Sloppy English, lah!

Does anybody remember that Yun Nam Hair Care advertisement on TV a few years ago? I do - though unfortunately for the wrong reason. In the closing shot of that ad, an earnest-looking Chinese guy looks to the camera to express his satisfaction with the product, and says...."Its works!".

Yikes. My buddies & I still joke about this - it became a classic joke years after the ad campaign ended.

But on a more sober note - why did the business allow such a mistake to happen? It would not take much for them to get someone to correct the actor. Especially when thousands were spent creating the ad.

These days, everything you do is marketing - whether you intend to or not. Whatever a business does will be interpreted by the market. Just consider the message the ad blooper is sending to its potential customers.

And when you are running a business AND sloppy, it can cost you.

The truth is, we Singaporeans can be real sloppy in our use of English. You don't believe me? Read the shop sign below I came across at Changi Village. Enough said.

Simple yet Powerful Ways to Improve Your Spoken English

There are 20 million ways to improve your spoken English. Alright - I may be slightly exaggerating here. But my point is, get creative! You don't have to sit in a classroom to improve your English. Have fun instead - make it part of your day-to-day activities!

Stop feeling embarrassed if you don't speak English well. Instead, decide NOW that you can do something about it. You know that you can only speak a language well if you actually USE it.

To get you started, here are some very simple ways for you to begin improving how you speak English.

1. Listen to the BBC every day
I am a big fan of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) radio station. I find the BBC more enlightened in their reporting than other Western media. It also covers a wide range of world news and analysis, along with human interest stories.

But of greatest value to me is the way they speak - it is the ideal. Words are articulated clearly, the language does not get bombastic - and I love their witty banter. Incidentally, you should understand that speaking well does not mean you should mimic an Englishman's accent - it's about speaking your words clearly such that the person you are communicating with understands you. Listen to how BBC staff pronounce the words - it's crisp and clear!

So check out the BBC - it's a great way to improve your English and expand your general knowledge. Make it part of your daily ritual. You can listen to the BBC on radio (FM 88.9 if you're tuning in from Singapore) while getting dressed for the day (which is incidentally what I do), or while driving to work. Or you can go to their website and listen to live radio or even download their free podcasts.


2. Practise talking to yourself...in proper English!
This may sound a bit 'cuckoo', but trust me, it works! One easy way to do it is to mimic what you hear off the resources from the internet or radio. Simply repeat exactly what you heard. Hear yourself speak well. Sounds wonderful, doesn't it? Keep going - even when that little Voice in Your Head (sometimes known as Your Mind, & more often than we realise, Your Enemy) says "This is stupid".

Talking to yourself is a wonderful way of learning & practising how to say it right. It will also do wonders for your self-confidence - keep practising & you will feel more sure about your ability. Just make sure you do it in the comforts of your home - you don't wish to startle that lady sitting at the next table of your favourite cafe!


3. Converse with others...yes, in proper English too
I'm going to be direct here - if you are serious about improving your English, you might need to stop hanging around your usual circle of friends. You know who I'm referring to - yup, those who don't speak English well - and are proud of it - and worse, make fun of your efforts to improve your English.

Consider this:

"The man who follows the crowd will usually get no further than the crowd. The man who walks alone is likely to find himself in places no one had ever been."

~ A. Ashley-Pitt

So how strong is your desire to speak better English? Is it stronger than your need to feel accepted by your current social circle? You decide.

But remember this - the best way to improve your skills is by being around those who are more skilled than you are. This applies to ANY area of your life: if you want to improve your tennis game, spar with a partner who plays better; if you want to be financially independent, learn from those who have already achieved it; if you want meaningful and loving relationships, speak to those who have already mastered it. You get the idea.

One thing while acting on this step, though - be kind to yourself. The people you are learning from are no better than you are - they are simply more skilled because they have found the right way to do it well. So don't waste time judging and feeling sorry for yourself - it won't support you. In fact, you should be happy that you've decided to improve yourself! So when interacting with people who speak better than you (for now), simply be open and focus on moving forward!


4. Get back to basics... the "is/are/was/were"

I was trained by the 'old school' of English teacher who were products of the British colonial education system. They took great pride in speaking well - Singlish had no place in the classroom. In particular, we were also taught to pay special attention to basic grammar rules. I am deeply thankful for the impact these giants left in my life.

You need to get what I call the "is/are/was/were" right. This is a must. You got to work on your basics, even while improving your spoken English. After all, there's something comical about a person who mimics British or American accent, yet makes mistakes in the language!

So get back to basics - invest in a classic book such as The New First Aid In English. Work through the chapters bit by bit. It's an excellent way to fix the mistakes you didn't realise you were making before. Build up your confidence slowly. And enjoy that priceless feeling of achievement and empowerment.



So you want to be good at English? Then allow the language to come alive in your life! Make it relevant to your daily life. You will pick up bits of it from here and there. You will most certainly start to notice your gradual improvement.


I hope this post has brought you some value.


Make it simple. Make it powerful.


cheers,
Harasha Bafana

Common mistakes we make on similar-sounding words

There is nothing worse than seeing mistakes in something we read. There are some mistakes that keep appearing - take a look at these examples and you'll see what I mean:

• "You will need to visualise your goals, than you will get closer to achieving it."
• "Please don't loose my number!"
• "Please practice your sales pitch so that you will be more confident."
• "Relax your mind - take a deep breathe."
  

Sometimes these mistakes are even found in websites and communication material of well-known brands! Whether in casual or professional communication, would it not be wonderful if we make it a habit to use the right form of the word?

In this post, we will focus on identifying - and correcting - some common mistakes we tend to make in our written communication. (Note: We are using British English convention)

For this group of words, the words look the same, except for the use of ‘s’ or ‘c’. What I find useful is to remember that the word spelled with ‘s’ means it’s a verb (a ‘verb’ is simply an action). When it is spelled with a ‘c’, it’s a noun (a ‘noun’ is simply a thing). Here are some examples:

• Advise: e.g. Please advise me what to do next. - ‘Advise’ is an action!
• Advice: e.g. I need your advice on this matter. - ‘Advice’ is a thing!

• License: e.g. You are not licensed to operate this food stall. - ‘License’ is an action!
• Licence: e.g. He may be my boss, but it doesn’t give him the licence to do as he pleases! - ‘Licence’ is a thing!

• Practise: e.g. To speak good English, I will need to practise every chance I get. - ‘Practise’ is an action!
• Practice: e.g. Have you completed your English practice worksheets? - ‘Practice’ is a thing!

Similarly, for these words, the words look & sound the same, except for the use of ‘e’ . Again, it’s useful to note that when ‘e’ is used, the word becomes a verb (an action). Otherwise , the word becomes a noun (a thing).

• Believe: e.g. What I believe, I can achieve. - ‘Believe’ is an action!
• Belief: e.g. Our beliefs will determine how we run our lives. ‘Belief’ is a thing!

• Relieve: e.g. Priscilla was relieved when she passed her driving test. - ‘Relieve’ is an action!
• Relief: e.g. She sought relief from her work stress by taking morning walks by the beach. - ‘Relief’ is a thing!

• Breathe: e.g. You should learn to breathe well as part of your fitness programme.
  
• Breath: e.g. He may be look good and dress well, but his bad breath is a problem!
  

This last group of words sound the same, but their meanings are very different if you get it wrong! Read on to see what I mean:

• Lose: e.g. I lose control every time I hear her nag. - ‘Lose’ is an action!
• Loose: e.g. My daughter’s tooth became loose last night and made her scared! - ‘Loose’ is a description of something.

• Than: e.g. He is smarter than his colleagues. - ‘Than’ is used purely for comparison.
• Then: e.g. Sarah will attend the meeting then go for lunch. - ‘Then’ is used to link two actions in sequence.

When we make such mistakes in our written communication, it distracts your audience from the message you are trying to bring across. You’re not being fair to fair to yourself, don’t you think?

The beauty of it is that it CAN be avoided. You just need to make small adjustments. The difference between being good and being excellent is not massive - it is the small changes that leave a major impact.

So start making these small changes NOW - I promise you that you will appreciate the results.

I hope this post has brought you some value.


Make it simple. Make it powerful.

cheers,
Harasha Bafana

About Us

‘The way we communicate with others and with ourselves
ultimately determines the quality of our lives.’
~ Anthony Robbins

Speak! is devoted to support our clients to become powerful through communication.

Our Solutions:

• Personal & Business communication
• Internal & External communication
• Spoken & Written communication

Our Approach:

• Personal Coaching
• Customised Content
• Practical Application: real-life experiences
• Results-based

At Speak!, our commitment is to be: • Simple • Powerful • Passionate • Professional•

We are a small outfit - we like it that way. It makes us nimble and responsive to your specific needs. Our trainers are selected to suit the individual projects we work on.

Speak! is headed by Harasha, a passionate and articulate woman who is committed to moving people forward in their lives.

Engage Speak! to improve your communication. We will make it simple and powerful. Because the point is to understand – and be understood.

About Harasha Bafana

Speak! is headed by Harasha, a passionate and articulate woman who is committed to moving people forward in their lives. She holds both an MBA from NTU’s Nanyang Business School - ranked as one of Top 100 MBA programmes internationally - and a liberal arts honours degree from NUS. She had the privilege of being groomed by eloquent teachers from Singapore’s elite schools. The life-changing impact that this left has made her an advocate of good communication.


Her diverse background includes being a junior diplomat with our Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a manager with SingTel and lecturing at a tertiary institution. She was also instrumental to the growth of Samar, a Food & Beverage business that was crowned by TIME Magazine as one of Asia’s best in 2007. She was the General Manager and co-owner of Samar.