Why native English speakers can't speak English!

OK, in fact we CAN speak English. However, we have to remember that not everyone has the same level of fluency that we do.

English is the lingua franca in the world today. Over 2.4 billion people speak English. However, only 400 million people speak English mother tongue.

When native English speakers are speaking in English to audiences whose grasp of English is not at the same level, the audience frequently has trouble understanding them. Why? There are a variety of reasons. Fortunately, there are things that native English speakers can do to ensure that they are understood.

In this short speech at the 2024 European Speechwriters Network Conference in Cambridge UK, I discuss why native English speakers are so often misunderstood. I also offer several ideas on how we can make it easier for non-native speakers to understand us.

TIMESTAMPS

00:00 A Story from Boston
02:43 Question for the Audience
03:40 Some Interesting Statistics about English
04:50 English and Other Languages
08:08 Tip No. 1 - Clarity over Eloquence
09:15 Tip No. 2 - Active Voice over Passive Voice
10:28 Tip No. 3 - Affirmative over Negative
11:00 Tip No. 4 - Simple Words
12:24 Tip No. 5 - Eliminate Unnecessary Words
13:32 Tip No. 6 - Contractions in English
14:50 Tip No. 7 - Phrasal Verbs in English
16:50 Tip No. 8 - English Idioms
17:29 Tip No. 9 - Colloquialisms and Cultural References
18:34 Tip No. 10 - Working with Interpreters
20:18 Tip No. 11 - Respect the Audience
20:44 A Story from Iran

[franciscogarrido]

This is the first time I can hear a whole conference in english language, I understood full context, thanks.

[ZeeGreed]

As a person that not even fluent in English I was completely surprised that I understood the whole speech the first time.
Wonderful performance ❤

[garethtatler]

I'm a native English speaker and most the time, when I speak in English, I don't even understand myself very well.

[matalekalum]

Your English is very beautiful, clear, and understandable. I enjoy hearing it again and again.❤❤❤

[rebit]

Total tragedy that many generations suffered so much from the decision to not teach grammar, aside from absolute basics. Not least that millions of people grew up feeling stupid and less than because i for one, struggled to progress further than 2-3 yrs into any language learning. It's a real challenge to take on new concepts such as brit grammar in one's cintage rich years!! But I'm stepping up😊

[SillyMoustache]

Dear John, I am an elderly Englishman with a blend of Estuary and RP accent. I have my own YouTube channel, mostly about acoustic guitars and music. Since I had throat and tongue cancer treatment in 2017, my vocal presentation has changed, and I am aware that my speech is not as clear as I would like it to be, especially as most of my followers are from the USA. Your presentation has been a revelation for me. At 76 years old, you have provided me with information to consider to make my videos clearer. Thank you.

[kinar]

The problem is that native speakers don't care about it at all. They thought it's my problem to understand them and couldn't even think about help from their side. "Think about the audience" - it's very hard to native speakers.

[jsoliv]

I speak four languages, and English is not even my second language. I understand colloquial American English because I forced myself to learn it. Regarding the statement "English is the only language that gets complex later, " I'd say that's an illusion. The problem is that foreigners learn formal English, which is not the kind of language people actually speak in their day-to-day lives. If you learn the formal version of any language, you're going to have issues interacting with people who speak that language naturally. For example, many folks who learn French in school cannot understand two French people speaking informally in a bar.

The problem is that many of us have been brainwashed into thinking colloquial language is wrong, so we don't learn it. I learned English because I love watching American movies, and soon I realized that formal and informal language have the same importance. The definitions of right and wrong that we learn in school only hurt our understanding of the language.

I know it sounds controversial, but I've seen foreigners who are learning my mother tongue, which is Brazilian Portuguese, and they are learning words and expressions we almost never use. This makes me doubt their teachers' honesty.

All in all, I agree with making things simple and focusing on getting our message across instead of alienating our audience. Thanks.

[uliwehner]

@John, i studied to be an interpreter in germany. I have been living in the US for the last 25 years or so. the one thing i noticed is that not only the non-native speakers struggle to master grammar and more complex sentence structures, the same is true for many native speakers whose job does not require a lot of public speaking, if at all. Americans often do not know basic grammar rules or even spelling. And the ones who do not travel at all never develop an ear for listening to a non-native speaker. They do not know that they do not enunciate. Do not use the passive voice results in head scratching. oh, and yes, not using proper case and such online is intentional. In case you do read this long comment, good speech with many valid points. I tell my american colleagues all the time, you are responsible for what you are saying, not the audience. If they do not understand you, that is your problem.

[dq-music]

I totally agree with that English seems easy to learn for beginners but it gets more and more difficult as you progress.

[koroglurustem]

That's a professional giving the best advice. I learnt a few new words from your speech. "Respect is the best place to start" I couldn't agree more.

[Espanol-mnfc]

My native English vastly improved when I became fluent in Spanish. A few points regarding English from my learning about learning Spanish.
1. English has a large vocabulary compared to many languages.
2. There is an unlimited availability to hear and read English, therefore unlimited opportunity for comprehensible input.
3. Most native English speakers don't speak any other language, therefore they have no experience of second language aquisition and the empathy that it generates for non native speakers of English who are speaking and listening to English.

[nyshkominternational]

sixty years ago, the British education system changed the way English was taught, so that schools stopped teaching all formal study of English grammar. Since that day, every native speaker from an English school who wanted to learn a foreign language was handicapped.

[daviegreen]

I have been a British native English speaker for almost 75 years. I once met an American ( English) speaker, during my many years as a taxi driver. My American passenger was extremely surprised that we actually spoke English in England (I remarked that the clue was in the name of the country)

[Remcore]

I thought I spoke English at an almost native level, .... Then i travelled to

[dacinformatique]

If one day I speak english, I want to speak it like this guy

[josephturner]

I live in France. My french is not very good so I speak English clearly. But, when I return to Glasgow, I sound like a Glaswegian, like my kids. I originally came from Oxfordshire, on the odd occasion I go there, I sound like the locals.

[twqfbcq]

I agree with you... clarity is the most important thing when you speak or write. I do that with my poems, anyone can understand them...

[raulalbertoolmosgarcia]

You are totally right. As an non native English speaker, I always understand much more English to non native speakers, no matter from where they are, than i do for native speakers

[qwadratix]

I worked as a service/installation engineer for a Brit company. Most of my work was overseas. On several occasions I was told (by faintly puzzled clients) that they could clearly understand every word I said, but that this was in sharp contrast to the other engineers that had visited their site from my company.
I realized then that the reason was simple. Being older and more experienced than most of the other engineers, I spoke carefully, making allowance for the fact that these were not native speakers. I didn't 'dumb it down', I just avoided using any slang and was careful with pronunciation, giving full value to words like 'library' or 'February' instead of slurring (libery and febrery).
It's interesting to hear the speaker in this lecture using the same technique.