3 ms·
do we really need to be putting all our writing down to grade 5 level
by knee-cartilage 7y ago
do we really need to be putting all our writing down to grade 5 level
- Riverheart 7y agoNot all, but if you're trying to convey complex ideas you probably want to save the readers mental bandwidth for the substance. Kentucky's healthcare exchange website targeted a 6th grade level and did well.
- btilly 7y agoYou do if you want to understood by the average American. Please remember that simple words do not imply simple ideas. As Hemingway said when criticized for his simple language, Poor Faulkner. Does he really think big emotions come from big words? He thinks I don’t know the ten-dollar words. I know them all right. But there are older and simpler and better words, and those are the ones I use.
- weinzierl 7y agoI'm sure the average Non-American reader appreciates it as well. Even more so all English as a second language readers like myself.
- nicbou 7y agoIt helps. There is a place and a time for clever language. You don't have to make complex topics more complicated with language. If you are a government service, you will serve people who are not native speakers.