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Contents
Introduction
11
13
Conclusion
17
18
01
Introduction
My name is Aiman Azlan and I am from Malaysia; born and raised. My
first language is Malay and I speak more Malay than I do English.
However, that is not an excuse for not being able to learn and improve
in English.
English, like any other languages, consists of four separate skills that
are linked to each other in some way. These four skills are reading,
writing, listening, and speaking.
Any English proficiency tests such as MUET, IELTS, or TOEFL will test
the students on each of these four skills. This particular booklet will
focus mainly on English speaking. To become completely proficient in a
language, one has to be adequately proficient in all four skills.
Having said that, dont be disheartened if you cant speak English. Not
being able to speak English doesnt necessarily make you bad in
English. You may not be able to speak, but perhaps you can read,
listen, or write English. That makes you somewhat proficient. This is not
an all-or-nothing matter.
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Most, if not all, of the Malaysian students who have went through
primary school education have at least a basic understanding of
English and its usage, and that will be our starting point.
Do keep in mind that this brief booklet was designed with my own
personal experience in mind. I am, you could say, a typical Malaysian
student who went through a typical Malaysian education system so it
safe for me to assume that many of us share the same foundation.
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One of the many possible reasons why those fears are unreasonable is
because they stem from having an unrealistic expectation of
themselves, of others, and/or of life in general.
These are among the many unrealistic expectations people can have:
The first time you do something will be decorated with many mistakes
and shortcomings. But that is not necessarily a bad thing. Making
mistakes is a normal part of the learning process. We should not fear
mistakes, in fact we should welcome them. I am not saying let us all
make mistakes intentionally. What I meant was when mistakes happen
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(and they most probably will), we need to accept them and learn from
them. It is through learning from mistakes that we grow into a better
person.
It is a positive thing to think good of people and that should remain the
default position. However, we cannot run away from the simple fact that
there are naughty people out there.
Though we do not judge their hearts because we dont know for sure
whats in them, we should avoid paying attention to these people. If the
things that they say and do dont add value to your life, then it is not
worth it to invest your time and energy in them.
You may not have the power to shut them up or to control what they say,
but you do have the power to control how you react. People cannot
harm you with their words unless you allow them to.
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Once we realise that life is difficult, then at that point life becomes
easier. It becomes easier because we no longer carry unrealistic
expectations on our shoulders.
Manage your expectation well and you will save yourself a lot of
unnecessary heartaches. This is not to say that with the right
expectation, suddenly everything will be candies and rainbows.
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what more can people ask from you than your very best? Before you
can expect people to have a reasonable expectation of you, you first
have to have a reasonable expectation of yourself.
How is that so? Well, to simplify, your mind will lead you to find every
conceivable evidence to prove that what you think is true.
So, whether you think you can or you cannot, you are absolutely right.
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Lastly, dont be too mesmerised with what you see, thinking that it
magically happened. What you see is a product of years of practise
and patience. There are many ways you can practise and I will share a
few in the coming chapter. For now, I would like to emphasise on
patience.
Now that I got those two things out of the way, allow me to share with
you my experience with learning English speaking. It would be easy
for me to give you a list of step-by-step things to do in order to get to
the level that you wanted, but to do that would be to simplify the reality.
Reality is complicated and nuanced, hence we should treat it as such.
What I think would work better is to give you a conceptual
understanding with which you can apply in your own unique situations.
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1. Exposure
2. Practice
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Language and culture are intertwined. One cannot separate the two.
When one is exposed to the English language, one will learn to some
extent the culture behind the language; either British, American, or a
mix of both. With any culture, there is bound to be negative and positive
practices. It is upon the person who learns to differentiate between the
two and chooses wisely, especially in our borderless world of today.
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exposure to native English speakers, but movies and songs are still
decent methods of exposure to the English language.
From here, like a child, one learns to imitate. Imitate how a word is
pronounced and how a word is properly used in a conversation.
Imitation means, what many despises, practice.
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Life, by default, is difficult. When one realises that, life becomes easier
to deal with. Most of the great things that we want to achieve requires
great effort on our part.
As with anything being tried the first time, there are bound to be
mistakes. Dont be afraid of mistakes. Instead, be afraid of not trying.
Be afraid of not giving it your very best. Be afraid of not taking
advantage of the opportunities given to you in this very moment.
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1. Sing
Dont worry. I am not suggesting that you get on stage and sing
(although that would be okay if you are up for it). What I am suggesting
is singing English songs by yourself.
When you sing English songs, you are essentially practicing how to
speak in English. You are pronouncing English words and you are using
those words in sentences to convey a message. That is essentially
English speaking.
2. Imitate
While watching English movies, you can imitate how the actors in those
movies talk. Here, you will be exposed to nuances in pronunciation and
word usage, since in movies there are a myriad of cultural flavours and
context variations.
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3. Conversation
I know that many might cringe at this part, but I have to be brutally
honest: the best way to practice English speaking is to actually, well,
speak English with someone. This is proven to be true based on my
personal experience.
Although I have benefited a lot from English songs and movies over the
years that I have been practicing English speaking, nothing come close
to the extend that I have benefited from actual English conversations.
To have a conversation, all you need is another person. That is it. You
dont even have to go out of Malaysia to find a person to speak in
English with. Just find someone with either the same level of English
speaking or a higher level of English speaking as you are (though the
later is very much preferred), and start speaking.
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Conclusion
If I can conclude everything with one simple sentence, it will be this:
there is no shortcut.
English speaking is indeed a skill like any other skill, following the same
pattern to mastery: exposure and practice. Of course, each individual
will master this skill at varying levels, but almost everyone can at least
master it to a level that is adequate for daily usage - which I am
assuming is what all of us want, at least.
In essence, the message that I would like for everyone to take home is
this: try your best and dont give up.
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If you would like to know where and when the next seminar will be,
please visit www.aimanazlan.com or contact the Academy by email at
academy@aimanazlan.com.
You can also attend the seminar by inviting the Academy to your
institution. Simply contact 013 416 4652 (Muhammad).
Be better.
www.aimanazlan.com
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