increasingly hard to reverse, as budding authors have to make sure their works – in terms of sentence complexity and vocabulary used – are at the level of the average reader. If not, publishers will not be interested.
The IELTS exam (International English Language Testing System) tests a student’s ability to cope with the language demands of studying at undergraduate or postgraduate level in an English university.
The Cambridge website has compiled a list of vocabulary deemed to be “must know” in order to gain success in IELTS. This is a good starting point for any non-native speaker wanting to improve their English communication skills.
IELTS makes use of articles on a wide range of topics and while it has a clear academic focus, it provides, at the same time, an extremely practical base for general English.
Let me demonstrate what I mean by giving some practical ideas for gaining mastery over the use of words.
The other day I picked out an article at random from an IELTS textbook. It was an informative article, talking about the development and evolution of universities in Britain, and word ‘research’ appeared twice.
Understanding the meaning of a word is a first step. However, the full sense of a word can only be properly attained when you know how to use it yourself.
Understanding something when you hear it or read it is what I call “passive knowledge”. The opposite of that is “active knowledge”, which is when you are able to use the word or phrase in a way that makes sense both contextually and grammatically.
To gain “active knowledge” over a word like ‘research’ you should first of all establish what sort of word it is, e.g. a noun or a verb or whatever.
‘Research’ is both a noun and a verb, and in addition to whatever good study books about vocabulary you may have, a large Collins or Oxford English dictionary is essential.
Look at the contexts in which the word is used. Can you research animals, for example? Is the word commonly used in any specific context? Religious research? Scientific research? Or are there other words that would be more correct to use in those cases?
Look also at any particular words that may be used in association with your key word. Apart from the verb ‘to do’, is there another verb that is often used in conjunction with ‘research’?
One day I will write a book that deals with the usage of words in all their suitable contexts.
This involves exploring the nuance of meaning between words and is – to my view – key to serious language study. My philosophy centres on the potential to cultivate, over time and through persistent exposure to ‘real English’ (i.e. as spoken and written by natives), ‘A Sense of English’.
This is the place to strive for; the point where the language ‘gets inside of you’, and becomes instinctive rather than improvised.
609 Words
See all of Charlie de Wirtz’s previously published articles on his blog www.asenseofenglish.blogspot.com
Charlie de Wirtz is a highly experienced international teacher of English and Spanish and the author of two books, Spanish with Carlos (ISBN: 978 0954608804) and A Sense of English (ISBN: 978 0954608842). He also proofreads personal statements, university essays and dissertations for university students.
Monday 31 August 2009
Sunday 5 July 2009
A SENSE OF ENGLISH
A Short History of English
The English language has essentially three roots – Anglo-Saxon, Germanic and Latin.
The development of a language is naturally influenced by invasion and occupation by other countries.
Germanic invaders from modern-day northwest Germany and the northern Netherlands during the 6th and 7th centuries impacted greatly on the formation of “Old English”.
These invaders were initially called Saxons, and as Old English began to evolve four principal dialects emerged. By the 9th Century the one known as the Western Saxon dialect became prominent and the language of literature.
So many place names in England today end in one of the following suffixes: -wick, -ton, -ham, -den, -hurst, -burn. These names date back to the Germanic inhabitants naming their new settlements, according to the natural characteristics of the place.
‘Ton’ means a fenced area, ‘wick’ and ‘ham’ a home or a dwelling, ‘den’ a pasture, ‘hurst’ a wooded hill and ‘burn’ a stream.
The 11th century saw further invasions – this time by the Normans whose “Old Norman” language fused with English to produce “Anglo-Norman”.
Subsequent Norman occupation led to the adding on to the Germanic base a new layer of words from the Latin (Romance) based languages.
The richness of the modern-day English language comes from this diverse input. Spanish, for example, is a language with only a Latin root. The complete English dictionary is nearly three times as long as its Spanish counterpart.
The growing influence of Christianity added weight to the part Latin played in the development of English, and to a small extent Greek (the language of the original New Testament) too.
The Norman occupation lasted from approximately 1100 to 1500 and the language they brought with them (a kind of French) became the language of the educated, and pervaded in business, politics and in the Royal Court.
This created a class division in which people where could be categorized by the language that they spoke – English for the lower classes and French for the upper class.
In the 14th century English returned to prominence in Britain again, but the five hundred years of French being dominant had left its mark. Many French words remained, and history recognizes this phase of the development of English as “Middle English”.
If any of you have ever read the famous English poet Geoffrey Chaucer (The Canterbury Tales) you will know just how different the English is from what we speak today.
The journey from Middle English to “Modern English” was punctuated by two key factors.
The Renaissance ensured that an ongoing exposure to other languages meant that English continued to adopt foreign words (particularly from Latin and Greek) and thus expand.
This contact with other languages also contributed to what history calls “The Great Vowel Shift” which occurred mainly during the 15th Century.
The vowel sounds started to be pronounced in a shorter and shorter fashion, as they tend to be in other Romance languages. This became the standard London dialect and the one used in political discourse and professional administration.
Once printing was invented it became necessary to standardize spelling and grammar, to create a common language. Illiteracy rates dropped as growing number of people learned how to read, and books became cheaper.
In 1604 the first English dictionary was published, by which time Shakespeare was already penning his timeless classics.
Today, about 375 million people speak English as the native language. The number of people who speak it as a second language, however, is estimated to be about three times that number.
The English language has essentially three roots – Anglo-Saxon, Germanic and Latin.
The development of a language is naturally influenced by invasion and occupation by other countries.
Germanic invaders from modern-day northwest Germany and the northern Netherlands during the 6th and 7th centuries impacted greatly on the formation of “Old English”.
These invaders were initially called Saxons, and as Old English began to evolve four principal dialects emerged. By the 9th Century the one known as the Western Saxon dialect became prominent and the language of literature.
So many place names in England today end in one of the following suffixes: -wick, -ton, -ham, -den, -hurst, -burn. These names date back to the Germanic inhabitants naming their new settlements, according to the natural characteristics of the place.
‘Ton’ means a fenced area, ‘wick’ and ‘ham’ a home or a dwelling, ‘den’ a pasture, ‘hurst’ a wooded hill and ‘burn’ a stream.
The 11th century saw further invasions – this time by the Normans whose “Old Norman” language fused with English to produce “Anglo-Norman”.
Subsequent Norman occupation led to the adding on to the Germanic base a new layer of words from the Latin (Romance) based languages.
The richness of the modern-day English language comes from this diverse input. Spanish, for example, is a language with only a Latin root. The complete English dictionary is nearly three times as long as its Spanish counterpart.
The growing influence of Christianity added weight to the part Latin played in the development of English, and to a small extent Greek (the language of the original New Testament) too.
The Norman occupation lasted from approximately 1100 to 1500 and the language they brought with them (a kind of French) became the language of the educated, and pervaded in business, politics and in the Royal Court.
This created a class division in which people where could be categorized by the language that they spoke – English for the lower classes and French for the upper class.
In the 14th century English returned to prominence in Britain again, but the five hundred years of French being dominant had left its mark. Many French words remained, and history recognizes this phase of the development of English as “Middle English”.
If any of you have ever read the famous English poet Geoffrey Chaucer (The Canterbury Tales) you will know just how different the English is from what we speak today.
The journey from Middle English to “Modern English” was punctuated by two key factors.
The Renaissance ensured that an ongoing exposure to other languages meant that English continued to adopt foreign words (particularly from Latin and Greek) and thus expand.
This contact with other languages also contributed to what history calls “The Great Vowel Shift” which occurred mainly during the 15th Century.
The vowel sounds started to be pronounced in a shorter and shorter fashion, as they tend to be in other Romance languages. This became the standard London dialect and the one used in political discourse and professional administration.
Once printing was invented it became necessary to standardize spelling and grammar, to create a common language. Illiteracy rates dropped as growing number of people learned how to read, and books became cheaper.
In 1604 the first English dictionary was published, by which time Shakespeare was already penning his timeless classics.
Today, about 375 million people speak English as the native language. The number of people who speak it as a second language, however, is estimated to be about three times that number.
A SENSE OF ENGLISH
The Theory of Universal Grammar
Grammar has been described as the logic of language.
Last time we were considering the concept of a “Universal Grammar”. Linguistic philosopher and social thinker Noam Chomsky is a leading proponent of this notion.
The theory centres round the idea that as humans we have an innate capacity to organize language. We are born already equipped with the tools to assimilate our experience of language from the moment our life begins.
Think of it like this: In your brain there is a filing cabinet already neatly prepared with labelled suspension files. Automatically our brains know where to ‘file’ each piece of knowledge as our exposure to language develops.
Learning a language – including our mother tongue – involves relating knowledge (as it is acquired) back to a skeletal structure in our brains that we are born with.
If language acquisition required us to objectively learn sets of rules and the numerous variations in how words and structures can be used (without recourse to any help from within) then achieving effective communication would take too long.
Charles Darwin described language as being instinctive to humans; in the same way as, for example, it is natural for us to adopt an upright posture and not walk on all fours.
The idea gains credence if we consider grammatical errors that children make as they develop their mother tongue.
When a child makes a mistake with, for example, an irregular past tense (e.g. “My mum maked a cake”), it doesn’t come from hearing and repeating.
It is a type error and involves the natural application of a rule which has not been learnt, but which is already in place. Consistency of the rule is naturally assumed, which makes the mistake a logical one.
Therefore, in learning our first language, it is not the rules that have to be learnt, but the exceptions to the rules. The theory of Universal Grammar argues that the rules are already there.
These kinds of mistakes are made only at the beginning of the language assimilation process, and are quickly dispensed with as familiarity with irregular forms develops.
In contemporary Britain, you’d be hard pressed to find anyone under the age of 50 (and state-educated) who could tell you what a gerund or an infinitive are. Many would even struggle to define an adjective. Sadly, this is not an exaggeration.
Abandoning the teaching of English grammar in British state schools is increasingly considered as having been a significant mistake.
The Spanish school curriculum devotes three hours a week to “Lengua Española” (Spanish language) which is a formal subject for which there are exams and certificates.
It is treated as a subject within its own right.
There is the respect that an informed appreciation of our own language is intrinsically bound up with understanding collective identity.
The advantage of formal grammar study is that it gives labels to the innate structures that the universal grammar theory claims we have. It is like adding the tabs and the inserts to the suspension files that hang in our mental filing cabinet.
This then gives us a starting point to learn languages other than our native tongue.
British people are at a disadvantage when it comes to language learning precisely because of this lack of grammar appreciation.
Sometimes they are accused of being lazy to learn other languages, but I believe the root of the problem lies in this ignorance. That coupled with a perceived lack of need, due to the prominent nature of the English language in the international arena.
Grammar has been described as the logic of language.
Last time we were considering the concept of a “Universal Grammar”. Linguistic philosopher and social thinker Noam Chomsky is a leading proponent of this notion.
The theory centres round the idea that as humans we have an innate capacity to organize language. We are born already equipped with the tools to assimilate our experience of language from the moment our life begins.
Think of it like this: In your brain there is a filing cabinet already neatly prepared with labelled suspension files. Automatically our brains know where to ‘file’ each piece of knowledge as our exposure to language develops.
Learning a language – including our mother tongue – involves relating knowledge (as it is acquired) back to a skeletal structure in our brains that we are born with.
If language acquisition required us to objectively learn sets of rules and the numerous variations in how words and structures can be used (without recourse to any help from within) then achieving effective communication would take too long.
Charles Darwin described language as being instinctive to humans; in the same way as, for example, it is natural for us to adopt an upright posture and not walk on all fours.
The idea gains credence if we consider grammatical errors that children make as they develop their mother tongue.
When a child makes a mistake with, for example, an irregular past tense (e.g. “My mum maked a cake”), it doesn’t come from hearing and repeating.
It is a type error and involves the natural application of a rule which has not been learnt, but which is already in place. Consistency of the rule is naturally assumed, which makes the mistake a logical one.
Therefore, in learning our first language, it is not the rules that have to be learnt, but the exceptions to the rules. The theory of Universal Grammar argues that the rules are already there.
These kinds of mistakes are made only at the beginning of the language assimilation process, and are quickly dispensed with as familiarity with irregular forms develops.
In contemporary Britain, you’d be hard pressed to find anyone under the age of 50 (and state-educated) who could tell you what a gerund or an infinitive are. Many would even struggle to define an adjective. Sadly, this is not an exaggeration.
Abandoning the teaching of English grammar in British state schools is increasingly considered as having been a significant mistake.
The Spanish school curriculum devotes three hours a week to “Lengua Española” (Spanish language) which is a formal subject for which there are exams and certificates.
It is treated as a subject within its own right.
There is the respect that an informed appreciation of our own language is intrinsically bound up with understanding collective identity.
The advantage of formal grammar study is that it gives labels to the innate structures that the universal grammar theory claims we have. It is like adding the tabs and the inserts to the suspension files that hang in our mental filing cabinet.
This then gives us a starting point to learn languages other than our native tongue.
British people are at a disadvantage when it comes to language learning precisely because of this lack of grammar appreciation.
Sometimes they are accused of being lazy to learn other languages, but I believe the root of the problem lies in this ignorance. That coupled with a perceived lack of need, due to the prominent nature of the English language in the international arena.
A SENSE OF ENGLISH
Esperanto and Universal Grammar
A thought that has crossed every language learner’s mind at some point is: “What a nuisance it is that the world doesn’t share one common language.”
Think of the time we could save if we didn’t have to study any other language. Think of the misunderstandings that would be avoided.
Imagine the changes to the school curriculum and the layout of bookshops and libraries across the world.
And perhaps spare a thought for the many teachers, interpreters, linguists and authors like myself, whose services would cease to be required.
Genesis (the first book of the Bible) includes a brief story about how the human race moved from communicating in one language to the forming of many.
The account is found in chapter 11 of Genesis, and the first sentence there affirms that the whole earth shared a common language.
God became angry when settlers in a place called Shinar started to build a tower that was supposed to reach to heaven – The Tower of Babel.
He put an end to this human endeavour by coming down from heaven to scatter the people over all the earth and confound their language. Or so the story goes.
The Biblical account is very sketchy, and there are other historical records which give more detail.
How the world of multi-language that we live in today has come about may be of interest to some, but what is of importance to all of us is that it is the reality with which we have to live.
In the late 19th century a young student at a secondary school in Warsaw, Ludwik Zamenhof, began work on the creation of an international language – Esperanto.
He was born in a town in Poland (Bialystok) where Poles, Germans, Belarusians and Jews lived alongside each other.
Zamenhof witnessed much tension and distrust between the four ethnic communities and attached great significance to the part that language differences played in that.
His goal therefore, was a noble one: to create a universal language that would engender greater international tolerance of cultural and ethnic difference. A constructed language that would provide a neutral arena of communication.
Zamenhof’s vision of this need came about as a result of the differences he perceived between the languages themselves. But what about the similarities between us ourselves, as humans, and as students of language (I’m including our native language in this line of thought).
There is a lot of evidence to suggest that an awareness of language structure is inbuilt within our brain and therefore not learnt.
When as babies we start to learn our mother tongue, we do so with a rapidity that is disproportionate to our exposure to the language itself, suggesting that the brain contains a built-in capacity to organize language.
This theory appears to be backed up substantially by the fact that damage to particular parts of the brain can affect specific linguistic functions, like the ability to link up words coherently, for example.
Even if this were only true to a limited degree (namely, that we possess this innate function to organize language) we are still confronted with an encouraging universal aspect to language study.
As students of language, we share an ability to relate what we learn back to a common structure. Linguists call this universal grammar.
Does this have implications for how we approach studying other languages? Let’s continue to consider this next time.
A thought that has crossed every language learner’s mind at some point is: “What a nuisance it is that the world doesn’t share one common language.”
Think of the time we could save if we didn’t have to study any other language. Think of the misunderstandings that would be avoided.
Imagine the changes to the school curriculum and the layout of bookshops and libraries across the world.
And perhaps spare a thought for the many teachers, interpreters, linguists and authors like myself, whose services would cease to be required.
Genesis (the first book of the Bible) includes a brief story about how the human race moved from communicating in one language to the forming of many.
The account is found in chapter 11 of Genesis, and the first sentence there affirms that the whole earth shared a common language.
God became angry when settlers in a place called Shinar started to build a tower that was supposed to reach to heaven – The Tower of Babel.
He put an end to this human endeavour by coming down from heaven to scatter the people over all the earth and confound their language. Or so the story goes.
The Biblical account is very sketchy, and there are other historical records which give more detail.
How the world of multi-language that we live in today has come about may be of interest to some, but what is of importance to all of us is that it is the reality with which we have to live.
In the late 19th century a young student at a secondary school in Warsaw, Ludwik Zamenhof, began work on the creation of an international language – Esperanto.
He was born in a town in Poland (Bialystok) where Poles, Germans, Belarusians and Jews lived alongside each other.
Zamenhof witnessed much tension and distrust between the four ethnic communities and attached great significance to the part that language differences played in that.
His goal therefore, was a noble one: to create a universal language that would engender greater international tolerance of cultural and ethnic difference. A constructed language that would provide a neutral arena of communication.
Zamenhof’s vision of this need came about as a result of the differences he perceived between the languages themselves. But what about the similarities between us ourselves, as humans, and as students of language (I’m including our native language in this line of thought).
There is a lot of evidence to suggest that an awareness of language structure is inbuilt within our brain and therefore not learnt.
When as babies we start to learn our mother tongue, we do so with a rapidity that is disproportionate to our exposure to the language itself, suggesting that the brain contains a built-in capacity to organize language.
This theory appears to be backed up substantially by the fact that damage to particular parts of the brain can affect specific linguistic functions, like the ability to link up words coherently, for example.
Even if this were only true to a limited degree (namely, that we possess this innate function to organize language) we are still confronted with an encouraging universal aspect to language study.
As students of language, we share an ability to relate what we learn back to a common structure. Linguists call this universal grammar.
Does this have implications for how we approach studying other languages? Let’s continue to consider this next time.
A SENSE OF ENGLISH
Hee Seung's Story
Last month I finished by promising to tell you about my Korean friend Hee-Seung. He was my private student of English for about 6 months here in Eastbourne in the year 2000.
Eastbourne, for those who don’t know, is my hometown. It’s here on the south coast of England, about 22 miles from Brighton.
Naturally, Hee-Seung’s character was fairly shy and reserved. He was unassuming - the sort of person who would wait to be asked rather than dive in with an opinion or comment.
Hee-Seung didn’t come to Eastbourne initially. He moved here after a bad experience in another town where he was studying. One night he was attacked by some passer-by and ended up in hospital with a broken nose.
At the time it was, of course, a very unpleasant experience. But in some ways, it served a very positive purpose for his future in England.
After moving to Eastbourne, Hee-Seung changed his mind about the way to study English and life in England.
People are more vulnerable when they are living somewhere and cannot communicate with those around them in their mother tongue.
One way, therefore, of reducing vulnerability, is to learn English as well as possible. This gives you the chance to appear more confident as well.
Hee-Seung realized that his natural character was not the best personality type for learning English.
Outgoing people in general should learn much quicker, because they will make more effort to meet people and will be less shy about trying to communicate.
In order to make the most of his time in England, Hee-Seung decided he would have to change his mindset and assume a different character from the one that was natural to him.
This is not easy, but he made a big effort. He went to many social events with his host family. He went out to the pub with other students, singing Karaoke and trying to engage in conversation with English people.
He took time to explain his problems and feelings to me and the other English people he knew.
This was something that was new for him, as he normally wouldn’t do that even in his own country. But it was all part of his effort to get close to people and build an English social life.
His effort was commendable, and his way was the right way. And it worked. He now works in Seoul at an English language school.
If you are living in England at the moment as a student, think about this:
How much time are you spending doing things that you could do in your own country?
I know many students who spend lots of time studying in a local library or alone in their room. Do you need to be in England to do that?
The last time I was in Japan I visited some great libraries. No need to travel across the world to visit an English one!
The point is this: if you are here as a student, then use your time here by doing things that you CANNOT do in your country.
Maximize your precious time! Don’t spend it pouring over books! If you could learn English through studying books, then why come here? It’s cheaper to stay at home!
The fact is you have a unique opportunity while you are here. It is not the time to make friends with people from your country, as so many people do.
What goes on in your mind is so important as to the way you will approach your time in England.
My challenge to you this month is this:
Find the thing that you couldn’t do if you were in your own country. Got it? Now, go out and do it.
Last month I finished by promising to tell you about my Korean friend Hee-Seung. He was my private student of English for about 6 months here in Eastbourne in the year 2000.
Eastbourne, for those who don’t know, is my hometown. It’s here on the south coast of England, about 22 miles from Brighton.
Naturally, Hee-Seung’s character was fairly shy and reserved. He was unassuming - the sort of person who would wait to be asked rather than dive in with an opinion or comment.
Hee-Seung didn’t come to Eastbourne initially. He moved here after a bad experience in another town where he was studying. One night he was attacked by some passer-by and ended up in hospital with a broken nose.
At the time it was, of course, a very unpleasant experience. But in some ways, it served a very positive purpose for his future in England.
After moving to Eastbourne, Hee-Seung changed his mind about the way to study English and life in England.
People are more vulnerable when they are living somewhere and cannot communicate with those around them in their mother tongue.
One way, therefore, of reducing vulnerability, is to learn English as well as possible. This gives you the chance to appear more confident as well.
Hee-Seung realized that his natural character was not the best personality type for learning English.
Outgoing people in general should learn much quicker, because they will make more effort to meet people and will be less shy about trying to communicate.
In order to make the most of his time in England, Hee-Seung decided he would have to change his mindset and assume a different character from the one that was natural to him.
This is not easy, but he made a big effort. He went to many social events with his host family. He went out to the pub with other students, singing Karaoke and trying to engage in conversation with English people.
He took time to explain his problems and feelings to me and the other English people he knew.
This was something that was new for him, as he normally wouldn’t do that even in his own country. But it was all part of his effort to get close to people and build an English social life.
His effort was commendable, and his way was the right way. And it worked. He now works in Seoul at an English language school.
If you are living in England at the moment as a student, think about this:
How much time are you spending doing things that you could do in your own country?
I know many students who spend lots of time studying in a local library or alone in their room. Do you need to be in England to do that?
The last time I was in Japan I visited some great libraries. No need to travel across the world to visit an English one!
The point is this: if you are here as a student, then use your time here by doing things that you CANNOT do in your country.
Maximize your precious time! Don’t spend it pouring over books! If you could learn English through studying books, then why come here? It’s cheaper to stay at home!
The fact is you have a unique opportunity while you are here. It is not the time to make friends with people from your country, as so many people do.
What goes on in your mind is so important as to the way you will approach your time in England.
My challenge to you this month is this:
Find the thing that you couldn’t do if you were in your own country. Got it? Now, go out and do it.
A SENSE OF ENGLISH
More about Language and Culture
Imagine the following situation: An English teacher (let’s call him John) has invited one of his students to eat with him at his mother’s house.
When the student finishes his main course, John’s mother offers him/her another helping, and the simple question and answer go like this:
“Would you like some more?”
“No.”
This monthly column is essentially about developing what I call ‘A Sense of English’, and I’ve written a book of that title. There is no sense of English at all in the student’s reply in the above situation.
This exact situation is one I have encountered many times with students from the Far East.
When offered something, replying with just “no” is, in fact, quite rude in English. We have to convey some sense of gratitude for the offer, and the most obvious and common way to do this is to simply say “No, thank you.”
This is not dependent on the situation. I am not talking about a response that is appropriate only when we don’t know someone well. I am talking about something that is linguistically essential in English.
If I go to my mum’s house to eat and this situation arises (and naturally it always does), then I need to show my gratitude for her offer as much as I would if it were, for example, one of my mother’s friends.
It is so important to think about and understand these kinds of differences between languages. Wrong impressions can so easily be conveyed unintentionally.
I know that the simple “no” in response to an offer is normal in some languages, and therefore that no rudeness is intended at all on the part of the student.
However, I’m an English teacher with experience of typical student mistakes. I also have knowledge of other languages and cultures, and this gives me more of an open mind about nuances of communication.
The average English person ‘on the street’ though, with whom you will rub shoulders in your daily life here, will not have this experience and awareness.
There will be occasions, therefore, like in our simple example here of an offer to have some more to eat, where your lack of a ‘sense of English’ may lend itself to a negative interpretation.
Misunderstandings like this can easily lead to the formation of prejudices and generalizations. This is an inescapable reality.
It is not an exaggeration to say that many of the problems in the world today are rooted in a lack of understanding or tolerance of other people.
And this lack of understanding relates to either language or culture or to both. And this brings me back to my favourite message – Cultivate a ‘Sense of English’!
The only way to do this is by creating a social life surrounded by native English speakers.
‘A Sense of English’ is my message for one simple reason: it is the difference between struggling to make yourself understood and communicating smoothly.
It’s hands-on stuff – ‘a sense of English’ is not developed through the use of a textbook. You’ve got to get out of the classroom and into the street!
There are no magic wands for the serious student of any language. It’s hard graft and will take a long time.
I’ve been teaching English for more than 15 years, and in that time I have met literally thousands of students. Next month I’m going to tell you about one who sticks in my mind for very positive reasons.
His name is Hee-Seung and he is Korean. He remains my good friend. Remember the name – his story comes next time.
Imagine the following situation: An English teacher (let’s call him John) has invited one of his students to eat with him at his mother’s house.
When the student finishes his main course, John’s mother offers him/her another helping, and the simple question and answer go like this:
“Would you like some more?”
“No.”
This monthly column is essentially about developing what I call ‘A Sense of English’, and I’ve written a book of that title. There is no sense of English at all in the student’s reply in the above situation.
This exact situation is one I have encountered many times with students from the Far East.
When offered something, replying with just “no” is, in fact, quite rude in English. We have to convey some sense of gratitude for the offer, and the most obvious and common way to do this is to simply say “No, thank you.”
This is not dependent on the situation. I am not talking about a response that is appropriate only when we don’t know someone well. I am talking about something that is linguistically essential in English.
If I go to my mum’s house to eat and this situation arises (and naturally it always does), then I need to show my gratitude for her offer as much as I would if it were, for example, one of my mother’s friends.
It is so important to think about and understand these kinds of differences between languages. Wrong impressions can so easily be conveyed unintentionally.
I know that the simple “no” in response to an offer is normal in some languages, and therefore that no rudeness is intended at all on the part of the student.
However, I’m an English teacher with experience of typical student mistakes. I also have knowledge of other languages and cultures, and this gives me more of an open mind about nuances of communication.
The average English person ‘on the street’ though, with whom you will rub shoulders in your daily life here, will not have this experience and awareness.
There will be occasions, therefore, like in our simple example here of an offer to have some more to eat, where your lack of a ‘sense of English’ may lend itself to a negative interpretation.
Misunderstandings like this can easily lead to the formation of prejudices and generalizations. This is an inescapable reality.
It is not an exaggeration to say that many of the problems in the world today are rooted in a lack of understanding or tolerance of other people.
And this lack of understanding relates to either language or culture or to both. And this brings me back to my favourite message – Cultivate a ‘Sense of English’!
The only way to do this is by creating a social life surrounded by native English speakers.
‘A Sense of English’ is my message for one simple reason: it is the difference between struggling to make yourself understood and communicating smoothly.
It’s hands-on stuff – ‘a sense of English’ is not developed through the use of a textbook. You’ve got to get out of the classroom and into the street!
There are no magic wands for the serious student of any language. It’s hard graft and will take a long time.
I’ve been teaching English for more than 15 years, and in that time I have met literally thousands of students. Next month I’m going to tell you about one who sticks in my mind for very positive reasons.
His name is Hee-Seung and he is Korean. He remains my good friend. Remember the name – his story comes next time.
A SENSE OF ENGLISH
Language and Culture
A friend of mine got a text from a Korean friend of his recently that read, “I wanna c in my dream”. Yes, there was a romantic meaning intended. It was supposed to read “I wanna c YOU in my dream.”
To be fair, that was a mistake that an English person could easily have made. Apart from absent-mindedness being a possible cause, texting on a mobile phone lends itself to that type of error.
Still, it was worth pointing out to the person who wrote the text what it actually meant. “I wanna see in my dream”, i.e. I don’t want to be blind!
Let’s excuse the text mistake and talk about some other classic mistakes that Asian students commonly make and that are more important.
“In my country we don’t need to tip taxi drivers but IN HERE you do.” IN HERE, in this sentence, is supposed to mean in England. I’ve heard this many times from Koreans.
“In here” can never refer to a country. We just say “here”, or “in England”, but never “in here”.
While we’re on this one, we also never say “In my England”. That’s another one I’ve heard escape Korean lips before (saying “in my Korea”.) As lovely and patriotic as it sounds, it doesn’t work in English. England is not mine!
We can, however, say, “in my country” or, if we were feeling some deep emotion in a given moment, we could say “in my homeland”. This will usually convey a love and a longing for our country.
Japanese often misuse the word “maybe” in English. “Maybe” is used in English when we are genuinely not sure about something.
I once asked a Japanese student if he had passed his First Certificate exam. His answer was “maybe”.
When I asked him, he had already received the result, and he had passed. By saying “maybe” he thought he was showing some modesty, but actually in English using “maybe” in this way doesn’t make any sense at all.
This sort of difference can make communication confusing! All of you living in England have a story like that to tell, where you were not understood by native speakers, even though you thought what you had said was clear.
There is a very important link between language and culture, and it’s fascinating. It accounts for a lot of these sorts of mistakes and misunderstandings. That’s why when living in England, don’t limit yourself to just studying language.
This is extremely important. I have met students who haven’t bothered to go to London or don’t know the history behind Guy Faulkes (5th November). This is a Big Mistake in my book.
Understanding English culture deeply will help you understand why certain things are expressed in the way that they are.
The whole experience of learning another language is greatly enhanced when it includes first-hand experience of the culture. My readers here are living in the UK, so you can all experience English culture every day.
A lot of classic mistakes would not be made repeatedly (as they are) if more time were spent interacting with native English speakers on their home soil.
Time and experience will help you to see the connections between the way English people express concepts and their view of the concept itself.
All languages express the same concepts, but in different ways. Those differences, when analyzed, tell us a lot about the people behind the language.
This is a big subject and we’ll look at some more next time. Before next month’s edition, spend some time thinking of some examples of what we’ve been considering here.
Explore the depth of your target language English and its link to culture. It’s fascinating.
A friend of mine got a text from a Korean friend of his recently that read, “I wanna c in my dream”. Yes, there was a romantic meaning intended. It was supposed to read “I wanna c YOU in my dream.”
To be fair, that was a mistake that an English person could easily have made. Apart from absent-mindedness being a possible cause, texting on a mobile phone lends itself to that type of error.
Still, it was worth pointing out to the person who wrote the text what it actually meant. “I wanna see in my dream”, i.e. I don’t want to be blind!
Let’s excuse the text mistake and talk about some other classic mistakes that Asian students commonly make and that are more important.
“In my country we don’t need to tip taxi drivers but IN HERE you do.” IN HERE, in this sentence, is supposed to mean in England. I’ve heard this many times from Koreans.
“In here” can never refer to a country. We just say “here”, or “in England”, but never “in here”.
While we’re on this one, we also never say “In my England”. That’s another one I’ve heard escape Korean lips before (saying “in my Korea”.) As lovely and patriotic as it sounds, it doesn’t work in English. England is not mine!
We can, however, say, “in my country” or, if we were feeling some deep emotion in a given moment, we could say “in my homeland”. This will usually convey a love and a longing for our country.
Japanese often misuse the word “maybe” in English. “Maybe” is used in English when we are genuinely not sure about something.
I once asked a Japanese student if he had passed his First Certificate exam. His answer was “maybe”.
When I asked him, he had already received the result, and he had passed. By saying “maybe” he thought he was showing some modesty, but actually in English using “maybe” in this way doesn’t make any sense at all.
This sort of difference can make communication confusing! All of you living in England have a story like that to tell, where you were not understood by native speakers, even though you thought what you had said was clear.
There is a very important link between language and culture, and it’s fascinating. It accounts for a lot of these sorts of mistakes and misunderstandings. That’s why when living in England, don’t limit yourself to just studying language.
This is extremely important. I have met students who haven’t bothered to go to London or don’t know the history behind Guy Faulkes (5th November). This is a Big Mistake in my book.
Understanding English culture deeply will help you understand why certain things are expressed in the way that they are.
The whole experience of learning another language is greatly enhanced when it includes first-hand experience of the culture. My readers here are living in the UK, so you can all experience English culture every day.
A lot of classic mistakes would not be made repeatedly (as they are) if more time were spent interacting with native English speakers on their home soil.
Time and experience will help you to see the connections between the way English people express concepts and their view of the concept itself.
All languages express the same concepts, but in different ways. Those differences, when analyzed, tell us a lot about the people behind the language.
This is a big subject and we’ll look at some more next time. Before next month’s edition, spend some time thinking of some examples of what we’ve been considering here.
Explore the depth of your target language English and its link to culture. It’s fascinating.
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