Simple English?
Posted: Sat Dec 20, 2008 9:18 am
One of the most irritating things about being John The Redundant has to be the apalling standard of English in the letters that arrive from various government departments.
They are short sentences. They try to be simple. They make no sense.
Well OK they do say what they need to say, but as far as English goes they are dreadful. I detest the staccato style, although I do understand that they are trying to use simple language that everyone can understand.
Some forms are even worse because they try to be simple and phrase some questions in a way that really challenges the normal logic of the language.
I think it would be better to teach people how to read and write. Perhaps we should also teach some of them how to speak.
They are short sentences. They try to be simple. They make no sense.
Well OK they do say what they need to say, but as far as English goes they are dreadful. I detest the staccato style, although I do understand that they are trying to use simple language that everyone can understand.
Some forms are even worse because they try to be simple and phrase some questions in a way that really challenges the normal logic of the language.
I think it would be better to teach people how to read and write. Perhaps we should also teach some of them how to speak.