Scientific American, one of the magazines I read, had an interesting video in this weeks online version: "Samsung looks for 'jet' propulsion" (2009). I'm not actually looking for a new mobile, but watched the video because I wanted to know what new technology had persuaded a science magazine to run what looks a bit like an advertisement. In fact, most of the video shows Samsung's vice-president of sales talking about the new phone. And that was what caught my interest.
The Korean VP's speaks English clearly and very effectively, and with plenty of mistakes in his grammar. However, Samsung sensibly realises that the important thing for marketing is the message, not the language, and the message was clear and well said.
I'm not about to run out and buy the new mobile, but it was a good example of how we need to find the right balance between fluency in using English and grammatical accuracy. Of course, grammar does matter, especially in academic writing, but grammar matters because it helps us to say exactly what we want to say.
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References
Samsung looks for 'jet' propulsion. (2009, June 16). Scientific American. Retrieved June 17, 2009 from http://www.scientificamerican.com/video.cfm?id=26497322001
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