Communication is one of the most complex, yet indispensable tools we use daily. It is made even more complex when the language of, er, communication is English.
To declare competence in communication means that you have the ability to do something successfully. And because perfection doesn’t exist, competence therefore implies a perpetual work in progress.
English is a “difficult” language
In his Mark My Word column in the Saturday Nation, the late Philip Ochieng, a former editor with the Daily Nation, kept watch over grammar as used—and abused—in newspapers. Yet he freely admitted that English must be the most “difficult” language in the world.
In one column, he revealed that “English prepositions give reporters and sub-editors a great deal of grief. Even in countries where English is the mother tongue.” Such is the complexity of the language.
Yet, despite this challenge, we cannot escape the fact that English is the official language of business communication, locally and internationally. We must therefore continually—not continuously, as I learnt from Mr. Ochieng—strive to come to grips with it.
Kenglish: When mmother tongue Interferes
In my experience, the more common instances when English is murdered are when we say, me I, like for example, repeat again, severally (to mean several times, which it does not mean); and, my names are.
Why does this occur? Because English is not a first language for Kenyans. The mother tongue and/or Kiswahili usually are. And these influence written and spoken English.
Borrowing from Chinglish (Chinese English) then, I contrive Kenglish to refer to spoken English that is influenced by Kiswahili and the many other languages spoken in Kenya.
For instance, “Help me with your ID card,” is a direct translation from “Nisaide na kitambulisho chako.” The latter, is grammatically correct, but not so the former. It does not help matters when one’s English teacher (teacher of English?) pronounces alert as a rat, choose as juice or, art as hat.
Pronunciation and punctuation
Pronunciation is not taught in school. It is assumed that the student will somehow know.
Small wonder then that hat, hart, heart, hurt and hut are all pronounced as hat by almost all of us.
And why not? Pronunciation is a factor of contorting the organs of articulation—lips, jaw, tongue—to the rhythm of a language. Yes, every language has a rhythm. And after two decades of working specific muscles of articulation in a specific way, it is unrealistic to expect the learner to flex them differently overnight.
One might as well hope his pot belly will become a six-pack after lifting weights for an hour. One’s pronunciation can, however, change to a “six-pack” through practice—as evidenced by the average Kenyan who has returned from the US after a year of exposure to the American accent.
Or, one who learns his mother tongue as an adult. (By the way, why don’t Kenyans pick the Indian accent? Just asking)
And then there is punctuation.
The semicolon separates two independent sentences and is not interchangeable with the full colon. British English has the full stop inside the speech marks; American English, outside. These are the two anomalies teachers of English tell me they find most often with students.
Read: Why the right words are crucial in selling services
The digital disruption
The digital disruption did not spare communication. It is because of social media that hahaha became Lol!, you, u, and, one can insert a smiley at the end of a sentence as if it’s part of punctuation. The digital disruption did not spare communication. It is because of social media that hahaha became Lol!, you became *u*, and one can insert a smiley at the end of a sentence as if it’s part of punctuation.
Mercifully, there is spell check and predictive texting. This is a double-edged sword, though. On the one hand, it allows users to type faster and spell correctly. On the other hand, it is quickly becoming the remote control of written communication.
AI and communication competence: a new tool, an old challenge
The digital disruption did not spare communication—and AI has now entered the room.
Tools like Grammarly, ChatGPT, and built-in editors can correct your grammar, suggest better phrasing, and polish your tone in real time. Used well, they are a gift. They give the busy professional a second pair of eyes on every email, every proposal, every message.
But they come with a new risk.
AI can flatten language. It can strip out voice, character, and the very human quirks that make communication memorable. It can also miss the nuances of Kenyan English—the Kenglish patterns that are grammatically incorrect but culturally fluent.
The answer is not to reject AI. It is to use it the way you would use any tool: deliberately. Let it catch your typos. Let it suggest alternatives. But do not let it speak for you. Communication competence has always meant knowing when to follow the rules—and when to break them. AI has not changed that.
Read: AI is not coming for your job— your poor performance is
Communication competence: What to do?
What to do then, now that we must learn a challenging language in challenging circumstances?
Joining an organization like Toastmasters, that is deliberate in improving members’ use of English, is one way. Another is to learn from Philip Ochieng’s Mark My Word column—or the archives of his work.
A third way is to grammatically write your texts, chats and social media conversations, and a fourth, be consciously aware to deliberately reduce the influence of mother tongue in your communication.
A fifth is to use AI wisely—as a tool for polish, not a replacement for voice.
Communication competence is not a destination. It is a practice. And like any practice, it rewards those who show up consistently.
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