As a French speaker, I have always tried to brush up on my rusty English by sharing ideas or chatting strictly with natives from the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, Australia, etc. Practicing the language with native speakers helps you be as sharp as a needle.
Some of my non-native English speaking colleagues from Brussels simply cannot seem to get their head around learning English strictly with natives. The snag is that the more English is spoken by non-native speakers, the more it is altered to suit regional needs. As you probably know already, the languages most commonly used by non-native speakers in Europe are English, French and German.
Almost thirty years ago, I had the opportunity to spend twelve months in Southeastern Ohio. It was a complete immersion in an anglophone environment (at a time when there was no internet or not many French speakers in that region). Since then, I have always gone to great lengths to ensure that there is some necessary support in order to adapt to a true anglophone environment and learn English -- to be differentiated from Spanglish, Franglais or EU jargon. You have probably heard about EU jargon before, right? You know, this hodgepodge of most Member States' languages and a clear result of the European Union's will for consensus! Union, mechanism, directive, regulation and synergy for instance are words often overused in Brussels. It sometimes requires to bust a gut in order to defend plain English there.
[Read also one of my previous articles entitled Will Brexit also mean Brexit as far as English language is concerned? at http://bert-languagesandlinguistics.blogspot.be/2016/11/will-brexit-mean-brexit-as-far-as.html]
I often pick my Ohioan host parents' brains to receive explanations on some aspects of the English language and to get abreast of its evolution, today still. It is also nice to have a chat with British colleagues once in a while. Via Skype, you can also easily chew the fat with natives nowadays.
It is wrong to think that you know a language like the back of your hand. In language learning and teaching, there is no other method than applying some self-analysis and always trying to improve.
The key to knowledge of the English language is work, work and forever more work! Being curious is also crucial of course... In the past, I taught several children on the joys of learning English and reading English or American literature. I have always beavered away at sharing tips and sources with those who are interested in learning English idioms and expressions.
I know that some of you might think that mentioning paperback books is kind of old-fashioned but, believe me, it is always nice to turn away from a screen from time to time... Here are therefore references of a few monolingual and bilingual dictionaries as well as useful books that helped me bone up on my English during the last few years:
- An A to Z of British Life, by Adrian Room (Oxford University Press, 1990) - ISBN 0-19-431144-9
- A Practical English Grammar, by A.J. Thomson and A.V. Martinet (Oxford University Press, 1986) - ISBN 0-19-431342-5
- A Practical English Grammar, by A.J. Thomson and A.V. Martinet (Oxford University Press, 1986) - ISBN 0-19-431342-5
- Collins Concise Dictionary Plus (William Collins Sons & Co., Ltd., London and Glasgow, 1989) - ISBN 0-00-433252-0
- Dictionnaire de l'anglais économique, commercial et financier anglais/français et French/English par M. Marcheteau, L. Dahan, J.-P. Berman, C. Pelloux et M. Savio (Langues pour Tous, Pocket, 1995 et 2004) - ISBN 2-266-08921-8
- Harrap's Expressions anglaises (Harrap, Editions Larousse, 2016) - ISBN 978-2-81-870448-6
- Le Robert & Collins - Dictionnaire français-anglais English-French, by B.T. Atkins, A. Duval, R.C. Milne and P.-H. Cousin, H.M.A. Lewis, L.A. Sinclair, R.O. Birks and M.-N. Lamy (William Collins Sons & Co., Ltd. and Dictionnaires Le Robert, 1987) - ISBN 2-85036-088-0 and ISBN 0-00-433451-5
- Le Robert & Collins - Dictionnaire français-anglais English-French, by B.T. Atkins, A. Duval, R.C. Milne and P.-H. Cousin, H.M.A. Lewis, L.A. Sinclair, R.O. Birks and M.-N. Lamy (William Collins Sons & Co., Ltd. and Dictionnaires Le Robert, 1987) - ISBN 2-85036-088-0 and ISBN 0-00-433451-5
- The Oxford Paperback Thesaurus, compiled by B. Kirkpatrick (Oxford University Press, 1994) - ISBN 0-19-282841-X
Hang in there and hit the nail on the head! You need to learn idioms and expressions. I hope this list of interesting books and dictionaries will be useful for language lovers who want to chat in English and eventually speak less and less Chinglish, Denglish, Spanglish, Franglais, EU jargon or another creole language! No pain, no gain! 😉
Do not hesitate to let me know what your favourite idioms are.
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