The Goal of Oral English - Page 1

The goal of Oral English is communication. Communication means that people speaking to one another can understand each other. In the world of business you must communicate with others from many countries with different native languages. Much of this communication with people of different languages is done in English. When a German does business with a person from Italy it is in English. Some 98% of the world is learning English from an early age through college. So for a business major, English is a necessity.

Is English the best language in the world? Many people would say no. Other languages have better structures, are simpler, and are far more regular with fewer exceptions to the rules. The English language has "borrowed" words from many of the languages of the world. Immigrants coming into the United States have contributed many words to the language, words that have rules of pronunciation from the original country. "Coolie" and "kowtow" were taken from the Chinese language, "kamikaze" from the Japanese, "shampoo" from Indian, "blitz" from German, "amigo" and "Los Angeles" from Mexican and so on. Almost all Americans trace their roots from other countries and thus the language is rich in words from these countries.

English is a language that is constantly changing. British English was once the most popular but is gradually being replaced by American English. The two differ somewhat in spelling, vocabulary, and use of articles. Either is acceptable but you must not mix the two. You must use one or the other.