{"id":448,"date":"2024-07-21T18:15:00","date_gmt":"2024-07-21T09:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nicksenglish.com\/blog\/?p=448"},"modified":"2024-07-20T20:12:37","modified_gmt":"2024-07-20T11:12:37","slug":"english-tea-time-24-minimalist-english","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nicksenglish.com\/blog\/2024\/07\/21\/english-tea-time-24-minimalist-english\/","title":{"rendered":"English Tea Time #24 – Minimalist English"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Hello there! In this week’s newsletter, I’d like to talk about how you can get by, and sound reasonably fluent, without memorizing thousands of words.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Problem<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

One of my students was trying to find the English word for ensei<\/em>, a Japanese word that is used to describe a “sports team tour”. He eventually found the word “expedition” and proudly declared<\/em><\/strong> (said) “I went on a football expedition!”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The problem is, we never say “I went on a football expedition.” It’s not natural English at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In fact, I would simply say, “I went to (place)<\/em> to play football.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

K.I.S.S – Keep It Simple, Stupid!<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In spoken English, native English speakers love to simplify the language. For example, instead of saying:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I was exhausted because I had been working all day.”,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

we would just say:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I was so tired ’cause I was working all day.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The KISS principle<\/a> states that most systems work best if they are kept simple.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Indeed, simple English is most easily understood by both native and non-native speakers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 80-20 Rule<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The 100 most common English words, including “a”, “the”, “to”, etc. make up about 50% of the words we use daily. But what about the rest?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well, the 80-20 Rule<\/a> tells us that 20% of your effort can give you 80% of your results.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you focus on the most commonly used English words, you will know enough English to understand 80% of conversations and written texts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That means you need to know the Oxford 3000 word list<\/a> (PDF).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Oxford 3000 is just 12 pages of words!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Selective Focus and Contextual Learning<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

At the start of this newsletter, I said you wouldn’t<\/em> need to memorize thousands of words.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, from the above word list, you can choose the most relevant<\/em><\/strong> (appropriate) and useful words for your specific needs<\/strong>, rather than trying to learn everything. This is called selective focus<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Contextual learning<\/em> is when you use<\/strong> those words in your own, daily situations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speak with Confidence<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When you repeatedly use the same set of words in the same situations, you will grow in confidence and your English fluency will improve. Then, little by little, you can expand on your English speaking skill set. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Remember: <\/strong>A strong foundation<\/em><\/strong> (base) is the first goal, and then you can build on that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

British English<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Here are some common English phrases that mean build a base<\/em><\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n