Having good English language skills, I cannot stress enough, is extremely crucial for your career growth today. While many might be of the strong belief that if one holds the education qualifications and skills required for the job, language doesn’t matter, it is a completely incorrect belief.
In the day and age of globalisation, almost all companies are incorporating cross-border operations to boost profits. Further, today almost every kind of communication at a professional level happens in the English language as it is a common language worldwide. Even the internet including social networking sites majorly uses English. This has made have English language skills absolutely essential.
It is extremely unfortunate that a country whose majority population is the youth lacks basic English language skills despite being well educated. Recruiters look for those candidates having strong English language skills. This is because the English language is widely used within and outside of the company for basic communication.
All forms of official communication like sending out emails to clients, drafting letters or press releases, client pitch presentations, meetings, etc require employees to hold strong English language skills. While one might be a perfect fit for the company in terms of skills and educational qualifications, if they are weak in English, recruiters might reconsider your appointment because of something as basic as knowing a language.
If you are a fresh graduate looking for a job, and if your English language skills are considerably weak, you must take correcting steps towards honing your language skills.
Here is how you can go about it:
Reading news, if you don’t like reading books
There are very few who have a penchant for reading. If you aren’t one of those, reading the news will also suffice. This is where you can actually make the best use of your expensive smartphones. Download any news app and develop a habit of reading atleast 2 articles a day. Focus on the words used and the sentence framing.
Watch English shows and movies
When you constantly keep listening to people speaking one language, you automatically start imbibing the language. You will realise you start using words and sentences which you otherwise wouldn’t. If you have a hard time understanding English shows or movies because of the fast speed and foreign accent of English, the best thing to do is watch animated shows and movies. They have a rather slow pace of spoken English since they are made keeping the children in mind.
Make notes
Anyone will hardly suggest you this, but you can note down sentences that strike you or the new words that you come across. So the next time when you wish to communicate with someone in English, you can simply use words or sentences you noted down or learnt recently.
Practice writing
By this, I don’t mean you should write long essays, but just a few sentences. This could be anything from writing down ten good things about your day to sending a few messages to your loved ones over WhatsApp in English. The reason for asking to write is because when you sit down to think, frame sentences and then write them down, you end up looking at those sentences which has a greater impact on the mind helping in effective learning.
Talk to your peers in English
Simply watching shows and reading won’t help you hone your English language skills. You also need to apply what you learn. Talk to your friends and family in English as much as you can. Practice speaking English so you can speak confidently when interacting with your co-workers or superiors in your place of work.
Make mistakes
Unless you make mistakes, you won’t improve. The shame associated with not knowing English is unreasonable. One rather is open about it, accept that their knowledge of the English language is weak, and has the willingness to improve. Spend time with people holding good English language skills who can correct you when you go wrong and teach you the right application of the language.
Suggesting reading books, listening to English songs, taking up English-speaking lessons or even reading English grammar books though are the ideal way of going about learning a language, they are hardly adopted by people. You can surely give a try to above-mentioned tips for improving the much needed English language skills.
