The author is addressing to the foreign students who wants to learn the English language and desires to speak it well enough to be understood when traveling in the British Commonwealth, America, or meeting natives. They are either a native or a foreigner who speaks in a provincial or cockney dialect, which may prevent them from obtaining employment that is open to those who speak “correct English.” The speaker emphasizes that there is no such thing as ideally correct English, as no two British subjects speak exactly alike.
The British Broadcasting Corporation established a committee to decide how the uttencies of speakers employed by the Corporation should be pronounced to be a model of correct speech for the British Islands. All members of the committee are educated professionals whose speech would pass as correct and relined as any social or academic institution in London. The chairman is de Poct Laureate, an artist whose materials denote the sounds of spoken English and a specialist in their pronunciation.
One member of the committee is Sir Jolinston Forbes-Robertson, famous for his acting skills and beauty. He was selected for service on the committee because he is accustomed to superintending rehearsals and listening critically to the way in which actors are spoken by profession-trained speakers. The committee knows as much as anyone knows about English speech, but its members do not agree on the pronunciation of some of the simplest and commonest words in the English language. The two simplest and commonest words in any language are ‘yes’ and ‘no’, but no two members of the committee pronounce them exactly alike.
The author wishes to offer the foreign speakers a choice among the committee members as a model, but for the moment, they must put up with mean Irishman. The author admits that they do not speak English in the same way, as they are speaking to an audience of thousands of gramophonists and their wife at home. As a public speaker, they have to take care that every word is heard distinctly at the far end of large halls containing thousands of people. The author emphasizes that there is no such thing as ideally correct English and that speaking as one does will make one more understood in any English-speaking country and accepted as a person of good social standing.
The author discusses the importance of company and home manners in language learning. He argues that even when our home manners are as good as our company manners, it is always different, with the difference being greater in speech than anything else. The author addresses foreign hearers, warning them not to try to speak English perfectly, as no one will understand you.
The author explains that there is no perfect English, but there is presentable English called ‘Good English’. In London, nine hundred and ninety-nine out of every thousand people not only speak bad English but speak even that very badly. Foreigners can understand English when it is well spoken, but they cannot stress syllables and make the voice rise and fall in question, answer, assertion, denial, refusal, consent, enquiry, or information exactly as a native does.
To overcome this difficulty, the author suggests speaking with a strong foreign accent and broken English, without any grammar. This will make English people understand you as a foreigner and be ready to help you. They will not expect politeness or use elaborate grammatical phrases, but will be interested in you as a foreigner and pleased by his cleverness in making out your meaning and being able to tell you what you want to know.
The author also advises against speaking too well in private intercourse with cultivated people, as it is a pedantic affectation and an insult to the native who cannot understand his own language when it is too well spoken. Traveling will reveal how little you need to know or how badly you may pronounce.
In conclusion, the author emphasizes the importance of company and home manners in language learning, emphasizing the importance of understanding and adapting to different situations. By speaking with a strong foreign accent and breaking English, foreigners can gain understanding and help others navigate their language more effectively.
Summary of J.C Hill Good Manners
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