Chapter11-13

张兵

Chapter 11 talked about parallel structure, and I found it very practical. When we list items or ideas in English, they should follow the same form. For example, if we start with a verb, we should continue with verbs. If we mix nouns, adjectives, and verbs, the sentence becomes confusing or awkward. In Chinese, this kind of variation is often acceptable, but not in English.
This helped me reflect on my writing habits. I often rush when writing lists or comparisons, and don’t notice that the sentence structure has become uneven. From now on, I’ll pay more attention to consistency.
Chapter 12 focused on logical connectives, which are the words that guide the reader through the argument—like “however,” “therefore,” “furthermore,” etc. I used to think I could skip them if the meaning was obvious. But the book explained that English readers expect clear signs to understand the flow of ideas.
Finally, Chapter 13 brought everything together. It reminded me that Chinglish is not just about poor word choices. It’s about different ways of thinking. Chinese is high-context and relies on shared understanding. English is low-context and needs everything to be stated clearly and directly. If I want to write good English, I need to change not only my grammar but also my thinking.