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Difficulties in enhancing my English | ||
Tags: Measuring Progress | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
| reem2014 Newbie United Arab Emirates Joined 3748 days ago 3 posts - 3 votes | Message 1 of 4 20 January 2014 at 3:07pm | IP Logged |
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Hi All,
I would like to tell you my current condition and my obstacles in using the English Language being my second language. The first opportunity that I got to study English was in grade four as it was a must as one subject, and it remained the same until I graduated from high school. I had studied my bachelor degree in Business Administration in English and all of my teachers were from foreigners countries that means I used the English Language to communicate with them during my study which lasted for 5 years. Then I studied my Master as well in English and I went through the same situation, as I described it above. Apparently, I got the opportunity to use and practice the English during my study years. after my bachelor's graduation, I worked immediately in a company and I am still working on it, which we depend on the EL in daily basis. when I reflected back on the situations (chances in using the four skills of English) that I have been through, I always get disappointed from my level. although I am an A student in all academic's degrees. Now at work, I am handling a position of team leader, which I need to supervise small team. I found difficulty in dealing with them and in making meeting as I know for sure I will face difficulty in presenting my ideas and my thoughts without making preparation, it is really a tuff task for me. earlier, i used to have high self-esteem in using the language, but after few negative comments that i received from people around me about my bad level in English, I have started to get panic and confused while talking at work. Really, don't know if this section is the right section to share with you my concern but I am looking for someone to support me along my journey in enhancing my language. either as on line teachers, step-by-step courses, i tried self study steps, but still i don't see that much enhancements, need your advice, need your support. thanks all 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| patrickwilken Senior Member Germany radiant-flux.net Joined 4319 days ago 1546 posts - 3200 votes  Studies: German | Message 2 of 4 20 January 2014 at 3:10pm | IP Logged |
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What sort of native English materials (books, tv, films, newspapers etc) are you consuming on a daily/weekly basis?
1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Cavesa Triglot Senior Member Czech Republic Joined 4795 days ago 3277 posts - 6779 votes Speaks: Czech*, FrenchC2, EnglishC1 Studies: Spanish, German, Italian | Message 3 of 4 20 January 2014 at 5:15pm | IP Logged |
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Hi reem2014, welcome to the forums. You have found the right place :-)
1.Studying a degree in English isn't a sure way to become awesome at speaking and writing in English. General public tends to think so but it is nonsense. Sure, if you study among natives (in the UK, US etc), than it is very likely to force you to become great at English because it will be expected of you. But if you studied anywhere else, than it was a different situation. For exemple my university offers study programs in English (the Charles University in Prague) and both teachers and most students aren't great at English. At least when in comes to medicine students and teachers. The reasons why could suffice for two more paragraphs but it is true. So, don't beat yourself up for not having become native like during your studies. You were there to study primarily business and your English was sufficient for you to succeed. 2. Based on this sample of writing, I'd say you are like many learners at the point where they stop studying because "they know English". It is great you are continuing your education because while all your points are very clear, you are making a lots of details which are either small mistakes or just unnatural. Good news: you have great chances at getting rid of them. 3.Don't panic. It is never a pleasure to hear criticism concerning one of your presumed strengths. It is already a good sign that you just decided to solve the matter. Some ideas what to do: -Read a lot. Both things related to your job and other genres. You will develop the sense for correct and natural language similar to the one you've got for your native language over time. -Some of your mistakes lie in grammar. Get, for example, Advanced Grammar in Use (a big green book) and get through all the lessons and exercises.Even the intermediate volume English Grammar in Use may be helpful. -You obviously don't lack speech practice opportunities. However, your collueges are not there to fix your mistakes. Either get a tutor (but be very careful to choose a really good one) or record yourself! That could be especially useful when you are giving a presentation or a speech. Get the material ready beforehand, record yourself giving the presentation in your living room and listen to the recording. You can notice and catch a lot of your own mistakes, especially if you listen to the speech at least a few hours after recording. -Similarily, you can practice your writing skills. Participate actively in a forum, get a few minutes each day to write down your opinion on something etc. Read it later or have someone else correct you. You can get corrected for free at italki.com (you can get a tutor there as well for quite reasonable price). edit:fixed some typoes Edited by Cavesa on 20 January 2014 at 5:17pm 6 persons have voted this message useful | |
| languagenerd09 Triglot Senior Member United Kingdom youtube.com/user/Lan Joined 4886 days ago 174 posts - 267 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, Portuguese Studies: Mandarin, Japanese, Thai | Message 4 of 4 25 January 2014 at 1:59pm | IP Logged |
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Hi reem2014,
I'm a TEFL teacher myself (Teacher of English as Foreign Language) and although I specialise in teaching primary/secondary school, the first advice I would give can be given to a student learning English at any age which is - don't panic. If you panic about your English, you will not be focused correctly on where you need to enhance your skills already and what certain things will help you to advance those skills. For example, I recommend to students, just listening to English either on YouTube videos or websites on things that interest you - so business etc - you could watch online videos of talks about business etc and this helps you to "tune" your ear to how an English person would say it. Because, in the English speaking world, not every single one of us will pronounce things the same, there's even differences from North England in comparison to South England with pronunciation. For writing things, just practising by taking a text from a newspaper or book and copying it into a notebook when you have spare time, looking at spelling and little ways that we connect words and phrases together, so that you will eventually accustom yourself to how we verbally speak it and write it. Repeating things helps you to remember words and how it's said, if you're unsure of how to pronounce something, I suggest looking for it on Forvo - which is a useful website with native pronunciation of a word. Also, with speaking - you could perhaps look at if there's a course for English for Arabic speakers (I remember seeing one when I was connecting through Dubai airport last year but I can't remember the name of it) Grammar, I know this might seem silly for me to post as I usually use these with young students, but we tend to get them to use games to test their grammar knowledge which can be found on a website by the British Council They can basically reassure you with what you are strong at and what you need to reassure yourself with. As Cavesa pointed out, there were a few little grammar errors in your post. For example " in daily basis." - usually we would write that as "on a daily basis." But as I said, don't worry, keep your confidence there and it all now comes down to practice! Edited by languagenerd09 on 25 January 2014 at 2:05pm 3 persons have voted this message useful |
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