Monday 1 February 2010

Learning Method & Psychology: Why Can't I Speak Fluent English?



Recently, I have received a question from a non-student over the internet asking me for English learning advice. I reckon her concern is rather common so I would like to share my suggestions with all of you.

The lady in the email mentioned that she needs to communicate with English-speaking foreigners face-to-face and through email, but she can't express what she thinks fluently. She even feels "helpless" when she faces them.

THE RIGHT MINDSET
Firstly, one should feel glad that they have the chance to communicate with English speakers at work, as there are many others who beg for the chance yet have not had the opportunity.

Secondly, foreigners are not terrifying. They are like any other human being, only that they speak a different language from yours. Babies speak their own language, which is very different from the adults' ones, but babies are not terrifying.

Thirdly, if you don't agree with my baby metaphor because you are not afraid of making mistakes when speaking to babies, but you think you are afraid of making mistakes when speaking to foreigners, then you are very wrong. Because even native speakers make mistakes! When you speak Chinese, you also make mistakes sometimes. Do you feel horrified when you make an error in speaking Chinese in front of others? No, you won't! Then what makes English more frightening than Chinese?

Lastly, if you come to the conclusion that it is because of your lack of confidence, then the best way to "grow" your confidence in speaking is to learn more, understand more and practise more! For instance, if you are afraid of cooking because you are afraid that you might burn down the house, then you learn more about cooking techniques, understand the principles of cooking safety, and then practise more cooking! Back to our point, if you are afraid of trying, then you learn more about trying, understand the benefits of trying, and then practise tryiing!


SUGGESTIONS
You do need to build confidence by speaking more often with foreigners, but before you get to meet any, you can prepare yourself well by working on the English on your own.

1. HEAR YOURSELF
First of all, if you know you are speaking the right English with the right grammar, you wouldn't panic as much, which was why I highly recommend getting a good grammar book and work on your grammar first. After doing these exercises on the books, read the sentences / examples out loud. This is to get used to hearing your own voice saying the right thing. Repeat that every 2 days. It doesn't matter you are reading the old examples again and again, most importantly, you are hearing yourself. When I say, hearing yourself, I mean, you are focusing on listening every word you are reading. In this way, you will improve your spoken grammar.


2. ENGLISH DAYDREAMING
There are many reasons for a person not being able to express themselves. Maybe it is lack of vocabulary, maybe it is lack of thinking in English, maybe it is a psychological barrier. If you like to think in Chinese, then from today, start reading some news articles and then give yourself a few minutes to discuss the topic as if a foreigner is asking you what you think, and you think completely in English. Practise that as often as you can, maybe when you are on the MTR, on the bus, or when you have nothing to do. This is what I called "English Daydreaming".

If you are interested in knowing more, please read my articles written on Learning Methods and Learning Psychology. You can find them on the right side of this blog under "Labels"

"In learning, there is no can't do, there is only how much you are willing to do." -- Locky

7 comments:

  1. A great entry!! Thanks for sharing!!

    C

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks C,
    Hope you find it useful

    ReplyDelete
  3. Agree Locky's suggestions
    I do think that grammar is more important than other elements. At least I can express my basic meaning of a sentence even though I use a limited vocabularies. Once you build up confidence, you hope to varify your vocabularies.
    Sometimes I have chance in speaking English in daily counter duty. I'll memorize some frequently used keywords and sentences. It may be a helpful method to handle daily requests. After the transaction, I usually think the whole conversation again what should I say/ how to express better next time.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Great response by Phy!

    My response to your comment will be posted as a separate entry in the near future.

    Thanks for your contribution

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hi Locky can you recommend a "good" grammar book of intermediate to advanced level to me?

    I get a problem as I always use "present tense" when talking about sth. in the past/future/happening right now.

    I don't have this problem in writing as I've time to think and I know the verb forms. Yet I can't "change" the tense immediately in speaking.

    Any cure for this?

    ReplyDelete
  6. To Anonmymous person,

    For books recommended, you can check the label under "Books"

    For your continual use of present tense problem, you can try to do some self-practice with the methods I have suggested here in this entry -- Hear Yourself & English Daydreaming.

    They will help you a lot.

    ReplyDelete
  7. oh thanks Locky.
    I'll try to get the book and practise more~
    Phyllis

    ReplyDelete