I have been primarily an observer on CanadianDesi and I noticed that people seem to be killing the English language. Sometimes their English is so terrible that I wonder what right do these people have when they go off about their Canada-cheated-me speech. So I have decided to compile some tips on how to improve English speech overall.

Before doing that let me tell a little bit about myself. I am an immigrant doing my undergraduate in Vancouver, BC. I did my high school in the USA and am now in Canada pursing a major of my choice. When I first moved to the US to start high school I didn’t know how to speak properly in English. After being ridiculed on a constant basis I decided that I would somehow train myself to perfect the accent and the language.

I followed several steps and I completely changed in just over 4 to 6 months. I know it works because I have used it on my family and close friends and they are improving every single day. Even today people ask me whether I was born in Canada. They are surprised when I tell them I wasn’t.

NOTE: Being a very good communicator does not mean having the perfect accent. As long as you speak properly and refrain from using Indian slang you should fine. So stop using the “they-cant-understand-me-because-of-my-accent excuse.” Because people from Europe have all sorts of accents yet people are able to understand them because their English is grammatically perfect.

1)Slow Down: I don’t know why but people from India tend to speak English extremely fast. Don’t try to match your thought process with your speech. You will end up confusing majority of the people you talk to. Take the time to properly articulate your words and express them clearly.

2)Read! : Always read anything that is in English. The newspaper is an excellent example. Not only do you get knowledge you can also have a feel for how people actually express themselves in Canada. It is quite different from how Indians speak.

3)The Power of Closed Caption: This is one of the most useful things that I did. Turn your TV to watch the evening news and enable the Closed Caption feature. That way you can hear the way people talk and at the same time follow the text. Feel free to repeat after them. News anchors are really the best models to use when it comes to speaking because they speak clearly and perfectly!

4)Put an end to those irritating online linguistics: Write properly for god's sake! You can start by avoiding irritating abbreviations that people use on their emails or forum posts. When you do something like that it shows that you are not sincere. If can’t be sincere when you even post a small text online how sincere will you be when you are offered a job? Some unacceptable terms are “ u, wud, cud, tht, intw, gr8, hw, l8tr,exp and many many many many more.”

5)Use Question Words/Phrases To Form Questions: Use words/phrases like “What,” “Why,” “Are you”, “Where,” etc to form your questions. Just because you add the word “You” to your sentences and have a questioning tone doesn’t mean you are posing a question. Here is an example: questions like “You wait in the lobby?” or “What time is it?” are not proper questions. It should be “Do you want to wait in the lobby?” and “What is the time?” Make sure you follow the proper grammar rule of “the object follows the subject” not the other way around.

6)Avoid Native Tongue Thinking: I see many people do this. They think of something they wish to say in their native tongue and completely translate it. The rules of English and the rules of your native language are completely different. If you want to speak in English, think in English.

7)Alphabet Pronunciation: It is really hard to pronounce things the proper way when you have a hard time pronouncing the alphabets. For example- The alphabet ‘E’ is pronounced as ‘E’ not ‘YE’. The alphabet ‘O’ is pronounced as ‘O’ not ‘VO’. If you have some time practice saying the alphabets in your head the proper way. Pronounce each alphabet correctly without adding unnecessary sounds.

8)Idea of Mimicking: Create this frame of mind. The way you currently pronounce things is wrong. So to fix it pretend you are mimicking the way Canadians pronounce things. It may seem odd at first but if you practice this a little you will soon find yourself speaking like a Canadian!

I hope some of these tips do help you. We all want you to get a good job and fulfill your dreams here in Canada. Think about it. Who cares if you don’t have enough ‘Canadian Experience?’ Make your prospective employers think you have what it takes. Speak like a professional and gain their trust. I honestly think when companies say “You don’t have enough experience” they just mean that they don’t feel assured by your abilities. You are from a different country and why should they hire someone from a new country to their company? Will you trust a complete stranger and that too from a different country? Give the assurance your prospective employer needs. Improve your speech. You may have all the technical skills that you need but if you don’t know how to express yourself all your knowledge becomes useless.

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I am the wisest man alive, for I know one thing, and that is that I know nothing.
-Socrates-

Thank you for sharing your valuable experience.

What you have written is very useful and practical. We can apply it right away in our day to day life.

Hey SW ...oops sorry Socratic Wisdom,

I fully agree to your thoughts about improving English.

I liked the way you have explained to watch the evening news and enable the Closed Caption feature. That way you can hear the way people talk and at the same time follow the text. Feel free to repeat after them.

I do the same and has improved a lot in following canadian accent English.

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PKS

Such a great work ...if you can just add this Article to Article section it would be great idea..anyway good work.I appreciate your work for our community.

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMVuD_in67M

E mere vatan ke logo.............

If you want to do something for our country, just dont support corruption or be part of it

I think it could be an accepted fact that as far as the present 'school-going' generation and quite possibly the generation before it is concerned, in India upper middle-class and even middle class families send their kids to English Medium schools. Now of course the standard of English spoken, taught at those schools vary greatly. However, the chances are, that at least in the Metros like Mumbai, Delhi, etc. etc. the standard of English being taught in schools that can be afforded by middle class families is quite good.
Thus one of the explanations that can be derived from this that might explain the pathetic standard of english of some on this forum is that they come from a perhaps not so high strata of society or have come from areas where spoken English (even in schools) is not prevalent.

As far as I have seen; people from convent schools or the so called catholic schools in India have an edge when it comes to english compared to other schools.

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"Progress comes from deviation".

On a side note if anybody finds my comments or posts offensive or irritating please ignore it and if that still bothers you; please write to me and I will demonstrate.

Good suggestions - though frankly I feel it comes more like a newspaper/magazine article rather than an advise specifically meant for Canadian Desis, or Desis as such since such things should be followed by everyone who goes to live in a foreign country - permanently or temporarily. The same things would apply to a Canadian born going to work in Indonesia for oil refineries!

That brings me to my next observation: why do you single out Indians as the person who do not talk properly. In today's world, a major portion of the economy is controlled by China and Japan - and more than half of those Chinese/Japanese living in foreign countries are not able to communicate properly in English - and way below the standards of an average Indian - simply because not many are exposed to English before they come to the west.

I think we need to learn a more important lesson before we learn proper English, that is to stop 'Indian bashing'. I read so many posts saying that Indians are the only one who do this and do that badly and that makes me wonder if such writers/posters have had any experience with other nationalities at an equally intimate level so that they could see their flaws so closely too. It is like saying that Hollywood films are always good - without knowing how many third rate movies does Hollywood produce which whose DVDs sell as junk in video stores.

Time to stop bashings everything Indian. No, we are not perfect, but results are better in any society when the society as a whole brings out and prides itself in what they are good at, rather than complaining all the time what they are not good at, or are bad at.

Chandresh

Quote:

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Orginally posted by Socratic Wisdom

NOTE: Being a very good communicator does not mean having the perfect accent. As long as you speak properly and refrain from using Indian slang you should fine. So stop using the “they-cant-understand-me-because-of-my-accent excuse.” Because people from Europe have all sorts of accents yet people are able to understand them because their English is grammatically perfect.

1)Slow Down: I don’t know why but people from India tend to speak English extremely fast. Don’t try to match your thought process with your speech. You will end up confusing majority of the people you talk to. Take the time to properly articulate your words and express them clearly.

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Chandresh

Advice is free – lessons I charge for!!