Month July 2007

English is one of the easiest languages to learn, despite the logical inconsistencies in its spelling and the multitude of --- seemingly nonsensical to some learners --- phrasal verbs. The fact that you rarely find polysyllabic words in English tends to favour smaller and less developed vocabularies among its native speakers; that's really sad as the potential for expressive power of English is immensely higher than what's actually witnessed in Britain or the U.S. It is absurd, in my opinion, to suggest that simplifying spelling would improve literacy. If anything, English should be taught more rigorously in schools to help children develop a 'feel' for the language beyond what they get by reading books and talking to their parents and friends; it is a well known joke that the Dutch (for example) speak better English than the English. My Ph.D supervisor once told me -- to my surprise -- that he thought I spoke better English than most 'native speakers' and he added that it was probably due to the way many Europeans learn the language. Perhaps he's right. What I believe is that simplifying English spelling would probably be disastrous to the language --- as Marsha Bell's annoying spelling in the article proves. Most commenters on this BBC article seem to agree with this. Stop the dumbing down!