IloveplainEnglish.Thewholepointoflanguageistocommunicate.Sowhatbetterwaythantodosoplainly?TungChee--hwadoesnotspeakplainly;theCivilServicedoesnotspeakplainly;alotofpeopledonotspeakplainly.Yet,fewofusprotestenough.IliketostartacampaigninHongKongtospeakplainly--atleastinEnglish.WeneedtodothisdesperatelybecausethestandardofEnglishhereispoor.TryingtospeakplainlywillhelpimproveourEnglish.DonotletpeopletellyouthatsimpleEnglishisnotgoodEnglish.It'sthebestEnglish.DonotbelievethatformalEnglishisbetterthaninformalEnglish.Orthatthereisa"business"English.OrthatconversationEnglishshouldnotbewritten.EnglishisEnglish.Ifthereisanyrule,itisthatplainEnglishisbest.
Inspeech,avoidusing"Imean","Imeantosay","actually","youknow","well".Practisebywritingshortsentences--likewhatIamdoingnow.TherewasaveryfamousEnglishjudgecalledLordDenning.HewasmyherowhenIwasatLawCollege.Hewasalsoaherotoalotofpeoplebecauseheunderstoodtheneedtocommunicateplainly.Hecutthroughallthecomplicatedlegallanguagetodefendindividualrights.Heappreciatedjustice,ratherthanthelaw,morethananyoneelse.IwishedhewasourJusticeMinister.Ifyoureadhisjudgements,youwillfindthatheonlywroteinshortsentences.Andhewasaveryeducatedman.Sodon'tbeshyaboutwritingshortsentences.
Also,whenaskedaquestion,answeritplainly.Ifsomeoneasksyou"Whereareyou?",youmustreplybysaying,"Iamat......."Butveryoften,wesayinanswer,"Wearecoming"or"Weareonourway".Thiscannotbeananswertothequestion"Whereareyou?".Thismustbethemostunansweredquestionintheworld--anditisbecausewedonotpayattentiontoplainEnglish.
Donotusebigwords.BeingfluentinEnglishisnotaboutvocabulary.It'saboutuse.YoucannotlearnEnglishbylearningfromorreadingthedictionary.Youhavetolearnhowtousethewordstogether.Andchoosethecorrectword.Never,forexample,saytosomeone:"Yousmell".AsDrJohnson,whowroteadictionary,said,"Ismell,youstink".IwishedhewasourEducationMinister.Andrememberaccentsdonotmatter.HavingaChineseaccentshouldnotbeembarrassing.Oftenitisnicetohaveanaccent.Muchmoreimportantistospeakinplainwords.
IspeakEnglishquitewell.IpromiseyouthatifyoubegintospeakinplainEnglish,youwillimproveyourEnglish.EveryoneinHongKongwantstolearnEnglish--nothingwrongwiththat.ButtheteachingofEnglishinHongKongisallwrong.ItmustbewrongbecauseeventhechancellorsofHongKonguniversitiestellmethattheirundergraduates'commandofEnglishisbad.TheyoftendonotunderstandlecturesinEnglish.Thatcanonlymeanwehavenottaughtourstudentsproperly.WhenIwasatLaSalle,IscoredzeroinEnglish.Ididnotlearnthelanguageproperly.Iwasnottaughtthelanguagewell.WhenIwenttoEngland,Icouldnotspeakawordofit.Sodonotexpectyourchildrentobetaughtwellatschool.
Thesituationismadeworsebecausewithl997,wearealltoldtolearnMandarin.(Pleasenotethattheword"Putonghua"isnotEnglish.NeitherisitChinese.Itisawordinanartificiallanguage.SoinEnglish,weshouldavoidit.Itispretentioustouseit.)Idon'treallyunderstandwhywearenowaskedtospeakthreelanguagesinHongKong.Ifwevalueourindependence,weshouldtrytoimproveourCantonese.(Ifnothingelse,weneeditforrhyminginmanyTangDynastypoems.)Mainlanderscannotthenunderstandus.Thatwouldalwaysbeanadvantageforus.Ifwearenotcareful,wecouldenduplikeSingapore--nobodyspeakinganyonelanguageproperly.IcallitTigerBalm.TigerBalmisreasonablygoodforalotofthings,butnotgoodatanyonething.Wedon'twantTigerBalminHongKong.OurhumourlessGovernmenthasalreadygotridoftheTigerBalmGarden,whichshouldhavestayed.ItwouldhaveremindedushowuglyTigerBalmis.
Solet'sallstartspeakingandwritingplainly.Shorteningallyoursentenceswouldbeagoodstart.Trywritinginshortsentences.Thisstyleofwritingisknownas"staccato".Staccatoisthepluckingofastringontheviolin.Asweallknow,thiscansoundasbeautifulaswhenthestringsareplayedwithabow.Soifwecanbebeautifulaswellasplain,whatmorecanwewant?
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DavidTangisthefounderoftheChinaClub,ShanghaiTang,PacificCigarandCiprianiinHongKong.HewasborninHongKongandeducatedinKowloon,Cambridge,LondonandPeking,wherehetaughtEnglishatPekingUniversity.HiscolumnappearseveryotherMonday.
作者為中國會、上海灘、太平洋雪茄和香港斯比安利創辦人。他於香港出生，在九龍、劍橋、倫敦及北京受教育，並曾在北京大學教授英文。鄧永鏘的文章隔星期一刊出