Imitations cannot compare with the real deal

What do fine jewelry and English grammar and spelling have in common? Nothing at all, unless you consider the jewelry craftsman and the writer. Both the craftsman and the writer take pride in their respective pieces of work. They both spend hours labouring over a small piece of jewelry or writing to make it the very best it can be. Hours of practice have paid off to hone their skills. The result is a piece of jewelry or writing that they can be proud of and the world admires.

As far as language goes, communication may be the first step. Once you can communicate decently in a language, you will need to work on your vocabulary and grammar. If you are just starting to learn a language, native speakers of that language will be pleased and excited at your efforts. Bad grammar and poor pronunciation will be excused because you are doing your level best. Encouragement and gentle correction abounds. You may even pat yourself on the back for doing so well for a beginner. As time goes on, if you do not improve very much or decide to rest on your minor achievements, native speakers may still be polite, but they may not be so kind behind your back.

I know many friends who have learned languages to varying levels of proficiency. Some were satisfied at being able to simply communicate and get around in daily life. For them, speaking slowly and being able to read fairly well was good enough. I had one friend who was satisfied at his level of proficiency when he could deliver a simple message from the Bible in that language, albeit at a slow pace that made the locals bored or sleepy. He was rather proud of being able to speak so many languages. In reality, the locals' initial admiration had long turned to a "couldn't care less" attitude towards his shallow achievement.

Other friends put a lot of effort into language learning so that they could communicate just like a local, colloquialisms, proverbs, idioms and all. I salute them. I admire them. They have chosen to hone their skills constantly, not satisfied with where they are now. I did the same myself with Khmer. There is still so much I have yet to learn and understand. Lack of reading and speaking practice has slowed me down considerably. I need to keep up my efforts or risk losing my language ability completely, as I did with Japanese.

Facebook, Twitter and text messaging are no excuse for poor spelling and grammar. If you can code switch (use the correct forms in formal writing and use short forms for text messages), fine. If you can't, get working on mastering correct spelling and grammar. Learning a language is more than just being able to communicate at a basic level, bad grammar, poor pronunciation and all. Learn a language with a goal of communicating in correct pronunciation and grammar. Your efforts will not go to waste. The real deal is always far more beautiful than the imitation.

Let's get cracking on learning a language!

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