chapter1-4

张兵

These two chapters were a great start to the book. They pointed out a problem I never paid much attention to—how we often use more words than necessary, especially nouns and verbs that don’t really add meaning. In Chinese, using formal words like “进行” or “开展” feels natural and polite. But when these are translated directly into English as “conduct,” “carry out,” or “make a...,” the sentence becomes long and heavy for no good reason.

The author encourages us to choose direct verbs like “discuss” instead of “make a discussion.” This seems simple, but it really changed how I look at my own writing. I realized that I often fall into this habit when I want my English to sound more “academic.” But now I know that good English is not about using complex words—it’s about choosing the right ones.

In Chapter 2, I learned that overusing modifiers such as “very,” “totally,” or “extremely” weakens rather than strengthens the sentence. In Chinese, we tend to emphasize everything, but in English, such words should be used carefully. The examples in the book showed how modifiers often just repeat what the verb or adjective already means. Now I try to think: “If I remove this word, does the sentence still work?” If yes, I delete it.

These chapters made me smile, because I’ve seen and even used many of these “twin phrases” myself. Expressions like “safe and secure” or “true and accurate” seem more powerful in Chinese, but in English, they often sound exaggerated or even meaningless. The author calls them “redundant twins,” and after reading the examples, I see how they make writing unclear and unnatural.

In Chapter 4, the focus shifted to how we sometimes say the same thing twice without noticing. For example, phrases like “in order to be able to” or “return back” feel normal in Chinese thinking, but in English, they’re just unnecessary repetition. I was surprised by how often I use these in essays or translations. This chapter helped me become more sensitive to redundancy. Now, I try to revise my writing with a sharper eye and remove any repetition that doesn’t add value.

These chapters also taught me something more general: English prefers economy. Every word should serve a purpose. If it doesn’t, it just gets in the way.