The wonder of the English language

In my posting yesterday, I forgot to include the website of the Speak Good English Movement (SGEM). A PDF copy of the quiz I referred to is available for downloading from this site:

http://www.goodenglish.org.sg/improve/quizzes/assessment-test/

The site is actually quite useful, as it has sections on "Improve Your English", workshops and resources. There is a pronunciation guide plus more quizzes.

The British Council too has a resource section titled "Grammar and words":

http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/grammar-and-vocabulary

And although I had a couple of quibbles with the quiz I highlighted, it is generally a useful self-check. My own position on English usage here is from the perspective of a journalist. I will be the first to admit that I am no grammarian but I think I can modestly say that I am still not yet a compleat (correct, not a misspelling) wordsmith.

I will defend the selective use of Singlish, especially when the audience is primarily Singaporean. But I also think that as many Singaporeans as possible must be given help and enabled to speak and write English sentences that are clear, free of jargon and -- importantly -- devoid of usage errors.

Usage errors go beyond just grammatical errors, as a number of my postings have tried to accomplish. In one recent example, I tried to show the absurdity of stating "$xxxx for two eyes" in an eye clinic's ad for the fee for a particular procedure. Given that, ordinarily, people have two eyes, the phrasing should be "$xxxx for both eyes".

Certain usage evolves over time, and I am no longer pedantic about "myriad". I can now, to cite Wikipedia's (slightly modied) example, accept "there are myriad people outside" as well as "a myriad of people are outside".

But, as a journalist, I will insist that jargon is explained or replaced. Meanwhile, many words and phrases continue to be misused, even by "role models". Just the other day, at a local TV discussion on language usage here, the SGEM chaiirman himself referred to "less people are...".

People are countable, so the correct phrasing should be "fewer people...". But the English language can be exasperating to learn! It can be argued that money is countable, but the correct expression in such a case would be, say, "less money is now needed".

Finally, I love the English language because it lends itself to the creation of myriad/a myriad of funny and punny (as well as corny) jokes!