魚與熊掌？

 

魚與熊掌？

Have you guys ever experienced the exclusion of oral and written English? This topic may not be a general one, since some lucky people may never think the exclusion is a reality. They simply believe these two expression skills work perfect anytime without repulsion.

I am not belonging to the lucky persons mentioned above. To some degree, I am always in a dilemma of having to make an option. It seems that these two skills have never been working in the same team serving me.

To make my point more clear, I need to give you an example. From time to time, I am requested to write varieties of reports. At the beginning, I always have a bad time period, in which it is difficult to express ideas in formal written English. So in most cases, I need to write them down first in something closer to oral English, and then make additional effort to change the manuscript into a standard one. I can certainly feel throughout the writing the transition from oral to written English, but usually the transition proceeds slow and it takes several days to be out of that awkward process. Similarly, after getting used to the formal English, for around one week I will be having difficulty switching back to using the simple and efficient oral language. It is like the matter of picking one, either in fish or bear palm.

Over the past years I have been a passive traveller riding on the cycle of such transitions. I am curious if I am the only one who has such a particular pleasure to enjoy in the language-learning.

You may have found I am still in the process of the transition as I write these passages. I feel most comfortable by staying at a point in the between. Being 100% pure in each of the expression styles has always been a dream to be made come true.