Speaking English, what did you notice? make a discussion here...

[chiefsmoke]

some of you who have reached the level where you are able to make conversation with confidence may sometimes notice one thing. that is there are certain points of time you feel like it is so easy to get the words coming out of your mouth, you express what you want to say so fluently and you feel great, your tongue is just so flexible that you can pronounce everything the way it should be. In the contrary, there are also times you feel the words are stuck inside, something wrong with the tongue, you just cant seem to find the words and you just mumble, the level of confidence is low and you just dont know why.

how does this happen? how do you avoid this? let's make a discussion here

my thoughts are:

1/ know the topic: i notice that when you have knowledge in the topic, or in other words, you know what you are talking about, then you speak with confidence.
lesson learnt: prepare in your mind what you want to say, if you dont have anything in your head, nothing coming out of your mouth.

2/ excitement: you like the topic, you like what you are talking so much, even before you end your sentence, the next thing you want to say is already there in your head you just cant wait to speak it out.
lesson learnt: if you practice, steer the conversation to an interesting topic.

3/ level of energy; using english is like using your unfavoured hand (i forgot the correct word to say - tay khong thuan) it costs you more energy than usual. imagine even to use vietnamese when you are tired is difficult. so stay healthy to learn english.

4/ you have bad listener: whenever you say your opinion, your listeners seem to reject your opinion, they prefer to talk and stay irrational.
lesson learnt: to practice english, you choose the one who are open minded, i am not telling you to choose the one who nods his head to everything you say. choose it wisely, and be open minded.

i believe there are more, give me your thoughts. we need some discussion here.

Chiefsmoke

[dethuong_x0x]

YEA! I agree with you Mr.Chiefsmoke

[MANH NGUYEN]

Some thoughts about... & correction.
Tay khong thuan===> maladroit (adj.)

Lesson (not lession!)

To join a conversation with the people who do not speak your own language is unpredictable. Topics may be about politics, economy, war, terroist attacks, natural disasters.... You can't choose your own topic but you must share, agree or reject the ideas, opinions, suggestions, solutions....or bringing to attention.
To be fluent with the second language you love and to overcome the similar situation, your tools always should be:
Rich of vocabulary.
Good knowledge of English Grammar.
Precise English Pronunciation.

Do you get any idea what to do now?
The only choice you have here "Just learn English every day!!!":D

[chiefsmoke]

the level of confidence: this is very important, there are times that you hesitate to speak your mind, it could be that you are afraid the listeners would laugh if you make an incorrect sentence. it could be the other person is so aggressive you dont want to talk to him etc...
try to "collect" confidence from time to time, by talking with people at same english level, or by speaking in front of a crowd etc

[Paddy]

the level of confidence: this is very important, there are times that you hesitate to speak your mind, it could be that you are afraid the listeners would laugh if you make an incorrect sentence. it could be the other person is so aggressive you dont want to talk to him etc...
try to "collect" confidence from time to time, by talking with people at same english level, or by speaking in front of a crowd etc

Bác đang tính bàn về public speaking hay public debate ?

Trong mọi trường hợp bác không thể nào biết được English level của một người nghe, huống chi trong một đám đông. Chỉ còn cách là nói với level của mình, còn level của người ta thì hoàn toàn không nên nghĩ tới.

[chiefsmoke]

Bác đang tính bàn về public speaking hay public debate ?

Trong mọi trường hợp bác không thể nào biết được English level của một người nghe, huống chi trong một đám đông. Chỉ còn cách là nói với level của mình, còn level của người ta thì hoàn toàn không nên nghĩ tới.

Paddy,

thanks for your comments, while it seems to me that you did not catch what i am trying to say. this is not about public speaking or debate, this is about practicing tips which i think is helpful.

Concerning your opinion about accessing somebody's level of English, i believe just by making a couple of conversation we can find out easily. so my point is if you start out practicing with some "top notch" english speakers it might not help you as much as starting out with someone at the same or a bit higher level with you. because chances are that you will turn out to be listening all the time than to really make a conversation.

talking in front of a crowd can be your english class, or your family or people at work. this can bring a lot of self-confidence. if you want to know more on how this works drop me a note we can discuss further.

by the way, this is a learning enviroment why not try to make a reply in English, bet you can do.

Chiefsmoke

[Paddy]

Paddy,

thanks for your comments, while it seems to me that you did not catch what i am trying to say. this is not about public speaking or debate, this is about practicing tips which i think is helpful.

Concerning your opinion about accessing somebody's level of English, i believe just by making a couple of conversation we can find out easily. so my point is if you start out practicing with some "top notch" english speakers it might not help you as much as starting out with someone at the same or a bit higher level with you. because chances are that you will turn out to be listening all the time than to really make a conversation.

talking in front of a crowd can be your english class, or your family or people at work. this can bring a lot of self-confidence. if you want to know more on how this works drop me a note we can discuss further.

by the way, this is a learning enviroment why not try to make a reply in English, bet you can do.

Chiefsmoke

I see what you were trying to say now. However, I still don't see how you can judge a person's English level by just having a couple conversations. Do you judge them by their choice of words or their accents?

Many people whom I have met over the years have "heavy" accents. They are from all over the world. Despite their accents, their levels of comprehension and writing skill are remarkable and comparable to that of native English speakers. Just because they can't pronounce a word correctly, it does not mean they are not fluent in English.

Conversation is a two way communication. The "top notch English speaker" may do all the talking because you allow him/her to do so, or you don't really have anything to say. Stay in control of your conversation is the key here.

That's my two cents.

[MANH NGUYEN]

I see what you were trying to say now. However, I still don't see how you can judge a person's English level by just having a couple conversations. Do you judge them by their choice of words or their accents?

Many people whom I have met over the years have "heavy" accents. They are from all over the world. Despite their accents, their levels of comprehension and writing skill are remarkable and comparable to that (1) of native English speakers. Just because they can't pronounce a word correctly, it does not mean they are not fluent in English.

Conversation is a two way communication. The "top notch English speaker" may do all the talking because you allow him/her to do so, or you don't really have anything to say. Stay (2) in control of your conversation is the key here.

That's my two cents.

Paddy,
I like what you wrote here.
There are 02 little things which need to be pondered:
1. that or those?
2. Did you intentionally put it this way? "stay"?

[chiefsmoke]

I see what you were trying to say now. However, I still don't see how you can judge a person's English level by just having a couple conversations. Do you judge them by their choice of words or their accents?

Many people whom I have met over the years have "heavy" accents. They are from all over the world. Despite their accents, their levels of comprehension and writing skill are remarkable and comparable to that of native English speakers. Just because they can't pronounce a word correctly, it does not mean they are not fluent in English.

Conversation is a two way communication. The "top notch English speaker" may do all the talking because you allow him/her to do so, or you don't really have anything to say. Stay in control of your conversation is the key here.

That's my two cents.

hello there,

i dont see why you can't judge that by a few conversations, if they can express their idea and pronounce correctly then it is good enough for a practice. The topic here is practicing english in a conversation right?

hmm, agree you can still practice well with top notch speaker, if they allow you to do so, or you are good enough to keep the conversation.

thanks for contribution
chiefsmoke

[tkv]

what ever skill you are
when you do monolouge in the public
I thought
1. repaire you speech (exactly format of speech & your pronuciation)
2. repectfull yourself & someone else
3. following your heart

then your speech will be good enough ......