Tour and Learn

English is the lingua franca in the international context. Wait a minute, what is lingua franca? sounds so Spanish and Italian, in the wrong blog? No, you are in the right place, just that you have to be more aware of the flexibility of English where it can absorb almost 100% of any words from any language. Okay before bringing you across the Pacific Ocean, better define what is lingua franca, it is a common language used by two persons without a similar cultural or linguistic background.

So today, we are not going to lingua the franca or franca the lingua, but we are going to take you through a pre-trip to some English speaking countries like England and the United States and guiding you with some English simple phrases to tour around.

Let start with this map
 
Now locate all the amazing places you wanted to go, I bet London must be in one of your lists,
and it is the best place to start with as the accent used in that place is easiest to be recognized for it is near to our way of speaking formal English.

So what is so cool about London? The city where sugar, spice and everything nice, lovely buildings to be seen, up-to-date fashion to blend in, full of historical events to be recalled, both sweat and bloods make to be shed, glory and victory meant to be claimed..... But before going further, hold your horses,

The following simple phrases ought to be learnt in order to survive in this beautifully convoluted LONDON.
- Arrival at Heathrow airport:
1) Good morning, may I know where to collect my baggage?
2) Good morning, I plan to stay here for _ days on visiting and sightseeing purpose
3) May I know which terminal exits lead to the London underground MRT to town ?
4) What is the price for the underground MRT to town?

note that: if you are taking a cab or taxi, please be remind that some drivers may ask for TIPS (duit kopi) and it's your choice to give or not, though at some cases they might be ANGRY but you can IGNORE them with a SMILE.

Don't Forget to say THANK YOU and SMILE, always show that you're being courteous. English people appreciate such attitude a lot and is the best to start off your day with many smiles in return.

Then arrival to the hotel:
1) Good morning, may I know what time can I check in? or is it possible for me to check in now?
( but bear in mind that commonly most London's hotels allow check in around 2pm or 1400 but under certain circumstances they may allow you to check in earlier)
2) If you need any service from the hotel, don't hesitate. Just ask politely, like : Could you help me to ________? (clean up or change the bed sheet etc)

Okay after all these necessary chores, it's time to TOUR for Guys and Girls or SHOPPING for the Girls or maybe Guys.

Shopping, so it is easy, cannot run away from verbs like BUY, PURCHASE, TRY ON, EXCHANGE and HAVE A LOOK. Adjectives like CHEAP, EXPENSIVE, NICE, BEAUTIFUL, WONDERFUL....  so just combine certain verbs with CAN I or I WOULD LIKE TO ... to finish off your purchase.

Here is a guide to shopping streets in London:
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3g8_XSTIig

Oxford street, Regent street, HARRODs, FCUK, MARK & SPENCER... from delicacies to beautiful dresses and suits, all are available in those area.

Have a look at Oxford Street Christmas Period:




Now after shopping, let's start sight-seeing...Pls check my next blog update. Thanks : )

Public Speaking or Pub-break speakin??

Public speaking can be quite a difficult task for many of us, even for native speakers. But there are some public speaking that are very awesome and you just crave for being as incredible as such.

Let's start this topic by watching this video. Full of humour and one of the kind that demonstrate the effect of good gestures.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXHrxJMAhpM

One of the barriers we need to overcome for public speaking is WE CAN'T HELP BUT GETTING NERVOUS. This video says it all.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztdSfUiN_3k

There are tips for presenting a good public speaking available in youtube channel and also in written form.
I would suggest ESL or EFL learners to check out the links below here.

This video provides the skills and tips to become a better presenter and also again have you to familiarize with the British accent of the speaker.
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5WT2vweFRY

Learn from the good ones...Barack Obama speech's techniques. Transcendence, Repetition, Gestures and Vocal Projection. Focus on how his using of PRONOUN. I believe....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKv9wYO5a9s

Another thing to keep your audience along with you till the end of the speech or public speaking is being FUNNY.

The following video will give you tips on how to add in jokes while giving a public speech.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbO2INZH8Tk

Interview is a Hard time? Or being interviewed is tough?

Well greeting to all English learners,
Tell me why do you all wanted to learn English? If is to enlarge your career advantage, you have come to the right place. But before going further, have you ever thought of going through an interview ONLY with ENGLISH language? Oopss..heart started to pound, blood vein suddenly went intense, hand and legs getting cramped....HOLD on, Calm down. It's not like no hope. There are actually interview strategies and being interviewed skills to be learned.

The following video will give you an idea of how to interview someone from the English speaking part of the world.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kp5uHN__110

After video practice:
How do you rephrase a question to a more polite way?
What are the meanings of the following words : achievement, sales, strength and weakness.

As an interviewer, why do you provide positive feedback to the person you interviewed and also how do you do so? ( Listen to the video again and you will be able to understand and get the answer )


Now if you are the interviewee or the person who is being interviewed. Then there are more things for you to learn or to be aware of.

First, how to answer the interviewer's question in a satisfactory manner and give a good impression about yourself are the important keys to have your job secure.

This video here tells you what exactly this common question " tell me about yourself" means:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A95xT0GQj7A ( if you are unable to understand the accent , try to focus on the words or titles appear )

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJMbU_lOxmU ( this one is better and shorter and give you very clear idea about it)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cyww7eRVj3E Good vs Bad interview

do Not, do NOt i repeat answer question like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2318JxxN-tI

The next crazy question would be why should we hire you?

check out this video to inform you how to answer this question :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBwnyme_HbQ

The next is the DOs and DON'Ts of job interview.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opYjNr_4A5k

The following two videos are to show about some funny moment of interview sessions,
some may find it annoying, some may think it's nonsense, but well don't take it too serious.
Find the parts where you feel annoyed then DO NOT PRACTICE it while your interview then.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o06ywDIpjIY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWnVNJCQZIg

and here is another plain funny and silly interview
it's for your pleasure after such a tired course studying interview skills.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zP0sqRMzkwo

Take a break

Let's take a break, don't be too stressed.

Here folks, this is the resting point and at the same time a learning while enjoying time.
Mind your English...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QIW4GLK22k

This comedy has given a feature of world Englishes in a broad sense.
Different accents and even sometimes lexical borrowing or in simple term word borrowing from other languages may occur too. The videos have subtitles and it is very easy for you to understand what is being said by all the actors.

Do try to focus the way Mr.Brown speaks. His accent and pronunciation is close to the Standard English in the London area, therefore it is a very good practice for you to listen and get used to it.

The second link here takes you another journey to the funny world of learning English with Mr.Brown.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19uZOK0lQgg

Please sit back and enjoy

Importance of Listening and Speaking English properly

When we are starting off with something new in our lives, definitely that something comes along with particular significance to attract us to do it. So it is the same for English language learners to enhance their skills in listening and speaking. There are many reasons to be cited, such as becoming a highly proficient user of English language or venturing to the western part of the world to gain new knowledge or even migrating to the English speaking part of the world as new home. Reasons as absurd as to impress others about one's capability in English language could be one of the forces that pestering us into this. But anyhow, English is still taking the lead as the international language, so knowing it and possessing a high standard of English can provide you with many benefits. Articles below are to show you about the importance of listening and speaking.
  http://www.helium.com/items/2042239-the-importance-of-listening-for-the-english-language-learner
http://www.streetsmartlanguagelearning.com/2013/08/the-importance-of-listening.html

article showing the importance of speaking good english in your career
http://www.exforsys.com/career-center/english-vocabulary/why-speaking-proper-english-is-important.html

enjoy the comedy about important of speaking english
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CRcGR38FJdA

Baby Steps for getting out of the BIG LOSER's zone

English, is it that difficult? If you have taken the MUET ( Malaysia University English Test ), you will definitely know the pinch and the pain from it. Listening and speaking are the two things we most Malaysian just can't get it right. Maybe over disciplined to be quiet all the time or our daily conversations have been overruled by our mother tongues. 

Countries like Malaysia is often being visited by English speaking tourists, it would be quite a BIG LOSER when someone who is a Brit or American asked us a question and only had "HUH?" "APA?" as reply. So it's time for us to pick up and boost our skills in these two areas. This is the video that can show you how a BIG LOSER can be sometimes even when you think you can speak English but not in a proper way.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONNP3Rngnzk

There are a few links below for us to start out with the easy level of English listening and speaking as warm ups. Sometimes it could be the accent barrier that we all Malaysian face when encountered by a British English speaker. So the videos below are to train you in catching words from Brits.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/language/theenglishwespeak/2013/09/130910_tews_140_have_a_ball.shtml ( this video has its own transcript so you can read along while they are speaking. )

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/language/theenglishwespeak/2013/09/130917_tews_141_cut_to_the_chase.shtml