Naija English Forum: How Much Of English Do You Really Need? by Oluyinka Soyemi

Have you ever had to reconstruct a whole sentence because of a word you are not sure of? Have you ever used a word wrongly in public and realised you messed up the meaning? Have you ever weighed the credibility of two English language teachers who taught you different things on the same topic?

If yes, then this is for you.

As at 2006, English was the first language of more than 300 million people and second language of more, guess you know what that means at present. Roughly only one out of every four users of the language in the world is a native speaker, which simply means that most interactions in English take place among non-native speakers—us.

It is expected that our version will have its way into the vocabulary of English language someday, but not the 'avoidable errors'. Imagine expressions such as 'What is happen?', ' He writed the letter by himself' and ' I speaked English to him' finding their way into English, guess you know the disaster that would bring.

English is both the language of civilization and our official language, so it is a language to learn. You cannot run from it, it's everywhere you go.

Now, how much of English language do you really need to be competent? Not much, depending on what that is to you.

Noun is no longer only the 'name of any person...', learn about it. Verb is not only 'action word', learn about it. If you are sceptical about 'Are we all agreed?' as a correct expression, learn about it. If you find it difficult (often) to use tenses, learn about it...

Don't panic, what you really need is competence and that means the basics. Don't bother about big words, you may impress with them but may also be embarrased by them.

Pay attention to conversations and writings by people who know it and learn as much as you can.

Finally, naijaenglishforum.blogspot.com is here to explain English topics in the simplest way possible to you and you may have to 'unlearn' some of the wrong things you have in your head to go with the trend.

We will not tell you how you 'must' speak English, just how you can be competent.

Once again, what you can learn as much as you can is all you really need.

Thank you.

N.B-Do you live at Ogba, Ikeja, Ojodu and environs in Lagos and need an expert in contemporary English for your child or ward (primary, secondary and university students) at home? Don't hesitate to call 08155540592 or 09097675628. It's a life-changing decision.