LISTENING

How can a person increase his listening skills? The answer is very simple. Listen as much as you can and speak little. The reason we are given two ears and only one mouth is that God wants us to listen more and speak less. It has been observed that people who talk much have difficulty listening. Make listening a habit and a lifestyle.

If a person is taking an exam about a language, he has to certainly familiarize himself with it.   He can do this by listening to the said language using a walkman, a compact disc or an ipod on a daily basis. If it is possible, he must get himself exposed to people who speak the language that he needs or wants to learn about.  He can even watch a movie that speaks this language.

If the person wants to learn English for example, he can also try to listen to the people who speak English from different countries. This way, he will be able to distinguish if the English spoken was uttered by an Australian, an American, a Chinese, etc. Each country has a certain slang or accent when speaking English. But the person who wishes to do this must first have a solid foundation on the right English so that he would not get confused. If he has mastered the proper tones, intonations and dictions of the English language, that is the time that it would be safe for him to try to get himself exposed to English spoken by the different countries.

SPEECH/ ORAL ENGLISH

This is one of the easiest yet the hardest of the four tests. In speech, one has to learn the proper pauses, tones, intonations, dictions and accent.  One has also to be careful about the choice of words and grammars. One common practice of people who are preparing for a speech exam is to stand in front of a mirror while doing their speech. This way, they can also see their facial expressions and body languages. Some people record their speech and then listen to it to see if he did well or not. Through this, he can take note on the weak points and improve on them.

If the person is taking a language speech exam, then the best kind of preparation would be speaking the language as much as he can daily. If a person wants to learn Mandarin, then go and speak with a person who speaks the language naturally. Avoid speaking with people who speak broken Mandarin as it might only confuse the learner. Doing this may lead him to learn the wrong grammar and accent. On the other hand, if the learner speaks with a native Chinese, he gets to interact naturally, he is able to practice his listening skills and he would be able to have the chance to speak the language in the most common environment. This can also become a new habit and lifestyle for him. Bottom line is that your speech must sound as natural as possible.

It would be easier for a person to speak a certain language naturally if he starts it with his mind. For example, a Japanese person would naturally think using his Japan language. But if he starts thinking using the English language, then his English speaking would progress faster because his reactions and mindsets would now be in English. Because his mindset is now in English, it follows that the words he speaks would also be in English. This was proven by my Cantonese friend. She used to speak Cantonese language but because she married a person who speaks the Amoy language, my friend had no choice but to learn it too. After quite some time, I noticed that she had already become fluent with the Amoy language. When I told my friend about my observation, she replied that she used to think in Cantonese but now she thinks in Amoy.