Speak Proper English
English takes many forms these days, and slang has become commonplace in day-to-day interactions and writing. While some informal language is generally accepted, if you're seeking to improve your mastery of the English language, you might find yourself on a quest to learn "proper English." This doesn't have to be a huge challenge: some basic steps and principles can help.
Contents
Steps
Improving Your Pronunciation
- Speak to educated people. Education is not the be-all and end-all for language acquisition, by any means, but people with extensive educations do often have a strong grasp on the rules of grammar and syntax. Speaking to well-educated people, whether teachers, family members or obliging strangers, is a good way to get a sense of what proper English sounds like.
- Try to listen to how these people form their words -- the way their lips move, their pronunciation and their rhythm and intonation.
- Now try to mimic how these people speak. It may feel strange or awkward at first, but with practice it will become second nature.
- Listen to tapes. A good way to improve your pronunciation is to listen to audio tapes or podcasts, where you can hear how a native English speaker forms their words.
- If you like, you can even stop the tape and repeat the words after them until you get them right.
- Pronounce the endings of words. A common mistake many native and non-native English speakers make is not pronouncing the endings of words.
- For instance, instead of saying "going", they would say "goin'" or instead of saying "making", they would say "makin'".
- Practice tongue-twisters. Tongue twisters are helpful at improving enunciation and diction. Enunciation is knowing how to project a certain word in a certain context. Diction is knowing the way you deliver, which includes pronouncing certain prefixes, suffixes and where to place stress on certain parts of words. They are also beneficial in learning to write properly, as you can hear certain word patterns within the phrase or sentence, as well as grasping rhythm and syllable.
- Make an effort to to emphasize the endings of words and your pronunciation will improve greatly.
Avoiding Slang
- Say "I" instead of "me". Instead of saying "Kate and me are going to the cinema" (or Me and Kate are going to the cinema) say "Kate and I are going to the cinema". Often people who are otherwise well-spoken will make this mistake, but using "I" is correct. Remember to only use "I" when you are the subject. It would be wrong to say "Jack likes Sally and I." because here "I" is part of the object. Instead here it would be "Jack likes Sally and me." There is nothing to it, but to do it.
- Don't use the word "like" in the wrong context. For example, an incorrect use of the word "like" would be: "The other day I got on this, like, bus and went to, like, Southampton to meet my, like, boyfriend".... Even if it sounds natural to you, it sounds annoying to a person who speaks English properly. Whereas the correct use of the word "like" would be: "I like biscuits and I also like American cookies."
- Another context where we use 'like' is when describing a simile, which uses the word 'like' or 'as' as a comparison to another (often unlike) form or non-living object. For example, "the sea sparkled like the stars at night". This can be expanded to be more complex, "the sun shone on the sea, like stars in the night."
- Avoid cursing. We were all taught in grade school that swear words are rude, yet most of us swear more often than we need to. Frequently using curse words or bad language does not give a good impression, especially in polite company. Expanding your vocabulary should help you to find alternative words to express yourself. If you can expand your vocabulary, you can eliminate swearing at all costs - and once you accomplish this, you'll often find that in most everyday situations, there is no need to swear at all.
- Take a writing or grammar class. Taking grammar classes will teach you how to form complete sentences with proper grammar, as well as improving writing ability (in particular, spelling and syntax) and vocabulary. If you can train yourself to write grammatically well (and then say these sentences aloud while pronouncing each word correctly), you will learn to 'pick out' what is correct grammar and what is not. The more you practice writing and reading, the more you will be able to 'hear' the grammar when constructing sentences both in text and in speech, which is how you develop a good 'ear' for using correct language. Once you grasp this skill, bad sentence structure will be more noticeable to you - and therefore it will be more likely good grammar will stay committed in your memory. Say for example we are geologists.
Expanding Your Vocabulary
- Read more. Reading is a great way to expand your vocabulary while also understanding the correct context of words.
- Use a dictionary while reading so you can look up any words you don't understand.
- Read material that you find interesting, whether it's fictional novels, the newspaper, a history book or a magazine.
- Use synonyms. When writing or speaking, instead of using small describing words such as; "the building over there is big", use more eloquent words that mean basically the same thing, but convey more meaning. For example: "the building over there is gigantic.".
- Alternatively, you can make the sentence more complex. For example, "the building over there is said to be one of the largest in Europe."
- Make labels. If you're a non-native English speaker, it can be difficult to remember even basic words. A good way around this is to make labels for everyday household items which contain the English word and its pronunciation.
- Stick these labels on the items and you will be reminded of the word every time you see or use each object.
- Leave the labels on until you have committed the word to memory.
Tips
- Watch more English movies and television shows, and more English books.
- Internet slang is named 'internet slang' for a reason! Do not use in normal everyday conversation (that is face-to-face) unless you are actually talking to someone using the internet (or text). It is disrespectful. Sometimes it is better to eliminate Internet slang altogether and speak (and write) with proper grammar at all times.
- However, in the case of writing emails, write with proper grammar - this is important if you are writing to an authority person. It is much more professional and respectable.
- Always remember to pronounce 'T' rather than using a glottal stop. Constantly dropping consonants such as 'T's and 'U's, seems like a lazy habit and does not leave a good impression.
- Go slowly, don't try to master the English language overnight!
