Hello This is Oral communication for EFL learners In this unit we will talk about why we need to learn English
how to learn it well English has been described as the language of opportunity It means that
English opens up so many opportunities It is now used almost exclusively as the language of science
Similarly it is often considered the language of global business
So many of us see the ability to communicate and talk with others
as one of the major benefits of learning English we do need to learn how to
speak English very well Next let's talk about how to improve listening and speaking abilities
My first suggestion is that do not study grammar too much if you want to speak English fluently If you keep worry about if your grammar is right or not you cannot say a sentence like a native speaker Actually many EFL students know more grammar than native speakers what really matters is
if we can be fluent in English and if we can communicate with them very well
My another suggestion is that While you learn English you should try to learn phrases
and fixed expressions A lot of my students have a large vocabulary
for they spend hours and hours reciting different words To become a fluent speaker you should use this time
to study phrases Fixed expressions are very useful instead of saying thanks you can learn thanks a lot
instead of saying excuse me you can say excuse me Sir or you can say can I help you or like what's up
These four expressions are used everyday by native speakers A third advice is do not translate When you want to express an idea you do not translate if you translate the words from Chinese
the order of words is probably completely different from English
and you will be both slow and incorrect by doing so Instead learning phrases and sentences
so that you don’t have to think about the words when you are saying English
Finally reading listening and speaking are the most important aspects of any language
The same is true for English However speaking is the only requirement to be fluent It is normal for babies and children to learn speaking first And then They will learn reading and at school they will learn writing
The natural order is listening speaking reading and then writing The order for EFL learners in China is
reading listening speaking and then writing Finally in order to speak English fluently you need to practice speaking Do not just listen Open your mouth bigger and speak out louder
When you practice listening you try to practice saying what you hear practice speaking out loud
until you mouth and your brain can do it without thinking
If you feel shy practice a lot in front of your friends and see if they understand you
Or you may try to listen to yourself using a voice-recorder
Usually this will help you determine what you need still to work on No matter what your age your background your experience effective communication is a skill you can learn
The greatest leaders of all time are also
fantastic communicators I hope my suggestions will help you We will first listen to Tom and then read after him While you read the text you may think about why do you need to take this MOOC course
Hello this is Tom again and in today’s lecture I would like you to read
the text first Next you can read after me sentence by sentence You may want to repeat reading
until you feel comfortable about paraphrasing the main idea of this text in English
It seems true that every kid in school is learning English Why do you want to learn English
Learning English is very useful Some people want to know English well to gain more knowledge
We can read books listen to music watch movies and surf the internet
For example songs in their original form tend to be better when you can truly understand them and 55% of all written content on the internet is in English Whenever you have a problem you can ‘Google it’ to find a way to solve the problem Others like to learn English for more practical reasons such as taking a school exam
getting a job or working in a large international company For instance French and Chinese business partners
may communicate in English If you can speak English with confidence and get your message across clearly
it is a critical advantage that can help you advance further in your career Learning a language can be
so much fun Some people learn them in order to meet new people from around the world
It’s also fun to learn about other cultures and their traditions Maybe you like the culture the country and even
have a desire to live or visit there
As well as being useful and fun learning a language helps improve your memory
and decision-making skills As a required course of schools at different levels in China
and as an item to be tested at different stages of one’s learning and working life
English is with us the whole way through our lives Students’ performance in
learning English and in taking English tests is of vital importance
to their total achievements at school and to their opportunities for further learning
In fact English is an influential factor that affects the quality of life
English is a global language We simply have many more options and those options
can help you in life Like it or not it is here with us
helping us lead a richer and happier life through a different perspective Now I want you to read after me
sentence by sentence You may like to read aloud by yourself at home more than twice if you want
Now I’d like to explain a few words and expressions After that
my Chinese colleague will explain the text in more detail in Chinese Google it We saw this phrase used in the text and this is talking about technology is becoming more of a factor nowadays
for English people and the world If we have a problem we can go on to the famous search engine Google
to find an answer And so the phrase google it has become a widely used phrase in the English language that means to go online and find the answer to a problem Get your message across we heard this in the text
To get your message across means to convey understanding to someone else If you are trying to explain
something to someone if you get your message across then you have successfully
allowed them to understand your idea Quality of life we talk about this idea a lot
It’s based on many different factors For example
how much money you have how many people love you how many friends you have So your quality of life defines how happy you are A global language English is spoken about
as a global language in the world today This means that wherever you go
in the world there is usually someone who will speak English nearby This means that if you learn English
you can communicate all around the world
