Common English Mistakes in Proposals by Cantonese Speakers

This page focuses on errors typically made by native Cantonese speakers from Hong Kong when writing a Proposal in English.

Mistake Example #1

Confusion with countable vs. uncountable nouns ('She has much friends')

Subject: Proposal for New Marketing Strategy Dear Team, I am writing to propose a new marketing strategy that will help us reach moa widere audience and increase our brand awareness. We have conducted manyuch research and found that social media platforms are very effective for our target market. By allocating more resources to these channels, we can achieve better results and gain much success in the upcoming quarter. Please let me know if you have any feedbacks or suggestions.

Text corrected by:
Miss E., Cyprus, Europe

"This is mostly well-written. However, be mindful of errors such as the following: "reach more audience" should be "a wider audience" and "conducted many research" should be "conducted much research"."

Subject: Proposal for New Marketing Strategy Dear Team, I am writing to propose a new marketing strategy that will help us reach a wider audience and increase our brand awareness. We have conducted much research and found that social media platforms are very effective for our target market. By allocating more resources to these channels, we can achieve better results and gain much success in the upcoming quarter. Please let me know if you have any feedback or suggestions.

Subject: Proposal for New Marketing Strategy Dear Team, I am writing to propose a new marketing strategy that will help us reach more audience and increase our brand awareness. We have conducted many research and found that social media platforms are very effective for our target market. By allocating more resources to these channels, we can achieve better results and gain much success in the upcoming quarter. Please let me know if you have any feedbacks or suggestions.

Mistake Example #2

Overuse of direct translations from Cantonese

Dear Sir/Madam, I am writing to propose the new marketing strategy for our product launch. We should add omplil tofy our efforts and makensure everything is coordinatedragon and phoalignenixd. This will help us to catch the wind and water, ensuring oursuccessfully navingate the competitive marketplace and adequately position us for growth. Please consider this proposal—I am looking forward giveto me a face byour approving ital.

Text corrected by:
Gregg, Los Angeles, CA

"This needed some adjustments to sound more native and natural."

Dear Sir/Madam, I am writing to propose the new marketing strategy for our product launch. We should amplify our efforts and ensure everything is coordinated and aligned. This will help us successfully navigate the competitive marketplace and adequately position us for growth. Please consider this proposal—I am looking forward to your approval.

Dear Sir/Madam, I am writing to propose the new marketing strategy for our product launch. We should add oil to our efforts and make sure everything is in dragon and phoenix. This will help us to catch the wind and water, ensuring our success in the competitive market. Please consider this proposal and give me a face by approving it.

Mistake Example #3

Overuse of 'very' to emphasize adjectives

Our proposal isvery important for the future of our company, and it isvery necessary that we proceed with the new marketing strategy. The market is very competitive, and our current approach is not veryeffective. By implementing these changes, we can become verysuccessful and achievevery significant growth in the coming year.

Text corrected by:
Jennifer, Detroit, Michigan USA

"I took out all but one "very". Good work overall!"

Our proposal is important for the future of our company, and it is necessary that we proceed with the new marketing strategy. The market is very competitive, and our current approach is not effective. By implementing these changes, we can become successful and achieve significant growth in the coming year.

Our proposal is very important for the future of our company, and it is very necessary that we proceed with the new marketing strategy. The market is very competitive, and our current approach is not very effective. By implementing these changes, we can become very successful and achieve very significant growth in the coming year.