John Zimmer membagikan beberapa tips yang penting untuk diperhatikan saat berbicara di depan umum menggunakan bahasa Inggris. Akan tetapi, tips-tips ini dapat diterapkan ke bahasa apapun. Saya akan memparafrasekan pidato Zimmer ke dalam bahasa Inggris.Â
Why English is so different than any other languages? John Zimmer, a professional at the U.N, said that English is easy at the beginning, but it becomes harder when people delve into the jargons and colloquialism. Meanwhile, any other languages he ever studied before is hard at the beginning, but they become easier to be learned once we had found the patterns and repetitions.
Zimmer gives some consideration when a speaker is going to speak using English, either native or non-native speaker.
- Choose clarity over eloquent. Clarity is the backbone, the cornerstone of any other rules. It is important for the audience to understand the message we want to deliver.
- In general, prefer the active voice more than the passive voice. For the example, don't say, "The right words should be used", but say "Use the right words." However, when the subject is not important in a sentence, we can choose the passive voice. For the example, "Many people in the world are diagnosed with cancer in the world."
- When it is possible, use affirmative sentences and limit the use of negative sentences. "It is a bad idea" is better than "It's not a good idea".
- Winston Churchill said, "The short, short words are the best and the old words when short are best of all." Churchill highlighted the importance of simplicity over eloquence. Rather than say, "The marine biota experienced a 100% fatality rate", we can just say "All the fish died". Don't initiate when you can say begin.
- Eliminate unnecessary words. Antonie de Saint Exupery (the author of The Little Prince) wrote, "Perfection is not when there's nothing more to add. It's when there's nothing more to take away." Avoid the redundant words, such as advance planning, brief summary, new innovation. Every planning is inherently advanced; every summary must be brief, and every innovation is always new. A term best describing this idea is the law of parsimony or simplicity.
- Be mindful of contractions, such as "I'm; We wouldn't've invested had we known the outcome". It is better to say, "We would not have invested had we known the outcome"
- Phrasal verb is a challenge for all non-native speakers. For the example, break out is different from break in. English idioms also serve as another hindrance for non-native speaker to understand the native speaker.
