JCC itt you make me gooder at difficult english

English wasn't in Britain until after the Romans left. AFAIK, most Latin root words came via French and snooty people.

 

If you want to get a sense for how the American English dialect can be used to full effect, I would recommend - and strictly as a non-American - The West Wing.

The way in which the characters speak may be far removed from reality, but goddamn it's beautiful. If you want a practical way to speak wonderfully, Zapdos, start watching the West Wing. IMO.

This is why I <3 and recommend Stephen Fry.

 

Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik

 

Ignoring the tendency for masturbatory patriotism, this exchange is why I think you'd benefit from some West Wing:

Bartlet: Did you know that two thousand years ago a Roman citizen could walk across the face of the known world free of the fear of molestation? He could walk across the Earth unharmed, cloaked only in the protection of the words civis Romanus -- I am a Roman citizen. So great was the retribution of Rome, universally understood as certain, should any harm befall even one of its citizens. Where was Morris's protection, or anybody else on that airplane? Where was the retribution for the families, and where is the warning to the rest of the world that Americans shall walk this Earth unharmed, lest the clenched fist of the most mighty military force in the history of mankind comes crashing down on your house?! In other words, Leo, what the hell are we doing here?!Leo: We are behaving the way a superpower ought to behave.Bartlet: Well our behavior has produced some crappy results; in fact I'm not a hundred per cent sure it hasn'tinduced it.
Leo: What are you talking about?
Bartlet: I'm talking about two hundred and eighty-six American marines in Beirut, I'm talking about Somalia, I'm talking about Nairobi-
Leo: And you think ratcheting up the body count's gonna act as a deterrent?
Bartlet: You're damn right I-
Leo: Oh, then you are just as stupid as these guys who think capital punishment is going to be a deterrent for drug kingpins. As if drug kingpins didn't live their day to day lives under the possibility of execution, and their executions are a lot less dainty than ours and tend to take place without the bother and expense of due process. So, my friend, if you want to start using American military strength as the arm of the Lord, you can do that. We're the only superpower left. You can conquer the world, like Charlemagne! But you better be prepared to kill everyone. And you better start with me, because I will raise up an army against you and I will beat you!
Bartlet: He had a ten-day old baby at home.
Leo: I know.
Bartlet: We are doing nothing.
Leo: We are not doing nothing.
Bartlet: We're destroying-
Leo: Four high-rated military targets!
Bartlet: And this is good?
Leo: Of course it's not good. There is no good. It's what there is! It's how you behave if you're the most powerful nation in the world. It's proportional, it's reasonable, it's responsible, it's merciful! It's not nothing. Four high-rated military targets.
Bartlet: Which they'll rebuild again in six months.
Leo: Then we'll blow 'em up again in six months! We're getting really good at it... It's what our fathers taught us.
Bartlet: Why didn't you say so? Oh, Leo...when I think of all the work you put in to get me to run and all the work you did to get me elected...I could pummel your ass with a baseball bat.

 

Guerrilla
Rendezvous
Zeitgeist
Pizza

 

^ I assume these are titles for our upcoming Actual Muppets album?

 

Some of my favorites...

Shenanigans
Ruckus
Necrophilia
Embalming fluid
Blatherskite

 

screw all dem classic poets, man, bukowski is where it's at yo

 

I would recommend scheduling private tutoring with beezel.

No, your English won't improve, but you should be able to scam him out of enough money to pay for a real tutor.

 

i used the word malaise the other day. i was quite proud.

 

I've used "wizardry" in a meeting.

 

Twerk
Trill
On Fleek

 

The secret to proficiency is to focus on 100 words. If you can master the 100 most-used words, you're golden. Then throw in a bit of idiom as time allows.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Most_common_words_in_English

Most (99) people (61) do (19) not (13) stray far from (25) that (8) list when (51) they (26) speak or (31) write.

 

I've used it in a lecture, but only because I was referencing The Return of Werdna.

 

Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo.

 

Zapdos - Stephen Fry's Planet Word. You'll love it.