ENGLISH SKILLS ARE IMPORTANT JOB-GETTERS

The ability to speak English well is one of the most important things that newcomers need to obtain employment. Those with strong English skills will become employable much faster than those who have only basic English skills. There are some jobs where English skills are not as important, but they tend to be jobs that will not pay a very high salary. Written English skills are also extremely important to many employers.

Improving your English skills can take as long as two or more years. You want to get started as quickly as possible and take every opportunity you can to speak English to others.

Some ways to improve your English

• Take an English as a Second Language (ESL) course.
• Go to places where you can speak English. Join a club, a place of worship, a social organization or a conversation circle.  Try to spend as much time as possible speaking English.
• Watch television, listen to the radio and read the newspaper in English. The news is an especially good choice because you will also learn about your new community and your new country.
• Ask your teacher, friends and family members to help you if you use an improper word or phrase. Ask them to correct your pronunciation and grammar.

Why Speaking Proper English is Important for your Career

A number of studies have consistently demonstrated that those who have an advanced knowledge of the English language are much more likely to advance their careers. In addition to this, these studies have also demonstrated that a strong command of the English language will lead to higher paying jobs, more social mobility, and a great deal of social success.

No matter what career you choose, whether it is Engineering or History, having a powerful command of the English language will greatly increase your chances of success. Generally speaking, your vocabulary will need to be equal to those who are in the same career field.

However, if you want to surpass your colleagues, and make yourself more marketable, you will need to increase your English skills, and make them superior to the other people who work in your field. While you may not realize it, people will judge you by the way you speak.

Barriers that you will need to Overcome

Most of us are familiar with how people feel about appearances, but the manner in which you speak is also important. Even if you are dressed nicely, using poor grammar will show that you are wolf in sheep’s clothing. You might look nice on the outside, but you’re not so nice on the inside. To succeed, you must focus on your appearance as well as your manner of speaking.

Most people underestimate the importance of mastering English. This is especially true for people who live in English speaking countries such as the United States or Great Britain. Because they are raised speaking the language, they don’t feel that it is all that important. They think they can get by on the basic language classes they took in school while they were children.

However, only having a basic knowledge of English will not open career doors. If you speak only an average level of English, people will think you’re average. If you speak in a manner that is eloquent, this will create a powerful impression.

The first barrier you will need to overcome is the belief that Basic English is enough. When I say Basic English, I’m referring to the English that most Americans speak on a daily basis. While the English language is made up of about 700,000 words, the typical American only uses 50,000 in their day-to-day conversations. Most educated people who have earned a degree in college, or who read lots of books, will have a vocabulary that is closer to 100,000, twice the amount of the average American. These people are much more likely to land high-paying jobs. To be successful, it must be your goal to learn 100,000 words or more.

Many people have a poor command of the English language because they don’t read. I always laugh when I hear people say that they hate to read. These people don’t realize that they are destroying their chances of being economically successful. Not only does reading allow you to build up your vocabulary, but it also allows you to become more informed, learning things about the world around you.

Reading can increase your IQ. Watching television cannot do this, and some would even argue that it does the opposite. The first step in speaking English property is to learn more vocabulary.

Increasing Your Vocabulary Can be Accomplished at any Age

No matter how old you are, it is very unlikely that you’ve mastered every word in your language. What this means is that increasing your vocabulary should be a life long journey, and it shouldn’t be something that you stop just because you graduate from high school or even college. Many people make the mistake of only wanting to improve their vocabulary when they have to take a test.

When you do this, it will not help you improve your vocabulary over the long term. While you may do well on the test temporarily, the information that you learned will be forgotten, because you didn’t take the time to store it in your brain for the long term.

One of the best ways to improve your vocabulary is to read a lot of books. While you will naturally want to read something that interests you, it should also be something that is challenging. If you don’t challenge yourself, you will never be able to increase your vocabulary. You must learn a new word on a consistent basis, and you must learn to use that word.

How Reading Improves Your Vocabulary Level

It has been shown that reading will improve your vocabulary dramatically. When your read, your brain is forced to analyze the words that are on the page. You must scan the pages with your eyes, and your brain must interpret their meaning. As you can imagine, this is a very complex process. While you can increase your vocabulary by reading books within your favorite genre, it has been shown that you will increase your vocabulary even more by reading books that are not in your genre. If you place an emphasis on reading non-fiction books, not only can you increase your vocabulary, but you will also increase your general knowledge as well.

When you read a variety of books, you will naturally come across words that you don’t know. Instead of just skipping these words,  make a note of them. You should take the time to research them, so that you can find out what they mean. The very act of taking note of a word before looking it up has been shown to greatly enhance the vocabulary skill of the people who do it.  Another great way to improve your vocabulary is by playing word games. Not only can these games educate you, they are fun and entertaining.

The Importance of Word Games

Word games such as Scrabble are a great way to have fun while building your vocabulary at the same time. Your brain will be forced to play with the letters, and in addition to working with words, you will also learn new words. One additional tool that you might want to include in Scrabble is a dictionary. When you use a dictionary while playing Scrabble, you will be encouraged to use words that you wouldn’t normally use. Another great thing about word games is that they are interactive. As you play the game, you can also enjoy the company of others.

Crossword puzzles are another great way to build up your vocabulary while having fun at the same time. Many newspapers or magazines will have word puzzles, and you will want to use them. You can greatly improve your vocabulary by working with these puzzles on a weekly basis. It should also be noted that the puzzles will become harder each week. While it may sound strange, reading the dictionary is a great way to strengthen your vocabulary. While most people get their dictionary when they want to look up a word, why not read it?