I'm just curious coz' some of them are americans yet they don't know how to write things here with correct grammar.. I'm just confused coz' I believed that they only speak english so that would mean that they're really good with the language.. but unfortunately they're not.. I'm not from there yet I know more about english grammars than them..I'm not trying to insult someone or anything.. I'm just wondering..
2007-12-20 16:19:10 · 13 answers · asked by Ren2x 2 in Society & Culture ➔ Languages
The United States of America does not have an official language. There are many languages used in the USA.
In the case of your question, though, I think it has to do more with being a native speaker or a non-native speaker of English. As a non-native speaker, you most likely studied a lot about English grammar in school. But for your native language, you learned how to use it without learning any grammar rules; it was natural to you. It's the same way with many Americans. If they learned to speak English naturally without study, they won't know a lot about English grammar consciously.
As far as grammar mistakes, I think you'll find that many of the grammar rules for English that you have learned are actually simplified rules. English teachers often teach their students rules that don't actually represent everything that native speakers do. For example, you might have learned that stative verbs like "love" don't use progressive/continuous forms, but right now a popular slogan for McDonald's says "I'm lovin' it". The slogan breaks the rule. But actually it's the rule that isn't good, because it doesn't describe the full behavior of how people use English. So you might think that English speakers are breaking rules, when they are actually behaving quite naturally. You might also compare this to your own native language, where people are taught grammar rules, but still break them all the time.
2007-12-20 16:56:07 · answer #1 · answered by drshorty 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Here is something very interesting...
I have heard that the United States does NOT actually have an OFFICIAL language. Primarily English is spoken here, but Spanish is also frequently heard depending on where you go. You will also occasionally hear some French, Italian, German, Chinese,....and pretty much anything else you can think of.
And you are correct about grammar. It is not always used correctly. For example, half the time people don't use relative pronouns. So to be honest if your native language is not English, then you are probably better of in the whole grammar department.
2007-12-20 16:35:53 · answer #2 · answered by Katie 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I know what you're talking about. Some of those who post in here have really atrocious language skills. I'm sure that much of the time, it's because English is not the poster's first language, but alot of the time, it IS their native tongue, and they seem unable to formulate coherent thoughts in it. It's hard to know what to blame this phenomenon on, too. Is it too much TV? Poor teacher quality? Flawed educational methods? Lousy parenting? An overdevotion to one or more of the many diversions our culture offers? I cannot say with any certainty, but I suppose it must be a multitude of reasons, which makes it difficult to'fix'. And I suppose we should try to remember that languages are dynamic things, always changing to fit new times. Maybe it's just the language evolving.
2007-12-20 16:38:36 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
English is the most common language, and is universally used for commerce and government, but many other languages are spoken, with Spanish being number 2. The US has taken immigrants from all over the globe, so the number of languages spoken must be in the hundreds.
2007-12-20 16:25:06 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
English is the primary language in America, but many people don't practice "proper grammar". They use a local dialect (grammar common to their area and how they were brought up) that can be very far from proper english.
2007-12-20 16:26:00 · answer #5 · answered by James P 2 · 4⤊ 0⤋
English is the official language in America; however, there are different dialects of English. Americans all over the country speak different dialects of English.
2007-12-20 16:24:50 · answer #6 · answered by Diamond 2 · 0⤊ 2⤋
Well, english is the official language of america, but there are many people here who speak different languages such as Spanish and Chinese. There are also a lot of french speakers in louisiana and maine. i hadn't known that!
2007-12-20 16:22:45 · answer #7 · answered by cali 2 · 0⤊ 2⤋
English is the most common language, and is universally used for commerce and government, but many other languages are spoken, with Spanish being number 2..
2007-12-20 16:28:10 · answer #8 · answered by abdulah dashti 3 · 0⤊ 3⤋
No offense, but your syntax is greatly lacking as well as most of your diction.
GT you are absolutely right. English is the official language of the USA, and im not going to change it because of some socialist liberals in this country, who want to destroy America and hate America.
2007-12-20 16:27:15 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 3⤋
im american and yes that is anoying. using acronyms i think is the word which is actually very common in the american armed forces and alot of other things
2007-12-20 16:24:03 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋