The Student Room Group
Uni students - Complete our survey >>
Uni students - Complete our survey >>
Uni students - Complete our survey >>

English Language - Foreign Vocabulary

When I did my History GCSE our teacher encourage us to use latin phrases to impress the examiner so for example "The following incident is a clear Casus Belli".
However when I do my English language essay papers should I refrain from using any vocabulary or is it okay to use some for the odd word. (I won't litter the paper with latin phrases. I just want to know if it's okay to use it once or twice if the audience/context is appropriate).
Original post by zattyzatzat
When I did my History GCSE our teacher encourage us to use latin phrases to impress the examiner so for example "The following incident is a clear Casus Belli".
However when I do my English language essay papers should I refrain from using any vocabulary or is it okay to use some for the odd word. (I won't litter the paper with latin phrases. I just want to know if it's okay to use it once or twice if the audience/context is appropriate).


If it is appropriate to the question then there should be no harm in doing it. Whether or not it will gain you any marks or just add to your answer it is dependent upon the examiner and how they view it :h:
Agreed, it depends a lot on the context. Would this language help you to communicate with your reader or make it harder for them to understand? Such usage may be of greater benefit on paper 2, where you may need to argue your point. Generally an examiner would be impressed by a wide vocabulary, including Latin loan words, as long as you didn't overdo it and start to sound pompous.

Quick Reply

Related discussions

Latest

Trending

Trending

Articles for you