Hi Helen,

One of the main strengths and attractions of the English language is its efficiency in communication. With such a huge vocabulary and comprehensive rules of grammar, there are almost always numerous ways in which one can say the same thing.

You were wrong, however, in saying "My written and spoken English is beyond doubting" I won't comment on the apparently aggressive reaction you got from your teacher but the nearest acceptable English to that would be: "My written and spoken English ability is beyond doubt." Even that, however, can be arguable because it does not state clearly whether your ability is good or bad. The phrase "beyond doubt" normally (but not always) means that the subject under discussion is of high quality but it is merely an implication nevertheless. Therefore to make your meaning totally clear, you could state "The fluency of my written and spoken English is beyond doubt." There are several other compositions you could use to convey the same message, though in different words. I have confined myself to what are basically corrections of the statement you have quoted. If you feel that your English is not good enough to be called "fluent", you might change the word "fluency" to "proficiency".

Your teacher's correction was equally wrong, as the phrase "out of the question" is generally used in English as a figure of speech that means "No" in such a way as to emphasise that there is no negotiation possible. Also, and being very particular again, her correction did not state clearly whether your ability is good or bad

She might have used the following: "My ability to write and speak English fluently is beyond question." Here again if you don't think that "fluently" is appropriate, you could use the word "proficiently" instead.

Bear in mind that although your teacher's English seems not to be of a high standard, she is Chinese and English is as foreign to her as it is to you. It is difficult to advise you what to do when your teacher's English language proficiency is not much better than your own - other than to get another teacher if you are able. However, I guess that you are a school or college student, in which case you presumably have no choice of teachers.

I suspect that this response of mine may bring about a rush of foreign teachers trying to outsmart me and each other but such is the flexibility of the English language that we may all be right in what we say.

If you feel that I can be of any further help now or in future, you are welcome to e-mail me privately if you wish.

Dave