The beloved English language. Foreigners struggle with it, native speakers argue over it; but as with all languages, nobody speaks it perfectly. In my opinion, language is crazy. We use phrases we don't understand, such as "of course," and we acquire structures that aren't even grammatically correct (e.g., "The reason.is because"). But words are very important. Infamous ones like "interesting" carry interesting connotations, and people misunderstand one another because they interpret one word two different ways. Beyond this basic problem of diction is the way we use language to be ambiguous and not offend, or sometimes to deceive. Because language is so important, we must listen to ourselves as we speak and examine the words that we write. It is good to be "self-aware," but we must also be "word-aware" so that others perceive us healthily and accurately. Allow me to assist you on your journey to improve your English and communication skills. In On Writing Well, William Zinsser argues that "Clutter is the disease of American writing." We use too many words, many of them unnecessary for the purpose of our arguments. One way we do this, he says, is by using redundant adverbs and adjectives. The word "personal" is a perfect example. We say things like, "He is a personal friend of mine." But what's the point of using "personal" in such a sentence? After all, what other types of friends are there? Impersonal ones? Calling someone your friend implies that you are emotionally close. The excess of such redundancy is the phrase "As a person," as in, "As a person, how do you feel about this decision?" What else would I be, a nutcracker? We might respond to that question by saying "Personally, I don't agree with it." Other "clutterous" phrases are "due to the fact that" (because) and redundancies such as "a very tall skyscraper" or "smile happily."
"The reason.is (or was) because" is a structure used by nearly everyone but which is not usually found in academic writing because it is redundant. It is hard to catch sometimes because many words may come in between: "The reason we went to the grocery store was because we needed milk." "Because" means "for the reason that," and after substituting the definition for the word the example sentence reads: "The reason we went to the grocery store was for the reason that we needed milk." Or, "The reason is for the reason that." This is redundant. How do we solve it? "The reason we went to the grocery store was that we needed milk" ("The reason.is that"). Or, we could dodge the whole issue by saying, "We went to the grocery store because we needed milk."
We like to mix and match adverbs and adjectives, but English isn't a card game. We ask people to speak louder; but speak is a verb and louder an adjective, and they shouldn't get too close. We ought to ask others to speak "loudly." Loudly, like quickly and hardly, is an adverb (notice the -ly) and should be used to describe verbs ("I hardly noticed"). We misuse adverbs as well. Consider the adverb "hopefully," as in, "Hopefully I get an A in Organic Chemistry." This is like saying "Happily I get an A in Organic Chemistry." Saying "Hopefully I get an A" is the same as saying "I get an A in a hopeful manner." We're describing the way in which we "get" the A, because adverbs describe verbs. What we mean to say is, "I hope to get an A in Organic Chemistry."
Also, 95% of us say "I feel like." when what we mean is "I think," "I believe," or "It seems like." I wonder if this isn't evidence that postmodernity has infiltrated every nook of American society.
When discussing this article with a fellow editor, she mentioned the "like" problem, noting that people who use the word indiscriminately "won't get a job!" Be conscious of the fillers you use in everyday speech and when talking to a group. Others include "stuff like that," "ya know," and "um," although the latter is sometimes necessary to hold one's place in conversation.
Related to this is something else Zinsser teaches: "To write clean English you must examine every word you put on paper. You'll find a surprising number that don't serve any purpose." As I mentioned earlier, to write well you must be aware of each word you use and why you use it. Don't say something the reader could easily figure out on his own or something you already say in the previous sentence. Consider this specimen:
Going to church is similar to going to a play: we watch people perform an act and we are barely involved. But going to church should not be just like going to a play. Church is supposed to be a place where we worship God in Spirit and in truth, fellowship with other believers, pray for one another, and do all the things that it means to be a Christian. It is sad that this is what the American church has come to, and we need a generation that is willing to rise up and make the appropriate changes.
In clean English:
Church is like a play: we watch people perform yet are barely involved. But at church we should worship God and pray for and fellowship with other believers. It's time we made some changes.
Notice in the wordy example the verbal phrase "has 'come to.'" Verbal phrases--verbs consisting of two or more words--are usually unnecessary and should be replaced with single-word verbs whenever possible to strengthen one's sentence. Common examples are: "referred to as" (called), "order up" (order), "take a toll on" (exhaust / affect), "take a major hit" (suffer), "do ministry" (minister), "talk about" (discuss). Unfortunately, many of us use verbal phrases because we associate wordiness with intelligence.
Likewise, Zinsser argues that "Our national tendency is to inflate and thereby sound important." This could not be truer. We fear using simple language because we don't want to be considered simple; but by using simple language we better communicate our thoughts and are less likely to lose our audience. As Zinsser says, we believe that "The sentence is too simple--there must be something wrong with it." We recently received a mass e-mail which reads:
is a member of the 
