No one has yet to ask me this one.
But I feel I need to address this issue, which is a big issue. English is
important, not only when you are seeking job, it's also important for your
career growth and even beyond, let's say to your personal life.
I am an engineering student, so I will leave the systematic training to
English major (please fill this hole, someone), instead I am focusing on
spoken English - how to speak English in a way so that people can accept you
more easily, this is a work-in-process, so just bear with me as you can.
1. You have to have teacher(s), how to find them? easy, people around you. I
have a lot of Chinese friends, well one of them is Vietnamese :) And I have
more American friends. So, naturally, some of those American friends become
my teachers, some of them were my officemates, one of them is a university
classics professor, and some of them are undergraduate students in my school
. So I hang out with them, I do fun things with them and slowly I let them
feel that I am eager to perfect my English. One day, my friend Brook told me
"sorry, you should say this in that way ..." I said "Oh, good, thank you",
he said "oh, good that you didn't care, I was afraid that it would offend
you", I said "no, not at all, the more the merrier"
2. Pay attention to your "tone" when you speak English, alright? "tone" is
10 times more important than just pronouncing words precisely (which is
important too, but not as nearly close to "tone"). OK, but how to do that?
it's hard I tell you, and you can only feel it, very rarely will your
American friends tell/correct you sentence by sentence (and it's very hard
to do). You have to pay attention to how native speaker say things, it
sometimes involves body language and expression. Observe how they change the
tone in different circumstances, memorize it and try it. Don't be shy to
ask for correction from your American friends.
3. Watching TV is a quick solution if you don't have your "teachers" already
, or still it can serve as a supplement, it never can be too much. You know,
there are too many slangs that we don't know, TV shows are a great channel
to pick them up. Besides, there are new words/phrases coming up every single
year, so you should make notes, on scratch paper or in memory whichever
serves you better. After you come across something 3 times, then it's yours
to keep forever. Easy? yes! and no! because you need to keep doing that, but
trust me in the end, when you reach a certain mastery of the language, you
will simply just enjoy it.
4. People say: well, it's just English, I can use mine to survive without
problem, true! but if you can use English to improve the quality of your
life, then why not? People say: OK, I am going back to China after a number
of years, why would I care? well, don't forget there are lots of foreign
companies in China, and those are the ones that you mostly will work with,
so, it'd be the same deal.
By the time you finish, you find what? It is totally FREE! As I said, you
have questions in improving your spoken English, drop me a line or two, we
will chat.
