English: It's all in the Mind

English is one of the most widely spoken languages and it is the official language of many countries. English is increasingly getting very difficult to speak and communicate for people from rural regions. The main reason for this is many of them study in their mother tongue which will be their medium of education upto a particular standard and then they have to study in English for the rest of their higher education.

 

The transition from studying in their local language to suddenly studying through english is one of the most difficult challenges faced by a student coming from rural background and it’s also a defining moment in their lives. Their initial days in college are nothing short of a maze and its leaves a huge impact in their mind psychologically. So, what can these students do to cop up with their academic pressure and learning in a medium which is alien to them.

1) Stop fearing or getting scared about english, approach it like just another subject but learn continuously. It’s all in the mind, so remove the inferiority complex if any from the mind.

2) Read ten new words every day, understand their meanings & note it down. Register the newly learned words in your heart.

3) Read newspapers every morning because it’s the best time to read a newspaper, read editorial pages & letters to the editor.

4) Watch english news channels, debates, listen to cricket or tennis commentary which will be very useful for learning new words and also helpful in understanding about how to construct a sentence & speak fluently. A lot of words will be difficult to understand but one must not panic, stay calm and try to find the meaning of those difficult words.

5) Read all the subject books loudly which will create a positive vibration but make sure that it doesn’t create a disturbance to others.

6) Speak in english with your friends never mind whether it’s correct or not, whether they will insult or tease you. It doesn’t matter about what your friends think about your english skills what matters most is your attitude to speak in english.

7) Speak in english atleast for three minutes every day before the mirror and record what you speak. Review it once in a week, analyse your mistakes and evaluate yourself. Show the recorded material to your professor and ask them to share their inputs with you which will be extremely useful for you in building your communication skills.

8) Write a page every day about any topic that you are familiar with or it can also be like writing diary recollecting the day’s events. Read them on every Sunday, when you do this for two to three months you will understand about your knowledge and skill level in writing english.


In this era of globalization where the world has become a small hut, one has to work with people from various countries and english is the only bridge which connects them to work together as a team to achieve their goals and objectives. Remove the fear from your mind and get the cat out of the bag, let it roam freely outside while you learn to communicate and write in english efficiently and effectively which will enhance your academic prowess and career.