English conversation skills

2013 is just whizzing by and your student questions keep coming in

Today I've got student questions from

India, Vietnam and Turkey

Let's take a listen

Hello Vya! I heard that there was a huge blackout in India a while ago.

I remember that when we were kids here in Canada,

if the power went off, we used to go yay!

let's light some candles

no school

nowadays it would be more like

ah man! my tablet's almost dead!

oh my God! My cell phone's almost dead.

how am I gonna recharge this thing?

All kidding aside Vya

I sensed a certain urgency in your question

and I am more than happy to share some of my experience

my teaching experience

that I have with advanced speakers of English

including English teachers

So Vya, take heart, you're not alone!

I really recommend that you start recording yourself

and play it back, and analyse what you are saying when you're talking in English

Here are a few examples of mistakes that Indians might make when they're speaking

A lot and many mean the same thing

so try to eliminate redundancies in your speaking

Here's another

don't forget your articles

the new iPad and a couple of months

Also, It should be passive

the iPad can't release itself

yet!

So to finish off here Vya

I understand that India and so many other countries

take for example, shopping center and call it shopping

I'm going to the shopping X

your outfit is so fashion X

They are dialects of English and man it's addictive

Put me in a room full of non-native English speakers for a few weeks

and I might end up saying "there's a lot many kinds of English" X

"your hairs are so beautiful". X

OK,my next question is from Tam Vietnam or Tom from Vietnam

Is there anyway to understand or to ask the conversation with the foreigner, if we cannot hear all the word clearlys? Thank you!

So to sum up TAM, try to remember

You have got to: formal; you gotta: informal

make them: formal; make'em: informal

talking: formal; talkin': informal

BBC/CNN: what are you doing?

familiar: Waddar you/ya doing?

street talk: Watchya doing?

Anyways everybody I enjoyed doing this video

I know we're all swimming in a huge ocean of information

and sometimes we feel that there's a huge current

pulling us in the wrong direction

But hopefully my tips here can help you to swim to safer shores

Bye for now! Later alligator!