Improve English Writing and Speaking

         Hello, this blog is for people who like to learn English speaking and writing. I have been living in United States for five years, but I have to admit that my English is really bad. English is not something you can only study at school, it won’t get much better if you only study it at school. If you live in a English speaking environment, you would have a chance to talk, listen and read all kinds of English in daily life. Even if you don’t have that environment, you still have library and internet to learn English. I decide to study English very seriously and I want to share my experiences with you.

Where to read?

         One of the best way to learn English is through reading. I used to find it was extremely difficult to read a book, article, or newspaper. Maybe sometimes the reason was because these materials were not interesting. However, I realized the main reason with reading was I could not concentrate. I couldn’t read at home because I have a laptop, iPad and a phone. It is obviously more fun to watch videos or play games online than reading a second language document. I couldn’t read a book in the library, because it was quiet. I always feel sleepy in the library. So where should I read? I go to a garden to read books. Reading a book in a park with sunshine and fresh air is the best choice for me to be concentrate in reading.

Stress may work.

         People always say find an interesting material to read. It is the truth but most times, we read because we have to. If you are not a native English speaker, you may find any book with your native language is more interesting than an English book. You may find many words you don’t know from an English book, you may ignore these words or spend many hours to find the meaning. Reading an English book or newspaper is hard for me too, but I have to do it because I really want to improve my English skills. As a matter of fact, I normally get a better job done when I know I have to do the job without any other choices. If you want to improve your English dramatically, you may have to push yourself into it.

Learn English Phrases

         I always find my vocabulary is poor. Sometimes I find my way of talking is extremely boring because I only know a few words. One way to solve poor expression is improve vocabulary, the other is to learn phrases. Below are some examples:                                                            

At a slow rate (slowly)          At an early date (soon) 

Bring to a conclusion (conclude, end)

Based on the fact (because)      Be in agreement with (agree)       

Come to terms with (agree, accept)  

At this point in time (now)         Despite the fact that (although)     

During the course of (during)

Express an opinion that (affirm)    For the period of (for)    Has the capability to (can)

In communication with (communicate)      In connection with (about) 

In such a manner (so that)

In the area/care/field of (in)       In the event that (if)       

In the mouth of May (in May)

In the neighborhood (approximately, about)

It is often the case that----- often      

With the result that---so         

It is our understanding that------we understand that

Look something like----resemble        

Fellow colleague----colleague

Of the opinion that----think that

On the grounds that----because                 

Open the conversation with----open, begin with

Until such time as----until                         

With reference to ----regarding, about                             

Absolutely essential ----essential              

Advance reservations-----reservations

Basic necessities-----necessities, needs        

Close proximity-----proximity, nearness

End result-----result                                  

Final conclusions/final outcome-------conclusions/outcome

First and foremost------first                      

Full and complete----full, complete

Personal opinion---- opinion                    

Tried-and-true-----tried, proven

Audible to the ear          Light in the weight     Short in duration  

Loud in volume             Soft in texture             Fly through the air   

Orange in color              Tall in height              Bitter in taste 

Hard to the touch           Rectangular in shape  Twenty in number  Honest in character   Visible to the eye        Second in sequence  

Avoid Sexist Language

         Good English means choosing the right words to use for different occasions.  Some English words needs extra care. For example, when you are talking to a big amount of audience, you need to make sure you used ‘person’ instead of ‘men’, because you may have many female audience. In other words, you better avoid sexist language:

Representative(alderman, assemblyman, congressman)             Businessperson(businessman)       Skilled worker(craftsman)

Photographer(cameraman)            Chair, chairperson(chairman)      

Divorced person(divorcee)            Firefighter(fireman)                     Supervisor(foreman)                      Homemaker(housewife)

Custodian, cleaning person (janitress) 

Owner(landlord, landlady)             Family name(maiden name)         

Mail carrier(mailman, postman)    Beings(mankind)

Work-hours(man-hours)                Humanity, human

Synthetic, artificial (manmade)     Strength, power(manpower)       

Candidly(man to man)                   Repair person(repairman)

Human beings, people(men)          Police officer(policeman)            

Salesperson, clerk(salesman)         Spokesperson(spokesman)           Meteorologist(weatherman)           Flight attendant(stewardess)

Intuition(women’s intuition)          Worker(workman)                       

Poet(poetess)            Usher(usherette)                     Server(waitress) 

Drummer(drum majorette)

Avoid Race, National Origin, Ages, or Disabilities

         Do not use ‘elderly’, ‘up in years’, ‘geezer’, ‘old-timer’, ‘over the bill’, ‘senior moment’, or the adjectives spry or frail when they are applied to someone’s age: “a spray sixty-seven.” similarly, don’t refer to employees as kids, youngsters, juveniles, wet behind the ears, or middle-aged supervisor.

         Also avoid derogatory words such as amputee, crippled, handicapped, impaired, or lame or retarded or slow. Don’t use such phrases as wheelchair-bound or confined to a wheelchair. Avoid using discriminatory expressions in writing, such as a crippled economy, lame excuse, mentally challenged, mental midget, or crazy scheme.

         In addition, don’t talk: that’s so gay (bisexuals) and don’t assume that all of your readers are heterosexual (don’t ask about marital status)

Examples:

(The Chinese computer whiz was about to find the problem.)

The programmer was about to find the problem.

(Bill, who is African American, is one of the company’s top sales reps.) 

Bill is one of the company’s top sales reps.

(Jerry Fox, who will be fifty-seven next mouth, comes up with obsolete plans from time to time.) Some of Jerry Fox’s plans have not been adopted.

(Our company keeps hiring youngers who lack experience.) 

Our firm recruits individuals with little or no experience.

(Tom suffers from MS.) Tom is a person living with MS.

(Sarah, who is crippled, still does an excellent job of keyboarding.)

Sarah’s disability does not prevent her from keyboarding.

(Paula Smith, a strong supporter of gays and lesbians, hosts a successful daytime talk show.)

Paula Smith hosts a successful daytime talk show.