How to Learn Technical English

Technical English, also known as simplified English, is the official way a language is supposed to be used. As communication and business moves to become more global, it is important to understand universal English words. Likewise, technical English is also important to teach English-language learners in school. The key to learning technical English is to be able to break down the language in order to better understand it.

Divide the elements of language into small, easy to comprehend groups. Some of the elements that you need to learn are cognates, which are words that look the same in different languages. For example, the English word brother and the German word bruder.

Identify words called connectors, or conjunctions. These words are "and," "so," "but" and "or." These words can connect words, show contrast or offer a choice.

Identify referents. Referents are words used as a substitute for a noun, or pronouns. Referents are used in speech and the written language so that you do not have to say the item's or person's name over and over again. He, she and it are all examples of referents.

Identify the different parts of speech and memorize prefixes and suffixes. It is vital to be able to identify the different parts of speech, prefixes and suffixes, in order to learn technical English. This will allow you to break down a word and readily identify its meaning. An example of a prefix is hyper-, which means extra or beyond, such as in the word hyperactive. A suffix is found at the end of the word; "-ism" is a suffix that means a belief, such as in the word communism.

Practice the lexis and grammatical elements by reading a passage and identifying the different parts of speech and elements. Lexis is similar to the word linguistics and involves the base words of the language, without prefixes, suffixes, etc. Pre-reading activities and building a high-frequency vocabulary list are ways to practice technical English.