Why are today’s young people starting to become “at a loss for words”: they forget the words they speak and the characters they write?

If you were asked to give a compliment to your friend right now, what would you say? Would you blurt out “Old iron 666, YYDS”?

Source: Baidu

In fact, people in the past would praise it like this: "The profound writing is hidden and the lingering taste is full of twists and turns." "The writing is so powerful that it can shock the wind and rain, and the poem is so touching that it can make ghosts and gods cry." "It has lasted for thousands of years, as long as the earth and the sky, and it shines forever with the three lights."

We seem to be becoming more and more "uncultured". Recently, China Youth Daily conducted a survey, and the results were a bit surprising: more than half of young people feel that their language expression ability is not as good as before, and 47.1% of people feel that their vocabulary is not enough and their expressions are monotonous and boring. Why does this "lack of words" occur?

Source | China Youth Network

1

Why are these young people at a loss for words?

Back in the day, communication relied on letters and face-to-face interviews; now with the Internet, buzzwords, emoticons and a variety of ways to express oneself, it seems to be becoming easier and easier to convey one’s feelings.

Source: Sohu

But this simple and crude approach is increasingly distant from the profound thoughts and delicate sentiments hidden behind the words.

The development of Internet technology has provided us with a convenient way of communication, but it has also changed our original language and writing habits to a certain extent. Nowadays, we only need to enter a few letters to get a complete sentence, and complex expressions are simplified into a simple Internet term or an emoticon . While this improves efficiency, it also makes us gradually lose the ability to think deeply and remember.

Source | State Intellectual Property Office

A survey conducted by the Social Investigation Center of China Youth Daily revealed some key reasons.

The data shows that the primary reason for "lack of words" is insufficient reading and weakened expression ability , which accounts for 54.0% of the respondents.

The next closest reason was over-reliance on Internet language and emoticons, which led to lack of creativity , accounting for 53.0%.

In addition, fragmented browsing of information makes it difficult for people to form systematic thinking , which was also selected by 52.1%. These reasons have affected people's language expression ability to varying degrees.

Source | Baidu

2

How to make obstructed expression smooth?

The phenomenon of literary aphasia, where " there is something in one's heart but one cannot express it ", has had a significant impact on traditional culture.

Not only does it make the individual's way of thinking increasingly simple and crude , but more seriously, the circle-based phenomenon of Internet language symbols has exacerbated the cultural barriers between generations , posing severe challenges to the inheritance and development of culture.

Source: Wenxinyige (picture drawn by AI)

In order to alleviate the "lack of words" phenomenon among young people, we need to start from multiple aspects.

1. Maintain independent thinking. In the era of information explosion, young people need to cultivate their critical thinking, learn to screen, analyze and judge, keep a clear head, and avoid being swayed by fragmented and superficial content.

2. Participate in more offline social activities. Face-to-face communication can improve oral expression skills and allow people to learn and accumulate vocabulary in a real context. Such experience not only helps to enrich one's language library, but also improves the ability to cope with various occasions.

3. Keep reading. Reading is a process of in-depth learning. Through reading, young people can be exposed to rich vocabulary and expressions and improve their language literacy.

4. Improve the online language environment. The Internet is an important platform for young people to obtain information and communicate, and its language environment has a direct impact on language expression ability. Therefore, we should encourage richer and more in-depth expressions, reduce vulgar and superficial expressions, and create a good online language atmosphere.

Source: Wenxinyige (picture drawn by AI)

In short, the "lack of words" phenomenon is not an irreversible trend. We can get rid of the dilemma of "lack of words" and make our expression more fluent and rich by constantly improving our language expression ability through in-depth reading, writing practice and active participation in offline discussions.