who can correctly speak English?

Question

I am English and no I can not speak English perfectly and very few people can, Americans certanly can't so many people claim to speak good English but can't. Im English and I will admit it. I reacon that less than 5 % of English people can speak perfect English.
can you speak perfect English and know the English grammer perfectly and know the meaning to every word in the English dictionary. be honnest i dout u can

its a spell check in American and not English,
and yeah I know my English is crap but can any of u speak perfect English other than people from India who do speak better English than English people

nearly every answer given was utter crap, i was asking if anyone can speak english correctly i can speak english better than 99% of english speakers for sure but its still crap

Answer 1

Indians with a good Indian university degree are known to have the best control of English language... due to stricter education.
I'm not bad myself either...

Answer 2

Let's see, what did you say?

"I am English and, no, I cannot speak English perfectly, and very few people can; Americans certainly can't. So many people claim to speak good English but can't. I'm English and I will admit it. I reckon that less than 5% of English people can speak perfect English. Can you speak perfect English, and know English grammar perfectly, and know the meaning of every word in the English dictionary? Be honest. I doubt you can."

Well, there, at least I can admit to speaking better English than you, and it is my second language.

It is great that you admit to not being perfect, but instead of inventing false statistics (I believe at least over 80% of people can speak correct English if they put their mind to it and use the tools at their disposal) I think you should spend time on finding ways to improve your English. Use spell checks, dictionaries, a thesaurus, learn about grammar. If you want to, it's not that hard. But of course, if you prefer to stay like this and make a fool of yourself every time you write something, fine by me.

Answer 3

You would have to define 'perfect English'. The upper class drop Rs that should be pronounced, eg. Ratha for rather, supah for super etc. Then, after that, they insert Rs where they should not be, eg. bananar for banana. Why do they do this?
Personally, I think the best English accent I've heard is the one used by educated Dublin people. No, not the stupid D4 'roight' accent but say, Gay Byrne.
English has taken a dive since they stopped teaching grammar at schools. They will have to reintroduce it because how can a house be built without bricks and mortar? Same thing with a language. Grammar is the bricks and mortar from which a language is built.

Answer 4

English, and any language, is a living thing, it changes and varies depending on who the person speaking it is, and where they are from. 'Received pronunciation' is what you are probably thinking of, in the 1950's and 60's newsreaders or anyone on the radio or TV had to speak this. However nowadays we are much more relaxed, and realistic about this.

However, spelling is another thing, all English people should be able to spell most common words, for example:

reckon NOT reacon
doubt NOT dout

Answer 5

There is no correct way of speaking English because the language is changing constantly.

And as for Indians speaking better English that is a load of bull. Can't understand a word they say more than half the time.
Bring back call centres that are based in Britain and not in countries where they get cheap labor.

Answer 6

Do not apologize for being English, nothing wrong with being English.

To speak perfect English you should first start writing 'proper', not perfect, English, then you will grow accustomed to the proper way to speak the language. You should not use words such as 'shouldn't, don't, can't, etc.'

The spell check on this site is in Canadian and British English. For example, I am going to type in 'color' (which is American English) and the spell check will deem it a spelling mistake and ask me if I wish to change it to one of the following; col or, col-or, colour, Colo, cool, Cloe, Cole , cooler, CLO, and so on. Not once, did it ask me if I wished to change it to 'color'. Being a Canadian, I will of course choose the proper and correct spelling of 'color', so I click on 'colour'.

Do you realize how hard it was for me to write this answer? Not perfect, but close.

Answer 7

A decade ago to learn English, you had to attend costly English classes or purchase course material like tapes and books. Now you can learn English for free from the comfort of your home using the internet. The BBC and the British Council offer a number of online courses which teach written and spoken English. You can also improve your English by watching television programs and reading English newspapers. For more information, visit http://tinyurl.com/qnzpt

Answer 8

I cannot say that I speak English perfectly, but I do speak it very well. I have come by this ability by reading a great deal, and by having studied grammar. Language is a particular favorite among my interests and I pursue the knowledge of it avidly. I am convinced that language is the material with which we frame our thoughts, and that a good grasp of language leads to much clearer thinking.

The notion that one must speak perfectly or satisfy oneself with making no effort at all is not very sound.

Answer 9

I'm an English teacher. It is not that difficult to learn correct grammar and spelling. No, no one knows the meaning of every word in the dictionary, nor is that necessary. All you need is a good vocabulary so that you can communicate clearly.

Answer 10

I believe our use of the English language would improve if teaching of English were improved. We waste time studying Shakespeare when we could be studying linguistic structure. I learnt more about the structure of English through learning Spanish than I ever did in English class, such as correct use of the past participle and how to use an adverb correctly.