The English Language Is Endlessly Fascinating

 

The English Language is Endlessly Fascinating

By Jeffrey M. Bowen

 

Recently I spotted a shabby old Merriam-Webster pocket dictionary in my bookcase.  Held together with masking tape, the binding reminded me of the countless times I riffled through it on my mission to become a dedicated wordsmith. 

 

I have loved words my entire life, starting with mimicking nursery rhymes my grandmother read to me as a three-year-old, through several professional careers that constantly depended on words of analysis and inspiration.  In fact, when I retired a few years ago, my school district colleagues gifted me with a plaque that reads, “Words are the voice of the heart.” Most likely they meant I use way too many words to explain things.

 

I have had plenty to choose from over the years since the English language has millions of words.  They have bubbled up in our dictionaries from an ancient British melting pot of origins beginning with Germanic, Anglo-Saxon, and Old Norse (think Viking), followed in the last millenium by French and Latin.  More or less, our words reflect about 29 percent Latin, 29 percent French, 26 percent German, six percent Greek, and 10 percent “other”.  American English adds a distinctive twist due to the historical assimilation of Mexican Spanish, including terms that name our geography, weather, cowboy life, and even ballroom dancing.   

 

English is endlessly fascinating.  Digging for its roots can be revealing and entertaining.  I am sorry I did not take Latin in school because so many medical, technical, and legal words spring from this so-called dead language. Instead, I learned to speak poor French, though it does offer an amazing variety of terms to describe everything from meats and cooking to money and denim.  We borrow many French words without bothering to change them.      

 

Pronunciation varies tremendously. We violate rules of grammar at every turn.  Because our language derives from so many sources, there are thousands of ways to say essentially the same thing, so a thesaurus outweighs any dictionary.  What is more, jargon and special expressions may overwhelm English language learners.  As for spelling, I heard an English teacher recently describe it as something invented by a seven-year-old who had eaten too much sugar candy. 

 

Despite these challenges, English has become the international “lingua franca” -- that is, a bridge for worldwide communication.  This is partly because of our wandering commercial ways, but earlier because the British managed to colonize most of the world.

 

 Another reason for my passion comes from having spent a year teaching English in Vietnam.  While stationed there, my charge was to teach military cadets enough conversational English so they could be sent stateside to learn the technical side of aircraft.  I remain unsure of the logic here, but the military’s language learning method of modeling terms and sentences worked wonders.  My students proved to be quick learners.  

 

Remember that old pocket dictionary I mentioned?  It became my bible in Vietnam.  During our free time there was little to do, so I decided to memorize any words I did not know in the dictionary.  Of course, context was missing, but it never stopped me from excelling at Scrabble or frustrating editors of my future articles.  On balance, I concluded that one can find more unhappy than happy words in our language.

 

Different types of knowledge call for different types of learning and vocabulary. One can make a convincing case that each word we learn is like a signal flag, below which are planted whole networks of meaning. Our vocabulary is strongly correlated with intelligence, ability to comprehend new information, and even one’s level of wealth.  When children are not exposed to a rich vocabulary at home (reading aloud to them is key) especially in their pre-school years, they struggle to catch up in school.

 

One of the reasons why schools shy away from explicit vocabulary instruction is that there are so many words.  It is said that the number of printed school English words is around 85,000.  Rest assured, there are effective ways to teach ourselves vocabulary.  We can make these work for us anytime.

 

Here is how.  First, expose yourself to new words in different contexts an ample number of times – reportedly at least six.  Then use the word at every opportunity (even if you bore your friends).  Associate your new words with memorable images.  Direct vocabulary instruction definitely does work, particularly when the words are critically important to new content.  A teacher is not always necessary, but it does help immeasurably to be curious and to read anything and everything whenever possible.  Finally, when you run onto a word you don’t know, stop to look it up on your cell phone or in your dusty dictionary.