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How would one improve his native language | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
| BartoG Diglot Senior Member United States confession Joined 5447 days ago 292 posts - 818 votes  Speaks: English*, French Studies: Italian, Spanish, Latin, Uzbek | Message 9 of 11 07 March 2010 at 10:41pm | IP Logged |
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If you're looking to improve your verbal expression, I would recommend old movies about figures of historical importance, documentaries about political leaders, political shows with commentators of all stripes. I would also counsel reading books where the dialog strikes you as clever or intelligent. You can't display good verbal skills if you don't know what that looks like.
Often, people confuse eloquence with convoluted, highfalutin speechifying: They think that if a speaker is shouting and they can't understand him, he must be smart and impassioned. This is silly. These people may get people who already agree with them worked up, but they don't change minds or cause people to go, Hey, I never thought about it that way before. If you are serious about good verbal expression, what you are really going for is the ability to explain the complex with clarity and reveal the deeper meaning of simple truths. This means, alas, that the true key to good verbal expression is not just good verbal expression but having something worth saying and understanding it well enough to explain it without confusing yourself along the way. Read, read, and read some more. Look for things you didn't know that others may also be interested to know. Then you can move to form, looking for things well said and thinking about how your speech compares with the models you admire. If you see a phrase that strikes you, read it aloud, write it down... and steal it! If you see a fact that shocks you, make a note of it, slip it into your speech and you'll soon be known as someone who knows about things other people just don't. Practice, practice, practice, and practice some more. If you're going to meet with people about something - studying for a test, organizing a fundraiser or even just deciding whether to go to the movies or the mall on Saturday afternoon, think about things you'll surely need to say and imagine yourself saying them. Does the imagined you sound like the sharp guy you want to be, or do you find yourself mentally editing around the pauses in your thoughts and the sentences that didn't actually work after all. Hint: If your sentences break down, you need to take more time thinking through what you want to say and whether it really needs to be said. (Often, the smartest seeming person is the one who holds his tongue till the right moment to say something he's thought through arrives!) I know you are writing from a Hebrew perspective, and I from an English perspective, but I think there is something generally applicable here: People do not have good verbal expression by accident; they have it because they know what it looks like, they think on it in their quiet time and they practice it to the best of ability when given the chance to talk. And most important of all, before they even think of displaying their verbal talents, they make sure they have something to say! 3 persons have voted this message useful | |
| Pyx Diglot Senior Member China Joined 5735 days ago 670 posts - 892 votes Speaks: German*, English Studies: Mandarin | Message 10 of 11 07 March 2010 at 11:33pm | IP Logged |
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BatoG, great post!
Also, I'm sure there is something like Toastmasters, and Debating clubs where you live. Both should help you. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| laban Triglot Groupie Israel Joined 5822 days ago 87 posts - 96 votes Speaks: Modern Hebrew*, English, Italian Studies: Norwegian, German | Message 11 of 11 08 March 2010 at 1:03am | IP Logged |
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^^ Indeed it is, some very nice points you made here, now...to work :)
too much stuff to learn, I'm overflowed :) p.s - if I may, I might "steal" some of your words and ideas :) Edited by laban on 08 March 2010 at 1:52am 1 person has voted this message useful |
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