Magda
informal English

Hi guys! I have one question, to native speakers especially. How can I make my English more informal? I mean not so formal and wooden.

Dec 2, 2015 11:09 AM
Comments · 5
2

I think you need to remember: there are two kinds of learning resources: learner resources (textbooks, websites for learners of English) and authentic resources (anything written by English native speakers for other English native speakers, like movies and British and American websites/newspapers). A lot of people are really scared of authentic resources because, well, they're REALLY HARD! However eventually you need to start using them, and the earlier the better. Sometimes, understanding 10% of an authentic resource is more useful than understanding 90% of a learner resource. And trust me: the more you use authentic resources, the easier it becomes.

December 2, 2015
1

Can you explain?

 

Usually to me more formal is like using hello not hi or if you are talking to dault female saying mam. Engish in reality doesn't have the formal and informal ways like Spanish and Korean do.

December 2, 2015

Hi Magda - On the examples you mentioned, it sounds more like: "D'joo wan-uh go?" and "Whadhee say?"(the 't' sounds are not as sharp and glide into the next syllable).

 

I wouldn't write anything like that though, even in a casual context like a friendly email, it just sounds...frankly...uneducated.

December 2, 2015

There are a lot of the words and constructs that are mostly used in formal context and others that are used more informally. You'll just have to develop a feeling for that, there's no simply trick I can tell you. Listen to a lot of informal English.

December 2, 2015

I noticed that people don't constract sentences in this way f.e. "Do you want to go...?" but "You wanna go?" or "What he said?" instead of "What did he say?". It seems to me that it sounds more informal. But unfortunately I don't have a lot of chances to talk with native speakers, so I wonder if is it correct.

 

December 2, 2015