Diction

The problem that I studied is diction, connotations and denotations. The relationship between words and meanings is extremely complicated, and belongs to the field of semantics. If someone does not find the connotations behind the sentences, it may cause a big problem. Connotations and denotations is very important to learn to avoid misunderstandings.

For example,

negative

There are over 2,000 vagrants in the city.

 

neutral

There are over 2,000 people with no fixed address in the city.

 

positive

          There are over 2,000 homeless in the city. 

The reason why I chose this problem was that every language has its own specific culture background. In the past few decades, many obvious words in English language have already been changed. As a international student, it's hard for me to know the tiny change in meaning. It will cost me a long time to get used to the culture behind the language and totally understand what every sentence means. As foreigners, it is difficult for us to understand the jokes made by Americans. The way to solve this problem, in my opinion, is paying more attention on connotations and denotations and try to memorize and accumulate.