Secrets of Spoken English.pdf

Secrets of Spoken English.pdf
Secrets of Spoken English/ All Rights Reserved / Gaurav Misra Fulbright 1
Secrets of Spoken English/ All Rights Reserved / Gaurav Misra Fulbright 2 ABOUT GAURAV MISRA FULBRIGHT 𝐆𝐚𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐯 𝐌𝐢𝐬𝐫𝐚 𝐅𝐮𝐥𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 is an international, national and state award winning personality & life skills coach, communication & soft skills trainer, language facilitator, educator, motivational speaker, blogger, and father of a cute little baby boy. He is India's 1st 𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐃 𝐂𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐞𝐝 Coach acknowledged with 'International Recognition' by CTAUN, 𝐔𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬, New York, for his innovative skill development initiatives. Mr. Gaurav is a Multi-award winning Employability Coach and Personality Trainer who has been training, coaching & mentoring corporate professionals and university graduates from USA, UK, Mauritius, and India. He is an award winning alumnus from JAIMS (𝐉𝐚𝐩𝐚𝐧 𝐀𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚 𝐈𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐭𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐒𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞), Japan & USA. He has not only trained British professionals under 𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐔𝐊-𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐚 programme, he has also taught American learners at the 𝐔𝐌, Montana, United States. As a Master Coach, Mr. Gaurav has trained Career Coaches and Student Mentors for Employability Skills at India's Top Educational e-Learning platform 𝐮𝐩𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐝. He has conducted corporate training programs for 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐥, 𝐔𝐒𝐈𝐄𝐅, 𝐑𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐒𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬, 𝐁𝐚𝐣𝐚𝐣 𝐇𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧, 𝐄𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐤𝐚 𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐛𝐞𝐬, 𝐋𝐢𝐟𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐲𝐥𝐞 𝐌𝐫. & 𝐌𝐬. 𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐚, 𝐑𝐏 𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐨 𝐆𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐩, 𝐙𝐞𝐞 𝐋𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐚 to name a few. He has studied Life Skills at the University of Montana, USA. He pursued his passion for Human Resource Development by earning T&D Diploma from ISTD, New Delhi. He holds PGDM in HR. He is a post graduate in English literature too. He has been trained, coached & mentored by World-class Professionals like, ✅𝐃𝐫. 𝐂𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐥𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐤- US National Resume Writer & Career Coach ✅𝐉𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐇𝐨𝐝𝐠𝐢𝐧 - American Director & TEDx Speaking Coach ✅𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐉𝐫. - Notable US Army Official ✅𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐚𝐤 - President, Steve Novak Consulting ✅𝐓𝐚𝐤𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐒𝐚𝐢𝐭𝐨 - Former President, Levis Strauss Japan ✅𝐒𝐚𝐛𝐮𝐫𝐨𝐊𝐨𝐛𝐚𝐲𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐢 - Sr VP Honda R & D ✅𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐟. 𝐍𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐤𝐚 - Global Expert on Innovation Management ....and the list goes on. Additionally, he has participated in training programs at 𝐒𝐲𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐔𝐧𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐲 (𝐍𝐞𝐰 𝐘𝐨𝐫𝐤), 𝐅𝐮𝐥𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 (𝐖𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐨𝐧 𝐃.𝐂.), 𝐂𝐡𝐮𝐨𝐔𝐧𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐲 (𝐓𝐨𝐤𝐲𝐨), 𝐅𝐮𝐣𝐢𝐭𝐬𝐮 (𝐘𝐨𝐤𝐨𝐡𝐚𝐦𝐚), 𝐓𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐤 𝐏𝐨𝐥𝐲𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐧𝐢𝐜 (𝐒𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐚𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐞), 𝐃𝐨𝐢 𝐓𝐮𝐧𝐠 (𝐁𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐤𝐨𝐤) & 𝐈𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐬𝐲𝐬 (𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐚). A glimpse of his career highlights, is as follows:
Secrets of Spoken English/ All Rights Reserved / Gaurav Misra Fulbright 3 🏆2021 Fulbright Classroom Grant Winner, Fulbright Association, Washington DC 🏆2021 Co-Host, International Leadership and Innovation Festival, Indonesia 🏆2019 Honorable Learner Awardee, JAIMS, Japan 🏆 2019 GLIK Fellow, Fujitsu, Tokyo 🏆2019 International Recognition, CTAUN, New York 🏆2019 State Recognition, CM Office, Uttarakhand 🏆2018 Global Teacher Awardee, GTC Worldwide 🏆2017 National Youth Icon Awardee, ONGC 🏆2016 Distinguished Service & Outreach Awardee, UM, USA 🏆 2016 Youth Representative, United Nations 🏆2015 Fulbright Scholar, USIEF, New Delhi 🏆2011-14 Topmost Trainer Throughout Official Recognition, GEHU 🏆2009-10 Employee of the Year, MTouch 🏆2008 Best Trainee Awardee, Promotion House 🏆2007 Best Presentation & Case Study Award, ICFAI His contact particulars are, ✔𝐋inkedIn: linkedin.com/company/pdpbygm ✔𝐅acebook: https://www.facebook.com/pdpbygm ✔𝐓witter: https://twitter.com/pdpbygm ✔𝐁log : http://pdpbygauravmisra.blogspot.com/ ✔𝐘outube: youtube.com/c/GauravFulbright ✔𝐄mail : pgpdbygm@gmail.com ✔𝐒kype : gauravmisra9 ✔𝐌obile: +91-9410572612 ✔𝐖hatsapp: +91-9058262259 ******
Secrets of Spoken English/ All Rights Reserved / Gaurav Misra Fulbright 5 “English language is a work in progress. Have fun with it.” ~ Jonathan Culver ~
Secrets of Spoken English/ All Rights Reserved / Gaurav Misra Fulbright 6 dedicated to all those Who Keep Trying & Never Give Up!
CONTENTS Sr. No. Particulars Page No. 1. The Fact 9 2. Preface 11 3. Why Spoken English? 13 4. The Start 16 5. Let’s Begin! 18 6. My Very First ‘Ultimate’ Secret 20 7. ‘Spoken English Secrets’ by Ms. Natalia, Russia 23 8. My Second Secret 26 9. ‘Vocabulary Mantras’ by Ms. Emily, USA 29 10. My Third Secret 33 11. ‘Spoken English Secrets’ by Ms. Vania Carvalho, Brazil 35 12. I. Newspapers and Selective Reading 37 13. ‘Spoken English Secrets’ by Ms. Lorena, Argentina 40 14. II. “Don’t Miss Out the Interviews: It’s A Big Deal!” 43 15. ‘Spoken English Secrets’ by Ms. Alpysbayeva, Kazakhstan 45 16. ‘Spoken English Secrets’ by Ms. Olivia, France 48 17. III. “Are You Interested in Reading Blogs, Novels, Storybooks, Comics, and Magazines?” 51 18. ‘Spoken English Secrets’ by Ms. Marcia, Brazil 53 19. My Fourth Secret 55 20. ‘Spoken English Secrets’ by Ms. Merve, Turkey 57 21. My Fifth Secret 59 22. ‘Spoken English Secrets’ by Mr. Azamat, Uzbekistan 62 23. A Case (to) Study 64 24. ‘Spoken English Secrets’ by Ms. Lyu-Wei Chen, Taiwan 68 25. My Sixth Secret 70 26. Learning A Second Language (Japanese) by Ms. Madison, USA 74 27. My Seventh Secret 77 28. ‘Spoken English Secrets’ by 80 Secrets of Spoken English/ All Rights Reserved / Gaurav Misra Fulbright 7
Mr. Jason, Kenya 29. My Eighth Secret 82 30. ‘Spoken English Secrets’ by Ms. Shaimaa, Egypt 85 31. My Ninth Secret 88 32. ‘Spoken English Secret’ by Ms. Caroline, France 90 33. My Tenth Secret 92 34. ‘Spoken English Secrets’ by Ms. Haifa, Turkey 96 35. My Eleventh Secret 99 36. Learning A Second Language (Spanish) by Ms. Ann Karp, USA 101 37. My Twelfth and ‘Ultimate’ Secret 104 38. ‘How I Work with TED Talks’ by Ms. Irina, Russia 112 39. Special Thanks! … Secrets of Spoken English/ All Rights Reserved / Gaurav Misra Fulbright 8
Secrets of Spoken English/ All Rights Reserved / Gaurav Misra Fulbright 9 1 THE FACT
Secrets of Spoken English/ All Rights Reserved / Gaurav Misra Fulbright 10 ******
Secrets of Spoken English/ All Rights Reserved / Gaurav Misra Fulbright 11 2 PREFACE
Secrets of Spoken English/ All Rights Reserved / Gaurav Misra Fulbright 13 3 WHY SPOKEN ENGLISH?
Secrets of Spoken English/ All Rights Reserved / Gaurav Misra Fulbright 16 4 THE START
Secrets of Spoken English/ All Rights Reserved / Gaurav Misra Fulbright 17 *You can get to know more about my life-journey from my blog post: My Journey to My Passion **This YouTube link will also give you a little glimpse of my journey so far:Handsome Life
Secrets of Spoken English/ All Rights Reserved / Gaurav Misra Fulbright 18 5 LET’S BEGIN!
Secrets of Spoken English/ All Rights Reserved / Gaurav Misra Fulbright 20 6 MY VERY FIRST ‘ULTIMATE’ SECRET
Secrets of Spoken English/ All Rights Reserved / Gaurav Misra Fulbright 21 “Visualize this thing that you want, see it, feel it, believe in it. Make your mental blue print, and begin to build.” ~ Robert Collier
Secrets of Spoken English/ All Rights Reserved / Gaurav Misra Fulbright 23 ‘ SPOKEN ENGLISH SECRETS ’ BY Ms. Natalia, Russia 7
Secrets of Spoken English/ All Rights Reserved / Gaurav Misra Fulbright 24 The first and most powerful weapon of any communication is a smile. In Russian we say “friendship starts with a smile”, and I totally believe in it as it has been proved many times. Thus, be nice, never raise your voice to a shout even if you have had a hard day or are upset with anything. Try to start with an interesting or funny warm-up (e.g. imagine you go for a picnic with the group, let every student name one thing he would put in the basket for the picnic. If it is a new group of students, let them introduce themselves in an unusual way: My name is Natalia, and I am Nice. I like Nuts but I don’t like Naughty children. I can Notice little things. I’m scared of Nightmares. My dream is to Navigate in Dublin easily. What your name means: Natalia – N – nice, A – active, T – talented, A – adventurous, L – loving, I – introvert, A - analytical Show some pictures (e.g. your favourite actress, food, colour, hobby, etc.), ask your students to guess what they mean to you. In this case you can check if they know question structure, etc.). All this will help your students tune for the lesson and, of course, you will “break the ice”. Be relevant; in other words choose a topic that is essential and fascinating for the student – meet your student’s need. However, it is important to know the material, to understand what you are talking about. It does not mean you have to be an expert in every possible theme, as we have students from various spheres and industries, but, for sure, you have to be well prepared. And the last, but definitely not least, thing I would like to point out is be a supporter, a facilitator for your students. Do not ‘overspeak’ during the lesson or the conversation club, mind teacher talking time, just provide them with all necessary material and give them some freedom to express themselves. Do not overcorrect, do not interrupt a flow of
Secrets of Spoken English/ All Rights Reserved / Gaurav Misra Fulbright 25 speech, but be a patient observer and after the task is complete, correct the mistakes together with your students or you may write down on the whiteboard all “wrong” sentences/constructions and try to find better options with the students or ask them how they would improve this or that structure or what is a better word in this context, etc. No matter what technique you use, just be dedicated and love what you are doing. In terms of learning English, to my students I always say “The best way to learn to speak is to speak”. While learning I used to retell a lot, everything I read, heard a piece of news, saw something on my way, literally anything, I tried to express in English, it could be just in my thoughts, but I made sentences. Use every opportunity to say something in English, to participate in discussions; every attempt matters, it is a step to the fruitful result. To sound better try to imitate native speakers, do not be shy pretending being actors, copy their intonations from movies, songs! Imagine you are a reporter and present the news of your region, community or school. And remember, practice makes perfect! ******
Secrets of Spoken English/ All Rights Reserved / Gaurav Misra Fulbright 26 8 MY SECOND SECRET: ‘6 to 10 New Words A Day’
Secrets of Spoken English/ All Rights Reserved / Gaurav Misra Fulbright 29 9 ‘ VOCABULARY MANTRAS ’ BY Ms. Emily, USA
Secrets of Spoken English/ All Rights Reserved / Gaurav Misra Fulbright 32 *published with permission exclusively for ‘Secrets of Spoken English’
Secrets of Spoken English/ All Rights Reserved / Gaurav Misra Fulbright 33 10 MY THIRD SECRET: “READ, READ, READ! REALLY?!”
Secrets of Spoken English/ All Rights Reserved / Gaurav Misra Fulbright 35 11 ‘ SPOKEN ENGLISH SECRETS ’ BY Ms. Vania Carvalho, Brazil
I believe that we can all learn English by living in our own country as well as by living abroad. The best way to learn the language is by getting to know yourself as a student and by finding out how best you learn. If you like listing to music, searching for songs in English; if you learn more by watching TV shows, movies, online videos, reading blogs and news online, go for it! The more you get connected with English by doing what makes you happy, the more you improve your communication skills. This way, you will certainly increase your chances of learning English in an effective and meaningful way. I believe that the key to improve your English depends not only on your exposure to the language, but on the extent this exposure inhibits the use of your mother tongue. ****** *published with permission exclusivelyfor ‘Secrets of Spoken English’ Secrets of Spoken English/ All Rights Reserved / Gaurav Misra Fulbright 36
Secrets of Spoken English/ All Rights Reserved / Gaurav Misra Fulbright 37 12 I. NEWSPAPERS& SELECTIVE READING
Secrets of Spoken English/ All Rights Reserved / Gaurav Misra Fulbright 40 13 ‘ SPOKEN ENGLISH SECRETS ’ BY Ms. Lorena, Argentina
Secrets of Spoken English/ All Rights Reserved / Gaurav Misra Fulbright 41 My personal experience learning spoken English after the age of 18, as well as my wide variety of teaching experience, allowed me to learn some techniques to learn English as a foreign language. It is important to understand that learning a language is a process and that it requires time and practice. Hence, your objectives and dreams constitute the key elements that will lead you to do your best and succeed. Mistakes are part of your progress and it is acceptable to make them. Having said that, I suggest the following techniques to learn spoken English effectively. The first technique is to look for ways to practice listening every single day. Listening to songs, your favorite TV series, videos and radio shows in English will help you to learn more about pronunciation and intonation. At the same time, it will provide you with the opportunity to learn new phrases, common expressions and idioms that you will remember and will be able to use next time you speak. Personally, I started learning English by listening to songs. I also watched sitcoms and films without the transcripts. That was extremely helpful since I noticed I was able to communicate with others in a few weeks after doing it. Apart from that, I was able to remember phrases, pronunciation and intonation in different situations. The second technique is to find someone to practice English regularly. That person might be a friend, a colleague, a teacher or a native speaker. Practice is crucial. It is important to practice on a regular basis so that you gain more confidence. You should ask those people to correct your mistakes. Do not feel bad if you have errors. You may write them down to avoid saying them again. For example, I have practiced with native speakers through Skype and other teachers on a regular basis with wonderful results. Additionally, my students who wanted to improve their conversations skills met with me weekly and succeeded on that. The third technique is to practice alone. You can stand up in front of a mirror or sit at any comfortable place and talk. You can also record yourself so that you can hear your own mistakes. You should watch
Secrets of Spoken English/ All Rights Reserved / Gaurav Misra Fulbright 42 videos by native speakers and you can try to imitate what they say in a loud voice. That constitutes a good way to practice by yourself. The fourth technique is to learn English through the Arts. For instance, learning English through the dance, drama, musical comedies, songs, and karaoke will make you learn spoken English, teach you more about the language and culture and will be an enjoyable time. To illustrate that, my students learned this language through the dance and songs and they performed on stage. They not only learned pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar, but also they had fun, became more confident and were able to speak in English. If you do not feel comfortable with the Arts, remember that your objectives to learn spoken English, can lead you to do marvelous things. The last technique is to discuss in groups different topics that involve opinions of a subject. For instance, debating about culture, education, technology, environment or other aspects you know well may foster you to talk and that will enhance your language skills. Additionally, that will contribute to a constant interaction and will develop a critical thinking about different subjects. That might take you out of your comfort zone but in the long term, you will be speaking with fluency. To illustrate that, I have had the opportunity to teach English to college students who had not had much opportunity to put into practice their oral skills before. When I started working with them, I proposed different discussions every single class. At the beginning, it was hard, but little by little they started speaking naturally and confidently. If you do not know a place to do that, you can start a collaborative club to make it possible. To conclude, these are the techniques I suggest to become fluent and confident speakers of English. The most important aspect of it is to not forget what your dreams and objectives are. If remember that, you will be able to do your best. Learning English is a process. It involves many steps and mistakes are part of it. The more you practice, the more confident and the better speaker you will be. I encourage you to speak in English. ****** *published with permission exclusivelyfor ‘Secrets of Spoken English’
Secrets of Spoken English/ All Rights Reserved / Gaurav Misra Fulbright 43 14 II. “DON’T MISS OUT ON THE INTERVIEWS: It’s A Big Deal!”
Secrets of Spoken English/ All Rights Reserved / Gaurav Misra Fulbright 45 15 ‘ SPOKEN ENGLISH SECRETS ’ BY Ms. Alpysbayeva, Kazakhstan
Secrets of Spoken English/ All Rights Reserved / Gaurav Misra Fulbright 46 Learning a different language is not an easy thing for a lot of people. Some language learners struggle with grammar whereas others have problems with memorizing vocabulary. However, so many people find it difficult to speak the language fluently, although they know many complicated grammar patterns and their vocabulary range is really advanced. What to do in this case? What are the best techniques to overcome this problem? I would like to attempt to answer these questions relying on my experience of a language learner. I will particularly focus on learning spoken English. First of all, I recommend to listen to English songs of various speed and watch films. Of course, this advice has been suggested by many other language learners and teachers, as it is an effective one. There are many purposes and ways of listening and watching things in English. The first one is to listen and watch for just getting used to the sound, I mean the noise of the language. This technique is really helpful for all levels from especially the beginners to advanced learners. I remember my first exposure to English after which I felt exhausted and had a headache. It was a kind of a conference where I met over 200 Americans who I spoke to and heard speak. This experience would have been less tiring if I had been used to English language noise more. Second technique that is worth recommending is called ‘shadowing’ (which I have been doing without knowing the name of it and later suggested by my teacher at the university). This one is again appropriate at any level. In most cases non-native English speakers have problems in being understood rather than understand. (This is from my experience of living in English speaking country.) Yet, listening skill is as important as other skills for a good English speaker. So, by ‘shadowing’ we can develop both speaking and listening skills. This technique is related with the previous one and can be done in multiple ways by diving into several chunks, as an example. First step is to just choose a video of different content to get used to the sound and then to get the gist. Finally, it is watched to shadow, that is literally to be a shadow of speaker by repeating what he/she will be speaking about. It is really important to not just repeat the words correctly, but also follow intonations, rhythm, tone and speed which are what we, non-native
Secrets of Spoken English/ All Rights Reserved / Gaurav Misra Fulbright 47 speakers usually get caught. This technique has helped me and many of my students. Another suggestion is to again watch the videos or films, but this time focusing on the content. We can know many words and operate with complex grammar, but may not know the right context where the word should be used in, or which word it collocates with (These aspects can be developed by reading as well. It is highly recommended for those who love reading.) I recommend to choose the topics of video that you are interested in or need to get the information. This way it will be interesting as it is what you are familiar with. It is good if it is short, which lets you go back and watch again in case you miss something. As you get experienced in watching videos in English, it is good to watch popular films, shows and news. Since your ultimate goal is to communicate. You should not only be able to sound like a native speaker but also have things to talk about and understand other people speaking about things like a film, sports or current political issue. In other words it is recommended to be informed about the culture. Finally, I recommend to English or other language learners to use and try different techniques and find the one which will be useful and convenient. Learn grammar and vocabulary to use outright which can be realized by joining local English clubs, meeting with native speaker or finding pen friends through special websites. ****** *published with permission exclusivelyfor ‘Secrets of Spoken English’
Secrets of Spoken English/ All Rights Reserved / Gaurav Misra Fulbright 48 16 ‘ SPOKEN ENGLISH SECRETS ’ BY Ms. Olivia, France
Secrets of Spoken English/ All Rights Reserved / Gaurav Misra Fulbright 49 In my country, learning a foreign language is a crucial part of childen’s education, in particular throughout secondary school. However, it is well known that practical experience is as important a part of language- learning processes as classroom instruction. In my opinion, both have, in uneven ways, contributed to my acquiring of a level of English good enough to be able to pursue a doctoral degree in the United Kingdom. In France, mandatory education in a foreign language starts at age 11, at the beginning of middle school. Most students pick English, and if not, must chose it as a second foreign language two years later. In total, mandatory education in English before University lasts from five to seven years. I was fortunate enough to have most years very inspirational teachers. But most of all, I was fortunate to benefit from the existence of the European Union. Geographical proximity with Great Britain allowed for school trips to be a generalized feature of foreign language instruction. Furthermore, when I started highschool, I was able to join a European section, with additional English language classes and a new subject, which probably lead me to where I am now: History in English. The mere idea of studying a different subject, one that I also liked very much, in English, detangled language-acquisition from linguistics and grammar rules, which somehow frightened me at this age. I could see that there was a bigger and maybe better scope in learning English, with a new incentive to practice it, an urge to use it that trumped over my fears of making mistakes. Because content here mattered more than form, and eventually, form caught up as well. I was able to benefit more from the European Union by doing an exchange year through the Erasmus programme at the University of Oxford in 2013-14, then again applying my English skills to a different subject. This lead me to start a PhD programme at the same university in the fall 2016. Besides those educational experiences, I also have had the opportunity to live and sometimes work in the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States. On some of those occasion, I had the chance to work as an instructor, this time teaching French as a foreign language. Reversing the process, I could understand how crucial it is to prioritze communication skills in one’s teaching. After all, isn’t it by learning how to speak that children acquire their mothertongue, and
Secrets of Spoken English/ All Rights Reserved / Gaurav Misra Fulbright 50 only subsequently learning how to write and read? I am not saying that grammar must be disparaged, on the contrary, but communication requires grammar to be integrated in the process of speaking, through repetition, correction, but also incentive to speak. Content once again trumps form, when form becomes an obstacle to communication, the first goal of language acquisition. And ultimately, the correct form is acquired. If I had to sum up this testimony, my most important tip for students learning English, or any language for that matter, is to speak. In the classroom first, among your peers, because it is not as frightening. And then, if you get offered the opportunity of immersion, do not hesitate. Speak, listen, feel overwhelmed, but must of all, communicate about what you are interested in, whatever the topic. And in the process, forget your worries about grammar correctedness. Because the more you forget about it, the more you improve, because you are speaking. Because what is a language, if not a tool that keeps giving back: your message gets accross, and in return you get an insight into the country, the mentalities and the cultural significance of a linguistic realm. Because a language is not meant to be a great wall, but a linking bridge. ****** *published with permission exclusivelyfor ‘Secrets of Spoken English’
Secrets of Spoken English/ All Rights Reserved / Gaurav Misra Fulbright 51 17 III. “ARE YOU INTERESTED IN READING BLOGS, NOVELS, STORYBOOKS, COMICS,&MAGAZINES?”
Secrets of Spoken English/ All Rights Reserved / Gaurav Misra Fulbright 53 18 ‘ SPOKEN ENGLISH SECRETS ’ BY Ms. Marcia, Brazil
Secrets of Spoken English/ All Rights Reserved / Gaurav Misra Fulbright 54 As an English language student growing up in the 90’s, I had a strong connection with British and North-American pop music. I was fascinated by the Spice Girls’ songs and their “girl power” attitude, which led me to want to learn English so that I could understand what they were singing about, watch their interviews and be a part of that imagined community of hardcore fans who knew everything about the band. It took me a lot of effort but I ended up developing autonomy and started studying on my own. My parents could not afford enrolling me in an English school, but this did not stop me from learning by myself, using songs, movies, TV shows and any available resource. Nowadays, as an English teacher myself, I believe students can really benefit from all authentic materials one can find online on the web. It gets easier to learn once you find something you relate to and you see purpose for the language you are learning. ****** *published with permission exclusively for ‘Secrets of Spoken English’
Secrets of Spoken English/ All Rights Reserved / Gaurav Misra Fulbright 55 19 MY FOURTHSECRET: “READ IT THREE TIMES AT LEAST.”
Secrets of Spoken English/ All Rights Reserved / Gaurav Misra Fulbright 57 20 ‘ SPOKEN ENGLISH SECRETS ’ BY Ms. Merve, Turkey
Secrets of Spoken English/ All Rights Reserved / Gaurav Misra Fulbright 58 As a learner and teacher of English, I'd like share these tips that I find very useful in learning spoken English. If you are into reading, you are much more likely to improve your English. Read a variety of things such as comic strips, magazines, newspapers, novels or biographies. Nowadays I use breakingnewsenglish.com and learningenglish.voanews.com in my classes. Watching comes next. In the age of Internet, you will easily find whatever attracts you. TV series with English subtitles, movies, and some funny accounts on social media especially Instagram and snapchat like 9gag or Ellentvshow will make you enjoy the language and learn it much better. Lastly, try to talk in English as much as you can. When you're alone or with people, try to say everything that you are doing or thinking of in English. ****** *published with permission exclusivelyfor ‘Secrets of Spoken English’
Secrets of Spoken English/ All Rights Reserved / Gaurav Misra Fulbright 59 21 MY FIFTH SECRET: “READ OUT LOUD.”
Secrets of Spoken English/ All Rights Reserved / Gaurav Misra Fulbright 62 22 ‘ SPOKEN ENGLISH SECRETS ’ BY Mr. Azamat, Uzbekistan
Secrets of Spoken English/ All Rights Reserved / Gaurav Misra Fulbright 63 One of the best ways to improve your speaking skills as well as your writing is to learn phrases rather than learning isolated words by heart. For example you can learn word combinations or sentences such as “make an attempt “or “I made a few attempts” rather than learning the word “attempt” separately. You can also repeat the longer word combinations like “You should keep the ball rolling”, “Let’s get down to business” or readymade sentence structure like “when talking about ( e.g. business)….. we should take into account…. (e.g. potential risks)”. Using the learnt phrases on daily basis will help you boost your lexical recourses and you will be able to use different word combinations properly. ****** *published with permission exclusivelyfor ‘Secrets of Spoken English’
Secrets of Spoken English/ All Rights Reserved / Gaurav Misra Fulbright 64 23 A CASE (to) STUDY
Secrets of Spoken English/ All Rights Reserved / Gaurav Misra Fulbright 65 When it comes to my next secret of spoken English, I would like to share one of my all-time favorite newspaper articles about our education system which, excluding some very progressive schools and colleges in India, does not offer much encouragement for developing English speaking ability among students. I find the article so relevant that I am mentioning it with due courtesy to The Times of India. I strongly urge you to go through it and think of some of the very serious concerns as expressed in this article. After you read this, I am sure the reasons of not being able to speak fluently in English will be very clear to you. Reference: The Times Of India Delhi, Date: Jul 21, 2011, Section: Times Business, Page 23
Secrets of Spoken English/ All Rights Reserved / Gaurav Misra Fulbright 68 24 ‘ SPOKEN ENGLISH SECRETS ’ BY Ms. Lyu-Wei Chen, Taiwan
To speak a foreign language well not only takes practice and time, but it also requires learners’ motivation, and the key lies in why. My first English teacher was successful in kindling my fire and passion for learning to speak English. Novice as I was at that time, I was given plenty of opportunities to use the language in various games and activities that simulate real-life language tasks. I had so much fun exploring the language and derived great sense of achievement from creating meaning and experiencing how real communication took place with my teacher and peers. Even until now as a teacher of English, I keep this principle in mind when teaching my students to speak English. I like to offer them pictures that are close to their everyday life experience (e.g. life as a student or familiar scenes in Taiwan)— sometimes along with some keywords or sentence patterns as hints (depending on students’ level of English) and have them make sentences to describe the pictures. Interestingly, students sometimes come up with non-standard but brilliant and surprising answers which are beyond my expectation. That is the magical moment when “meaning” occurs, and that is when both my students and I enjoy learning and teaching English the most. ****** *published with permission exclusivelyfor ‘Secrets of Spoken English’ Secrets of Spoken English/ All Rights Reserved / Gaurav Misra Fulbright 69
Secrets of Spoken English/ All Rights Reserved / Gaurav Misra Fulbright 70 25 MY SIXTHSECRET: “SPEAK UP!”
Secrets of Spoken English/ All Rights Reserved / Gaurav Misra Fulbright 74 26 ‘LEARNING A SECOND LANGUAGE (JAPANESE)’ BY Ms. Madison, USA
Secrets of Spoken English/ All Rights Reserved / Gaurav Misra Fulbright 75 If there is any way that you can study abroad, I highly recommend it. You can also seek out native speakers in your community or on the internet. There are many free websites dedicated to helping people make friends and practice languages (http://www.lingoglobe.com/). You can also practice with your friends who are also studying English, even if none of you are native speakers. This will help you feel more comfortable using what English you already know and pick up new words from each other. Even if you can only have about 20% of your conversations in the language you are all learning, I think that it will help. As far as basic studying, I highly recommend Quizlet. (https://vimeo.com/31146219) (https://quizlet.com/help/2444083/what- is-quizlet) It's a website and mobile app that lets your make, share, and practice digital flashcards. Manually writing words helps you remember
Secrets of Spoken English/ All Rights Reserved / Gaurav Misra Fulbright 76 but sometimes a digital option is much more convenient. I use it every time I need to learn new vocabulary. If I am having trouble spelling a word, I will write it 5-10 times with a pencil then continue. That is all the advice I have. I wish you the best of luck in learning a new language. I know that it's hard, but keep working hard and it will eventually lead to good things. ****** *published with permission exclusivelyfor ‘Secrets of Spoken English’
Secrets of Spoken English/ All Rights Reserved / Gaurav Misra Fulbright 77 27 MY SEVENTH SECRET: “DO LISTEN TO GOOD ENGLISH.”
Secrets of Spoken English/ All Rights Reserved / Gaurav Misra Fulbright 80 28 ‘ SPOKEN ENGLISH SECRETS ’ BY Mr. Jason, Kenya
Secrets of Spoken English/ All Rights Reserved / Gaurav Misra Fulbright 81 In Kenya both Kiswahili and English are the official languages. Since English is the language of instruction most of us (2nd language English learners) had to learn to speak it. This however does not mean that all the students in my class learnt to speak English fluently. Passion is what drove me to speak English fluently. The biggest take away for my spoken English journey was watching so many British and American films as well as watching 9 pm news which in Kenya is broadcasted exclusively in English. I would repeat after them most of the time in order to get the right pronunciations. After this I would read my story books aloud, record, and play it back to hear myself speak. ****** *published with permission exclusivelyfor ‘Secrets of Spoken English’
Secrets of Spoken English/ All Rights Reserved / Gaurav Misra Fulbright 82 29 MY EIGHTH SECRET: “CAN YOU WRITE A BLOG?”
85 ‘ SPOKEN ENGLISH SECRETS ’ BY Ms. Shaimaa, Egypt Secrets of Spoken English/ All Rights Reserved / Gaurav Misra Fulbright 30
Secrets of Spoken English/ All Rights Reserved / Gaurav Misra Fulbright 86 As a second language learner, I would like to give some tips for both teachers and learners as well about one of the second language teaching/ learning methods, which is the "Immersion Method." I believe that Language can't be given fuller meaning if it is not related to the culture context. Accordingly, the best way to learn a second language is to connect it to your life. I learned English, French, and Spanish by communicating with natives and more capable speakers to get beyond the functional language and know more about the life forms that integrate the words, acts, beliefs, attitudes, and so on. The immersion technique is to connect yourself with the target language culture. For example: when I was learning French, I dedicated two days each week to visit the French Institute in Cairo to practice my French and develop my fluency and listening skills, and to know the French culture by speaking with natives and socialize with them. Same with English, although I have studied English at school, it was not enough to be fluent English speaker. Therefore, I was always engaging myself with the social and cultural activities of the British Council, and the Information Resource Center of the US Embassy. Hence, I mastered these languages as if I lived in its countries by exposing myself to the aspects that cannot be replicated in the SL classrooms. Currently, as a lecturer teaching English and Arabic as second languages, I do the same with my students, by putting them in a real or semi-real cultural environment of the target language. The student-based and communicative approaches are the best ways to provide a meaningful educational experience for the learners. So, connecting your teaching with their learning needs and outcomes of the target language course is very vital and efficient way to make them acquire the second language faster.
Secrets of Spoken English/ All Rights Reserved / Gaurav Misra Fulbright 87 Further, here are some hacks and trick we – learners and teachers – can use to be fully immersed in the target language. First, make a use of the technology you have. Use Skype to speak with natives, or use the language platforms and sites that cater to all level of language learners. Also, use your devices such as iPod, cell phones, laptop to listen to songs and watch movies and series in the target languages. Second, learn as a child. Children absorb language easy and fast because they listen more and imitate the speakers. Also, they are not afraid to make mistakes. So, when you lose your fears to make grammatical errors, you will be able to make an authentic conversation and learn as you go. Third, have the right mindset. Sign a "no native language" pledge that you will only use the target language in the time you curved for learning it. This commitment obligates you to speak, think, dream and even do math in the target language only. ****** *published with permission exclusivelyfor ‘Secrets of Spoken English’
Secrets of Spoken English/ All Rights Reserved / Gaurav Misra Fulbright 88 31 MY NINTH SECRET: “IF YOU FEEL SHY OR RESERVED AS I USED TO…” *Bonus from the Bloghttp://pdpbygauravmisra.blogspot.in/
Secrets of Spoken English/ All Rights Reserved / Gaurav Misra Fulbright 90 32 ‘ SPOKEN ENGLISH SECRETS ’ BY Ms. Caroline, France
When I arrived at the university in France, English classes were completely left aside, so I lost a lot of my vocabulary and my decent English level crashed in a few years! Therefore when I decided to study abroad in the USA to recover from my English level loss, not only did I have to catch up to basic English language level, but I also had to comply with university vocabulary standards. I always had this habit of watching any TV show in English, with English subtitles, but this wasn’t enough to acquire this complex level. The good part of university education in the US is that it’s forces students to read a lot. I didn’t bother translating every single word I couldn’t understand perfectly, but I did make a list of those words I needed to remember and reuse later. I did try to reuse them as often as possible to appropriate them to myself. There are those words you understand, thanks to the context and the sentence; and there are those which require a translation in another language, which is not necessarily your mother tongue. If the word sounded like a German word more than the translated word in my language, I chose to link the first two to remember easily. I saw myself making significant progress in learning English as I was reading and had conversations only in English. Basically to me, repetition was the key. ****** *published with permission exclusivelyfor ‘Secrets of Spoken English’ Secrets of Spoken English/ All Rights Reserved / Gaurav Misra Fulbright 91
Secrets of Spoken English/ All Rights Reserved / Gaurav Misra Fulbright 92 33 MY TENTH SECRET: “WHAT TO DO IF I STAMMER OR STUTTER?” *Bonus from my email archivepdpbygauravmisra@gmail.com
Secrets of Spoken English/ All Rights Reserved / Gaurav Misra Fulbright 96 34 ‘ SPOKEN ENGLISH SECRETS ’ BY Ms. Haifa, Turkey
Secrets of Spoken English/ All Rights Reserved / Gaurav Misra Fulbright 97 As a teacher, I taught English, French and Arabic in four different countries: Poland, Turkey, Tunisia and the United States. My students came from a variety of different backgrounds, yet, there were some common tricks and techniques that I found useful with all of my students. I believe that when someone is learning a foreign language, like English for example, finding motivation is the most important part. Learning a language requires persistence, hence, if you are a student who is learning English by yourself you need to understand that there is no one perfect way to speak a language. Much like playing an instrument, when you’re learning a language if you practice and use your creativity you will continue to learn new things, just as a musician learns how to play new songs. Many of my students used to worry about how they sounded because they assumed that English had to be spoken in a particular way. However, you must keep in mind that there are many English-speaking communities, and not one perfect way to speak the language. Is there a perfect way to speak Canadian English? American? Australian? British? No. The best way is the one which enables you to communicate with others in any given situation and that’s what matters. This leads me to ask that if you are a teacher, it is important that you build your students’ confidence. Let them express themselves even if they make grammatical mistakes at first. And by the way, this is not just for English learners, this goes for any language. I had an American student who was always putting himself down and saying that he is not speaking Arabic ''well enough,'' so I was always working on building his confidence. On the other hand, there are some techniques that I have used in my classes that I have found very useful to learn. Using role-playing and storytelling are both very good techniques. Students usually enjoy getting into character and acting out different situations. These activities also provide experiential learning environments that prove to be quite memorable for the students. Learners usually remember the things they had to do practically more so than the things they were simply told to do.
Secrets of Spoken English/ All Rights Reserved / Gaurav Misra Fulbright 98 Storytelling is another great tool in the classroom. For example, I like to give small cards with different pictures on them to each of my students; then I ask them to use their picture to create a story. It may seem strange to them at first, but they have the opportunity to get really creative and make all kinds of fictional stories. After they finish creating their stories, we sit in a circle and the students share them with the rest of the class. Sure, I notice a lot of grammatical mistakes, but I try not to point them out very often. My focus is to first allow them to speak freely, and afterwards I can take their stories, correct the grammatical mistakes, and then hand them back to the students to edit and rewrite. As for my learning experience, I remember that I used to really love watching talk shows and movies in English. That is how I learned to speak English fluently—I had to listen first. I remember that I not only enjoyed these shows and movies, I also loved songs in English. I think that helped me a lot because the songs taught me new vocabulary and they also helped me to speak more fluently. Once you learn how to sing in English, speaking becomes much easier. So, find songs, movies and shows in English that you think you would enjoy and start listening and watching them. You will have fun and you will learn as well. Good luck. ****** *published with permission exclusivelyfor ‘Secrets of Spoken English’
Secrets of Spoken English/ All Rights Reserved / Gaurav Misra Fulbright 99 35 MY ELEVENTH SECRET: “SO, HOW MUCH ARE YOU TRYING TO IMPROVE YOUR SPOKEN ENGLISH?”
Secrets of Spoken English/ All Rights Reserved / Gaurav Misra Fulbright 101 36 ‘LEARNING A SECOND LANGUAGE (SPANISH)’ BY Ms. Ann, USA
****** *published with permission exclusivelyfor ‘Secrets of Spoken English’ Secrets of Spoken English/ All Rights Reserved / Gaurav Misra Fulbright 103
Secrets of Spoken English/ All Rights Reserved / Gaurav Misra Fulbright 104 37 MY TWELFTH AND ‘ULTIMATE’ SECRET
Secrets of Spoken English/ All Rights Reserved / Gaurav Misra Fulbright 108 are my all-time favorite. I have gone through them over and over again and I’m still in love with them:
Secrets of Spoken English/ All Rights Reserved / Gaurav Misra Fulbright 111 Watch them, learn from them and most of all, have fun! ******
Secrets of Spoken English/ All Rights Reserved / Gaurav Misra Fulbright 112 38 ‘HOW I WORK WITH TED TALKS’ BY Ms. Irina, Russia
Secrets of Spoken English/ All Rights Reserved / Gaurav Misra Fulbright 115 ****** *published with permission exclusivelyfor ‘Secrets of Spoken English’
Secrets of Spoken English/ All Rights Reserved / Gaurav Misra Fulbright 116 39 ‘SPECIAL THANKS’ to All My Fulbright Friends & Colleagues from across the World for Sharing Their ‘ Secrets of Spoken English ’
Secrets of Spoken English/ All Rights Reserved / Gaurav Misra Fulbright 118 AND ONE LAST THING!
Secrets of Spoken English/ All Rights Reserved / Gaurav Misra Fulbright 120 Thank You!

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