WRITING VS. SPEAKING
Written English and spoken English are different.
Written English is formal and spoken English is informal.
Memorizing set phrases or other written English is useless in daily conversation.
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WRITING VS. SPEAKING214 comments to WRITING VS. SPEAKING |
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English is not a subject you study a couple of hours a week...
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I think the author is right about the difference of Written English and spoken English, but I think there are something between them, if you write more you can have more understanding about the logic and structure of English, and then your oral will be improved. And oral English is for daily communication and more useful for daily live and is the most important thing we Chinese students should notice when we learn it for the sake of mute English.
There are many differences between speaking and writing. Unlike speech, writing requires systematic instruction and practice. Here are some of the differences between speaking and writing:
Writing rely on the words on the page to express meaning and ideas, while, speaking use voice and body to communicate message; Most writing is planned and can be changed through editing and revision before an audience reads it, while speaking is often unplanned; Writing use more complex sentences with connecting words like however, Who, although, and in addition, Speaking use simpler sentences connected by lots of ands and buts.
I think written English is easy, but spoken English is very difficult .I like written English, because My spoken English pronunciation is not accurate. My English teacher tell me that if you do not Speak English , you cannot communicate with others. When I speak English in public ,I feel nervous. If somebody ask me to write English ,I feel glad. I do not know a lot about the difference between written English and spoken English.
I think written English and spoken English are different. I can feel it when I read classic works and watch movies. They both use English but in a different style. One of my friends went USA several years ago. His teachers told him do not speak like a book. So I think there must be lots of differences between written English and spoken English. Unfortunately Chinese teachers did not pay much attention to this. They just taught us how to pass the exams.
I have noticed the difference between written English and spoken English since I began to learn English. But because of no English speaking environment，I pay little attention to them in daily life. Moreover, in order to cope with the English examination, we are constantly training practice written English. Therefore, when we use English, we usually choose to use written English more.
However, the world is open and we communicate with each other. English as a second language is more and more important. So I think it is necessary to practice spoken English more.
In my opion,there are many different points between written English and speaking English.For example,written English is very formal and speaking English isnot so formal.Because people usually communicate with each other freely,they don not notice their grammer but their meaning.In China,most people study English by written English,so that they can pass all kinds of exams;but their speaking English is not good. Nowadays,most people have realized the importance of speaking English,and they start to practice their speaking.
We all know written English and spoken English are different. What really matters is what the difference is and how to distinguish it. It will be a good idea that we can have a speech about the subject. Besides, we need to read more books, to watch more videos and to speak more English. To gain more expericnce will help us make less mistakes.
Written English is fairly different from spoken English. But since we are learning written English from the very beginning, the majority of us are good at written English but poor at spoken English. We use written English not only to write, but also to speak and talk. It will make our daily conversation be too formal and highly comical.
In my opinion, to elevate our spoken English level, I shall learn more spoken English words, watch more English movies and emulate their daily conversation. Also, I’d better speak English more.
Sometimes, I can’t understand what the real meanings is when I watching movies with a lots of American slang, because in our standard textbook are without such slang. It’s a shame! I like some free and with vitality language, especially in my life. But when I put my whole soul into leaning idiomatic oral English, I finally find that I can’t read formal English such as academic papers. Maybe, the point is the balance between formal and informal English. That my opinion.
I come to believe that oral English is more difficult than written English.When you write sth,you can look up it in the dictionary if you don’t know the word.While in the everyday comunication ,we can’t look up in a dictionary.Often ,we just make others understood by gestures.Especially for us Chinese students,wo have studied English for a long time and most of our time is spent on reading and writting. But English is a tool to comunicate with others ,the most important aspect of the language is oral skill.From now on ,the most important things that we should to do is to practice our oral English Skill if we want to improve our English skill .
English is a language, if we want to prove that we can really master this language, our writing and speaking will be required the comprehensive development, which means we can freely use English in any occasion .
In China, if we want to enter some good business, for the English requirement is very strict, especially transnational groups and some foreign-related business, we not only to speak English well but also to dependent on the comprehensive reading and writing . So, I heard that speaking and writing go hand in hand, there is no sequence.
“Memorizing set phrases or other written English is useless in daily conversation.”
I am not so clear what are set phrases or written English. If they refer to those expressions seldom used in our daily conversation but mostly used on formal occasions, the author is definitely right. I think what the author are trying to tell us is that we should learn spoken English from daily conversions like those in movies, sitcoms or real life. Anyway, memorizing set phrases or other written English is useful for our writing and reading, which are also important parts of the use of \English, as important as spoken English for many people including me.
It is easy to understand the different between written English and spoken English. When we use oral English, we would subconsciously use our body language at the same time, such as gestures, tone and so on. However, when we need to use written English, we could not deliver our meaning by body language. Therefore, we should pay more attention in the word that we want to use. That is my opinion. What about you?
For me, the most important thing is to improve oral English, to communicate with others freely .because of this, what I should do is to speak more, regardless the face just as the professor says. For so many years, I have not enjoyed the joy of talking with people with confidence. Of course, written English is also important for me, especially on scholastic research in the future, but that may be harder.
In my opinion,both written English and spoken English are important.When we use English,there are kinds of situation. We may chat with our friends in spoken English,if you use written English,that may be very uncomfortable.But when you write paper and refer it to your professor,the best choose is using written English.If not, that may be not formal enough.So, learn written English and spoken English,use in different situation.
Writing English and speaking English are both difficult for me. However, they are also both important but different. Writing English is formal. If you want to tell something to the people all around the world, you should write in English. Furthermore, you need to pay attention to the grammar， the structure, and the spelling problem etc. Writing English is one thing, speaking is another thing. Speaking English is more often required in our daily life. You couldn’t always write to communicate with others. There is no time for you to think the grammar, the set phrases. You should speak it out in English when the ideal generate in your brain. So both of writing and speaking are not a easy things.
I agree with the author that written English and spoken English are different. However, I don’t it’s useless to memorize set phrases in daily conversation. First of all, it can make me more confident if I memorize what to say and how to say in certain situation. Second of all, I can speak more fluently if I memorize lots of set phrases. It is especially important to memorize words at the beginning of learning a foreign language.
In my opinion, both writen English and spoken English are used to facilitate our communication with others. The most important difference is, writen English has tougher requirements for the accuracy of words, phrases, and grammar structure etc, while spoken English is comparatively informal. Nevertheless, the ultimate goal of the two kinds of English is to make our mind understandable to others. To improve our writen English, we should read more English journals and newspaper , try to write more, so that we get more proficient in writing. To speak English fluently, we should watch more English movies, grasp any chance to communicate with others in English. That is to say, practice makes perfect. The comprehensive improvement of English lies in more access to English environment.
It is important for me to improve my oral english.So far,I think that I have learnt silence english.I was born in a samll town with so few professional english teacher, I used to reading and wringting but not to opening my mouth.Then,I am afriad of speaking.Now,I have realized the importance of english ,both written english and spoken english.Written english and spoken english have difference,but they are not seperate,there is a link between them.They look like our hands,we need two but not only one.I shoude learn well both.
I agree that written English and spoken English are different. Written English should be formal in most occasions, for you have to express your meaning clearly and exactly by documents or papers. Spoken English is informal most of the time, and you can communicate with others freely in daily life. If spoken English is too formal, people may feel boring and uncomfortable. However, spoken English should be formal in certain occasions, such as corporate meeting and press conference. If your expression is too casual, you will not be respected.
In daily conversation, there are some set phrases we still need to memorize, for example, expressions about greeting and emotion. Most of the time, they are used without too much change. Memorizing some good set phrases or other written English can enhance our communication. But remember that it is not suggested to keep it static; we need to adjust our expression according to concrete environment.
We all know that written English and spoken English are different. They are used in different situations. We use more complex and formal sentences when we write English. But when we speak English, difficult words will make others confused. I think simple but right words will be OK.
As for Chinese students, many of us are not good at spoken English in daily conversation. Luckily, we know that English is also a tool for us to communicate with others. As a result, we need to pay more attention to spoken English as well as written English. Watch more English movies and practice more will be a good way to improve our spoken English.
I partly agree with the author. To some extent, Written English and spoken English are different, because they are used in different occasions.
The grammar used in spoken English is often easier and shorter than written English. The vocabulary of spoken English is not as precise and formal as written English. Sometimes, the pronunciation may be different too, for example, “want to” may sound like “wanna”. And when we speak English, we may not pay much attention to the structure of the sentence. Besides, I think memorizing set phrases or other written English can help us to express ourselves better. Sometimes when I speak English, I will use some set phrases.
Anyway, both of written English and spoken English are tools for communication. I will try my best to have good command of them.
I cannot agree more with the author. Once upon a time, I tried to polish my oral English as what I always did in writing. Yet gradually I found that my listener, especially those Chinese one, started frowning while I was speaking. MOst of the time, they kept silent when I finished talking or just nodded back to me. At that time it occured to me that something must be wrong with my words. Afterwards, I asked one of my close friend what it was, he even complained about my obscure words and sentences which seemed they only could be seen in the paper. Not until then I relized that my so-called “formal” English had estranged myself from my listeners and, I was not popular among them at all.
So pick up your tongue rather than your pen while speaking!
Yes, we start learning English from our primary schools, mostly formal English. So in our mind, formal English is routine for us. To prepare for all kinds of English exams, we must stick to our “correct English”. As a result, we pay more attention to formal English which is more used in writing, and our oral English is not as good as the writing one. This phenomenon happens almost all around the Chinese students. If we study English not for exams but for the communication, or just for fun, the situation may be better.
You may say they are different, sometimes it just appears that the set phrases or other written English are useless when it comes to our daily conversation. But I think while we pass this idea to our fellows or someone else, we should make sure they understand that it doesn’t mean the written English itself is useless. You just need to focus on different key point, ask yourself one question, what is your English for?
Basically I do agree with the author. Since written English is different from Spoken English the way of learning should be distinguished. We can learn written english from books,for business, or for literature. However, spoken English is more from daily life,from chatting,thinking,from communication.Some people will point that we Chinese students are better in written English because we learned English from classes more than 10 years and we rarely speak English. I don’t think so. Most of what we use is better called chinglish,is not formal enough. Written English and Spoken English are both important for our future lives.But in my opinion, the best way to master these significant skills is learn to think in English.
It’s true! The differences are quite obvious when I read the students’ book B after enjoying an American movie. The structure of the sentences is so complicated and the phases are so obscure in reading B that I have to repeat reading it so as to get its meaning. I think it is wise to simplify the sentences during conversation. However, from the angle of literature, ‘it is a successful and beautiful passage which actually wins the popularity of Americans’, our teacher said. This may be the same with Cantonese and Mandarin, and even with all the languages around the world. Daily conversation is a case, literature is another, but both are important part of communication and useful in different occasions. You can speak freely with your friends. But you have to write formal letters to contact with your business partners or your boss.
As to the way of improving English skills, memorizing set phrases or other written English does help in written English, but it doesn’t work in oral English. Think about how we learn our mother language when we are babies. We knew how to talk before we recognized the characters and could write them down. Why? Oral terms come from practice and imitation in conversation. We are now babies again, so don’t hesitate and lose no chance to speak loudly! To talk with foreigners and to change your environment into English is the best way to improve your oral English.
In written English complex subordinate clauses may bring about a high mark, and in spoken English complex clauses only make listeners confused and bored. In written English we put forward our ideas by words, and in spoken English we can express ourselves with gestures. But there are similarities between written and spoken English. Both are difficult to master well, and both are extremely important in the process of English studying.
In my opinion, I agree with the author’s view on the differences between writing and speaking English. Written English is much more formal than spoken English. It cares more about the grammar, the structure of the sentences, the exact meanings of the vocabularies and so on than spoken English. However, Spoken English is more casual than written English because when two people talk with each other, the immediately reaction is so important and they have enough time to think about the structure of their expressions.
No matter how much different between written English and spoken English, they are both important in our learning English. But we Chinese students put much more time on written English practice because of various English examinations. So now we should also make efforts to spend more time speaking English.
Today I have talked with my classmates about spoken English. I think spoken English is as important as written English. As we know,written English is formal and spoken English is informal. This is because written English requires more about vocabulary,grammer, phrases and so on. While spoken English is more flexible,we just need to express our meanings correctly, it has less requirements in vocabulary,grammer than written English. We just need to talk freely. However,our education system pays more attention in written than in spoken English. We may write a nice essay,but can hardly communicate with others face-to-face. This is an important problem we all had to deal with. So,although both of them are useful in future,I will pay more attention to spoken English at this stage.
I do believe that we can not just use written English when we speak. We usually do not say “nevertheless”,instead we use “but” or “however”.And we use “therefore” instead of “hence”.If we try hard to memorize the set phrases in order to show off our spoken English, we are waisting our time.Unless we notice the diffrences between spoken English and written English,we could improve our oral English.
EDITOR’S NOTE: IF YOU SPEAK LIKE A BOOK, NO ONE WILL READ YOU.
I am not agree with the opinion of the author .I believe that writing and speaking english are not different totally.Both can reflect the english skill of a person,and also both of them are of great important.We should balance our time to learn them well.
Today I know the difference between Written English and spoken English eventually because of this passage. From now on, I will write English carefully and speak English boldly.
There are many differences between spoken English and written English. Firstly, spoken English has dialect variations that represent a region. However,
written English is more restricted and generally follows a standardized form of grammar, structure, organization, and vocabulary. Secondly, speakers use their voices (pitch, rhythm, stress) and their bodies to communicate their message. Whereas writers rely on the words on the page to express meaning and their ideas. Lastly, speaking is often spontaneous and unplanned. On the contrary, most writing is planned and can be changed through editing and revision before an audience reads it.
Owing to these differences, we should to take a different approach to learning spoken English and written English.
We usually write with correct grammar and in a structured way. We organize what we write into sentences and paragraphs. We do not usually use contractions in writing. We use more formal vocabulary in writing and we do not usually use slang. In writing, we must use punctuation marks like commas and question marks.
We usually speak in a much less formal, less structured way. We do not always use full sentences and correct grammar. The vocabulary that we use is more familiar and may include slang. We usually speak in a spontaneous way, without preparation, so we have to make up what we say as we go. This means that we often repeat ourselves or go off the subject. However, when we speak, other aspects are present that are not present in writing, such as facial expression or tone of voice. This means that we can communicate at several levels, not only with words.
Like the others,I cannot distinguish clearly a written English and a spoken English. I think it depend on person and different situation.Written English also can be informal and spoken English can be formal.
Spoken English and written are connected together.They are ways for us to express what we thought inside.
For beginners,the most important job is to avoid psychological barrier such as shy,afraid,etc.and try to get used in speaking English.It is similar with babies learning language. You can not ask a freshman to speak good enough.
To express one’s thought is not the only aim.A higher lever is to express it in a better way,which would ask for more linguistic capability.So to memorize some daily using phrases would be helpful.
I suppose we all know there are many differences between written English and spoken English. I think the author just want to show us that,we do not need to be afraid of making mistakes when speak of English,because spoken English are much more informal,even though you make some small mistakes in an English conversation,people will get the idea.So just be free when you talk,don not be afraid.
There is a big difference between Written English and Spoken English. When writing something in English, it’s allowed to look up new words in the dictionary and make repeated revisions. However, we can’t take a dictionary along with us or take back our words when talking with others.
Though good written skills help to improve oral ability in some way such as increasing vocabulary and enhancing the ability of thinking, the more important thing for good Spoken English is oral practice. When we learn our mother tongue, we learn how to speak before how to write. However, when we learn English as a second language, we learn writing at the beginning. We do a lot of reading and writing practices but few speaking. That’s why we have learned English for long but still weak in Spoken English. So I think the most important thing for us is to open our mouth and speak English as much as possible. Only by speaking can we learn to speak.
The author remind me the advice that I have been told since primary school
to learn as many set good phrases as possible by heart . Maybe it will work
in the formal English exams. However,no matter how many such phases I remember,
I find it hard to express myself in English. I get a real inspiration from this essay.
I think there is a huge difference between writing English and speaking English. But I can not tell it clearly .One of my English teacher told me that writing English just like something input and speaking English like something output. As we know “No input, no output”, so we should work hard to improve our writing English .As for speaking, practice makes perfect, so we should speak loudly and freely.
I cannot agree with you more. In my opinion, language is just a tool for communicating and expressing. People all the world are learning English, but everyone would speak different Englishes. I think it is OK that they can communicate well even if they didn’t understand what was written by each other.
AS far as I know,written English and spoken English are very different.For example written English needs more writing skills,but spoken English needs flexible response ability .In spite of the people can write English, it does not necessarily means that they can communicate smoothly with others. Therefore, it seems to me that speaking more difficult than writing.Of course,both written English and spoken English are very important for us, so in the process of our English learning,we must keep balance between them.
I agree that spoken English is quite different from written English. To improve them, we should use different ways. I believe that most of us are much weaker in spoken English than in written English. Take me for example, now I can write down a comment here to express some of my points of view, but when I came cross people from English speaking country, I could hardly say a simple word to them. It seems like a waste of time and energy that I have learned English for so many years but can not use it in the daily life. As a postgraduate from a non-English major, I think Enlish is more important to me as a tool of communication, and making my spoken Enlish better is quite necessary. I think I’d better practise my oral English as much as possible to make more progress in this semester.
As far as I know,Written English and spoken English have not so many differences .One who is good at speaking must have mastered a lot words for him to write ,because English is different from Chinese ,if you can speak it out ,you must get the right pronunciation and the spells ,then you can write it down .Ability of writing can help one to speak more confident ,they effect each other.
But I think speaking is more important ,because the invention of a language is for communications ,especially speaking.
In my opinion maybe there are many differences between written English and spoken English,but they aren’t critical points to English learning.We live in China and people all speaking Chinese here,and a good environment of English is hard to find .Even when we talk and write in English words,we think it in mind in Chinese.As a result we rely on Chinese cues when we learning English,for example,watching English movies with Chinese dubbing or subtitles,looking up English-Chinese dictionary,and so on.
It’s difficult to change our habit,but we need to change and our English will be better.
Well,there is actually great difference between written English and spoken English.For me,spoken English is relatively more difficult than written English,though the words,phrases and grammar used by written English are more complicated than spoken English .What spoken English needs is that you speak out boldly in English,but I lack the courage to do so.
However,I can’t agree with the auther that memorizing set phrases or other written English is useless in daily conversation. Memorizing set phrases or other written English can make you easily and fluently express what you want .Many people may encounter such a situation that he want to say something but he just can’t find a proper word in time. Well,to some degree ,memorizing set phrases or other written English can contribute to the solving of this problem.
In my opinion, written English should be technical and formal, while spoken English can be funny and casual. Both of them are necessary for the students and they connect with each other closely. For most of us, including English-speaking people, spoken English may play a more important role in their everyday lives. However, we should acknowledge that the beautiful written English, such as poem and novel, creates a kind of great art.
I agree the opinion in the article above. When I‘m watching an American movies, I can find that the sentences and the expressions they used in daily life are different from those we learn from article books and news report or others English reading materials. In order to learn English better, we have to pay attention to the differences between the spoken and written English so that we can use them in a right way. But for my part, it’s better if Mr. Wolf can provides us more details or examples about the distinctions between the two.
From my point of view, it’s true that there exists some differences between Written English and spoken English which as the writer said. As a Chinese student, I think spoken English is much more difficult than written English. Because when you write in English, you have more time to think about the grammar, the vocabulary and not need to consider the pronunciation. You have a quieter environment to finish the writing. But when you comminute with others in English, you must reply to your partner as quick as you can, or it will be considered impolite. Further more, you may be feel shy because of your poor pronunciation.
Anyway, we should try our best to read more, listen more, write more and speak more English to improve our English skills.
Of cause writing English and spoken English are different, When you writing English, you have a lot of time to think about what you want to express. But when you speaking English, you must replay immediately. Which is more important hard to defined. Both writing and speaking are needed to improve. For example: we should talk to another by English from heart, what’s more, we should take much time to study writing English. Pay attention to English logic and structure in particular. In this way, I’m sure both writing and speaking will be improved.