Writing in English as a Second Language

Writing English as a Second Language, By William Zinsser: A talk to the incoming international students at the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism, August 11, 2009

William Zinsser comments primarily on radical differences between Arabic, Spanish, and English. Arabic is notable as a decorative, ornamental language, like you were talking in proverbs.

Spanish also comes with a heavy load of beautiful baggage that will smother any journalist writing in English. The Spanish language is a national treasure, justly prized by Spanish-speaking people. But what makes it a national treasure is its long sentences and melodious long nouns that express a general idea. Those nouns are rich in feeling, but they have no action in them no people doing something we can picture. My Spanish-speaking students must be given the bad news that those long sentences will have to be cruelly chopped up into short sentences with short nouns and short active verbs that drive the story forward. What's considered "good writing" in Spanish is not "good writing" in English.

Zinsser quotes what he considers one of the finest English sentences (from Walden).

I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of nature, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.

Among his compliments, he notes that this sentence has only 5 words over one syllable:
because -modeled on French par cause
essential - Latin based word
deliberately - Latin based word
discover - Latin based word
nature - Latin based word

He ends the speech with an instruction to all journalism students
• Short is better than long.
• Simple is good.
• Long Latin nouns are the enemy.
• Anglo-Saxon active verbs are your best friend.
• One thought per sentence.
  
  While this advice may be good journalism, I think that many people like the eloquence of the Latin languages. In general the Latin words now constitute the majority of the vocabulary of English, with the Anglo Saxon verbs forming a semantic core.
  
  Any thoughts? I would particularly like to hear from English as a second language members.

I really enjoyed this piece. From an educator's standpoint (myself: public school teacher) when I hear the phrase English as a Second Language, I automatically think of my ELL students (English Language Learners). This piece is refreshing because the students are fluent in both English and their native language.

I would like to get Nareed's take on this subject. Great topic!

Quote: Winston Churchill

We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills: we shall never surrender.

Supposedly Winston Churchill wrote his sentences using as many Anglo Saxon based words as possible. This not only moved his speeches along nicely, but gave them a very patriotic sound.

Of course, surrender is based on an Old French word, and ultimately on Latin. The Old English way to say surrender was ālecgan (“lay down”) from which we get the word allay which means to pacify or appease. Since that would make the speech sound bizarre, I suppose you can't must use a Latin word on occassion. There were only 25K words in Anglo Saxon, and some of those words have drifted into obscurity.

Of course, the Anglo Saxon roots were mostly in Germany, but logic was not part of the issue.


Which of the most commonly used verbs are Anglo Saxon or Old Norse in origin?
# be
# have
# do
# say
# get
# make
# go
# know
# take
# see
# come
# think
# look
# want
# give
# use
# find
# tell
# ask
# work
# seem
# feel
# try
# leave
# call

Quote: CaliTeacher

I would like to get Nareed's take on this subject. Great topic!

That would greatly depend on what "this subject" is.

Quote: Nareed

That would greatly depend on what "this subject" is.

Quote: Pacomartin

Writing English as a Second Language, By William Zinsser: A talk to the incoming international students at the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism, August 11, 2009

Spanish also comes with a heavy load of beautiful baggage that will smother any journalist writing in English. The Spanish language is a national treasure, justly prized by Spanish-speaking people. But what makes it a national treasure is its long sentences and melodious long nouns that express a general idea. Those nouns are rich in feeling, but they have no action in them no people doing something we can picture. My Spanish-speaking students must be given the bad news that those long sentences will have to be cruelly chopped up into short sentences with short nouns and short active verbs that drive the story forward. What's considered "good writing" in Spanish is not "good writing" in English..