Do you believe that the proper use of English is extremely important in our lives? For those who said no, you really don’t think that proper English is that important? Think again. Speaking proper English is only beneficial to us, so why not take advantage of that? On the other hand, one misuse of English may cause a difficult to handle situation. A simple misuse may cause misunderstanding between you and a friend/family member. A simple misuse may cause you to lose your job, or not be able to even get one. A simple misuse may cause you to being manipulated, or having your words being twisted out of context against you. Speaking proper English is as important as eating or sleeping, and it may even lead to a prosperous life, so what are we waiting for? A speech to help us live our lives? We can make a simple change to make our lives better, and that simple change is just correcting the way we speak.
Now, before I get into explaining what may be caused by using improper English, I’d have to start with identifying some mistakes in the way we speak. Some are grammatically incorrect, and others are just logically incorrect. Using “me” and “I,” “nothing” and “anything,” “him/her” and “he/she,” and “good” and well” incorrectly are basic grammatical errors that people still get mixed up with. Also, using anyways rather than anyway, or should of instead of should have are grammatical errors too. Certain phrases, and responses to questions may be logically incorrect. Some people may say “I could care less” even though they mean “I couldn’t care less.” Or saying “a 360 degree turn in my life” when one’s life has changed, but it should actually be a “180 degree turn.” And when I said responses to questions, I meant yes or no responses to contracon questions, and I will explain what those are later. These are only a handful of problems, for there is a vast ocean of problems in the way we speak.
And if I explained how to properly use English, this would be more like a lesson rather than a speech, and my point wouldn’t get across since we have only ten minutes. So deciding to go out there and fix ourselves is entirely up to each one of us. I’m not here to forcefully change your way of speaking, but to inform you of the importance of speaking proper English, and showing you how the opposite may affect us in a negative way. I too don’t speak English flawlessly, but I try to improve myself.
Misunderstandings. I believe there are two factors that contribute to misunderstandings. Logic and vocabulary. Your choice of words, and how you use them are important in successful communication. So many neglect that, and end up arguing with the other party due to misunderstandings. This happens to many people, and it has even happened to me. My parents are both foreigners, so their first languages were not English, but my sister on the other hand is basically a “grammar Nazi,” and she knows better English than most people do. So, my sister and I talk to our parents plenty, but since out parents’ English isn’t the best, they word certain statements incorrectly, and it makes it seem as if they are saying the opposite. As an example, they would say something along the lines of “____” even though they meant the opposite. And my sister would always feel offended, and an argument would come up. And, yes, I know that English wasn’t their first language, so you can’t blame them, but this problem isn’t exclusive to foreigners. Many Americans, too, make this mistake, and sometimes, due to these misunderstandings, resolving the problem would be difficult, and we would be in these difficult to handle situations. So to sum it up, misunderstandings from misusing English may cause a somewhat unhealthy relationship, as well as difficult to handle situations.
Most jobs require interviews, and as you know, interviews determine whether or not you get your job. I’ve browsed through the internet looking for different opinions on “what you should do when being interviewed” or “what interviewers look for during interviews,” and the answers varied. Yes, it is important how you present yourself, what your experiences are, and what you say during the interview, but while reading these, let’s say, guides, I noticed that most of them say that during an interview, and I quote, “one mistake during the interview will kill your chances of success” because “if someone doesn’t speak in an intelligent manner, it is very likely that they are unintelligent, or uneducated.” Or at least that’s how one would judge from the way someone speaks. And it’s not only important to use proper English to get a job, but also to use it during the job. Studies show that “those who have an advanced knowledge of the English language are much more likely to advance in their careers.” And these advances in their careers may lead to social mobility and success, as well as a higher income. But you may be wondering “how does using better English make us more successful? Because doesn’t your hard work play a part in becoming more successful?” Yes, but like I said, people judge from the way you speak. I read an article about this man who was acknowledged because, unlike his co-workers, he used a “proper” and “eloquent” way of speaking. Due to this, he claimed that his payroll increased, and that he had social mobility and success.
Continuing on, I used to do community service at my grandmother’s job (which was taking care of elderly people), and I spoke to the elderly. I remember there was this man who used to be a lawyer, and at that time (this was at least a couple years ago by the way), I wanted to be a lawyer, so I used to talk to him the most. I remember him telling me that the hardest part of being a lawyer, was becoming one, but that wasn’t the question I was looking for. I wanted to know how to become a successful lawyer. Do you know what he told me? He said that being wise, and having the ability to manipulate the witnesses into supporting your point by twisting his/her words is essential in becoming a lawyer who wins all their cases. And when I remembered these words, I thought about how you would be able to manipulate someone by twisting their words out of context. The misuse of English. I automatically thought that if people misused English (logically), it would be easier to twist their words against them. And this is what made me think of contracon questions. I mentioned earlier about contracon questions, but most of you probably don’t know what they are. A contradictory confirmation question (contracon for short) is basically a question that confirms a fact about someone, but its structure starts with a negative (ex. don’t, won’t, aren’t; basically, the “not” contractions) and ends with a subject. An example would be “You didn’t go over there?” Now, the common answer, if the person didn’t “go over there,” would be “no,” but saying “no” contradicts the actual truth because logically speaking, saying “no” would be disagreeing with the question, so it would mean that you actually did “go over there.” Contracon questions, in my opinion, are the most widespread, logical error in our language. I considered not including this idea in my speech since I rarely hear someone respond logically correct, but still, contracon questions may assist in manipulating someone. The same goes for double negatives, and contracon questions are double negatives. To an extent. Double negatives are statements containing two negative elements.