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Students’ Sounding Board / Re: How can one practice speaking English in a non English-speaking country?
« on: August 28, 2013, 02:51:23 AM »
Hi Mwita Chacha,
I perfectly understand your situation for I, myself, have to learn a foreign language (i.e. - German) which is not widely spoken in the Philippines as part of the requirements for my graduate studies. Even though I have basic understanding of the language system of Deutsch, as Germans call it, I can hardly find someone whom I can talk to to practice using the language.
You are right when you said that for you to learn a language, you need to use it otherwise, you'll lose it. That's how language learning works as proven by respected scholars in the field and innumerable research conducted in the area. A reading competence in a language, especially in English at this day and age, is inadequate if your goal is to reach international audience. This competence must be transformed into the much-needed productive skills (i.e.- speaking and writing) if one wishes to partake in the global trade and industry. The only way to do this to exhaust all means possible to use the language even if the environment is less supportive of your goal.
I tried to read a few things about Tanzania on the internet and it's interesting to find out that your language policy specifically assigns Swahili as a preferred language for local and national identity, and English (being a de facto language in certain institutions) for global participation. I find this supposed "fact" (as my source suggests) about your country contrary to what's really happening in your area based on your case. I wonder how such a policy works in your country.
Nonetheless, I'd like to share a few tips with you which actually worked with people I know.
First, which I guess you might have tried already, is to use the power of the internet to practice using the language. I remember a friend who had to learn Spanish for his foreign language exam not taking any formal courses on Spanish but being able to pass the test all because of his six-month effort to view Youtube tutorials, and free practice exercises in different websites. Since we're talking about English here, it wouldn't be much of a problem since 70% of websites on the internet are in English and I would like to believe that more than half of Youtube content is in English.
Second is to find a friend (the easiest way being on the internet through different platforms) whom you can talk to about random everyday things at a certain time of the day or week when both of you are available. For example, I met a friend in China who is trying to learn English and she asked me if it's ok that we become buddies in WeChat (a mobile application that can be used for chatting). Of course, I said yes and from then on, we have been constantly sending messages to one another. Just last week, I met a Japanese who is also trying to learn English and before we parted ways, he asked for my Facebook account for us to be constantly connected, although of course, one of his goals is to have someone to talk to (or perhaps write to) in English when he returns to Japan.
Third is to attend international conferences, not just to add to your credentials, but also to seek connections and forge friendship ties with foreign nationals. I've attended several international conferences and such have indeed opened wider doors for academic collaborations and many other possibilities in my case.
Finally, talk to yourself in English, when absolutely no one is available to practice with you. But please do this when you're alone because you don't want to be mistaken to have psychological problems or whatnot, do you?. It worked for me. I not only learned more about myself through periodic reflection, but in the process, I managed to improve my conversational English (as far as I believe).
Of course, there are many other ways that may absolutely work for you. One thing you have to remember though, is that it's alright to commit mistakes while learning the language. Sometimes, people including my students refuse to speak in English for fear that the person they are speaking with will size them up based on the kind of English they speak, which results in the lack of confidence to actually use the language. This should not be the case because everyone will commit mistakes no matter how good one is in any language. If you happen to make one while conversing with someone, ignore the fact that you made a mistake. What is important is for you deliver your message across, and that you are aware that you made a mistake so that in the future, you could avoid doing it again.
In my experience, I found that it doesn't matter what variety of English you speak or whether you speak the language in a way that is far from the dominant varieties (i.e.- British or American) as long as they get what you mean. This is because they will be delighted by the fact that you actually tried talk to them in a language familiar to both of you despite your cultural differences.
I hope this helps...
Regards,
Nic Guinto
nicguinto@gmail.com
bibliosensei@gmail.com
I perfectly understand your situation for I, myself, have to learn a foreign language (i.e. - German) which is not widely spoken in the Philippines as part of the requirements for my graduate studies. Even though I have basic understanding of the language system of Deutsch, as Germans call it, I can hardly find someone whom I can talk to to practice using the language.
You are right when you said that for you to learn a language, you need to use it otherwise, you'll lose it. That's how language learning works as proven by respected scholars in the field and innumerable research conducted in the area. A reading competence in a language, especially in English at this day and age, is inadequate if your goal is to reach international audience. This competence must be transformed into the much-needed productive skills (i.e.- speaking and writing) if one wishes to partake in the global trade and industry. The only way to do this to exhaust all means possible to use the language even if the environment is less supportive of your goal.
I tried to read a few things about Tanzania on the internet and it's interesting to find out that your language policy specifically assigns Swahili as a preferred language for local and national identity, and English (being a de facto language in certain institutions) for global participation. I find this supposed "fact" (as my source suggests) about your country contrary to what's really happening in your area based on your case. I wonder how such a policy works in your country.
Nonetheless, I'd like to share a few tips with you which actually worked with people I know.
First, which I guess you might have tried already, is to use the power of the internet to practice using the language. I remember a friend who had to learn Spanish for his foreign language exam not taking any formal courses on Spanish but being able to pass the test all because of his six-month effort to view Youtube tutorials, and free practice exercises in different websites. Since we're talking about English here, it wouldn't be much of a problem since 70% of websites on the internet are in English and I would like to believe that more than half of Youtube content is in English.
Second is to find a friend (the easiest way being on the internet through different platforms) whom you can talk to about random everyday things at a certain time of the day or week when both of you are available. For example, I met a friend in China who is trying to learn English and she asked me if it's ok that we become buddies in WeChat (a mobile application that can be used for chatting). Of course, I said yes and from then on, we have been constantly sending messages to one another. Just last week, I met a Japanese who is also trying to learn English and before we parted ways, he asked for my Facebook account for us to be constantly connected, although of course, one of his goals is to have someone to talk to (or perhaps write to) in English when he returns to Japan.
Third is to attend international conferences, not just to add to your credentials, but also to seek connections and forge friendship ties with foreign nationals. I've attended several international conferences and such have indeed opened wider doors for academic collaborations and many other possibilities in my case.
Finally, talk to yourself in English, when absolutely no one is available to practice with you. But please do this when you're alone because you don't want to be mistaken to have psychological problems or whatnot, do you?. It worked for me. I not only learned more about myself through periodic reflection, but in the process, I managed to improve my conversational English (as far as I believe).
Of course, there are many other ways that may absolutely work for you. One thing you have to remember though, is that it's alright to commit mistakes while learning the language. Sometimes, people including my students refuse to speak in English for fear that the person they are speaking with will size them up based on the kind of English they speak, which results in the lack of confidence to actually use the language. This should not be the case because everyone will commit mistakes no matter how good one is in any language. If you happen to make one while conversing with someone, ignore the fact that you made a mistake. What is important is for you deliver your message across, and that you are aware that you made a mistake so that in the future, you could avoid doing it again.
In my experience, I found that it doesn't matter what variety of English you speak or whether you speak the language in a way that is far from the dominant varieties (i.e.- British or American) as long as they get what you mean. This is because they will be delighted by the fact that you actually tried talk to them in a language familiar to both of you despite your cultural differences.
I hope this helps...
Regards,
Nic Guinto
nicguinto@gmail.com
bibliosensei@gmail.com