‘Spoken English’ is English that is spoken by people to converse and communicate. It comprises the usage of words, phrases and sentences verbally in order to communicate or express ideas or feelings to people around us.

As per linguist David Crystal, “Spoken English is the more natural and widespread mode of transmission, though ironically the one which most people find much less familiar-presumably because it is so much more difficult to ‘see’ what is happening in speech than in writing.” This explains, that spoken English is more natural and prevalent mode of communication or say, the transmission of messages, the only catch being that most people are less acquainted with it, perhaps because it lacks ‘sight’, unlike ‘writing.’

The most basic difference between spoken and written English, or for that matter any language, is that it should be grammatically less complex and involve shorter and simpler words and phrases. It is more concrete and direct, and mostly easier to comprehend and use. English grammar is an essential part of the language to build correct sentences. It will also help in improving communication skills in both spoken and written English.

All you wanted to know about Spoken English

Learning English has become important as it enables us to communicate easily with citizens all around the globe. Like every other language, it has a set of structural rules that need to be adhered to in order to make English conversation meaningful and effective. Every language has certain building blocks, which help in strengthening its foundation. Understanding the hierarchy of these building blocks of language will help to learn the English lessons and use them effectively.

The area of language is so huge that it has an entire field of study devoted to it- Linguistics. Not only this but also there are several branches of Linguistics too- Phonetics and Phonology, Morphology, Syntax, Semantics, Pragmatics. These branches explain the basic structural and functional units of English as a language. Phonology is the study of speech sounds; Morphology explains words, prefixes and suffixes; and Syntax is the study of sentences and phrases. These are the broad groups of study that aid both verbal and written communication in English. Speech sounds create phonemes, which make up words. Words, in turn, create sentences and phrases. Every sentence spoken or written carries some meaning, which could be literal or in the context of something, or both. This meaning is studied under Semantics and Pragmatics.

It is a fact that most of us acquire spoken language intuitively, implying that a language that is native to us, more known as our ‘mother tongue’ is innately acquired by us, whereas languages that are secondary or official to us, require effort to be taught and learnt. English is spread across hundreds of countries in the world and everyone may not be a native speaker of this language. Hence, more and more people are learning this language by taking up an English course in schools, coaching centres and institutions to improve their English fluency.

Talking about spoken English, we know that it has gained a high level of importance in today’s world where globalisation has led to the expansion of English in all fields of work. In this scenario, having English speaking skills is not only necessary for personal development but also for career advancement and economic growth. Good communication skills give way to a large number of opportunities for growing and progressing socially, individually and economically. It wouldn’t be wrong to say that we are living in a world “all about English” since every nook and corner of the planet today is flooded with the use of the language.