Struggling with English Communication as an MBA Graduate: How Can I Improve?

Dear Seniors,

Please help me. I am an MBA graduate but struggle with communication in English. This limitation has hindered me from securing good opportunities. I sincerely seek your guidance to enhance my English communication skills.

Thank you for your assistance.

Sincerely,
[User's Name]

For improving the speaking English, you can do the following:

Practice in front of the mirror to reduce hesitation. Read English newspapers, magazines, or anything of your interest loudly for the clarity of speech and avoidance of mumbleness. Try to interact with outsiders in English, like customer care executives, in restaurants, banks. As they don't know you, you will not have the fear of embarrassment, and your confidence will be boosted. Watch talk shows and interviews on television; this will help in learning the correct pronunciation, and you will be able to memorize the words.

Try these tips. Thank you, Rashee

Communication is a skill that has to be developed through knowledge and practice. Present-day professional education has this drawback. They teach the techniques and tools of the trade but do not pay attention to developing the ability to communicate. You can improve if you decide to do so. Besides the advice of members, I would like to add:

SELF-ESTEEM

DETERMINATION

TELL YOURSELF, "LOOK, SUMAN, YOU ARE GOOD, YOU KNOW, YOU CAN DELIVER."

REPETITION OF THIS WILL GIVE YOU CONFIDENCE

BRUSH UP YOUR BASICS OF THE LANGUAGE

START WITH SIMPLE MONOSYLLABLES AND MOVE TO SHORT SENTENCES

INTERACT WITH FRIENDS, DON'T LET MISTAKES DAMPEN YOUR SPIRITS, GO ON

DON'T STOP PRACTICING, AND MORE PRACTICE. IF ALONE, TALK TO YOURSELF

NOTE YOUR PROBLEM AREAS AND BARRIERS, OVERCOME THEM. SEEK HELP.

TELL ME IF IT WORKS. JOIN A GROUP. TRY RECORDED INTERACTIVE CDs. [Login to view]

Hi Suman,

This is the most common problem many graduates face. But honestly, this is not a big challenge. You need to be persistent to overcome the fear of not being able to excel in English, and you will be successful. Start conversing in English with your near and dear ones. Begin writing letters and small articles in English. If you wish, you can write small emails to me, and I can help you improve your English.

I am a manager in one of the IT MNCs and often come across people like you, whom I assist. I coach and train students in effective communication and interview skills. By the way, which city are you from? If you are from Mumbai, I can certainly help you!

It is good practice to read newspapers; however, don't start with big articles and get confused by the vocabulary they use.

Thanks,
Ramani

Hi,

If you have access to "The Hindu" newspaper, their standard of English is good. Moreover, they do have a section called "Know your English" too. This helps as a reckoner even for those who have a good vocabulary.

Dear Sir,

Please find the PPTs on English pronunciation. Kindly go through each lesson one per day. You will develop.

Regards,
Viswanadh

Dear All,

Greetings for the Day!

The PowerPoint presentation is really useful and helps to improve our grammatical knowledge in a simple way. I have made grammatical mistakes... A good site for improving English knowledge is English Club (http://www.englishclub.com). I am confident that the site will truly help those who are in need of learning the English language.

Regards, Renukadevi

Hi,

You can also check if there is a Toastmasters Club close to where you live. A Toastmasters Club will help you to develop better speaking and presentation skills. Click on the link to know more about Toastmasters [Toastmasters International - What is Toastmasters?](http://www.toastmasters.org/MainMenuCategories/WhatisToastmasters.aspx).

Regards, Sumathi

Watch English TV news (like BBC and CNN). Watch English movies with subtitles in your own local language. Listening to cricket and football commentaries played a big role in my case. All of these activities will help you improve your language skills. Please find the attached file; it may be helpful for you.

Dear Suman,

The advice given by all of our colleagues is very good. Mr. Viswandh has sent a detailed structure which, if you practice on a day-to-day basis, you can learn the basics of grammar fast. Make it a habit to speak in English a few sentences on a daily basis. Fluency in English can only come if you practice, practice, and practice. Listen to speeches in English, watch English movies on Star Movies on TV where the subtitles are in English and they speak in Hindi, or the subtitles are in Hindi and they speak in English. From that, you can learn pronunciation. Spell the correct word, practice on phonetics, observe English-speaking people.

I have been running a spoken English institute for many years in Gujarat and have trained hundreds of students, executives, doctors, and engineers.

I wish you all the best.

Permeshwer
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Hi Suman

You weakness is no longer a problem if u turn it to an opportunity.

let me share some secrets with u in this regard

to start from basic- u worry about a language which is just a requirement to communicate. So I suggest, when u learn, learn the way it is- I'll tell u

1. MAKE ENGLISH UR MOTHER TONGUE Try to express everything in English –ur ideas, what u see, ur inner talks, etc,etc. Act and live as if u know only English. U may feel discomfort n confused in the beginning. Quite natural. its just because u r in want of more words, more grammar etc. Realize these r ur improvement areas. -tenses, propositions, any part, DON'T DELAY run to internet /library, experts, get it, n practice.. In short U MUST FEEL ITS NECESSITY.

2 FALL IN LOVE WITH ENGLISH.Give ur heart n win. Be patient n persistent because the development is gradual.Even miles long journey starts with a single step

3. READ, READ, READ, Comic books to magazines everything.Subscribe to an English newspaper(The Hindu). Cover all the pages patiently keeping urself enthusiastic. feel how the different ideas r finely ordered into sentences. Then its ur turn. once ur reading is over, pick up one matter which u feel the most interesting/informative n brief it enthusiastically assuming some illiterates r assembled before u & are eager to hear it. if needed Practice the same in front of the mirror too.

4 USE PHRASES- to keep ur language simple & attractive.

5 TRAIN UR TONGUE.Rewind and practice whatever u hear, see, read or learn, persistently. Let your ideas flow freely from ur brain to tongue without the translation of ur mother tongue in between.



6 STYLISH UR LANGUAGE. Watch English movies n news. record News in ur San disk. Listen to these recordings in ur leisure/travel time. U can see ur pronunciation is improving obviously. Also choose a role model (s)

7 DECIDE DEADLINES and periodically review the progress. Give a pat to urself for every improvement. Be proud of ur changes.

'U can never sacrifice ur ideas/performance for a language,so u develop ur language'

warm regards

Asha

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Doha, Qatar

There is a good-old saying in Tamil, ‘Drawing comes with practice of hand and the language with that of tongue'? So practice is the key. What comes in the way of practice is the fear of making mistakes. But there is no other way to learn swimming than jumping into water. If you want a safer way, try a swimming pool with shallow water before trying a river. Do you read the metaphor? There may be quite a few like you around you, who would also like to develop fluency in spoken English. Please form a support group who would mutually help each other. This is a great way to learn. Honestly, that was the way I built my repository of my vocabulary while in school. Each of us used to pick five new words daily from the dictionary and deliberately force-fit them into our conversations.

Reading certainly helps. And not necessarily newspapers, but what read what interests you in English like novels (it was Sidney Sheldon or Irwing Wallace during my times). Watching movies (the sub-titiled ones)can also help. Keep your ears open for the accent. If you have access to net, then you have also on-line dictionaries which come with phonetics.

Books to help you improve your English:

1. Spoken English by R K Bansal and J B Harrison

2. Pronounce It Perfectly In English (book and three audio cassettes) by Jean Yates, Barrons Educational Series.

Hi,

Please provide me with full details of ESI remittance including the form name and specify which form is used for what purpose of remittance.

Regards,
Venkatesh

Dear all,

It makes me feel proud to see how we Indians are always on top when it comes to lifting someone else's spirit. When it comes to educating anyone, no one else stands a chance. Outstanding help and suggestions from everyone.

"Suman - Please speak as and when you get a chance. Even just talking to yourself helps a lot in building up your self-belief. If you have access to MS Word/Outlook, it's simple: right-click the word you don't understand and look for synonyms. This will be another turning point in understanding English from the base."

Keep up the good work.

Many Regards,
Mohit Sharma
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Hi, I'm working as a lecturer. This semester I'm going to handle a communication skills paper. Can anybody send me the PowerPoint related to communication skills? More importantly, I need to conduct some soft skills training programs or activities inside the classroom for MBA students. Please give me an idea for that, as well as send some soft skills activities that eliminate inhibition and shyness from the students.

Looking forward to your reply.

Regards,
Geeth

Hi friends,

I have completed my MBA and have been working in finance for the last 2 years. Now, I want to pursue some higher or additional studies. What do you suggest I study?

Please advise.

Rain

We are developing a solution for web pages to be read and heard in local Pakistani languages. The Beta is launched at PakTranslations.com - Pakistan's First Machine Translation Portal. Anyone can visit a website through our website in Urdu at present. In another 3 months, this will be available in four regional languages of Pakistan, namely Pashto, Punjabi, Brahvi (for Baluchistan), and Sindhi. For those who cannot read at all, they can listen to the web pages in one of the five languages selected above. We are considering introducing the same technology in India, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka. We intend to expand to Russian, Spanish, and French, especially the voice part. The same facility will be available on SMS too. The sender sends the text message in English and enters codes for language selection and the option of voice or text transmission. The receiver will receive the message in translated text or voice. This project aims to eliminate language as a barrier. With more languages being added, the world will be able to communicate through machine translations with the touch of a key on a cell phone, PDA, laptop, or desktop.

So Suman, if you have the subtitles, we may help you translate the text into a local Indian language soon. Keep your fingers crossed, and until then, join a Toastmasters Club in your area. Your English and communication will both improve significantly in a matter of months with just one attendance of two hours every week. To find a club near you, go to Toastmasters International - Home and click FIND on the top left of the page.

Best wishes - Nazir Ahmed Vaid

Hi seniors,

Please also suggest to me how to deal with nervousness during interviews. I recently lost a big opportunity due to my anxiety. Can you provide me with some ideas to help build my confidence?

Thank you.

First, confidently prepare to tell me about yourself. After that, they will ask a few questions on the main subject you studied in your MBA, and not other than that. Just attend 3 to 4 interviews, and after that, you will come to know what they will ask and how to answer. Whenever you feel free, read books or go to a browsing (Internet) center.

All the best!

Regards,
Vasu.N