Make your conversation meaningful

EDITOR'S note: Starting this week, Professor Yang Zhizhong from NanjingUniversity, will talk about how to improve your oral English to better prepare for the CET-SET. In previous issues, he talked about requirements and scoring of the CET-SET and analyzed students' performances in the test itself.



Learning to speak English seems all the rage in China these days. Many people, especially college students, want to learn to speak English, or to pass the CET Spoken English Test (CET-SET) in the shortest time possible.

To achieve this, they have resorted to various methods, trying to find a short-cut or the most effective way. Some, for instance, go to great lengths to memorize individual words, while others attend special training classes, preferably taught by native speakers, and still others go for shouting out a few English phrases or sentences in a "crazy" manner.

Is there really such a thing as a short-cut or the most effective way to learn to speak English?

The answer is "perhaps" and "no." By "perhaps" I mean you can perhaps learn to speak a little English in a short time if it is only for the sake of survival in an English speaking setting or for the purpose of passing the CET-SET or carrying on simple communication with native speakers of English. In this case, memorizing individual words, attending a short-term training class, or shouting out some English in a "crazy" way might be of some help.

By "no" I mean it is impossible to learn to speak English really well with a short-cut, and what you learn by those methods will not allow you to carry on effective, substantial communication with native speakers of English. Learning to speak English for effective, substantial communication requires an arduous, persistent effort. This is even more so in countries like China, where English is really a foreign language.

Then, what kind of conversation is effective for substantial communication?

First of all, the conversation has to be meaningful. It should not be confined to greetings and everyday expressions.

It usually revolves around a certain topic, be it a national or international event, an academic or non-academic issue, an aspect of daily life or a social activity, or a news article or special feature, movie or TV series.

Second, the conversation has to be forceful. During the conversation, you are supposed to present your opinion, defend your point of view, or argue against your partner's position.

You won't expect to be better than your partner unless you speak clearly and forcefully, using statistics and figures, or citing quotations and examples based on a solid argument.

Third, the conversation has to be colourful. To convince your partner or impress the audience, you should try to vary your expressions, employ appropriate metaphors and other rhetorical devices, and make proper use of idioms and proverbs.

Avoid repetition and overuse of such expressions as "OK" "I think" or "Maybe." Guard against Chinese English structures like "because ... so ..." "although ... but ..." or Chinese English expressions like "How to say?" Pay attention to such grammatical items as gender, number, tense, and agreement.

The following are a few specific suggestions:

1) Have good, graceful manners:

Listen attentively—to show you are listening, you are supposed to maintain eye-contact with the speaker, nod, smile or respond from time to time, and take notes if need be; unless it is absolutely necessary, don't interrupt or cut the speaker short; it is never desirable, for instance, to keep looking at your watch, leave your mobile phone on, shake your legs to relax, or stretch out your tongue to show shyness or embarrassment.

2) Bear in mind the "ladies first" principle, the "seniors first" principle, and the "you and I" principle—if the person you are conversing with is a female or your senior, you should always let them speak first; if you have to mention your partner or someone else together with yourself, you are supposed to say "you and I" "my brother and I" or "Susan/John and I" always giving priority to others.

3) When leaving briefly, coughing, sneezing, asking for information, or causing somebody inconvenience, say "Excuse me;" when someone sneezes in a casual conversation, say "God bless you" or "Bless you;" in case you want your partner to repeat himself, say "Excuse me" "Pardon" or "I beg your pardon."

4) Ask intelligent questions for elaboration, to show your interest and add to your knowledge.

5) Keep a reasonable distance from the person you're speaking with. Don't stand or sit too close to or too far from the person. It will make others feel uncomfortable in conversation.

Coming up: More tips on improving oral English