In one of my telephone conversation with a client, I noticed myself stammering a lot in my English pronunciation. I know it is just fine, English is not my first language. Sentence constructions is also difficult for me which takes me a little longer to form an English paragraph. I have to make many revisions from time to time. In short, I am not proficient in English.
I wonder then how can I improve my English proficiency. Most of the applications I did before for oversea, I was asked for my English proficiency and to fake it, I often check the box for fluent in both written and oral. But in reality, I have difficulty expressing myself in English. Recently, I am thinking of switching a job, but I am dreading the interview. I can't sell myself in English. You know what I mean.
And at the back of my mind, I need I have to do something.
I have to squeeze time to learn a word each day and its meaning and be able to apply it in a sentence. I remember during high school in our English subject we had a notebook where we cut an English word from newspapers or magazines, paste it on a page, provide its meaning and use it in a sentence. And I started just doing that. But with only a notebook and a pen. Whenever I encounter a word that I don't understand, I just write the word, google it and write down its meaning. Good thing, I have this blog to apply the new word I learned each day.
I have been listening to great music these past weeks. Honestly, before, I couldn't understand the content of a song if I do not read the lyrics. But with more listening, I am beginning to understand the lyrics and how it is pronounce in a song.
I watch more English movies lately. Would you believe I don't actually understand English movies' plot without a subtitle? Or without me reading first the synopsis? That's how low my comprehension is. Before, I lean on the character's actions of the movie thus movies with less actions and more of conversations bore me. I don't understand it at all. With more exposure to these, I think I am progressing with the pronunciation as well as comprehension. I am still having trouble though with British English. I will get to that. :)
I am also finding time to read English books. Out loud. I remember the time, when husband heard me reading out loud and he has given me a face of disbelief. Like, seriously, you are reading out loud? Hahaha. I ignore him of course and just continue. The truth is, I have the 'probinsiyana' accent with 'f' becoming 'p' and vice versa. With 'o' as 'u'. And a lot more of the letters. Hahaha. He sometimes correct me with how I pronounce a word. A real time feedback. It's a good one though.
My financial blog reading for over a year now has taught me a lot of jargon words in financing. Glad, google is readily available. The adjustment with all the terms is all worth it.
I have a long way to go with English word/s. There are these idiomatic expressions I have yet to study.
Think positive. God Bless. :)
Hindi ka pa marunong sa English nitong lagay na to ha, e pano pa kaya ako, hahah.
ReplyDeleteMuntik ko na rin kayang ibagsak ang English subject ko nung college :(
Hirap na hirap akong mag straight English dito sa Blog e, kaya Taglish minsan e,
Pero malaking tulong ang pagsusulat ko sa blog, at pagbabasa rin ng ibang post.
Bilib nga ako sa mga blog posts mo, hindi masyadong malalim pero siksik ,naiintindihan at practikal ang contents.
Go go go tayo for personal improvements :)
True Miss Grace. Nakakatulong na meron itong blog na ito. Kasi nagpupursige talaga ako na ma i convey ko ng maayos yung message na gusto kong sabihin eh hirap ako sa English kaya aral aral ako. Hehehe... A long way to go. Pero, baby steps din. Katulad sa financial literacy. Thank you ha for appreciating itong mga sinusulat ko. :) Yes, let's go forward for personal improvements.
DeleteNakakatuwa ka naman, talagang gusto mo matuto. Tiyaga lang, kaya mo yan! May gusto ako ibigay na e-book sayo, English Grammar for the Confused. Marami ka matututunan don, may mga exercises din na kasama after every chapter para macheck mo ang knowledge mo. Email me at dwindle18(at)gmail(dot)com. :)
ReplyDeleteWow, thank you Miss Edel. Sige, email kita. Oo, kapag ganitong nagkakaedad pala, nakakaisip na rin pala ng mga ganito. I remember my former manager from a previous company. She was at 30 when she started to ask me questions that were silly before for me. She asked about the 4 way test before. Alam mo yun? I was like, andami andaming kailangan na gawin or isipin tas iyun yung tinatanong niya sa akin. Ni hindi ko nga pinapansin yun sa mga highways eh dati. And then, now na I am at this stage, I realized, ganun pala yun. Hehehe. We seek something else for our own personal growth and worth. Napahaba tuloy. Email po kita. Thanks po, a lot. :)
DeleteNakakarelate ako. Recently, natransfer ako sa isang division na wala akong gagawin kundi magsulat ng memo, letters, messages, press release etc. Bumalik talaga ako sa English 101. I read grammar and composition books. It's never too late to learn naman di ba?
ReplyDeleteYes, never too late. I am 34 years old at minsan napapaisip ako kung paano ko napasa mga english subjects ko before. Hahaha. Sa amin din, we compose emails and sometimes speaks with customers over the phone, and then there are times naman na I am invited to give a speech, kaya, ito, pinag aaralan ko pa rin. Continuous learning. :)
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