Polite English versus Casual English.

Formal English versus Informal English.

Are these the same thing?

Watch this video to find out:

No. “Polite” and “formal” are not the same—despite what a lot of people may think. And “casual” and “informal” aren’t the same thing, either.

Also: One conversation may have parts that are formal and other parts that are informal.

The way native speakers use language is quite complicated. And one thing they do is mix up the level of formality at different points in a conversation to do different things.

It’s important to know when to use what kind of language.

We talked about this in last week’s Doing English PLUS lesson. And this week we’re also going to look in detail at the polite/casual formal/ informal balance. Pay close attention to the level of formality each speaker uses AND to the way they shift into and out of formal or informal language at certain points in the conversation.

Here’s a link to join the programme.

This lesson is part of the Lesson Content for May 2016. But be warned: this is only available to new members until the end of this month!

Cheers,

Julian