will you be my native speaker? 2

[howsmyenglish]

What do you think about long vs. shortened forms of:

intro vs introduction

vocab vs vocabulary

We want the instructions to be as short as possible, but understandable and sounding professional, not as if two kids are talking.

And how would you call this? A table? A chart? Something else?

Comments

[thanatos_kalos]

That's a table (a 'chart' would be more like a graph or pie chart). Most textbooks would use the full terms (vocabulary and introduction) in the text, though when teaching someone might use the shortened forms in speech or on something like a handout where you need to fit everything onto a single page. :)

[howsmyenglish]

Thanks!

[thewayne]

Last item first, it's more a table than a chart. IMO. But I think the definition is very blurry between those two words in English, the language is increasingly fluid.

Not knowing the target audience for the book (age bracket, education level, familiarity with the subject), or the subject, I think you're better with the more formal. At least initially. You could switch to the shortened, more casual forms after a couple of chapters perhaps.

[howsmyenglish]

Thanks!

[meowmensteen]

To me the shortened versions are more casual. If you're writing something authoritative I would stick to using the whole word.

[howsmyenglish]

Thanks!

[hamsterwoman]

I would call that a table (but probably not a chart, because to me chart suggests a graphical representation of numbers more than anything).

"Vocab" definitely feels very casual and I would not use it in a professional setting. "Intro" also sounds casual, but I feel like it would be less jarring than "vocab" in an instructional setting. I think you're best off using the full word even there if you're aiming for professional, though.

[howsmyenglish]

Thanks!

[flikkeren]

Agree with everyone that what you linked is a chart. Also, I'd stick to "introduction," "vocabulary," etc for titles or headings. If, in a later chapter, you want to refer to it, I think it would be okay to say "when we mentioned xyz in the intro..." I would say intro and vocab can be used by professionals, but it's usually when they're speaking versus written. Like professors might say "vocab" but books will usually spell it out vocabulary. The shortened versions are a lot more casual when written, it seems.

[howsmyenglish]

Agree with everyone that what you linked is a chart.
What? But everybody says it's a table... XD

I find it really interesting that everyone is against the shortened versions, while the only reason I asked is because I've seen them in textbooks XD

[flikkeren]

LOL omg... I meant that it is a table. That's definitely a table. 🤦‍♀️

I think it's okay to use the shortened versions! But it makes more sense in the body of a text rather than the chapter titles. I could see a trendy hip textbook using it for chapter titles too, though. Like with some cool looking modern font and being like [ -> intro.] or some formatting like that haha. So if your textbook is a cool modern one then go for it :D

[howsmyenglish]

LOL omg... I meant that it is a table. That's definitely a table. 🤦‍♀️
LOL! I though so, but just wanted to make sure XD