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English Language Articles
Dig deeper and see what you learn
As well as the tips that you will find on this site, there is also a growing list of English language-related articles which look at certain subjects in greater depth and are written with a slightly different tone. They are usually longer as well.
Feel free to print these articles and read them at your leisure, maybe when you are away from your computer.
A brief history of the English language
The English language is more than a little confusing for most of us. It seems to be full of rules one minute and full of exceptions the next.
Allow me to aid your study of English by explaining a principal reason why English can be so complex. The problem with English lies in its history: modern English is made up of a combination of words, phrases and spellings from four key sources:
The impact of technology on the English language
Technology's role in our lives is astonishing. Its effect on the way we communicate has changed the English language forever.
To be more specific, the way we speak today is, by and large, the way we spoke before the internet became what it is, albeit with an enriched vocabulary. Conventions of telephone conversations have, to my mind, changed little: we still use the same methods - if not words - to greet and sign off, for example.
What is hugely different, however, is the way we write today. That is the area where technology has had the biggest impact.
Boost your chances of landing your dream job: avoid these common résumé (CV) mistakes
Avoiding common mistakes when creating and submitting your résumé is both relatively simple and incredibly important.
But research has shown that the internet encourages job-seekers to send out lazy, generic, 'cut-and-paste' résumés that are riddled with errors.
Lighthouse PR, a London-based company working in the technology sector, analysed the 245 applications it received while recruiting in the first three months of 2007 and discovered that three-quarters of them contained basic errors, such as spelling and grammatical mistakes.
Improving your English vocabulary
Learning English can of course be a daunting task. But the best way to approach it is clear and simple: one small step at a time.
That way, you are less likely to feel intimidated by both the sheer scale of your task and also the vast amount of resources which are available.
Take action - write now!
You'd be surprised by the number of people who would love to write something or have their work published but who actually do not sit down to write on a regular basis.
They have lots of ideas, start something, don't pursue it, then they move on to the next project, dreaming all the way. I know - I have been guilty of this myself.
Getting to know punctuation
This can be a particularly confusing area of the English language. But it is an area that you need to understand as best you can in order to make your writing - however formal or informal - as clear as possible.
Without the correct punctuation, English is messy and extremely difficult to understand, even for a good reader. So do your best with this one. You might find that you know more than you realise.
