Working abroad means I am always surrounded with people from various races -- from Jordanians, Egyptians, Saudis, to Indians, Chinese, Indonesians, and Pakistanis -- you name it, I've already met one (or more) from each nation here in the Desert Kingdom. Having little knowledge with the native languages commonly used by the people I communicate with everyday, I have to rely on the English language in order to engage with them in locution, whether for business or personal use.
There are days wherein I feel being proficient in the English language proves to be very beneficial on my part especially with my work, but there are also times wherein it proves otherwise which I find unusual. One concrete example is with semantics. Some just don't get what I say at all or they particularly sift through what I say and grab whatever words that they'd understand.
I was frustrated when the misunderstandings repeats all over. I have thought of a temporary solution which is to bring my level at par with theirs. It did help me with conversing with others; however, the anxiety of not having to practice speaking English for a long-ish period of time takes toll particularly with my tongue. I sometimes forget how to enunciate simple words correctly. Even my basic syntax skills needs some brushing up or else I'd go back to elementary school.
To circumvent these "side effects", I read aloud this Pronunciation Poem (found below) aside from various speech exercises as part of my early morning rituals at work.
Pronunciation Poem
from http://www.infiltec.com/j-prono.htm
I take it you already know
of tough and bough and cough and dough?
Others may stumble, but not you,
on hiccough, thorough, laugh and through.
Well done! And now you wish, perhaps,
to learn of less familiar traps?
Beware of heard, a dreadful word,
that looks like beard and sounds like bird.
And dead -- it's said like bed not bead --
and for goodness' sake don't call it deed!
Watch out for meat and great and threat
(They rhyme with suite and straight and debt)
A moth is not the moth in mother,
nor both in bother, broth in brother.
And here is not a match for there,
nor dear and fear for bear and pear.
And then there's dose and rose and lose --
just look them up -- and goose and choose,
and cork and work and card and ward,
and font and front and word and sword,
and do and go and thwart and cart --
come, come I've hardly made a start.
A dreadful language? Man alive.
I'd mastered it when I was five.
During moments when I can cyberloaf (or the use of computers by employees for purposes unrelated to work), I read a lot from my feeds and try to define unfamiliar words in order to increase vocabulary. I also find it helpful if I can chat with someone over the instant messenger, prompting me to muster up all of my working knowledge with regard to the English language.
Or maybe I could just simply blog, twit, or plurk my way to English proficiency if all else fails.
