10 Tips On How To Be Confident To Speak In English

I bet everyone loves to watch English films or movies but I believe not everyone can speak as fluent as those actors and actresses.

As for the first step, why don’t you try to imitate Eggsy’s dialogue above? Well, of course you may pronounce it correctly but in your very own accent which is slightly different from him. But who cares? He is a native speaker. He speaks English almost every day in his life; either at home or at works, during day or night, it is the only language he used – unless he went to Japan or Korea when he had no choices other than to speak like one of those Japanese or Koreans.

By the way, do not get discourage. You only tried it once and you have no concrete reasons to start waving your white flag. Come on, lift up chin and be confident! I believe that everyone has right to learn English regardless their backgrounds and skin colours.

Well, remember! Rome is not built in a day and you are not supposed to master the lesson on the first day of class. You need to practise. I need to practise. Everyone needs to practise – even Justin Bieber needs to practise when he first tried to say thank you.

But, as you know learning process takes time and it is quite challenging so you have to be physically and mentally prepared. I have encountered a lot of challenges which sometimes lead me to give up but then I remembered this quote saying :

“Sometimes you have to get knocked down lower than you have ever been to stand back up taller than you ever were” – anonymous

So, basically here are some tips which we can practise on how to be confident to speak in English ;

1) Listen to English songs.

Music is a great way for learning English vocabulary, grammar, phonetics and such. This is proven when people may be having a hard time reading an article from New York times in Literary supplement, but they often memorize and understand every word from Britney Spears and Taylor Swift (depending on your musical inclinations)

2) Read novels which are written in English.

This may helps to improve our grammar and sentences structures. However, I am sure that there is only a few of us who really loves to read English’s novels while the others keep on giving out never ending excuses;  “God! I don’t even read long posts on blogs so are you expecting me to read those hundred-pages novels?” –  Why not? It is part of learning!

By the way, be careful when choosing English’s novels to read as some of them may be INAPPROPRIATE.

Here are my must-read suggestions:

3) Watch English movies or films without the subtitles.

Okay. This is the hardest. No doubt. I still remember my first time watching movie ‘2012’ without the subtitle and it was kinda frustrating as I had to give my best to focus on their dialogues. However, at the end of the day I realized how useful it was as I got to listen to their accent properly.

4) Practise to speak in English at home.

Sometimes you are encouraged to converse with your parents or siblings in English. Of course, you may find it hard at the first place but eventually it will be alright. Let’s give a try!

5) Practise to write our diaries in English.

I have learnt this tip from a guy whom I have met during ‘Open Your Eyes’ programme. He was my group’s facilitator and he confessed to us that writing a diary in English was his way of learning as it helped to sharpen his writing skills and broadened his vocabulary.

6) Use English when you are interacting with your friends.

It is undeniable that sometimes learning English from friends is better as they are closer to us. They seem to know us inside and out. Therefore, do not hesitate to communicate with them in English as it may helps to improve our self-confidence. Plus, good friends won’t simply judge you for your broken English as they know your limits.

7) When writing an essay, use words which are simple and understandable.

Everyone is encouraged to use bombastic words when writing an essay if only they know how to use them correctly. But if you are confused you better let alone the phrases. Don’t bother to use it as you might get the definition wrong. Therefore, it is adviseable to use simple words which are easy to understand.

8) Know the basic of grammar.

This is the most important tip. Do not dream to write a good piece of essay or speak confidently in English if you have zero knowledge on grammar. You must at least know the basic of it so that you can blend well with English writing styles.

9) When updating your status on Facebook, write it in English instead of Bahasa Malaysia.

I am sure everyone is good at this. Well, most of them simply rewrite the quotes which they found at google and update it as a status on Facebook or make it as a photo description on Instagram. By the way, it is not a crime so do not worry. Plus, have you ever realized that it is actually a baby step in learning English so it is okay!

10) Do not give up.

This is one of the common tips which everyone is tired of listening to. For whatever you do people will keep saying “Hey! Don’t give up. You are halfway to your success”, but do you ever understand what did they mean? It is actually “Hey! It doesn’t matter if you make mistakes when learning, as mistakes are proofs that you are actually trying! Keep your spirit high, young lady. Don’t look back.”

Remember! Everyone has right to learn English. So, don't waste more time and start to learn English language immediately as it may benefits us in the future. Plus;

Challanges In Acquiring English Language

I used to envy those people who can speak fluently in English. Well, of course! I do love to hear how they pronounce each word correctly in either American or British accents but at the same time, I hardly understand the reasons why I cannot be one of them? Why can’t I be the one who speak as good as Hermione Granger from Harry Potter or as fluent as Jack from Titanic?

Instead, I was more like Ha Dong Hoon (Haha) from Running Man – remained silent whenever people asked me in English even if I have got this urge to answer. It was awful that I could not even bear to look at the person straight in the eyes. I was shaking and nervous. Yes! I was a coward.

But then I realized. I need to change myself. I can’t just sit still watching the same incidents kept on occurring. I need to do something. And that was how I finally attracted to learn English as my second language, not as a medium to gain popularities! (if only you understand what I mean)

By the way, the process of learning English is not easy. I swear. There are many spellings to remember, plenty of words to memorize and billions of grammar, verbs, and nouns to understand – however, it does not mean that I would simply giving up and continue to act like an ignorant student.

So here I would like to share 10 challenges that I/everyone faced in acquiring English Language;

1) Limited learning environment.

English is used widely in Kuala Lumpur, Selangor and even Sarawak but not here in Terengganu. Of course, I feel pretty disappointed and I really can’t take it when people stare at me as if I am a criminal who had just been released after years in jail whenever I speak in English. Don’t they ever realize how their reactions might affect and kill my dreams? Don’t they realize just how much English is important to us and why can’t they stop being the limiting factors? Come on.

2) Friends are not supportive.

I have this kind of friends who will sulk if I scored higher than him/her in English language – childish, I know! I tried to fix our friendship by offering myself to help them with the language but they refused. So what am I supposed to do? Do I have to purposely make mistakes during examinations? Do I have to act like I don’t even know how to spell ‘good morning’ so that our friendship will remain forever? 

3) Not all English songs are suitable for learning.

I know that by listening to English songs, it actually can help to improve my pronunciations. But sadly, not all English songs are suitable for learning especially those with rock or pop rock genres and those which bring inappropriate meaning.

4) Lack of confidence.

I used to lose my confidence whenever I had to deal with something related to English language. From writing an essay to delivering a speech, it was hard. I could not even handle myself as I am afraid of what people might think of me.

5) Limited English reading materials.

I read English novels as references for me to improve my writing skills and enriched my vocabulary. But, I had to choose carefully as not all novels are suitable for me to read. Some might contain inappropriate words and some might cost a lot of money.

6) I get bored easily.

As for me, I don’t really like to learn English by only listening to the teachers as I will get bored easily. Therefore, I think it would be better if the teachers prepared some games for us during the classes.

7) The pros will mock at the beginner.

This actually happened and it was kinda pathetic that I had nearly lost my self-confidence when I was a beginner. However, as for today I really don’t understand what makes the pro’s were acting that way because as I remember, we were all in the process of learning. 

8) I hardly understand the uses of grammar.

This is common among us, as students. For example, I tend to confuse when should I use past participle and present participle?  What are the differences between ‘reach’, ‘reaches’ and ‘reached’? Then, what is verbal?

9) Vocabulary.

Is often a challenge, particularly when it comes to verb variations and understanding which tense should be used in various situations? English has one of the biggest vocabularies of all languages, and it can be very confusing for non-English speakers like me to master. By using vocabulary inaccurately is incredibly noticeable to anyone who’s first language is English, though it does not often change the meaning of your text, it does weaken it.

10) Pronunciations.

Knowing how to pronounce words in English can be very difficult as it isn’t always obvious. English speakers have been taught these from an early age, which is how they know not to pronounce the ‘k’ on ’knight’ but not me! Plus, they are taught the subtleties in how to pronounce something to communicate the right message.

So yes! There are many challenges which I had encounter when learning English. But, trust me, I don't give up easily as I often reminded myself on how hard Kim Jong Kook was struggling to learn English at the age of 36 (and he did it!) 

Kim Jong Kook was trying to differentiate between 'whether' and 'weather'. 
(Instagram for desktop version)

The New Me

I am not sure if I should be saying this as I am not a perfect human being. I make mistakes - sometimes I spend too much money on useless stuffs and sometimes I even wasted my times watching too many dramas which then, I found them frustrating. But, that's it. I am who I wanted to be. Plus, the fact that I am a growing up teenager never affects my lifestyle.

I totally had no idea on what I have been looking for all this time, after experiencing 18 years of living in my hometown. But, trust me. Somehow, I feel like I am just an ordinary girl who is lacking something. Is it money? - Oh you sure must be kidding. Or maybe love? God. Mom and dad shower me with lots of love and care so what am I expecting?

I feel uneasy until one day I questioned myself ;

'WHO AM I GONNA BE?'

Well, of course. I definitely will never become a prime minister as I am not into politics and for sure, I would never become an engineer (which dad had always dreamed of) as I have this kind of love-hate relationship with addmaths - at the same time I used to tell mom that being a chef is at the bottom of my list so don't bother to have me memorize all types of spices. Next, a tailor? Oh, it never crossed my mind even once. Seriously.

Okay, wait. Maybe that is too much. Actually, I do think that I might become a chef but when I imagined myself in apron, holding pans in both hands like a pro, I had suddenly become a paranoid. What if I accidently put sugar instead of salt? What if I have mistaken parsley for lemon grass? – which is actually kind of impossible as my ten years old brother could recognize them well.

Seriously, this is such a nerve-wrecking! I need to know what I wanted to be so that I can make my way towards it. Therefore, I went to asked my friends the same question and guess what? They simply answered it with a joy.

“Oh, I want to do business in the future. Well, you know how much I like the smell of money coming in”

“I am thinking of having my own cloth lines. Who knows maybe Angelina Jolie would wear one of my pieces during Oscar in the future”

“ I had love to join the medical team. As you know, it is all about treating people who are suffering for diseases and I bet it could not be any better when someone thanked you for your hardwork.”

That is when I feel a sudden pang that awakens me from my fantasy. A medical team. At that very moment I have this feeling in me saying that I wanted to become a neurologist, but then I, cowardly hide the fact as I thought it is nothing but ridiculous. However, it keeps on bothering me which at last I had decided to discuss it with my parents and teachers.

To my surprise, they believe in me. They said it is possible - but that only valid if I am willing to sacrifice a lot of things including window shopping. Honestly, I had like to protest but then I realize, I am actually making towards my dream, so who cares? Who is craving for that Dior perfumes when I am about to achieve my lifetime goal? - unless they are on sales haha

Okay. So, that's it. I am deleting my previous characters and I am struggling inside to build the new me. Consequently, I will make sure everything will work out as it planned and I know, I can. On the other hand, I am coping with my self-confidence and so far, it is going good. Plus, I remember this quote which helps to keep my spirit high. 

"Don't compare your struggles to anyone else's. Don't get discouraged by the success of others. Make your own path and never give up"