The Mysterious English Language
Note: Targeted readers — Non-native speakers of English. Some of the suggestions specifically are for Telugu people.
Disclaimer: I am not an authority on the subject. These are just my personal observations. They may contain grammatical mistakes and incorrect usages. If you spot one, please do leave a comment on the post and I will correct it happily.
In case you are not a native speaker of English, and you are just beginning your journey to attain fluency in the language, chances are — you are struggling with your spoken English, though your written word is close to perfection.
The reason is simple. For most of us, non-native English students, the main way of consuming content in English is through reading — whether it is a novel, a non-fiction book, a newspaper, a website article, or simply the subtitles or closed captions available on Netflix shows! You are reading a lot of English. So, you know how sentences are constructed; how the flow happens from one paragraph to another; how to end a story or a document. You also have the option to go through what you have written, correct grammar and spelling, rewrite sentences, and bridge any continuity gaps that you see.
Any book that you read or article that you find on the internet, most likely has gone through umpteen revisions before seeing the light of the day. (I am talking about the content that have gone through an editorial review, of course. Most blog posts on the web these days have atrocious language!)
However, we do not get a lot of opportunities to practice our spoken English. Even if you work in a corporate office in India, you may find that English is only used in official conversations. The watercooler banter, for instance, happens mostly in the local language of the land or Hindi. Compare this to a kid growing up in an English-speaking country. That kid uses English everywhere — at school, on the road, in a shop, on the bus, and even with a beggar on the street! So, she gets to practice day in and day out. Due to the variety of speaking settings (Formal, informal, gossip, trade etc), she learns how to structure her words depending on the situation. Over time, she grasps the knack of using the right words at the right time in the right fashion without any effort to consciously learn the language.
Unfortunately, a vast majority of us do not have that luxury. However, the process of getting fluency in English follows the same pattern wherever you are. You need to practice speaking in English. If you do not see any avenue to practice it, you should create one. Talk more even if it is filled with grammatical mistakes. That is how our fictional kid has learnt how to speak chaste English. That is how anyone can master any language.
Here are a few tips.
1. Listen to English — Do not read Subtitles: If you have a fair grasp on written English, I suggest that you do not have subtitles on when watching shows on Netflix. Subtitles distract you. You focus more on reading them and grasping their meaning than listening to those speakers and understanding the nuances in the way they talk, their accent, their tone etc. Use headphones so that you can completely immerse yourself into the show. This can work wonders for your spoken skills.
2. Use Social Audio platforms such as Clubhouse to practice talking in English in a familiar and friendly atmosphere. If you are not confident of speaking in English with a native speaker, create a group or join a group for people like you and practice there.
3. Record your talk and go through it. If there is a transcribing service, use it to get a transcription and check for grammatical mistakes. Correct them and re-deliver your talk in front of the mirror or your webcam. Do it again and again till you are confident. If you do this every time you talk on Clubhouse, you will see a remarkable improvement in a short span of time.
4. Fluency is not the same as accents. You can have a neutral accent and still be fluent. No one is going to question your accent. In fact, diversity in accents is celebrated everywhere. It is beautiful to listen to speakers from all over the world. It helps us break from the monotony of a US or UK accent. (There’s no such thing as a US or UK accent by the way. Within these countries there are several local accents and dialects just like we do in India.) I work in geographically spread team and we have all kinds of accents in the mix. We are proud of our accent (In my case it is a south Indian Telugu influenced English accent) but I have learnt over the years to keep it subtle so that others can understand what I am saying. This process is called accent neutralization. You will still sound like a Nellorean (Replace with your native place) but others will have no problems interacting with you. That is the sweet spot for most of us. Most of us tend to talk very fast when we speak in English. It is important to slow down.
5. Read more. I know I have said before that reading is not going to help your spoken English skills, but it helps you get a better grip on the language, which in turn will help your speaking skills. Just reading alone is not enough. But reading + writing + listening — makes you a better speaker.
6. Listen to Podcasts, Radio, BBC. There are many podcasts that deal with English. However, you can just subscribe to your favourite topic and not just focus on English. The idea is to hear how people talk in English. The topic need not be the language.
7. Stand-up comedy shows and Sitcoms on TV. Again, the key is to watch them without subtitles.
8. Here are a few books that you can read to help you with your grammar and sentence formation.
a. On Writing Well — William Zinsser
b. Red Herrings and White Elephants (A book on the origin of idioms — a fun book to read)
c. Elements of Style — Strunk and White Jr. (A must for any student of English)
d. P. G. Wodehouse novels: Can’t stress this enough. It is not an exaggeration to say PGW is the master of the language. His books are entertaining, humorous, and teach you a lot about English. Start with “Thank You, Jeeves” for instance.
e. Charles Dickens novels: Perfect textbooks for English — or at least the formal form of English. They may sound a bit dated to you now, but the language is chaste English.
Here are a few specific points:
1. Most of us tend to use the wrong tense. For instance, do not use continuous tenses where simple tenses make more sense.
a. “I am working in the IT sector” à “I work in the IT sector”.
b. “I have worked in Bengaluru for 2 years till 2015” à “I had worked in Bengaluru till 2015”.
2. Use the same tense throughout your sentence. Do not mix them up.
a. “He leaves the town and joined a college in the city” à “He leaves the town and joins a college in the city” or “He left the town to join a college in the city”.
b. Thinking in your native tongue and translating it verbatim to English.
i. “I tell you why because…” (ఎందుకంటే) — You should rephrase your sentence to use proper constructs such as “The reason” or just “because”. Do not use “why because” — There is no such usage in English.
ii. “What is your good name?” — There is only name — nothing good or bad about it.
iii. “I have some doubts” — No, you don’t 😊. “Doubt” is normally used to say that you are doubting something. It is not a word that you would use to say you have some questions. The right word to use there is — you guessed it — “questions”. So, say “I have some questions”. If you use “doubts”, people may get taken aback thinking they may have said something that is offensive.
iv. Do not use “only” at the end of sentences. In most cases, you can just omit that word.
v. Reduce the dependency on “Like”, “You know” etc. Some of us tend to use “You know” in every sentence while talking.
vi. By the way, BTW is short for “By the way”. It is not “between”. I have seen some people using “Oh, between, I have an announcement”. That is just wrong. 😊
Finally, these are just my observations and notes from my learning journey. I do not call myself an expert. Far from it. I still struggle with my tenses and my spoken English. So, you may find several grammar mistakes in this writeup as well. Please take these suggestions with a pinch of salt and you chart your own course.
Happy to help in case you have any questions.
