Speaking Style is Important!
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This week at Now Speak EnglishOnline we will talk about a core tenet of our philosophy: English speaking style. Our program and our teachers focus a lot on students’ style of speech… but what does that mean and why is it important? Let’s look at two meanings of style and why they are important.
Manners
The first part of style is manners. Manners are what to do in social situations to be sure you are being polite. In every culture, manners are important but they are different in every culture. For example, in Indonesian culture it is very important not to call someone older “you.” This is very disrespectful. We must call them Bapak or Ibu. In American culture, this would be very strange. There is no disrespect to call anyone directly as “you” and it’s very normal.
In American culture it’s very very important to remember to say please whenever you ask for anything and to say thank you for everything— even small things like if someone gets you a glass of water or shares their food with you. Not knowing proper manners puts students at a disadvantage because they may unknowingly offend someone.
Humor and Idioms
Humor and idioms are a huge part of western speech. Many westerners use jokes to lighten the mood or to say something serious indirectly. Humor is sometimes not meant to be understood literally. Actually, sometimes a humorous tone of voice can tell a listener that the meaning is opposite of what is said! Most people use idioms and don’t even know that they are using them, because they come so naturally. Our philosophy is to empower students to understand so when they are in college or at work with native English speakers, they can blend in and fully understand— that way they don’t make big mistakes!
Pronunciation: Flow and Emphasis
Most students also struggle to learn proper pauses and listen for breaks in the conversation. Missing these spoken cues can set a student up for trouble because they may speak out of turn or interrupt someone who they’re listening too. Interrupting people is very rude in American culture so it’s very important to avoid that.
Another hurdle in learning to speak properly is the emphasis of sounds… the “t” makes the “d” sound in words like battle… the “e” makes an “uh” sound in develop; instead of saying “di-vi-lope” we say “duh-vel-up.” The “ed” sound in the past tense makes three different sounds, when and why do we use each?
These are some examples of the skills you will learn when you sign up for our Online English speaking program! We will prepare you to speak like a native and “develop” (haha) your ability to understand these things!
If you’re interested, please register today, and start your English speaking adventure with us!
If you sign up today, you can get a free trial class and 15% off your first month! Don’t forget, all our lessons are backed by our learning promise, so you can learn risk free forever!
Don’t forget, all our lessons are backed by our learning promise so you can learn risk free forever!
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