Ask HN: Improving how you convey thought?

4 points

10 years ago

In short, when speaking orally i tend to lack clarity of meaning. I pause to think of words (of which i seem to know little), i forget names of persons, places and things. In general i feel i suffer from memory issues. My ability to form words from thought, verbally, is severely lacking. I find this much less of a problem at the keyboard, as it seems to be a "real time" issue.

Now, i'm in my early 30s and this has been happening for many years. I don't think it is inherently anything wrong, nor is it bad enough to warrant a medical diagnosis. No one notices my problem as a problem.. it's just how i speak.

Yet the fact remains, i'd like to try and fix this.

For a little history (in case the context matters): I've always hated english. Grammar spelling were evil to me growing up, and while i wanted to read books, they put me to sleep so i could never get beyond a couple pages. As a result, i frequently google spellings of words i should know, or look up how to phrase something, etc. The little grammar and english i do know is from osmosis more than any concentrated education, and as such my education on the subject is woefully lacking.

So, might there be some classes to help people like me? Should i push through the sleep phase and try to read every night? Thoughts?

NOTE: I'm sure i could take some classes to improve my spelling, grammar, and general understanding of the english language - but that's not the core problem i'm trying to fix. If you think that will lead to a solution, great, but the core problem remains as wanting to speak with more clarity and ease.

Thank you.

(As an aside: How ironic it is that i am having trouble conveying my question.. haha)

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