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Are you not confident about your English? Lets work ir out together! :) (Eng - Eng)

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  1. #1

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    Are you not confident about your English? Lets work ir out together! :) (Eng - Eng)

    Hi dear readers,

    Let me know if something as below is going through your mind.

    -My English is not good.
    -I am afraid to speak English because I am afraid to make pronunciation or grammatical error.
    -I am good at writing but not good at speaking.
    -I don’t have much chance to practice my English.
    -I want to improve my English!

    If you are thinking any of the above point then let’s work it out together! My English is at intermediate level and I want to advance my English as many of us want to. I’m friendly, patient and good listener. If you are interested then we may meet in café or some other place and have a conversation, we can also form small group discussion when we have more people to join. Let’s encourage each other and improve each other!

    Regards,
    DK
    Last edited by Dragon888; 23-12-2011 at 10:23 PM.

  2. #2

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    Hi DK,

    Thank you for posting this thread. Are you a local cantonese speaker? I'm a student from mainland China, often having the same ideas as you do. However I think if there is no native speaker joining in and we just practice among ourselves it would be inefficient, as you never know for certain if some expressions are right or wrong, your false impression could be strengherned if others make similar mistakes, and you could be reluctant to correct some known mistakes when you can well get across you ideas with Chinglish or HK-style English...I once practiced speaking English with a roommate in college, and it turned out we created anther language unintelligible to both Chinese and English speakers! (Sure we did that for fun but it's true we couldn't move further towards standard English)
    Well I don't mean it seriously and I totally support your idea. After all, it's a good way to overcome shyness and inprove fluency, just by practicing speaking. I'm waiting to join your meetup when you have more people join in. Good luck!

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  3. #3

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    As Charlotte said you need to learn from those who are better than you. So you need native speakers in your group, not more of those of your own level. You can consider a language exchange to create a win-win for all.

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  4. #4

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    I think most second language English speakers converse with non native speakers in the real world. Think of a Japanese businessman doing business in France or Germany as an example. So, while I agree that practicing with someone better than you will lead to improvement (in the same way that your tennis will improve if playing someone better than you), you don't need to only speak with a native speaker in order to get better. Native speakers can also make language learning overly complicated (explaining obscure idioms which are not needed), and often do not know how to explain the grammar (even if they are able to use it). A native speaker is good for pronunciation.

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  5. #5

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    I agree with you till some extend, its a very good point, If there is any native speaker who wants to join they are very most welcome! If we cannot find any native English speaker I think we can still improve ourself till great extend, for example we can atleast try improve my pronunciation and speaking speed rate (without stuck in the middle of the sentence), listening skill. As far as my English skill is consider, I rate my pronunciation skill as good and my overall skill I rate myself not bad/ fair, I believe if somebody wants to practice with me will improve till some extend. In my part my focus is to able to speak without getting stuck. My focus is not make myself or my partner(s) speak English 100% fluent, atleast we can try to get somewhere near or bit far of that.

  6. #6

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    Quote Originally Posted by Charlotte_Xu:
    Hi DK,

    Thank you for posting this thread. Are you a local cantonese speaker? I'm a student from mainland China, often having the same ideas as you do. However I think if there is no native speaker joining in and we just practice among ourselves it would be inefficient, as you never know for certain if some expressions are right or wrong, your false impression could be strengherned if others make similar mistakes, and you could be reluctant to correct some known mistakes when you can well get across you ideas with Chinglish or HK-style English...I once practiced speaking English with a roommate in college, and it turned out we created anther language unintelligible to both Chinese and English speakers! (Sure we did that for fun but it's true we couldn't move further towards standard English)
    Well I don't mean it seriously and I totally support your idea. After all, it's a good way to overcome shyness and inprove fluency, just by practicing speaking. I'm waiting to join your meetup when you have more people join in. Good luck!

    Thank you for your positive response. I'm 20 years old an Indian living in Hong Kong. I am working in a trading company as accounts clerk/sales/admin. I actually sometimes face problem when I am trying to make a brief explanation to my customers or my friends and in some areas I want to improve.

    I agree with you as well, as I said if there is any advance English speaker or native English speaker who would like to join is very much welcome if we cannot find them we can still try (no harm to try) and there is nice saying "something is better than nothing" sure we can still improve in some areas of our English skill. There is one thing you pointed out which is very important that "good way to overcome shyness and improve fluency" some of them are shy to speak English atleast they will have some confidence if they are not speaking to somebody who are at very high level…hehe. For meeting I am still planning. Cafe would be a nice place.

  7. #7

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    Hi DK,
    I'm looking forward to your meetup. I think meeting people of different backgrounds would be great!
    I agree with drumbrake that native speakers can make language learning overly complicated. I studied Teaching Chinese as a Second Language in college and it felt like kidding to learn grade school grammar and all the basics of my own language before I realised TCSL is a serious discipline. As it is the rationale of certain grammatical phenomena can be too complicated to explain for somebody other than a linguist, involving all kinds of cultural, phychological, sociological...knowledge, and some of the possible explanations can be really unexpected. I personally find native speakers interesting perhaps because to me they can be good "objects of study" as well as people to learn from, as their brains function differently from mine, which always make me think a lot. As you're Indian I guess I will find you interesting too, since speakers of Indian English, Singaporian English, Chinese English and other variants think differently and we can always learn something form each other!

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  8. #8

    I'm a native English speaker, from England - many have said I have a very recognisable 'English' accent and I am open to assisting with this language exchange.


    Btw Charlotte, I sent you a PM a while ago - not sure if you've received it.


  9. #9

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    Quote Originally Posted by SonicYouth1:
    Btw Charlotte, I sent you a PM a while ago - not sure if you've received it.
    I didn't receive the PM. How come? Could you send it again?

  10. #10

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    Quote Originally Posted by SonicYouth1:
    I'm a native English speaker, from England - many have said I have a very recognisable 'English' accent and I am open to assisting with this language exchange.


    Btw Charlotte, I sent you a PM a while ago - not sure if you've received it.
    Thank you for supporting us, Its nice really nice of you to do so. We now totally 4 of them (Engman posted then deleted lets see if he wants to join us). If we four have decided then we can plan further , where to meet and have conversation. How about the Starbucks in Avenue of Stars, Tsim Sha Tsui Promenade, Kowloon? Why I suggest this is because it has a upper floor which is very open space can enjoy the view and breeze by the sea (feel more relaxed and comfortable).If you have Skype account then you can reach me and Engman as well or I dont mind to use MSN if you dont have Skype.

    Cheers!

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