Recently a daughter of a friend of mine asked me on how to improve her English. Many of my students and close friends ask me the same question too. Most of the time, what amazes me is the fact that they have more or less the same reasons for not being able to speak in public (not unable to speak English.. but then to speak in public). Let me share with you what their reasons are. I'm sure you have more or less the same thing!
1) They can't just blurt it out!
They unconsciously have a long list of grammar rules in their mind, adjusting and readjusting their sentence before being able to come out!
Solution: Let it be.. I remember telling my students not to correct others! It does not really matter whether you speak perfect English or not. I remember one of my instructress in OBS, Lumut who really speak English like nobody's business. I can write a whole book on "English Errors" and gain money out of it just based on her grammatical errors. However, she spoke so confidently that I noticed nobody realized her errors! If you can do that, you are one step ahead!
Tips: Try speaking to yourself first, or pretend like you are talking to someone.. or just imitate the dialogues on tv. Sounds crazy? It does sound crazy.. but it helped a lot.. Nobody will say you are crazy when you are suddenly confident and fluent in English.
2) They just don't have the right vocabulary!
Most of them get stuck in the middle, not having the right vocab. The truth is, based on a research, we only use about 300 - 350 words repeteadly.. I have a list of 500 common words in English.. When I read together with my students, we realized that most of the words are understood by my students..
Solution: It's okay for you to mix up the language (Pecinta Bahasa will hate me for this). Just fill up the words that you don't know with Malay words. Who cares? Later, you'll get it. At the same time, try to read more english material.. and they need not to be boring.. Just read the subtitle when you watch "Cerekarama" or any Malay movies. Trust me, it'll help. In fact, it really help as it's mainly words used in our daily life.
3) They are scared if the pronunciation is not right!
Some of my friends really asked me just how I get it right. Honestly.. I started speaking in English in public at the age of 18. Being a TESL students was really hard as my friends came from English-speaking background, some of them come from Elite School like Tengku Kurshiah, MRSM etc.
When I first started speaking English, my heart would pound, I would start sweating and my face would blush like my first wedding night. We were required to have speeches every week. I remember waiting until everyone sleeps and practice my speech in front of the mirror at 3 o'clock in the morning. I felt stupid by it was worth it!
Solution: Get a good dictionary and learn how to use phonetic symbols at the back or the front page. Many think that it is difficult, but the truth is they are really simple. Close the words and practice pronouncing the words by looking at the phonetic symbols only!
Tip: Get Oxford Pocket Dictionary.. It's so small and handy that it fits your handbag.. The best part is, it only costs RM19.90! Honestly, I've bought many already but ended up giving it to my hardworking students. I remember one student who accepted my challenge to copy 2000 english words with definition to get the dictionary! She got it!
I think that's it for the time being! The most important thing is to keep on telling yourself! I'm good at English.. and insyaallah you will be!
GOOD LUCK!
kak wan cuba gak sikit2. Campur aduk la bahasa tapi sape kesahkan ?
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