English is the highly used language of communication in most organizations and institutions. The reason is students and employees across states and countries learn and work together. Thats why it is important to be good at Communication Skills.
Being from small cities where our focus is on academic excellence than communication improvement, this comes as a challenge to many. We all have the hesitation to open up in English in front of our teachers, friends, and colleagues. And the first hurdle I believe for many is to overcome hesitation. The main reason for this hesitation is “If I say wrong, people will judge my poor communication” running in our minds. To overcome this hesitation I am highlighting a few steps to follow that will certainly help in getting positive results:
Listening in English: Improving English communication through listening involves listening regularly to English audio/ video content like a podcast, audiobooks, news, tv shows, tv series, movies, etc. Very effective way to gain from these sources while listening is to have content that has subtitles in it to connect spoken and written content. If necessary start with slower-paced audio content and gradually move to faster ones as your listening skills improve.
Reading in English: Read a variety of materials such as books, magazines, online articles, and books in English. Set a weekly goal of the amount of content you want to read every week. Note down the tough words and phrases and make a note of vocabulary and meaning out of it. Reading aloud also helps improve pronunciation and rhythm thereby enhancing your spoken English.
Writing in English: Practice writing something every day, even if it’s a short paragraph or your daily routine activities. Set a goal for weekly writing like an essay or short story to track your progress. Use tools available in editors or over the internet to increase your grammar and thesaurus accuracy. Edit the content with regular grammar and thesaurus checks. Regularly increase your vocabulary by reading more which will help you in your writing.
Speaking in English: Practice speaking regularly in English conversations whenever you get an opportunity. Listen carefully to what the other person is speaking to you and respond accordingly. The best way is to record your audio over the phone/laptop and verify your pronunciation and speech pattern to improve. Engage in public speaking opportunities such as giving presentations or joining debate clubs.
English for Interviews: In interviews HR interviewers mostly focus on soft skills and your confidence in handling tricky questions. This needs prior preparation before interviews to handle challenging questions positively and properly during interviews. Here on this page, have listed the most commonly asked soft skills questions being asked in interviews. Click on How to Prepare For Job Interviews.
Best of Luck !!