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HOW I IMPROVED MY ENGLISH SPEAKING SKILLS? — Transcript

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0:00Hey girl, where are you going? Come to
0:02this place, bring some water for me too
0:04. Hey wife, where are you going? Where
0:07are you going, take it from me too.
0:09Stop, stop! Before you scroll away,
0:11stop. This was my native language
0:14before I learned how to communicate in
0:16English and today's video is all about
0:19how I became fluent in the English
0:22language. Jai Hind everyone, Namaste
0:24everyone. Welcome back to Speak with
0:27Power. My name is Captain Ritu Kumar
0:28Singh. I am a former Indian Army
0:31officer and I am also a lawyer and
0:33nowadays I teach people about confident
0:36communication. Every day a video comes
0:38on this channel which talks about
0:40confidence, about communication and one
0:43query that was repeated again and again
0:45was, 'Mam, how did you learn such good
0:47English? Because I belong to a village.
0:49' There's a small village in Haryana
0:52called Nawada in the Faridabad district
0:54. I belong there. And the language I
0:57was just speaking is my native language
0:59. I was born in the village, and my
1:03grandfather went to work. He was a
1:06superintendent in the PWD in the
1:08Haryana government. He had a frequently
1:11transferable job, so he was frequently
1:13away. I lived in the village with my
1:15parents, grandmother, and my younger
1:17brother. When my grandfather worked
1:19abroad, he would occasionally visit
1:21home during holidays. So, when he came
1:24home one day, he saw this girl, that is
1:27, me, talking to everyone and moving
1:30around in this language. And because he
1:33had good exposure, because after
1:36leaving the village and working outside
1:38, he realized that the world is very
1:40big. It happens many times that you are
1:42in a particular environment. But when
1:44you go out and see, you realize, oh my
1:46god, how far behind we are. He saw that
1:49girls are studying hard. He saw that
1:50people are going so far ahead. And when
1:52he came back, he told my father a
1:54simple thing: "Look, if you want to
1:56improve our children's future, we'll
1:58have to move to the city. So, you all
2:01move to the city with me." My
2:03grandmother was a little reluctant at
2:05first because we'd always lived in the
2:07village, so we felt comfortable there.
2:09But at my grandfather's insistence, we
2:11all decided to move to the city for my
2:14brother and my education. Now, my
2:17parents still don't speak English. Of
2:20course, my grandmother never went to
2:21school. In our family, the only one who
2:24had some exposure was my grandfather,
2:26who had a transferable job. And his
2:28English was quite good. He spoke
2:30English fluently from the beginning. I
2:33wouldn't say that he was very fluent in
2:35English but he was very good with his
2:37vocabulary and he was the one who
2:39mentored me and he was the one because
2:42of home today I can speak in English. I
2:44lost my grandfather this April this
2:47year only. And it was a very tough time
2:49for me. I also lost my grandmother
2:52because they both were the wisers who
2:54actually paved way for me to become who
2:57I am today and everything I have
2:59learned who I am today. I owe
3:01everything to my grandfather and I am
3:03very very very grateful to him. So this
3:06video is dedicated only to my
3:08grandfather whose name is Chaudhary
3:10Chetra. So let's move ahead. So, at my
3:13grandfather's insistence, we moved from
3:15the village to the city, where he
3:17enrolled me in a school. My first day
3:20of school was so terrifying that I
3:22can't even describe it to you, because
3:24I still remember it. It happens, don't
3:27you, that scenarios in life that either
3:31shock you or deeply hurt you. So, it
3:36was a time I still haven't forgotten.
3:38Because I was bullied for the first
3:40time in my life. So, as soon as I went
3:43to school, it was a new school. I said
3:45something to my classmates, "Go to the
3:48brothel. Where are you going? You're
3:50climbing on the pole. Hey, girl, where
3:51are you doing this?" And they all made
3:53fun of me and told me, "What kind of
3:56language are you speaking?" I wouldn't
3:59blame them because they were also kids
4:00at that time. I felt it was a bit weird
4:03for them to see me speaking in such a
4:05language because they all were from the
4:07city and they never heard that language
4:09. And when I came back home I told my
4:12mother about this. I told my
4:13grandfather about this. And that was
4:15the day I decided that I have to learn
4:18not only English language but also
4:21learn how to speak in basic Hindi. And
4:24then started my journey to improve my
4:26command over both languages Hindi and
4:29English. Now, all of you who are
4:31millennials or your parents of course
4:33would be millennials, you would know
4:35that during the late 80s and early 90s
4:38there was this huge pressure of
4:40learning English. It was considered
4:42that if you knew how to speak fluently
4:44in English you were absolutely very
4:46very intelligent. Many job
4:48opportunities were open only to those
4:51with a good command of English.
4:53Learning English was crucial at that
4:55time. In fact, if you wanted to pass a
4:57competitive exam, or if you wanted to
5:00achieve something in school, or if you
5:02needed everyone's attention, the child
5:04who spoke English most fluently would
5:06undoubtedly become the popular child.
5:10And if you had to clear many
5:11competitive exams or appear for
5:12interviews, the English language was
5:14crucial, as it still is today. Because
5:16there are so many competitive exams
5:18where knowledge of English is essential
5:20. If you want to work in a foreign
5:22country, you have to explore
5:23opportunities. You need to have at
5:25least a basic command of the English
5:27language. I would also see that our
5:29country, India, is a very diverse
5:31country. I realized this when I served
5:34in the Indian Army because the troops
5:36in the Indian Army are from different
5:38parts of the country. Even the officers
5:40serving are from different parts of the
5:42country. And you need to have one
5:44common language. Now not everybody can
5:46learn Hindi. Even the South Indians
5:48will start saying that why do we need
5:50to learn Hindi? You should learn our
5:51language. Even our North East, our
5:54Western sector, it is so diverse. There
5:58are so many languages that you cannot
6:00reach one single language. English is a
6:02language, I think, which connects us
6:04all together, because people from all
6:06areas can understand English. It is
6:08very easy and also it opens
6:09opportunities to work outside, interact
6:12with people from different countries,
6:14because this has become a norm, a
6:15common language. So, it is very
6:17important that we should have a basic
6:19command in English. So without wasting
6:21much time, I am going to go ahead and
6:23tell you how I improved my English
6:24speaking skills. So my grandfather had
6:27an Oxford Dictionary. It was a very
6:30good, thick dictionary. What my
6:32grandfather started doing was making my
6:34brother and me sit down and learn five
6:36words every day. Five words to enhance
6:39our vocabulary. We both were asked to
6:42keep a diary. Write down the meaning of
6:45those words and repeat them every
6:47single day. There was a time when I
6:50used to run away from my grandfather
6:52because he was the only one in my life
6:54to learn a few words every single day,
6:57and I was very scared to do that
6:59pronunciation. Gradually, if you look
7:01in the Oxford Dictionary, the
7:03pronunciation would be broken down in
7:04brackets. So, gradually, we learned to
7:08learn them. Every day, we started
7:10reading five words. Gradually, from
7:12five, it became 10. And we started
7:14learning the meaning of all those words
7:16, as well. Then my grandfather made a
7:18strict rule for us at home that both of
7:21you will speak only in English to me
7:23and at least to my grandfather. Because
7:25my grandmother did not know English. My
7:26mom and dad also did not know English
7:28well. So it was a rule in our house
7:30that we both have to speak in English.
7:32No matter what. Broken, bad English,
7:35bad grammar, no matter what, we both
7:39were under a strict rule to speak in
7:42English. We even started getting fined.
7:45Various kinds of punishments started
7:46being given by my grandfather. Because
7:48of which me and my brother started
7:50speaking in English every single day
7:52regularly. Then in my school also our
7:54teachers were very encouraging and we
7:56started speaking in English there as
7:58well. Whatever it was, it was broken.
8:00In fact there was a time when I used to
8:02stand in front of the mirror. I used to
8:04speak five sentences every single day.
8:06I started with my introduction. I used
8:07to stand and write in front of the
8:09mirror. Speak my introduction. Hi. My
8:11name is Ritu Bhadana. Now I am Ritu
8:13Kumar after marriage. My sir name is
8:15Bhadana earlier. So I speak like this.
8:18I say Hi everybody. My name is Ritu
8:19Bhadana. And I study in this class. I
8:22study I do this. I love doing this. So
8:25slowly I started improving myself.
8:28Number three it was a mandate in my
8:31house to study the English newspaper
8:34every single day. My grandfather used
8:37to make me and my brother sit and we
8:40used to read the newspaper. Now when I
8:43used to read the newspaper, we did not
8:45read it only in our mind. My
8:47grandfather used to make sure that we
8:50were reading it loudly every single day
8:53, and there was a rider on that too
8:55that you had to read at least five news
8:58items. Now you pick the main headlines,
9:00from inside, and you had to read them
9:02out loud. Used to do that with us.
9:04There were so many words whose
9:05pronunciation even he didn't know. He
9:07also started learning that with us. So
9:09we used to read out loud, shouting, "
9:13India is doing this,""India is winning
9:17the World Cup." I remember speaking
9:20like that, and I think that played a
9:23very important role in improving my
9:25communication skills. Then my
9:27grandfather encouraged me and my
9:30brother to watch English movies and
9:33listen to English songs. There is this
9:36song which I categorically remember,
9:39which is "Last Christmas I gave you my
9:43heart, and the very next day you gave
9:46it away." Now we were forced, I would
9:50say force only, we were forced and
9:52encouraged to learn the lyrics of the
9:55English songs and they were not so
9:58cheap back then like they are today.
10:01But when we were forced to learn the
10:03lyrics of the English songs, of course
10:05we started singing our songs in English
10:07, it genuinely helped us a lot. We used
10:10to watch English news channels. We also
10:13used to watch some English movies, they
10:15were very limited at that time when we
10:16were there. YouTube etc. had not come,
10:19they were available on DVD CDs, so
10:21after arranging them from somewhere our
10:23grandfather used to tell us to watch
10:25them and try to understand them. It was
10:27very difficult. To be honest, in the
10:29beginning, I couldn't understand half
10:31of the English movies because I
10:32couldn't understand what they were
10:34saying because there was no option of
10:36subtitles and captions behind them in
10:38those movies as well. But whatever it
10:40was, it was done consistently by both
10:43of us. So, learning five new words from
10:46the Oxford dictionary, we used to speak
10:48every single day in our house and even
10:51in our school, we used to speak broken
10:54English daily. We used to read five
10:57news items from the newspaper aloud
10:59every day. I used to do mirror practice
11:01. We used to learn the lyrics of the
11:03English songs. We used to watch English
11:05news channels and movies. And by doing
11:07this consistently over the years, my
11:10brother and I improved our English
11:13speaking skills. So, I tell everyone
11:16that there will be no magic. When
11:18everyone was asking me, "Ma'am, tell me
11:20how did you learn English?""How did you
11:22become so fluent in English?" I always
11:24say that it's not magic. Look, if
11:26someone wants to learn swimming,
11:28someone wants to become a swimmer. What
11:29do you need to do? Will you watch some
11:32swimming lessons on YouTube? Or will
11:34you just see someone else swimming? No,
11:37you have to get into the pool. You'll
11:40have to actually enter the pool and
11:42swim. You can't learn swimming without
11:44that. So, any language, no matter what
11:46it is. English, Hindi, Japanese,
11:49Chinese, French, Spanish, whatever.
11:52Whatever language you're learning, you
11:54have to practice consistently. The
11:58biggest fear I've seen in people who
12:00can't speak English is the fear of
12:02judgment. That if I speak English
12:04incorrectly, someone will make fun of
12:06me, everyone will laugh at me. So, out
12:08of fear, people don't speak English.
12:10But let me tell you a very simple thing
12:12: Look, the people who are making fun
12:14of you, especially those who want to
12:16learn, are insecure themselves, that's
12:18why they're making fun of you. Any
12:19person who is happy in their life, who
12:22has come up from rock bottom, like I am
12:24the one who doesn't know English at all
12:26, I just told you how I used to speak.
12:28And if someone like me is there, they
12:30will never judge you. Trust me on that.
12:33I always encourage people who want to
12:34learn English to speak English
12:36incorrectly, but you should speak it.
12:38If anyone is making fun of you by
12:40speaking wrong English, especially when
12:41you're learning it, they are the ones
12:43who are insecure. There is nothing
12:44wrong with you. And secondly, sometimes
12:47when we are learning something and
12:49someone corrects us, we take that
12:51feedback personally and we become
12:53defensive and we get nervous, 'Man,
12:55someone corrected me.' It's okay, even
12:57if let's say someone is making fun of
12:59you and they're correcting you for
13:01using the wrong English, take it as
13:03feedback. Don't take it personally;
13:05take it as a learning experience.
13:07Sometimes all of the failures, all of
13:09the complaints, all of the criticisms,
13:11some of them are in the nature of
13:13feedback. So you improve. Like, let me
13:16tell you what happened a while ago?
13:17This word pattern, I was pronouncing it
13:21as pattern. Then one of you told me in
13:23the comments, "Ma'am, there is no
13:25pattern. There is pattern, pattern." So
13:28I learned something new because,
13:31believe it or not. When we are in India
13:34, we have an accent. It's a little
13:36different. And I'm not saying that you
13:38should start using slang just like in
13:41the US. So, if you would see, every
13:42country has a different way of speaking
13:44. People in Singapore use a different
13:47kind of accent when they speak English.
13:50The same applies to Europeans, Britons,
13:52and people in America. There are
13:55different accents. Australia has a
13:56different accent. So, we also have an
13:58Indian accent. So, it's not that we're
13:59saying anything wrong. But just the
14:01fact that there are some things that
14:03you should always be open to learning.
14:06So, don't take it personally. I still
14:08make grammatical errors. I still
14:10mispronounce many words. I am a learner
14:14. I think I will remain a lifelong
14:16learner because, let's be very clear.
14:18English is not our native language. It
14:22is a language that we have eventually
14:24learned. So, it's not that we will
14:26become perfect in it instantly. But you
14:29can learn. So, stay open to feedback.
14:31Don't take things personally. Let me
14:34tell you another way to improve your
14:35English language. With all the things
14:38I've told you, start doing one thing.
14:40Start recording your own videos every
14:43single day. Record a video daily. Watch
14:46it yourself. Okay? Upload it to YouTube
14:48or anywhere else. Put it in private.
14:50Put it in unlisted. And do this daily,
14:53consistently. And then in 100 days,
14:56compare your videos that you recorded
14:58on Day 1 and Day 100. I guarantee you,
15:00there will be a lot of difference
15:02between them. There's a simple way to
15:05learn a language. The more you practice
15:08, the more you learn, no matter what
15:10language it is. If you can, find a
15:12mentor for yourself who can teach you
15:14English. I'm not an English teacher. I
15:16get a lot of queries like, "Ma'am,
15:17teach me English, teach me English."
15:19I'm not an English teacher. English
15:21teachers are different. I'm a
15:22communication teacher. I can help you
15:25use your voice. How to speak out
15:28exactly what you have to say. But if
15:31you don't know basic English at all,
15:33I'd suggest finding a mentor or joining
15:35an English speaking school. There,
15:38you'll find groups of people like you,
15:40and you can practice with them. It's
15:43simple. Okay? If you want to learn
15:45driving, you'll have to drive a car.
15:46Right? Or any vehicle. If you want to
15:49learn swimming, you'll have to enter a
15:50pool. If you want to learn cooking,
15:53you'll actually have to cook on a gas
15:55stove. Videos are available for
15:57everything these days. Okay? Guidance
15:59is available for everything these days.
16:01There's a lot of free information on
16:02YouTube. But unless you practice it, it
16:05won't happen. Okay? Keep thinking to
16:07yourself. No one has ever improved
16:10their English by sitting on the couch
16:12and thinking about it. So, if you want
16:15to really improve your English, you
16:17have to practice and speak every single
16:20day. Now, for those of you who are
16:21actually beginners, I am telling you
16:23that you are going to improve within a
16:25few days. Then you are going to become
16:27better within a few weeks, and in a few
16:28years, you will see that you have
16:30become so fluent that you will not be
16:31able to recognize yourself. But you
16:33have to start somewhere. This fear of
16:36judgments and perfectionism. These are
16:38such big diseases that will eat away
16:40any person. So, you have to work on two
16:42things. First, be imperfect. Don't aim
16:45for imperfection all the time.
16:47Perfectionism is a disease. Second,
16:49stop worrying about judgments
16:51altogether. Because if I had cared
16:53about judgments, I probably wouldn't be
16:54here today. I can't even tell you how
16:56much I have been made fun of on English
16:58. I can't tell you. I used to miss
17:01pronounce so many words. And literally,
17:03I am that person who used to speak in
17:04the village language. Who has improved
17:07it eventually. So you guys can also do
17:09it. Since this was a query of so many
17:11people, I thought I am going to quickly
17:13record it. Just start practicing every
17:16single day. That's the key and that's
17:18the key for every single thing. No
17:20matter what you are doing, whether you
17:22are learning a language, whether you
17:24are working on building your confidence
17:26, whether you are learning your skill,
17:27practice every single day. So start
17:29tracking, take a challenge for yourself
17:31every day that you can do it and you
17:33will definitely be able to do it.
17:34Because once you start, I guarantee you
17:37, you are going to live with power, and
17:39in fluent English. You are going to
17:41speak with power. I am going to see you
17:43in the next video tomorrow. If you have
17:45any doubts do let me know in the
17:46comments and I would be happy to answer
17:48them. Jai Hind everyone. Namaste. And
17:50before we sign off, I just want to tell
17:52you that from tomorrow onwards I am
17:54starting a series on voice modulation.
17:56Where I want to teach you how to
17:58modulate your voice and use your pitch
18:01pace in different ways and become a
18:03better speaker. So stay tuned for it.
18:06Jai Hind everyone. Namaste.

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