Crucial language questions: Do you want better English?

THE TWO Es TO LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY
To me, good English is about the two Es: Education and Environment. Education is necessary to learn the rules and there are five crucial areas to perfect in English. These are firstly, developing an understanding of the role of context in understanding an English word; secondly, understanding how expressions develop; thirdly collocations, how words are used together in a sentence; fourthly, the rules of grammar and lastly the role of the rules of pronunciation in speech and writing. In effect, an environment is necessary to practice what has been learnt. English is a skill and needs regular practice if you want to maintain a reasonable level of proficiency.

LANGUAGE SKILL ACQUISITION
As a native speaker, I have always maintained that there is no distinction between native speakers and non-native speakers. This is especially true when it comes to education, but there is a gap when it comes to environment. I had native-speaker parents, grandparents, friends and other relatives who provided me with a continuous English-speaking environment. This is what I call the native-speaker advantage and in effect provided daily conversation classes.

SPEAK GOOD ENGLISH MOVEMENT
Singapore has a Speak Good English Movement and this year a Government Minister, Vivian Balakrisnan at the launch of the 2010 campaign this month, posed three questions:
1. Why do we use English?
2. Why do we insist on good English?
3. What do we mean by good English?

Think about these questions and think about why you speak English and what the definition of good English is. Here are my answers to those three questions.

WHY ENGLISH?
English is used in so many countries either as one of the offical languages or as a second language. In addition, it is the predominate language in science, technology, commerce and the Internet.

WHY GOOD ENGLISH?
Only with good English can you effectively communicate. Misunderstandings and miscommunications can impede effective communication and undermine relationships. With bad English we often really do not know exactly what a person is attempting to say.

WHAT IS GOOD ENGLISH?
At the higher levels in international business, a good standard of English is necessary to look professional (appearances) and also to communicate effectively. However, for every day social transactions, using taxis and ordering food for example, then more simple English is probably enough.