I am a pupil or outdated English

24.04.2016

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Students often say things like: «I’ve never studied English before, I have no knowledge at all, I’m going to be the worst student». On the one hand, it seems logical, because, yes, other guys already know some words or rules. However, given the right group sorting, the results can be quite the opposite, since those who know nothing start with a clean slate, and they are not bothered by the outdated knowledge that they got in school. By good results we mean the ability of a student to express his or her thoughts clearly and adequately. The problem with those who have some knowledge is that it may be out-of-date already.
The following is the top of things that are taught at schools but that are not used in modern English. Of course, your interlocutor will probably understand what you say, but your words may sound really weird.
I shall go to shool.
Sure thing, shall is the absolute leader of our top. Textbooks say that this modal verb is used to express future, but only for pronouns I and We. Nowadays neither British English, nor American requires to use shall. Will is perfectly acceptable for all persons. Today shall is used only to offer help or to suggest to do something, for instance: «Shall I open the window?» or «Shall we go to that new pizza place?».
She is a pupil.
The word pupil has two meaning: a person who studies, and the iris of the eye, through which light passes to the retina. Well, the second meaning is still used now, but the first one sounds a little old. So, you can just use student instead like: «She is a high school student».
I’m a student of the sixth form.
We seem to have dealt with student but how to avoid the word form? Just say: «I’m in my sixth year at school».
She goes in for sports.
This is really old. It’s better to say: «She does sports».
What a pity / what a shame.
This is too formal. If you are with your friends and you don’t like something, you can say: «That sucks!». «That's too bad!» is also fine but for speaking to older people or in a more formal language.
With whom did you go out last night?
This is very often used by students, but not so much by the natives. It sounds better like this: «Who did you go out with last night?». As you see, with goes to the end. By the way, this word order is not unique for who, for example: «What are you talking about?».
The movie was rather good.
Don’t use rather in this meaning. Use pretty, quite, really, fairly instead.
May I use your telephone?
Say phone, cell, mobile. The same goes for television — TV, refrigerator — fridge. The simpler, the better.
She often reads books in English.
This is about the pronunciation of often. The thing is that people in the XVII century used to pronounce often like |ˈɔːftn|, later t became silent (which is taught at school), but now some people pronounce it. So, don’t get surprised if you hear t in a show or a movie.
All languages are constantly changing. If we had a time machine and travelled 5000 years to the future, we wouldn't be able to understand the people from the future. Unfortunately, a human life is not long enough to see huge grammatical changes in a language, but vocabulary is changing rapidly. Some words seize to be necessary, some become not popular. The Internet gave a huge boost to vocabulary growth. Don't let these words demotivate you! It's important to understand that no knowledge is ultimate truth. You have to learn every day to become better!

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I am a pupil or outdated English

I shall go to shool.

She is a pupil.

I’m a student of the sixth form.

She goes in for sports.

What a pity / what a shame.

With whom did you go out last night?

The movie was rather good.

May I use your telephone?

She often reads books in English.

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