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1. Reader feedback on Aaron Says Volume 20
We were very happy to receive our first email message with specific lengthy feedback about the contents of Aaron Says. One of our readers replied in response to our section about accent reduction. You can read it at http://aaronlanguage.com/volume20.htm. She wrote as follows:
Dear Aaron,
I'm a reader who is subscribing to your online magazine with great interest. You put how to acquire native-like English pronunciation, and I think the tips you mentioned are very useful. However, as for the idea of acquiring native like sound of English, I have a different view.
I think English is becoming more of an international language functioning as a tool for communication. In this sense, it is not necessary for non-native English speakers to correct their pronunciations reflecting their own mother tongue to native, what is called British or American, English sounds. Not to mention, for mutual understanding, non-native speaker's Englishes need to achieve some criteria in pronunciation, but more is not needed. I believe that Englishes spoken by different nationalities should also present speakers' identities, keeping their unique English sounds reflecting their first languages. In this day and age, where non-native speakers contact each other more than with native speakers, acquiring native-like sounds should not be the aim in learning English speaking. I think, however, for catching the sounds of a native speaker's English, learners' of English need to get used to listening to their English in many ways.
Thank you for your attention and allowing me to say my thoughts.
Sincerely yours,
Yayoi Tsukada
Ms. Tsukada has made an important point about pronouncing and speaking English. Many years ago almost all English speakers, students, and teachers viewed the Queen's English as proper English and everything else as incorrect. Over the years, different dialects of English including American English and Australian English came into their own. English speakers, students, and teachers then viewed these different dialects of English spoken in the English speaking countries such as America, Canada, and Australia as proper English. There was still some discussion about which of these Englishes was more proper than others, but they were all viewed as proper English. Living English languages such as Indian English and Black English were not viewed as proper English, even though their speakers were native English speakers. The English spoken by nonnative speakers was certainly not viewed as proper if they had accents or modified the grammar in any way. It was thought that all nonnative English speakers and all native English speakers of dialects such as Indian English and Black English should aspire to change their English so it could become proper English such as the Queen's English or American English.
Then, in recent years the concept of World Englishes (WE) has developed. The foremost authority in WE is Braj Kachru who was instrumental in starting and developing this field. If you look at http://www3.telus.net/public/mcleanky/bridgingthegap/weresources.html, you can see some of the many sites about WE and information about different WE. WE basically say what Ms. Tsukada is saying. Native speaker accents and behaviors are not the goal for everyone. There are different Englishes in the world, and different people who speak them. The goal is communication and understanding. WE allow and encourage people to use English, communicate, and maintain their national characteristics. At ALS we believe it is the learners choice about whether they want to model themselves after native speakers or maintain some of the characteristics of their native languages. As long as second language speakers strive to speak in intelligible and understood ways, they have the choice of which WE they would like to use.
That said, however, we would like to note that most students of English we communicate with tell us that they would like to sound like a native speaker. The concept of WE is still new and has not been widely accepted by students as an appropriate goal.
In conclusion we would also like to add that we believe that there is American English and Indian English as well as British English and Caribbean English. There is also Australian English and African English. However, it is questionable if there is Japanese English. In order to have a dialect, it is necessary to have a community where the English is spoken as a real language. The English spoken by Japanese is just that- English spoken by Japanese. It is not a dialect with accepted rules, accepted grammar, and accepted norms. The English spoken by Japanese varies to include fluent English, excellent English, passable English, and beginning attempts of new English language learners.
Lastly, we would like to thank Ms. Tsukada for her feedback and encourage more letters from you, our readers. Language is communication, and we hope to have more communication from you.
2. Changing nouns into verbs- Strengthening your writing
In past issues of Aaron Says we have addressed the issue of wordiness. Too many words weaken writing without adding advantages. Today, we would like to examine strengthening writing by changing nouns into verbs.
We have presented some examples below of phrases that we commonly see Japanese writers of English use.
take into consideration
make a presentation
give a lecture
make a request
make an inquiry
provide an explanation
make a decision
make clear
While there may occasionally be need to use such phrases, in general we would recommend the following:
consider
present
lecture
request
inquire
explain
decide
clarify
These verbs provide all the information that the phrases above provide, but they do so with fewer words. The writing is stronger, clearer, and better. We imagine that much of the lengthier phrases above are based on Japanese writing which uses this style. When you write, we recommend that you look at your phrases with nouns that can be changed into verbs. Making the change will strengthen your writing.
3. Singing a song - The common mistake
We imagine that all Japanese learn the phrase “sing a song” in junior high school. In American English, however, we normally say or write, “sing.”
For example:
Let's sing after dinner tonight.
I like singing around the campfire.
If you are going to sing something specific, you would say so:
I like to sing rock and roll.
I like to sing country western songs.
We don't normally say, “I am going to sing a song.”
When we say we are going to sing, songs are implied. It is not necessary and sounds awkward. If we are reading, we may want to specify books, magazines, newspapers, or something else. With songs though, there is nothing else to specify.
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