"That isn't English!" -On writing like a native.

我是潇潇UID：39546

Many Chinese ESL students find it hard or impossible to write like a native.

Based on my observation, the biggest problem  is expressing Chinese thoughts directly in English - not finding an equivalent expression in English. Next would be grammar and correct vocabulary usage.

My translation teacher in university had worked with the UN as a translator for a while. As an advanced user of the English language, he still has some problems with vocabulary usage.  He once asked a native speaker to comment on some sentences he'd written, the native speaker was like, "I can understand you, but we don't say so."  A grammatically correct sentence does not necesarrily make sense to the English ear.

One of my high school classmates is studying in Germany now.  She took great pains to write an article in German and showed it to her German landlady. To my classsmate's dismay, the landlady commented,"Das ist nicht Deutsch!"(That isn't German!")   In the same way, I said to my American colleague who showed me his Chinese composition, "That isn't Chinese!"

So very likely, we will hear "That isn't English!" when we are not using English correctly.

It's very difficult to write in a foreign language; to speak in  foreign langauge is even more difficult; especially when we are living in a Chinese-speaking country.  Like culture, language is constantly changing.  Some may say language is part of culture, which only shows that I am right about language changing constantly:)  

Therefore, an ESL student should strive to learn contemporary English, which is easier said than done.  To  learn contemporary English in China, one can read current English magazines and newspapers, listen to English radio programs, watch modern English movies and consult  native English speakers.  The so-called contemporary dictionaries are not always reliable, as some of the entries are really old-fashioned.

There's no doubt that idiomatic phrases are frequently used in daily life, but one has to be careful when using them.  Some of them are old-fashioned or give the impression of low-class.

I met an American guy on a bus when I was travelling in Beijing with a friend. The American guy spoke Chinese with a strong accent., but his vocabulary was pretty advanced.  My friend was wearing a G-Shock watch, and the American guy asked about the price of the watch.

My friend replied "RMB100"
The American guy exclaimed in Chinese," 那肯定是假货!” (That must be a bogus!)
My friend was like,"是真的！"(It's real!)
I said in English,"That's the real McCoy"
The American guy laughed, "You speak like my grandmother!"
Needless to say, I was very embarrassed. I just learned that phrase from a dictionary and was very eager to use it with a native English speaker. I never passed up any chance to learn from a native English speaker, so I asked him,"What's the latest way to say it then?"
"The genuine article"  

(the real McCoy: informal something that is real and is not a copy, especially something valuable: "In the movie, the two thieves try to discover whether the banknotes are fakes or the real McCoy, with hilarious results." -Longman 4th Dictionary of Contemporary English)

Most dicitonaries do not tell us whether some phrases are still commonly used.  No young person wants to sound old. Consult a native English speaker whenever possible.

Another problem is appropriate word usage.   If we use too many written words in daily conversation, we will sound stiff or academic. If we use too many colloquialisms in formal writing, we will be charged with "not knowing style and register"。

There's so much to learn about English and I still have a long way to go!