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@Baltimore

Jabber's English Note---076

jabber(jabber)
本文发表在 rolia.net 枫下论坛The language is always intertwined with the culture, custom, and so on. Some of my friends are very good at English grammar, but their proficiency in English is far away from being able to handle some everyday life situataion. The problem arises this way: After they commanded those complicated English gramatical rules, they thought have had commanded the whole language and did not continue to spend time on applying those rules and learn things not covered by grammar.

I still remember one thing that happened right after I moved to the United States. There were several criminal cases in our community. Some Chinese and Indian students decided to work together to write a letter to the property management office. Being a postdoc, I was involved in this activity. I can still remember two modifications that Indian students made on a draft letter created by Chinese guys. In the draft, a phrase read "In our opinion". The Indian guys added one more word, then it read "In our humble opinion." In another sentense, it origianlly went like "We disagree that...". After going through Indian students' hands, it read "We respectivefully disagrre that...". There are some other interesting details, but I can no longer remember them. All in all, that's the first time I realized I need devote as much as possible time to improving my English.

Since I mentioned the term "in one's opinion", l may point out another interesting phenomenon. English-speakers from China always said " I think .....". Nothing is wrong there. Actually, there are some other ways to express the same ideas. As I talk about something I am sure, and as I politely try to fight against the people, I always say " I understand ....". Both "in my opion" and "I think" are not suitable for politics, including corporate politics because they are too straightforward.更多精彩文章及讨论，请光临枫下论坛 rolia.net
(#530144@0)
Last Updated: 2002-5-19
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  • 工作学习 / English / Jabber's English Note---076 -jabber(jabber); 2002-5-19 {1874} (#530144@0)
    本文发表在 rolia.net 枫下论坛The language is always intertwined with the culture, custom, and so on. Some of my friends are very good at English grammar, but their proficiency in English is far away from being able to handle some everyday life situataion. The problem arises this way: After they commanded those complicated English gramatical rules, they thought have had commanded the whole language and did not continue to spend time on applying those rules and learn things not covered by grammar.

    I still remember one thing that happened right after I moved to the United States. There were several criminal cases in our community. Some Chinese and Indian students decided to work together to write a letter to the property management office. Being a postdoc, I was involved in this activity. I can still remember two modifications that Indian students made on a draft letter created by Chinese guys. In the draft, a phrase read "In our opinion". The Indian guys added one more word, then it read "In our humble opinion." In another sentense, it origianlly went like "We disagree that...". After going through Indian students' hands, it read "We respectivefully disagrre that...". There are some other interesting details, but I can no longer remember them. All in all, that's the first time I realized I need devote as much as possible time to improving my English.

    Since I mentioned the term "in one's opinion", l may point out another interesting phenomenon. English-speakers from China always said " I think .....". Nothing is wrong there. Actually, there are some other ways to express the same ideas. As I talk about something I am sure, and as I politely try to fight against the people, I always say " I understand ....". Both "in my opion" and "I think" are not suitable for politics, including corporate politics because they are too straightforward.更多精彩文章及讨论，请光临枫下论坛 rolia.net
    • On one's opinion? 那些修饰非常好，印度人英语很好。 -pyramid(金字塔); 2002-5-19 (#530165@0)
      • Sorry, I made a typo again.. In my opinion. -jabber(jabber); 2002-5-19 (#530291@0)
        • 我的意思是，是不是用 on 比用 in 好呢？ -pyramid(金字塔); 2002-5-19 (#531000@0)
          • "In my opinion" is a correct, established expression. I used "On' because of my terrible typings. I do need do spelling checks. -jabber(jabber); 2002-5-20 (#531726@0)
    • wow，最近很勤奋呀！:D //有空的时候给sailor捧捧场，把你的文章收进枫下专辑呀。 -bingle(bingle); 2002-5-19 (#530172@0)
      • 如何删掉贴错的文章呢? -pyramid(金字塔); 2002-5-19 (#530186@0)
        • 两个办法。办法1：给sailor发信，让他帮忙删掉。办法2：给sailor提建议，让他增加删除功能。:P //Sailor肯定连打两个喷嚏。 -bingle(bingle); 2002-5-19 (#530188@0)
          • 只有这两个？ -pyramid(金字塔); 2002-5-19 (#530191@0)
            • 第三个：窃取sailor的密码，然后你就为所欲为了。:P -bingle(bingle); 2002-5-19 (#530197@0)
              • 早由此心，快告诉我怎么窃？ -pyramid(金字塔); 2002-5-19 {24} (#530202@0)
                窃了也没用，还要学Java。
                • java?这里用的是php，老兄。 -guestagain(guest again); 2002-5-19 (#530239@0)
    • Another great note from Jabber! Actually, the term "in my humble opinion" is so widely used in the usenet world that it has its own short form -- IMHO. There's another term derived from this, called IMNSHO -dennis2(Dennis); 2002-5-19 {307} (#530182@0)
      -- In My Not So Humble Opinion. This is used when someone is very confident about his/her point(s).

      BTW, reading newsgroups IMHO is another good way to improve our English. Most of the time, the posters are native speakers, so that we can observe the subtleties when they respond to different situations.
      • Please don't overestimate our English level. It is very likely... -jabber(jabber); 2002-5-19 (#530289@0)
      • Could you do me a favor telling me what the IMHO newsgroup is? What's its whole newsgroup name ? Thanks -flyoversea(flyoversea); 2002-5-19 (#531063@0)
        • Argh, you misunderstood me. What I wanted to say is: In my humble opinion (IMHO), reading newsgroups is another good way to improve our English. There's no newsgroup called IMHO :-) -dennis2(Dennis); 2002-5-20 (#531160@0)
          • :-)))))))))))))))))))))), then any newgroups suggest ? -flyoversea(flyoversea); 2002-5-20 (#531186@0)
            • There are just too many. Try to find some that are of interest to you: computers, autos, business, art, philosophy, religion, ... ... -dennis2(Dennis); 2002-5-20 {409} (#531231@0)
              I used to hang out at c.o.l.a (comp.os.linux.advocacy) when I was still a Linux fan. There are just tons of flames between the Linux and Windows camps ('cause they usually cross post to comp.os.ms-windows.advocacy). There are quite a few truely knowledged people from both camps, and it's fun to read their posts.

              So just pick a topic you like and hang out there, you'll learn a lot from it. Believe me.
    • some sentences seem really awkward to me such as "Some of my friends are very good at English grammar". dont know why. just a feeling. -breathe(呼吸); 2002-5-20 (#531135@0)

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