LAS LENGUAS INGLESA Y ESPAÑOLA de Delfín Carbonell

Mr. Donald Trump, President of the United States, complimented the  President of Liberia on his knowledge of English, dubbing it "beautiful English." The Liberian politician seemed glad to hear the praise. But was it a compliment? It was a left-handed , back-handed , Chinese , Irish compliment because Mr. Trump despises aliens of any sort, especially Africans. This also gives us food for thought about where compliments come from. Mr. Trump, with his limited English vocabulary and grammar, is not qualified to judge anybody's command of English. He feels that, as a native speaker, he is the arbiter of what is "beautiful English" and what is not. Per usual, he showed his bad manners in public once again. A caveat: when people compliment you on your English, beware!

In general -there are exceptions- people are reluctant to compliment others. They are eager to see the mote in their brother's eye rather than the beam in their own eye (Luke, 6:37). But this is not the way to make friends and influence people. Everybody loves to be liked, appreciated, patted on the back, complimented... So, please, be generous with your compliments. That's a nice tie you are wearing. Women seldom say this. They'd rather say the contrary: I don't like the the tie you are wearing . Grave mistake. What a beautiful accent you have! You can say this whether the person has an Alamaba droll, a Cockney slur, or speaks New Yorkese, or even if she stutters. We all think that our accent is the best and are proud of it. Varieties with which you can never go wrong: Your English is so very good! You sound like an authentic Oxford don! Your English is like music to my ears! You have a great sense of humor. We all think we are witty and funny and love to...