Meet Nareman, a master’s student in Bioinformatics from the Tel-Aviv University who talks about why she decided to improve her English at Say What English Training.

As a public speaker of [important] subject matters, why do you think it is important for you to have clear spoken English for lectures, seminars and networking?

As a master’s student, I have a lot of lectures and seminars in English, but I don’t have enough courage and self-confidence to speak out loud, ask questions or express my opinion. This situation makes me feel stupid and embarrassed. On the other hand, feeling this way has pushed me into making the right decision, and I decided to improve my English to overcome these barriers.

Do you think it is a necessity to speak proper [correct] English to convey your message and be taken seriously as a public speaker?

I think it’s very important to speak proper English, because speaking an international language correctly can give us a lot of new opportunities and make others take us seriously.

With cross-border business communication mostly conducted in English, is having good and clear English a useful tool to reach more people around the world?

As I mentioned, I think having fluent and clear English can create a lot of opportunities, give us a lot of self-confidence and enable us to connect with anyone.

As a public speaker with ESL (English as Second/Third Language), what are some of the challenges you have faced when writing a lecture/speech?

Arabic is my first language. As an Israeli citizen, Hebrew is my second language and English is my third language. I face many challenges when I try to speak English. Sometimes I try to translate from Arabic to English, while other times I try to translate from Hebrew to English. As you might expect every language has different grammar rules and this makes the task of writing [in English] difficult.

Do you think that some important messages are not conveyed because they are not communicated correctly in English? The “lost in translation” effect?

Absolutely. When people don’t understand us and we don’t speak clearly, they even stop listening to us.

Do you think that speaking English well will help you communicate with people from countries all over the world, not just English-speaking ones? If so, in what ways?

Sure. Speaking English properly will help me communicate with people from all over the world. First, English is the third most spoken language in the world. Furthermore, it is the official language of science, and all the articles are published in English.  Many companies around the world interview people in English to make sure their employees can communicate with everyone.

הפוסט Lost in Translation? Communicating Better in English הופיע לראשונה ב-SayWhat English Training.

As the language spoken by most people worldwide, and the language of international business, English has become increasingly important in facilitating communication between different cultures. Improving your English before moving abroad is a must because the ability to communicate clearly and correctly can help in the new environment, in finding a job, and in understanding the local cultures. Correct pronunciation in English can improve your communication and make living in a new place a whole lot easier! Expressions and phrases used by locals can be a challenge, so correct pronunciation as well as a good understanding of the language can give a better and less confusing experience.

Meet Yael, a master’s student about to relocate to the U.S from Israel who talks about why she felt it was important for her to improve her accent, pronunciation and conversation skills in English in preparation for the move abroad.

As someone who is about to relocate to the US, why do you feel it is important to improve your conversation and pronunciation in English?

I think it is very important to improve conversational skills in English, especially when you are relocating because you want to be able to narrow the gap between your thoughts and ideas how you communicate them to other people.  In terms of pronunciation, I feel (especially after my Accent & Pronunciation training at Say What) that it is easier to connect words and sentences clearly and with the correct pronunciation, because I don’t feel as ‘stuck’ as I used to. 

How important is it, in your opinion, to have clear spoken English for living in a country with English as the native language?

I think that anyone who relocates [to a country like the U.S. for example, where English is the primary natively spoken language] and wants to feel ‘at home’, having clear spoken English helps you a lot so that you don’t feel like a foreigner. It’s equally important to be able to converse daily and know the local phrases at the local supermarket or pharmacy for example, so that you can understand what you hear and how to communicate what you need/ want.

Do you think it is a necessity to improve your English and pronunciation to convey your message and be taken seriously?

Absolutely. If I know how to speak it [English] correctly so that I am fully understood and can get my point across, I will feel more confident to take part, not just in daily ‘casual’ conversations, but also in ones where I want to convey a message which is work-related, or in my case in an educational learning environment (university).

With cross-border business communication mostly conducted in English, is having good (grammar) and clear (pronunciation) English a useful tool to reach more people around the world?

Yes, of course.  For example, I am currently working in a company where I have to speak to colleagues from countries like Spain and Paris, so having a ‘good’ accent is not as problematic because for many of my colleagues English is also not their mother tongue. But if I don’t speak clearly and mispronounce words, that’s a whole different story. Clear English is essential to getting my point across and I will feel less ‘lost’ and make less mistakes because I am more confident to sound professional.   

What accent barriers and mispronunciations have you faced in your line of work (perhaps when conversing, lecturing, or networking)?

There have been a lot of meetings with the CEO for example, where my colleagues have been mostly American, and I didn’t feel confident enough to speak because of my mispronunciations. I felt the need to ‘apologize’ for my English before I even started to speak.

Do you think that some important messages are not conveyed because of poor pronunciation and conversation, and a heavy accent?

Yes. I feel a lot of times I know what I want to say in my Native language [Hebrew] and if I feel that it is hard or won’t be clear in English, I avoid saying it altogether. Or if for example, I have a specific idea I want to talk about, I elaborate less in English.

הפוסט Relocation? English is a Must הופיע לראשונה ב-SayWhat English Training.

In any given sentence, depending on the focus and type of information conveyed in that sentence, you need to determine which words to stress by raising and lowering your pitch. A single sentence can have totally different meanings depending on which word is stressed each time. So, the best way to describe intonation would be to say that it refers to the way we use the pitch of our voice to express particular meanings and attitudes.

One example which illustrates just how important intonation and proper communication really is, is the very funny comedy routine “Who’s on First” made famous by Abbott and Costello. The premise of the sketch is that Abbott is describing the players on a baseball team for Costello, but their names and nicknames can be interpreted as non-responsive answers to Costello’s questions, mainly because the names of the players on the baseball team have “peculiar” names like “Who”, “What” “I Don’t Know” “Why” “Because” “Tomorrow” “Today” and “I Don’t Give a Damn”. Needless to say, Abbott’s explanations leave Costello hopelessly confused, frustrated and upset because Costello is using “Wh”-questions”, which have the same falling intonation as statements. Would Costello pick up on the players’ names sooner if Costello would emphasize intonation, to remove the ambiguity? Probably, but chances are we wouldn’t have laughed so hard when hearing it then.

הפוסט Intonation: How important is it? הופיע לראשונה ב-SayWhat English Training.

This is nerve-wracking and causes them to lose confidence on stage, usually at the expense of a good performance. Learning the sounds of a language is a serious challenge but comes with a serious reward.

[Israeli] singers feel comfortable when singing in their Native language because they can fully express themselves and not have to worry about accent barriers. However, singing in English is a challenge because most Israeli students have almost no diction classes and very little speech and accent training by the time they are out of High School and University. Little emphasis is put on learning the sounds of English and how to say them accurately. As a result, most [Israeli] speakers are likely to mix the sounds of their native language and speak English with a heavy accent and a lot of mispronunciation. 

IPA – International Phonetic Alphabet

A helpful tool for singers is the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) because it enables them to see every sound in a word and to eventually hear how to pronounce it. By seeing the word in IPA, you can pronounce it correctly with a little bit of practice and avoid bad accent habits.

Take the word “The” for example: Many Israeli singers sing “De” instead of “The“ because Hebrew doesn’t have the phoneme “Th” which is therefore incorrectly replaced with “D”. “The” in IPA is written /ði/. By seeing how the phoneme “th” is spelled and understanding it, you can then learn how to pronounce it correctly.

Eventually you start to hear the word in your head after you see how it is spelled in IPA. (For more examples check out: https://saywhat-now.com/talkenglish/

Accent training consists of various steps but the reward is for a lifetime! Once you get a feel for the sounds, how they are spelled and what the differences are, many barriers start to slowly fade away and Israeli singers will start to feel comfortable on stage singing in English!

הפוסט Performing on stage in English: A serious challenge with a serious reward הופיע לראשונה ב-SayWhat English Training.