SO you say you started to read english dailies and sorts right? That's a good start. On speaking part, try to speak to yourself in mirror(when nobody's watching) Not that you can see changes immediately, but it'll help. If you think it's a hassle, think in English, as in, for your everyday chores or whatnot, just don't "communicate to yourself" in your native tougue but do it in English. It definitely helped me as far as I'm concerned.

For vocabulary part, I think there should be some "word power" section or something similiar that appears in dailies or magazines. Try to copy them down and use it by making simples sentences (like a primary school kid I assume) and use it in your essay as well I think. A theasaurus is what you are looking for if you want your simple looking word to sound "sophisticated" I hope it helps.

Cheers

Try not to overload yourself with boombastic vocabulary first. Start with simple and straight-to-the-point sentences; the purpose of the conversation is to let your listeners understand what you want to deliver by constructing a grammatically correct statement. After that, if you intend to move to a higher level, you can start to incorporate better words and use more flowerish and powerful words/phrases.

This post has been edited by David83: Jan 13 2007, 12:53 AM

hahahaha. perfect example of judging a book by its cover...hahahaha...ooops u cant use hahaha... so long winded for a forum...wow....

i'm doing my degree in TESL so i guess i know something that may help you. if speaking is your problem, then the only way to improve it is by speaking itself. yes, it is good to read, but mostly it will help you to expand your vocabulary and comprehesion, but not your spoken language. seriously, i have encountered many TESLians who read books by great authors every day but still has not improved their spoken language due to them still conversing in their native language.

so, try to speak english as much as possible to people around you. do not be shy to make mistakes. it is part of learning. then, you have to make a reflection to what you have spoken. think back and correct any mistakes you have made. then try to repeat the correct sentences or grammar so that you will be able to use the correct form the next time u converse in english. this is similar to the way you will double check your written essay. that is why many people can produce error-free essay but not when it comes to speaking.

oh, as the others have pointed out, try to think in english. it will definitely boost your improvement as translation will only get you to a certain limited level of proficiency in english. so, thinking and talking in english are your best bet.

aside from that, when you read, read silently at first for comprehension. then read the same article loudly. this will improve your pronunciation and speaking skills as well.
so, all the best in your future presentation

Well, said. Cheating leads you to nowhere.

And Harry Potter books are an excellent suggestion.

At the end of the day, find a friend who is good in English to talk to you and let them know that they should feel free to point out grammatical (since that is your weak point) errors to you. Or just watch the news, listen to the radio, and as someone pointed out, watching English TV shows too.

Or you could just enroll in a class for TOEFL or TESL. Even 1119 classes will be a big boost.

Good luck.

i got some tips here. i usually score the highest (near 100) in english subjects during my primary and secondary school. but the problem is, i cant speak. i can write but cant speak.

i read alot of english articles, newspapers......that is why i can score well in..well....paper exams. when it comes to speaking, i really cant open my mouth, sort of mumble. i can speak better after taking my MUET in form 6, but still not good enough for a normal english conversation. then i decided to train myself in the mirror. doing a public speaking in front of the mirror during free time. all the time with different title. and some times, i purposely phone to 123 maxis customer service to train my english, seriously, i rili did that.

the result? i can speak english with banana chinese now. and guess what, those banana that used to laugh at me during the time i cant speak english, i can laugh them back now, bcoz they are such a banana.....

* im from chinese educated school btw.

Read more English articles, story books and English dailies. I'm not promoting The Star here but it's definitely a good source for you to learn or to improve your English.
I'm not saying I've a good command of English but definitely I like this language very much, thus I think first you need to sow your interest into it. This will help you a lot in your later days learning.
As you said you are weak in the usage of proper grammar, I think the best way is you keep reading and later come out with an essay every week if possible and request for help from the friends with better English to help you to point out your grammartical errors. It is proven scientifically that humans tend to learn better from the mistakes that made earlier.
Okay, as for the presentation part, I've no reason for not agreeing with edwuave. As a former choral speaker of my school which is one of the best teams in Malaysia, I think my teachers definitely have the sufficient experience to guide us the right way. They said we need to have countless practices in front of the mirror if we want to enhance our self-esteem to perform well in front of the audience, better pronounciation as in speak it aloud when you read a word and lastly it can improve your flexibility of facial expression. So, I think you might can use this way to improve your presentation skill.

My advice is to get your English brushed up as soon as possible before you graduate from your studies because it is important in your working life. I am not a what so ever pro in English but I do hope my suggested ways help you in a way.

Reading fiction books might not be a good idea if you use English more in formal occasions/approaches. The language or approach used are flowery and only suitable for literature. For beginners, it might not easy to digest what the whole sentence means due the choice of words (might be using pottery or literature style). Reading is good but must choose good materials to suit your level and purpose.

muka tebal sikit and force yourself to speak english, ppl might laugh and said your english s*cks ,then u learn from there lo.....if the ppl correct your english on the spot then it would be better....

well, I juz startin study in col. 2 weeks ago....
to be frank, my english is bad...
sumtimes i could hardly construct a sentence when speaking....
make grammar mistakes....

my advice is...
try speaking wif frends n lecturers around d uni. col.
they wont laugh at ur mistake...
there is nth 2 be afraid of...
try 2 learn their style of speaking...
how 2 construct sentence,usin correct grammar,inserting phrasal verbs,or takin up sum slangs...
hahaz...

i listen 2 hip hop music....
learned quite a lot from there...
listen through their rap...from d lyrics...
bt plz dun learn d "dirty words"....
hahaz....

well,i think readin newspaper n novel wont giv too much influnce on improvin english in d aspect of speaking....
bt in d aspect of writing....

juz my opinion...no offence or anythin....

You need to balance up all the basic skills; read, write, listen and speak. If you're too concentrated on one, the rest will be lagging behind.

1. Read good materials.
2. Write essays/sentences with practice exercises.
3. Listen to news/series
4. Speak/Converse with friends in daily life.

This post has been edited by David83: Jan 13 2007, 10:49 AM

The best way to improve your spoken English is to listen and practice whatever you've learned. Learn the correct pronounciation. Don't be shy because if you don't practice you'll never improve. Don't learn from songs especially hip-hop songs because they usually use slangs. Movies and TV are OK but the best place to listen to correct pronounciations are from news such as CNN, MSNBC, BBC, etc. You can also improve your general knowledge.

Please don't use fancy words if you're not sure of their meaning or spelling. Spelling is the most important thing in English language. By the way, in one of the earlier reply someone use the word "conserve". The correct word should be converse. This is the example of someone who do not know how to spell the word correctly and still try to use it. I am not trying to show off or anything but learn to spell first before using it.

*** and it's "pro-NUN-ciation", not pronounciation.

If you were addrssing to me, sorry for the typo
Though I pronounce is at pronunciation
Quite funny, the verb is spelled as pronounce, but the noun is pronunciation.

Please lah don't correct people's english otherwise you can scroll back and start to correct all the misspelled words in this thread, a lot man wahahaha......

That's the beauty of English words ... noun and verb might not be spelled the same way.

Be careful with American English and British English too ...

thanks for sharing your experience and information..i will try my best..do exercises and practice in front of the mirror everyday..
the information really helpful..

haha... i was actually addressing oucheev. nvr knew that u oso typed that way.

those are internet languages, so dun bother bout it. we will stand corrected if we hv been pointed out our mistakes.

I am not trying to sound critical here, but from your reply, you seem to felt that "copying is cheating". I would like to say that i would go along with you that there is no shortcut in the learning process.

But what that fella suggesting is that a noobie in english conversation should copy the dialogue of other people who are more fluent in that language. It's merely imitating the way other people express themselves. Noobies are able to learn faster as the language used in those scenario are informal (in fact that's the normal conversation languages which are used in our daily lives). Learning in an informal setting is far more fun and effective than in a formal occasion as a lot of people have difficulties applying what they've learnt to a real-life application. * In this context, they are learning directly from conversations in a realistic environment.

Imatating some words, phrases, and pickup lines is a good head-start for them. Not to deny that, some of friends (that experienced similar problem) also tried to imitate my language, for which at times kind of pisses me off. But by utilizing such practice, i've notice there are some significant improvements in their language usage.


And well, as for the topic starter: you must first got to know that learning/improving english in written and verbally is totally different. Now that you are able to distinguish them and set your priorities, below are arrays of stuffs i am recommending:

Verbal Communication

1. Watch series, dramas, movies, etc - with the subtitle being disabled. Just try to make sure you are able to hear every single words those casts have spoken.
2. Download and listen to those audiobooks which are meant to improve your english. Japanese audiobooks flooded the p2p network but you can hardly find any english language ones. [Will be more effective if you listen to it using your mp3 player -can practice 24/7 wherever you are]
3. You got to speak out ! To anyone, or just to yourself. But i seriously think that speaking right in front of the mirror is not a good idea - kind of lame and crazy. Even talking to yourself is way better, but at least don't let others caught you doing it. Bottomline, it's to practice pronunciation and confidence in voicing out.
4. Be tough and not get blushed/shamed easily. You must dare to talk even though, you are speaking broken english. People will laugh at you, giving you an unpleasant look on their face - just ignore them. Initially, you'll have the last smile. As the saying goes, "tidak malu bertanya bila tersesat jalan". Conclusion, never ever let anything to shake your confidence !

Written
I don't think i can help much with this one because i don't seem to have any constraint in this medium of communication. The thing that i wanted to emphasize it to distinguish whether the writing is for formal/informal purpose.

1. Read. Read. And read more. Try to pick some stuff that really interests you and where the level of language suits you. You can then move on at your own pace. No point reading articles where you don't understand 70% of it.
2. Write. Write. And write more. From there, you will develop your own style of writing. You will get the "rythm", and once you got there you'll definetely can write some stuffs. All you need to do is to fine tune your skill. Having your own blog is a good practice.
2. Improve your vocabulary knowledge. To make your writing/speech more interesting and flowerish. Try checking out thesaurus or dictionaries for synonyms.
Eg: Increases = Leaps upwards = Sprinted upwards.

At the end of the day, still up to your determination and devotion to improve. Thus, good luck my dear.

P/S: I am also trying to hone my soft skill, it getting far worst now then it was when i were in high school as most of my peers in the college are mostly ah beng and ah lians (guest you guys should know where it is). I've got no choice but to blend in with them, orelse i can barely survive there. As a result, my english now sux. Moral of the story: poor command in communication is "contagious". But anyway, i will be leaving soon, much to the delight that my english would'nt be worst.

dudes...
how to handle the people surrounding me will laugh at me when i speak in english?

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Added on December 12, 2008, 4:56 amdudes...
how to handle the people surrounding me will laugh at me when i speak in english?

This post has been edited by macho_siot: Dec 12 2008, 04:56 AM