作者名称 国旗国籍

Connor

EN

RU

2021.09.08 06:50

To everyone who works really hard to improve their English

I

'm glad that you're putting effort into being able to speak my native language - but I just thought to say something.

I notice sometimes that many English learners are probably a bit too focused on speaking English *perfectly,* as if a native speaker wouldn't understand you otherwise - this isn't necessarily a problem, but it makes things harder for you.

What I think many of you don't understand is that English, unlike less commonly learned languages, has such a large variety of people speaking it with such a large variety of different first languages, each making different errors consistently, that native English speakers are *very* good at parsing what someone is trying to say to them.

I've seen so many posts or messages on here that start with "I'm terrible at English, sorry for the errors" which then continue without *any* errors at all, with everything spelled correctly and worded in the same way that I myself would word those same sentences. No! You're fine! I understand you perfectly, and would have phrased everything exactly the same way as you!

Also unlike most other languages, there is no formal institution to decide what words and grammar structures are "standard" English. This leads to the following conclusion, which I feel many of you may benefit from hearing:

There are two types of English: "correct" English, and the English spoken by native speakers.

Don't be discouraged by thinking you have "bad English"! We can understand you, and we love and appreciate you for learning our language. Thank you :)
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Comments

  • Alizia 2021.09.08 06:53

    CN
    EN

    No one is as sweet as you at this
  • Marta 2021.09.08 06:54

    IT
    EN

    Such a kind post! Thank you!
  • Aurora 2021.09.08 06:55

    CN
    EN

    Maybe speaking in native way is more important for us English learners
  • Hazel 2021.09.08 06:55

    CN
    EN

    赞同!语言是用来交流的,双方能听懂对方表达的意思即可。
  • Lareina 2021.09.08 06:56

    CN
    EN

    ✋english is a tool to communicate with others or meet different people . not just to pass the exam
  • Laura 2021.09.08 06:56

    IT
    EN

    Thank you for your sweet words! It's true, sometimes I feel ashamed of my English's abilities, even though I've studied English for years...I believe that being confident is the key
  • Shahin Ahmed 2021.09.08 06:57

    BN
    EN

    👌👌👌
  • Cindy 2021.09.08 07:04

    CN
    EN

    You re so kind
  • 敷菌 2021.09.08 07:07

    CN
    EN

    语言是用来沟通的,正所谓沟通的艺术,只要能懂得别人在说什么,我认为这就是成功😺
  • Sunday 2021.09.08 07:18

    CN
    EN

    JP

    Thank you for the encouragement.
  • Lidawati Yusuf 2021.09.08 07:28

    ID
    EN

    Your writing is very interesting and makes me more excited to improve my English. Thanks a bunch... 😊
  • Connor 2021.09.08 07:30

    EN
    RU

    @敷菌 嗯我也觉得 😄 但是当我说中文时,很多人会说“你说什么??”
  • 敷菌 2021.09.08 07:33

    CN
    EN

    @Connor 你可以说,这是我在深山老林里面,迷路了七天七夜,最后遇到一个老道士,他教我的“九字真言”😂
  • Satanan Wanvan 2021.09.08 07:41

    TH
    EN

    พูดได้ดีค่ะ
  • Giovanni 2021.09.08 13:17

    IT
    EN

    Ciao, noi tutti spesso ci concentriamo troppo sulla perfezione invece che sul comunicare, beh sempre con un po' di studio! 😊
  • Anthea Yang 2021.09.10 15:40

    CN
    EN

    👏👏👏
  • Viv 2021.09.12 17:39

    CN
    EN

    I said that to quite a few Chinese learners too! I often reply their message in Chinese then realise my own grammar or wording is wrong anyway 😂😅
  • 爱斯基摩T 2021.09.15 02:36

    CN
    FR

    On a side note - I posted a moment on here a while back about how I’d finally grown out of my obsession with speaking “perfect” English (in terms of accent), and received responses from native speakers saying “that’s exactly what I always try to tell English learners”. I guess it’s just a phase that language learners like myself have got to experience during our journey of language learning 😂 But at the end of the day language is just a tool for us to communicate with other human beings, so you are fine so long as you get yourself across 👌🏻
  • shiqi 2021.10.02 05:41

    CN
    EN

    It depends on the study goal: daily conversation, discussion, professional translation, business negotiations, speeches....I know what is your real meaning(encouragement) 😊

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