Stop Confusion; Speak Clear English (Part I)

Introduction to the English Language series

Part one of a three parts of Stop Confusion; Speak Clear English.

This series is about improving the reader’s knowledge and understanding of the various aspects of this superlative wonder we call the English Language. Good English language skills are basic to an English speaker’s ability to formulate clear thought images in their mind and turn them into clearly laid out concise thought constructs in verbal or written form.

Fortunately, English is not as difficult to learn as that last sentence is to understand.

Did that last sentence sound a little deep to you? Did you find it difficult to understand or perhaps even incomprehensible? Maybe you had to read it twice in order to understand it. If your answer to any of these questions is yes; take heart.

It may be that you were so unsure of the validity of all or a part of the sentence that your mind decided not to believe it or to at least suspend judgment. All of that going on in your mind could have made the sentence sound like a first cousin to gibberish; like the writing in the cuneiform script image depicted here would appear to be to most people, and that could have caused you to find it difficult to understand. In any event, it is a difficult sentence.

English is truly not as difficult to learn as that last sentence is to understand. All of us should review the basics of clear English once in a while.

I was thinking of Vince Lombardi as I wrote that last sentence. Maybe you, too, recall the story of how one day, when, as the then new head football coach at Green Bay, Wisconsin, he became so frustrated with what was going on with his players on the playing field that he blew the whistle and said, “Everybody stop and gather around.”

Then, kneeling down, he picked up the pigskin, and said, “Let’s start at the beginning. This is a football. These are the yard markers. I’m the coach. You are the players.” He went on, in the most elementary way, explaining the basics of football.

Like Vince’s players, let’s gather around so we can review how to speak clear English and stop confusion.

I don’t claim to be an accomplished linguist or grammarian

I make linguistic and grammatical mistakes sometimes when I speak and when I write. Even the most learned among us make the occasional error. Ordinarily, however, I speak and write clearer English than most people. Knowing my English is not perfect does not keep me from trying to better my own English language skills, or offering those of you who may need it, the fruit of my research into the writings of those who have a superior knowledge of the rules, acceptable usages, styles, vocabulary, spelling, et cetera.

The English Language files will include posts devoted to: English grammar, usage, vocabulary, etymology, spelling, and literature. An abundance of hyperlinks will be offered here-some might say offered ad nauseam—for words in the English Language files that I think that some readers, may have only a hazy understand of-here—I have in mind ESL readers.

I have already admitted that I make grammar and usage mistakes all too often when speaking and when writing. However, I do not see myself totally lacking in linguistic abilities. In fact, I have no doubt that my English is far better than that of the average college graduate; even those with a PhD of some sort. It was not ever thus, however. To paraphrase a wag, whose identity has been lost in the mists of time, I have come a long way, baby. There was a time when I did not know a verb from a predicate, or an adjective from an adverb, and I wasn’t all that sure of what a semicolon was or how to use it either. You see, I was a high school dropout.

If you have stayed with me and read this far, then you, too, are  interested in how to Stop Confusion; Speak Clear English and, thus, have a better life. Part II is just a click away.

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