Sharing with you a brief write up on Top 6 lies of English speaking training.
Hope it will help anyone faced with a decision about choosing an English communication training vendor both at an individual or organization level.
The ideas hold equally whether the learner(s) go to a center or the trainers come to an organization.
From India, Delhi
246Hope it will help anyone faced with a decision about choosing an English communication training vendor both at an individual or organization level.
The ideas hold equally whether the learner(s) go to a center or the trainers come to an organization.
From India, Delhi
Dear Bodhisutra,
We are living in world where FORGERY, LIE, FALSE PROMISES, CHEATING, BUTTERING UP ATTITUDE are found in most of the humans and these are the one's who had succeeded in their life as they took support of DEVIL instead of HARDWORK, could not unleash their TALENT and make best use of it and finally, failed to retain themselves as GENUINE PERSONALITY.
I am not associated with any institute, yes i had come across few institutes quite smart enough to attract the attention of trainees through their IMPRACTICAL marketing strategies, which is trap. Even today, without verifying marketing strategies many had chosen such training vendors just because they had a requirement to be fulfilled within shortest time frame. It is the same with educational institutions as they too had appointed such training vendors because they come at handy price.
All i can say is that, none of us can stop trainees from choosing such training vendors but, we can educate trainees to look into LEARNING & DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES which must be TIME BOUND. Mention below are the billion dollar queries
"How many trainees can we educate?",
"who can take up this responsibility?'
"How can we succeed in SUPPORTING & PROMOTING - GENUINE TRAINING VENDORS?"
With profound regards
Top 6 lies of English speaking training
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yes. God promise!
Do English speaking institutes lie?
Well, yes, many of them do.
Pity that no one talks about them.
Not anymore!
We will take a huge flashlight, stuff the thickest Duracell battery in it and move around towns and villages. The moment we see an evil English speaking institute, we will point the flashlight on its face and let out a blood curdling scream, “There goes a liar”.
Just kidding.
We wouldn’t do any of that.
Instead, I’ll talk about top 6 lies which English speaking institutes tell you. Keep a sharp antenna and the moment it catches any of the following signals, switch on lie-alert.
It will save you time, money and a lot of heartbreak.
Top Lie 1: Learn English speaking in 26 hours
As if English speaking is some kind of a bacterial fever which will grip you within 26 hours of being injected with a magic virus dose.
No sir, the only thing that grows in 26 hours is beard and that too by just half a centimeter.
Acquiring the complex skill of speaking a foreign language is slightly more complicated.
Top Lie 2: Become fluent in 1 month, or 2
So I, who went to a convent school and can speak but with hesitation and my cousin who went to the primary school in the village, learnt A, B, C, D in class VI and can’t speak at all will both become fluent in two months?
Like, who are we? Some sleepy kids listening to fairy tales about flying horses and talking trees?
Everyone is at a different point in his journey to English fluency. Everyone learns at a different pace. Everyone has different learning difficulties.
How can all of them learn and practice all they need within same duration?
Top Lie 3: Best English speaking, Personality development, Body language, Attitude enhancement institute
Wow. Looks like I just ordered a special thali at the neighborhood Upreti Fast Food Corner. Or may be, a fruit salad.
There is a reason why Sachin is only the best batsman and not the best fielder, best bowler, best catcher or the best thrower. Infact, he is nowhere even close to being the best captain. Can you guess the reason?
Or why Amitabh is only the biggest Bollywood star but not the best singer, not even the best actor and was at best an average MP.
The reason is, being the best in one thing requires so much time, effort, energy and commitment that very few manage to do that. Anyone who says he is the best in five things and then some more either does not know the meaning of the best or is lying.
Top Lie 4: We give you a lot of individual attention, in a batch size of 20
Yeah right!
The trainer is a distant cousin of Chitti, the Robot from Rajnikanth’s movie who can make 20 clones (actually, 19) and give individual feedback, attention and unending love to each of the 20 students!
Do you even know what individual attention means?
Top Lie 5: You will get a lot of speaking practice in a batch of 10, 15, 20, 25, the more the merrier
How long is a typical class – an hour or two hours.
Half the time, the teacher would speak about grammar rules and make you solve random fill in the blanks exercises.
The remaining half would be divided among 10, 15, 20 or more students. You do the math about how much speaking time you would get.
And if you call 1 or 2 minutes of speaking practice, “a lot”, you need to change your dictionary.
Top Lie 6: 100% guarantee that you shall speak English like a love child of Shakespeare and James Bond
One of the only two things that can be guaranteed
Can Sachin guarantee a 100 everytime he pads up?
Can Amitabh guarantee a super hit everytime he faces a camera?
Could APJ Abdul Kalam guarantee success everytime he tested a new missile?
There are only two things that can be guaranteed: death and taxes.
For all else, you can put in best of your efforts and let the forces of nature create the results for you.
Prepare the most fertile land, put in the best fertilizers and sow the best seeds. Still, some plants would grow taller and some shorter than the others.
Drona taught all princes together – still, all did not become equally skilled in archery.
I am not saying there are no good and bad trainers. Far from it. If anything, I am talking about how to identify a bad trainer in a crowd.
Half the responsibility of learning falls on the student as well. The institute or trainer which hides this from you is selling a dangerous lie.
Learning a new skill is not a medicine-body equation where everything has to be done by the medicine only. It is a partnership equation. Unless both trainer and the student contribute, the results will be bad.
Run away from a trainer who is afraid of telling this to you.
From India, Chennai
We are living in world where FORGERY, LIE, FALSE PROMISES, CHEATING, BUTTERING UP ATTITUDE are found in most of the humans and these are the one's who had succeeded in their life as they took support of DEVIL instead of HARDWORK, could not unleash their TALENT and make best use of it and finally, failed to retain themselves as GENUINE PERSONALITY.
I am not associated with any institute, yes i had come across few institutes quite smart enough to attract the attention of trainees through their IMPRACTICAL marketing strategies, which is trap. Even today, without verifying marketing strategies many had chosen such training vendors just because they had a requirement to be fulfilled within shortest time frame. It is the same with educational institutions as they too had appointed such training vendors because they come at handy price.
All i can say is that, none of us can stop trainees from choosing such training vendors but, we can educate trainees to look into LEARNING & DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES which must be TIME BOUND. Mention below are the billion dollar queries
"How many trainees can we educate?",
"who can take up this responsibility?'
"How can we succeed in SUPPORTING & PROMOTING - GENUINE TRAINING VENDORS?"
With profound regards
Top 6 lies of English speaking training
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yes. God promise!
Do English speaking institutes lie?
Well, yes, many of them do.
Pity that no one talks about them.
Not anymore!
We will take a huge flashlight, stuff the thickest Duracell battery in it and move around towns and villages. The moment we see an evil English speaking institute, we will point the flashlight on its face and let out a blood curdling scream, “There goes a liar”.
Just kidding.
We wouldn’t do any of that.
Instead, I’ll talk about top 6 lies which English speaking institutes tell you. Keep a sharp antenna and the moment it catches any of the following signals, switch on lie-alert.
It will save you time, money and a lot of heartbreak.
Top Lie 1: Learn English speaking in 26 hours
As if English speaking is some kind of a bacterial fever which will grip you within 26 hours of being injected with a magic virus dose.
No sir, the only thing that grows in 26 hours is beard and that too by just half a centimeter.
Acquiring the complex skill of speaking a foreign language is slightly more complicated.
Top Lie 2: Become fluent in 1 month, or 2
So I, who went to a convent school and can speak but with hesitation and my cousin who went to the primary school in the village, learnt A, B, C, D in class VI and can’t speak at all will both become fluent in two months?
Like, who are we? Some sleepy kids listening to fairy tales about flying horses and talking trees?
Everyone is at a different point in his journey to English fluency. Everyone learns at a different pace. Everyone has different learning difficulties.
How can all of them learn and practice all they need within same duration?
Top Lie 3: Best English speaking, Personality development, Body language, Attitude enhancement institute
Wow. Looks like I just ordered a special thali at the neighborhood Upreti Fast Food Corner. Or may be, a fruit salad.
There is a reason why Sachin is only the best batsman and not the best fielder, best bowler, best catcher or the best thrower. Infact, he is nowhere even close to being the best captain. Can you guess the reason?
Or why Amitabh is only the biggest Bollywood star but not the best singer, not even the best actor and was at best an average MP.
The reason is, being the best in one thing requires so much time, effort, energy and commitment that very few manage to do that. Anyone who says he is the best in five things and then some more either does not know the meaning of the best or is lying.
Top Lie 4: We give you a lot of individual attention, in a batch size of 20
Yeah right!
The trainer is a distant cousin of Chitti, the Robot from Rajnikanth’s movie who can make 20 clones (actually, 19) and give individual feedback, attention and unending love to each of the 20 students!
Do you even know what individual attention means?
Top Lie 5: You will get a lot of speaking practice in a batch of 10, 15, 20, 25, the more the merrier
How long is a typical class – an hour or two hours.
Half the time, the teacher would speak about grammar rules and make you solve random fill in the blanks exercises.
The remaining half would be divided among 10, 15, 20 or more students. You do the math about how much speaking time you would get.
And if you call 1 or 2 minutes of speaking practice, “a lot”, you need to change your dictionary.
Top Lie 6: 100% guarantee that you shall speak English like a love child of Shakespeare and James Bond
One of the only two things that can be guaranteed
Can Sachin guarantee a 100 everytime he pads up?
Can Amitabh guarantee a super hit everytime he faces a camera?
Could APJ Abdul Kalam guarantee success everytime he tested a new missile?
There are only two things that can be guaranteed: death and taxes.
For all else, you can put in best of your efforts and let the forces of nature create the results for you.
Prepare the most fertile land, put in the best fertilizers and sow the best seeds. Still, some plants would grow taller and some shorter than the others.
Drona taught all princes together – still, all did not become equally skilled in archery.
I am not saying there are no good and bad trainers. Far from it. If anything, I am talking about how to identify a bad trainer in a crowd.
Half the responsibility of learning falls on the student as well. The institute or trainer which hides this from you is selling a dangerous lie.
Learning a new skill is not a medicine-body equation where everything has to be done by the medicine only. It is a partnership equation. Unless both trainer and the student contribute, the results will be bad.
Run away from a trainer who is afraid of telling this to you.
From India, Chennai
Thank you very much my dear friend for making available this excellent article to us. The contents are one hundred percent true and our friend friend Mr.Shaik Abdul Khadir, as usual, added value to the post.
People, who believe such hypes and spend money with hopes, are at large and long as such kind of people are there, these Institutes will also be there.
I expect more such articles from you.
Regards.
Ganesh Ramachandran
Founder: Life Improvement Mind Engineering (LIME)
From India, Tiruppur
People, who believe such hypes and spend money with hopes, are at large and long as such kind of people are there, these Institutes will also be there.
I expect more such articles from you.
Regards.
Ganesh Ramachandran
Founder: Life Improvement Mind Engineering (LIME)
From India, Tiruppur
Dear Sir, Quite rightly said.But this kind of bluffing is present in all section-all marketing!Pity
From India, Delhi
From India, Delhi
What is speaking first of all let's understand. Why "English Speaking" alone is given such importance. China, Japan and even many Europian countries still adapt their own monther tongue even address in the Parliament and even in public meeting. Japanese speak in their own langugage. Their software and communication is still in their own laugnage. They are the toppers in business / strategies and manufacturing and what not.
Animals dont speak. Don't they communicate with each other. Even in recent program I witnessed in "Discovery" Channel, plants do communicate with each other.
In my opinion, speaking is nothing but an expression of one's feeling. It is the emotional feeling happening inside is exprssed in a particular language that can be decoded by the receiver. Once this is estblished, he said to have communicated and done his job. One must speak to EXPRESS and not to IMPRESS.
coming back to speaking in English. It is also a feeling that he communicates in language called "English". To speak in English, the thought process must be in "English". You cannot think something in Telugu, Hindi and Tamil and start speaking in English. If you do, you will fail miserably.
For example, your daddy sends you to a shop to purchase Milk - let's assume. The moment you get into this job, you must start thinking immediately, "how will I go, should I go by walk or should I take my scooter and go? If milk is not available, then what should I do, should I go to the other colony where I can explore? whether I have sufficient money to purchase it?, etc. etc.
On other other hand, our guys' thought process in their own langage may be in Hindi, (pardon me if my Hindi is bad - As I am from Madras) " Kaise mei Jaon?, Paidhal Jaon or scooter me jaon? wo dukhan me Dudh nahi to, mei kya karon?" etc. etc.
This chap will never be able to speak fluent English even if you send him to Oxford School. That is why I am saying in every transaction, he must develop a sense of speaking INTERNALLY in English and this only will get delivered externally and helps in speak in that languge without any hiccups.
V. Balaji
From India, Madras
Animals dont speak. Don't they communicate with each other. Even in recent program I witnessed in "Discovery" Channel, plants do communicate with each other.
In my opinion, speaking is nothing but an expression of one's feeling. It is the emotional feeling happening inside is exprssed in a particular language that can be decoded by the receiver. Once this is estblished, he said to have communicated and done his job. One must speak to EXPRESS and not to IMPRESS.
coming back to speaking in English. It is also a feeling that he communicates in language called "English". To speak in English, the thought process must be in "English". You cannot think something in Telugu, Hindi and Tamil and start speaking in English. If you do, you will fail miserably.
For example, your daddy sends you to a shop to purchase Milk - let's assume. The moment you get into this job, you must start thinking immediately, "how will I go, should I go by walk or should I take my scooter and go? If milk is not available, then what should I do, should I go to the other colony where I can explore? whether I have sufficient money to purchase it?, etc. etc.
On other other hand, our guys' thought process in their own langage may be in Hindi, (pardon me if my Hindi is bad - As I am from Madras) " Kaise mei Jaon?, Paidhal Jaon or scooter me jaon? wo dukhan me Dudh nahi to, mei kya karon?" etc. etc.
This chap will never be able to speak fluent English even if you send him to Oxford School. That is why I am saying in every transaction, he must develop a sense of speaking INTERNALLY in English and this only will get delivered externally and helps in speak in that languge without any hiccups.
V. Balaji
From India, Madras
You are absolutely right Balaji..this is what I teach to my trainees when they express their inability to speak in English. We have to think in English to minimize the time for translation within us which takes at least few seconds though not minutes. I am so happy you got that point right.
Generally, I agree with all your points. I admire at your positive approach Balaji.
Regards.
Ganesh Ramachandran
From India, Tiruppur
Generally, I agree with all your points. I admire at your positive approach Balaji.
Regards.
Ganesh Ramachandran
From India, Tiruppur
Balaji,
Really loved the way you expressed your feelings (+ thoughts). I was impressed and I'm sure many others would be too. That's the beauty of communication - if it expresses well, it automatically impresses.
Now coming back to your points:
1) True - China, Japan and several European countries do work in their language. They are majorly industrialized economies, heavy on manufacturing. The problem with us is, we are no match to them in manufacturing and many believe we have actually missed the manufacturing bus. Bulk of our growth comes from services sold in global markets. You can't sell services to others if you don't speak their language.
Also, English puts us in a significantly advantageous position vis-a-vis Chinese. With the huge population base as ours and a relatively small manufacturing base, we have to follow a different strategy.
Also, learning English doesn't mean neglecting our own languages. Treat English communication like any other skill we learn - engineering, management, rocket building. If a language skill opens up the entire globe for us to work, earn and win laurels, why miss it?
Also, India is unique in having many regional languages with very rich literature and tradition. If we only learn our own language, how will a Tamil, a Telugu, a Bengali, a Punjabi and a UPite talk to each other?
2) About expressing and impressing - when we are dealing with others for business, for jobs, for free flow of ideas, one's ability to influence others becomes very important. Here, apart from the inward process of expressing, one also has to impress others. How can a job seeker get a job or a salesman close a sale if they do not impress the other guy?
However, the way these processes are connected, most of the times, if you express well, you impress others as well. Simply because most us are not able to express ourselves well.
3) I completely agree with your point of thinking in one's own language and then translating it into English. This will never make one a natural speaker in English. That is why the traditional method of translation or formal grammar teaching does not build fluency. That is why, we need a completely different approach to develop the skill of speaking effectively in English. This is the reason why we, at BodhiSutra, created a completely different approach to training confident English communicators.
From India, Delhi
Really loved the way you expressed your feelings (+ thoughts). I was impressed and I'm sure many others would be too. That's the beauty of communication - if it expresses well, it automatically impresses.
Now coming back to your points:
1) True - China, Japan and several European countries do work in their language. They are majorly industrialized economies, heavy on manufacturing. The problem with us is, we are no match to them in manufacturing and many believe we have actually missed the manufacturing bus. Bulk of our growth comes from services sold in global markets. You can't sell services to others if you don't speak their language.
Also, English puts us in a significantly advantageous position vis-a-vis Chinese. With the huge population base as ours and a relatively small manufacturing base, we have to follow a different strategy.
Also, learning English doesn't mean neglecting our own languages. Treat English communication like any other skill we learn - engineering, management, rocket building. If a language skill opens up the entire globe for us to work, earn and win laurels, why miss it?
Also, India is unique in having many regional languages with very rich literature and tradition. If we only learn our own language, how will a Tamil, a Telugu, a Bengali, a Punjabi and a UPite talk to each other?
2) About expressing and impressing - when we are dealing with others for business, for jobs, for free flow of ideas, one's ability to influence others becomes very important. Here, apart from the inward process of expressing, one also has to impress others. How can a job seeker get a job or a salesman close a sale if they do not impress the other guy?
However, the way these processes are connected, most of the times, if you express well, you impress others as well. Simply because most us are not able to express ourselves well.
3) I completely agree with your point of thinking in one's own language and then translating it into English. This will never make one a natural speaker in English. That is why the traditional method of translation or formal grammar teaching does not build fluency. That is why, we need a completely different approach to develop the skill of speaking effectively in English. This is the reason why we, at BodhiSutra, created a completely different approach to training confident English communicators.
From India, Delhi
@ Ganesh: Thanks for the good words :) Really appreciate it.
@Abdul Khadir and Trainer@Work: Well, I don't disagree that most of the marketing is bluff and exaggerated truths, if not outright lies. However, I don't think that's the only way to work.
Infact, brands and businesses built on lies do not last long. With new methods of information exchange being available, customers are becoming more and more aware. Also, with the new wave of entrepreneurs coming up who are aggressively looking for ways to find a foothold, how do they create a space for themselves? By providing better products and services, they tap into the customers already fed up with lies of established businesses.
Of course, there are imperfections in the market and hence you would see businesses built on lies doing well for a while but when a new challenger comes, it forces everyone to be better and also, be more honest.
Of course, in case of protected monopolies where there is no fear of a challenger, the established companies have no incentive to improve their products and services and also to respect the customer.
From India, Delhi
@Abdul Khadir and Trainer@Work: Well, I don't disagree that most of the marketing is bluff and exaggerated truths, if not outright lies. However, I don't think that's the only way to work.
Infact, brands and businesses built on lies do not last long. With new methods of information exchange being available, customers are becoming more and more aware. Also, with the new wave of entrepreneurs coming up who are aggressively looking for ways to find a foothold, how do they create a space for themselves? By providing better products and services, they tap into the customers already fed up with lies of established businesses.
Of course, there are imperfections in the market and hence you would see businesses built on lies doing well for a while but when a new challenger comes, it forces everyone to be better and also, be more honest.
Of course, in case of protected monopolies where there is no fear of a challenger, the established companies have no incentive to improve their products and services and also to respect the customer.
From India, Delhi
Good article written in straight forward manner.
What is the best way to approach English communication skills - should I do something extra or would reading newspapers, watching movies and interacting in the office will be enough?
I mean how do I know that improving my English skills will improve my career prospects and I should spend time and money on it or it is just a "nice" thing which will look good but won't have a big effect in my career?
I hope I could explain my question.
From India, Ghaziabad
What is the best way to approach English communication skills - should I do something extra or would reading newspapers, watching movies and interacting in the office will be enough?
I mean how do I know that improving my English skills will improve my career prospects and I should spend time and money on it or it is just a "nice" thing which will look good but won't have a big effect in my career?
I hope I could explain my question.
From India, Ghaziabad
Very Interesting Topic Started by Bodhisutra.
I would like to add in another point about the Misconception in the people between Communication skills and Spoken English.
I am from Hyderabad, and Spoken English centers are Opened here like Tea Stalls at every 100 feet in most of the areas where training centers are present.
Target Audience/Trainees: People from small villages and towns, and most of them are here for learning some course (Software-Not to mention) and get a job.
Now the basic criteria for any job Opening would be - - Should possess great communication skills
And the basic idea of people about communication skills is - " LEARN ENGLISH"
And learning English means - "SPOKEN ENGLISH".
So here comes the problem. People actually wants to improve their communication skills and they go and join Spoken English courses, where they learn the language (A bit), But fail disastrously in communicating their points.
So the basic thing anybody must understand is - Communication has nothing to do with any language.
E.g: Lets discuss a basic job opportunity in a bank for a guy who calls people for Insurance and goes to meet them to convince them to take one.
Now most of them starts their conversation in English, And slowly gets down to their Native language in which the Customer is comfortable with.
Now here comes the Challenge, English is gone and Now your communication skills come into Picture.
You fail if you fail to convince people in what ever you were trying to, If you were a bad Communicator.
Where as a Great Communicator could speak in any of the language and still convince/Impress the person.
We can never Neglect the importance of a Language, But at the same time Lack of communication skill leaves no place for a language to come into use.
Thanks.
Aditya Sharma
From India, Hyderabad
I would like to add in another point about the Misconception in the people between Communication skills and Spoken English.
I am from Hyderabad, and Spoken English centers are Opened here like Tea Stalls at every 100 feet in most of the areas where training centers are present.
Target Audience/Trainees: People from small villages and towns, and most of them are here for learning some course (Software-Not to mention) and get a job.
Now the basic criteria for any job Opening would be - - Should possess great communication skills
And the basic idea of people about communication skills is - " LEARN ENGLISH"
And learning English means - "SPOKEN ENGLISH".
So here comes the problem. People actually wants to improve their communication skills and they go and join Spoken English courses, where they learn the language (A bit), But fail disastrously in communicating their points.
So the basic thing anybody must understand is - Communication has nothing to do with any language.
E.g: Lets discuss a basic job opportunity in a bank for a guy who calls people for Insurance and goes to meet them to convince them to take one.
Now most of them starts their conversation in English, And slowly gets down to their Native language in which the Customer is comfortable with.
Now here comes the Challenge, English is gone and Now your communication skills come into Picture.
You fail if you fail to convince people in what ever you were trying to, If you were a bad Communicator.
Where as a Great Communicator could speak in any of the language and still convince/Impress the person.
We can never Neglect the importance of a Language, But at the same time Lack of communication skill leaves no place for a language to come into use.
Thanks.
Aditya Sharma
From India, Hyderabad
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Mistakes we make while speaking English part.doc
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