Why You Can't Understand English

The eight main reasons you cannot understand English are:

(1) Idioms. In everyday life we use idioms most of the time. Nobody knows them all, and they are always changing.

(2) Confusion. Advertisers use confusion to make you stop, look—and buy. We see many odd words coming from stores and merchants.

(3) Slang. People are trying to be cool, to use a slang word. (If you don’t know what cool means, type ‘What does cool mean?’ into your search engine.) Don't spend money to take a class in slang expressions. By the time you have memorized a list, those slang words will be out of date!

(4) Accents. If he has a Spanish accent and you are Korean, his Spanish accent will make his vowels sound different to you. You may not be able to understand one sentence he says. Even native speakers of English have a hard time understanding people with accents. For this reason, a student of English who wants to be clearly understood may need to work with an accent reduction tutor.

(5) Speaking Too Fast. Maybe he thinks he is speaking better English if he talks fast, like a machine. However, if you cannot understand him, ask him to please speak more slowly.

(6) You Cannot See the Person. Experts in communication say that 70% of the message comes from seeing the other person, the visual part. To understand, we need to see the other person's face, body, and hands. Making eye contact is also important to good communication.

A few decades ago, people used to turn to face each other when they spoke. That changed with advances in technology. Nowadays many of us prefer prefer communicating with people far away and don't really care to get together with people close proximity to us.

(7) He Does Not Want You To Understand Him. Communication is a two-way street. If you cannot understand somebody, maybe he does not want to be understood. You may never know the reason.

(8) English Has Too Many Words. Have you ever seen the complete dictionary of the English language? It is five inches thick and almost too heavy to lift! English has many levels of diction and usage, and even college professors meet to discuss what is correct and what is not correct.So never feel bad if you cannot understand English! Just try again!

What to Say When You Cannot Understand Someone

Say: 'Please repeat that, using different words' ...

Otherwise the person will just say again the same thing! And you will not understand him the second time ... the third time ... or the fourth time!

Some Questions for Discussion:

1. Many people have studied English for a long time. But when they come to New York City, they discover they cannot understand English as we speak it in everyday life. Does this describe you? What could you do to remedy this uncomfortable situation?
2. Is it okay to be ‘good enough’ in another language—or is it important to be perfect?
3. Do you think cell phones enhance communication, or block communication?

Copyright © 2011           Barbara A. English         All rights reserved.