What is Ogden's Basic English?

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If one were to take the 25,000 word Oxford Pocket English Dictionary and remove the redundancies of our rich language and eliminate the words that can be replaced by combinations of simpler words, we find that 90% of the concepts in that dictionary can be achieved with 850 words. The shortened list simplifies the effort to learn words, spelling, pronunciation, and irregularities. The rules of usage are identical to full English so that the practitioner communicates is perfectly good, yet simple, English.

We call this simplified language Basic English, the developer is Charles K. Ogden, and was released in 1930 with the book: Basic English: A General Introduction with Rules and Grammar. He founded the Orthological Institute to develop the tools for teaching Basic English. His most famous associate, I.A. Richards, led the effort in the Orient, which uses the techniques to this day.

The intent of Ogden is shown in the title of his seminal text, Basic English: International Second Language. English is the most widely distributed language, it is the language of international commerce, and is a language of simple structure. A student from western European is supposed to be able to learn the reduced language in 60 hours, that is to say, a motivated student spending three hours of a typical night school class, can learn vocabulary, pronunciation and idiom in a month.

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If one were to take the 25,000 word Oxford Pocket English Dictionary and take away the words with the same senses of our overly full language and take away the words that are able to be said by putting together simpler words, we see that 90% of the ideas in that dictionary are able to be done with only 850 words. The shorter word-list makes simpler the work to learn his letters and the ways of saying things that are not regular. The rules of using words are the same as in full English so that the Basic user is able to talk in good, but simple, English.

The name of this simple language is Basic English, the developer is Charles K. Ogden, and was given in 1930 with the book : Basic English: A General Introduction with Rules and Grammar. He started the Orthological Institute to develop the ways for teaching Basic English. His most noted working friend, I.A. Richards, started work in the Orient, which uses the Basic ways to this day.

The purposes of Ogden is made clear in the name of his book, Basic English: International Second Language. English is the most widely distributed language, it is the language of international business, and is a language of simple structure. A learner from west Europe will be able to learn the smaller language in 60 hours, that is to say, a good learner giving three hours of a night school, is able to learn the words, ways of saying, and special uses in a month.

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Last updated October 15, 2001
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