English is easily becoming the most dominant language of the world and professional success. Rise in the corporate ladder or even getting a job in the first place is many times dependent on how good the person is in communicating his thoughts – in English. There are some very simple hacks to improve your English – this should not take much time and can be implemented very soon – first in written and thereafter in verbal communication.
Congratulations – you are reading this so you at-least believe that there is scope for improvement in your English skills. There is a famous saying:
When the student is ready, the teacher will appear
Buddha Siddhartha Guatama Shakyamuni and the Theosophists
Now I am no teacher and I can myself benefit a lot from improving my English, however there are some simple hacks which can benefit someone greatly. So without further ado:
1. Use common sayings / idioms etc instead of plain sentence- this will lend credibility to what you are trying to convey : As you can see above that I have used this. Now while doing this is not necessary and the idea can be conveyed easily without it also but doing this breaks the monotony and also lends credibility to the writer / speaker that he is well read.
–Hack: If you don’t know a lot of sayings or idioms – it is good to get a book and go over once. No need to mug up word by word – just enough that you can remember faintly that you have read something that can be used here – thereafter Google can come to your rescue.
2. Don’t use Very : Let me explain – Use better adjectives instead of using the word very before common adjectives.
For example if you were to say that:
This blog is very good
vs
This blog is excellent
I am pretty sure that the 2nd one sounds much better. Now some of the words that you can use instead of very are:
Very afraid: Terrified
Very angry: Furious
Very beautiful: Exquisite
Very Often: Frequently
I believe you get where I am going with this. You can google if you don’t know the word to be used at a particular place. Soon you will have a better vocabulary and therefore better English.
A word of caution though – Everything is good within limits – so don’t go on filling the text with quotes or fancy words which are difficult for your readers to understand. The cardinal rule for any language / communication is that it should be easily understood to convey the information.
I have also used very a couple of times in my blog – See if you can find those instances and comment with what should be used instead. Also let me know if you have any other simple suggestions to improve English.
Ravi is an IIM ranker with over 9 years of work experience and has helped optimize the growth and financial performance of companies like BPCL, Sun, Ola, Swiggy, Curefit, and Rupeek. In this blog, he explains how to improve personal finances, do growth hacking through digital marketing or other initiatives, and provides a sneak peek into the financial models of companies – especially startups.