How I Learned To Speak Clearly (English is my 3rd Language!)

Summary

Vinh Giang, a communication skills teacher, shares four key tips for improving English clarity, especially for non-native speakers. He emphasizes the importance of articulation over accent, encouraging learners to embrace their unique accent while working on pronunciation and grammar. He suggests recording a 20-minute video of oneself speaking, transcribing it, and seeking help from a speech pathologist and Chat GPT for feedback on pronunciation and grammar errors. Consistent practice through self-talk, video recording, and embracing mistakes while having fun is crucial for improvement.

Highlights

• Vinh Giang shares his journey of learning English as a third language. 🇨🇳🇻🇳🇬🇧
• Record and transcribe a 20-minute video of your speech to identify improvement areas. 📹
• Engage a speech pathologist to gain personalized insights into your pronunciation. 🧑‍⚕️
• Use Chat GPT to review and correct grammatical errors in your speech transcript. 📄
• Emphasize articulation over accent; it's the key to sounding clearer and smarter. 🗣️
• Turn practice into play; enjoy the process of improving your English speaking skills. 🎭

Key Takeaways

• Embrace your unique accent; focus on articulation and pronunciation to improve clarity. 🌟
• Record a 20-minute video of yourself speaking to identify problem areas in articulation and grammar. 🎥
• Seek feedback from a speech pathologist to get personalized exercises for your pronunciation. 👂
• Use AI tools like Chat GPT to identify grammatical errors in your speech. 🤖
• Practice speaking English as much as possible, even if it's with yourself. 🗣️
• Play and have fun while practicing to make learning enjoyable and effective. 🎉

Overview

In his enlightening video, Vinh Giang, a renowned communication skills teacher, discusses how to effectively improve English speaking clarity, a common challenge for non-native speakers. Despite English being his third language, Vinh has mastered the art of articulation and pronunciation, demonstrating that a unique accent can be an asset rather than a hindrance. It’s all about embracing your uniqueness while working on clear communication.

Vinh introduces practical methods to enhance speaking skills, which include recording a video of yourself talking and then analyzing it for articulation and grammatical errors. By further involving a speech pathologist, you can receive specialized exercises to address these issues. Technologies like Chat GPT also play a crucial role in this process by helping to quickly pinpoint and correct grammatical mistakes in speech, making the learning process faster and more efficient.

To truly excel, Vinh encourages consistent practice, even suggesting talking to oneself as a viable strategy. He stresses the importance of the mind-mouth connection and spontaneity in speech. Lastly, he urges learners to make practice sessions enjoyable by incorporating play, which not only makes learning fun but also speeds up improvement by making the process less daunting.

Chapters

• 00:00 - 01:30: Introduction and Background In the introduction and background chapter, the author discusses their personal experience with learning languages, highlighting that English is not their first language, nor their second. Instead, it is their third language, the first being a Chinese dialect. The chapter is set up as a prelude to sharing four essential tips on improving English proficiency, particularly for those who do not speak English as their first language. The author's humorous and committed approach is evident, as they metaphorically refer to their dedication as a 'commitment to the bit'.
• 01:30 - 03:30: Addressing Accent Concerns The chapter titled 'Addressing Accent Concerns' begins with Vin sharing his personal language learning journey. He started by learning Vietnamese, which was the language spoken at home. When he started school at the age of five or six, he began learning English, which was not spoken at home. Vin shares this background to address common questions and concerns about accents that both he and his students frequently encounter.
• 03:30 - 05:30: Fire Tip #1: Recording and Analyzing Speech The chapter titled 'Fire Tip #1: Recording and Analyzing Speech' begins with Jang, a communication skills teacher, who explains his role in teaching communication classes monthly. He mentions students from various countries including Germany, the US, Australia, Brazil, India, China, Malaysia, and Mexico. Jang shares the common questions he receives from students looking to improve their English communication skills. These questions often focus on how to improve clarity in speech, reduce grammatical errors, and find opportunities to practice speaking English, especially for those who feel they lack conversation partners.
• 05:30 - 07:30: Using Tools to Identify Grammatical Errors In this chapter titled 'Using Tools to Identify Grammatical Errors,' the main focus is on addressing the negative perceptions individuals may have about their own accents and how it affects their speaking abilities. The speaker, Vin, begins with a light-hearted personal anecdote about feeling self-conscious over weight gain but shifts attention to the primary topic: overcoming anxieties regarding one's accent. Vin aims to alter the audience's mindset by suggesting that the accent, often seen as a hurdle, should instead be viewed from a different perspective to improve public speaking skills.
• 07:30 - 10:00: Practicing English and Improvisation The chapter emphasizes the importance of focusing on articulation and pronunciation rather than trying to eliminate one's accent, as an accent is a unique identifier that should be valued. There is encouragement to embrace one's accent while working on clearer speech.

How I Learned To Speak Clearly (English is my 3rd Language!) Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 okay in this video I'm going to share with you for fire oh oh that's really hot do you know what that's called that right there is called commitment to the bit I'm going to share with you four fire tips on how you can improve your English especially if English isn't your first language believe it or not English isn't my first language either it's not even my second language it's my third language the first language I learned when I was young is a Chinese dialect
• 00:30 - 01:00 called did [Applause] you and then after that I learned Vietnamese by the time I got to school I was about 5 to 6 years old and for the first time at 5 or six I then had to learn English because English was not taught at home obviously and I wanted to tell you all of this because I want to address the problem that many of you and many of my students ask me all the time and if you're new here my my name is Vin
• 01:00 - 01:30 Jang I'm a communication skills teacher I run communication classes every single month and I get students joining me from all over the world in Germany the US Australia Brazil India China Malaysia Mexico you name it it's incredible the global audience that we have today and the most common question I get asked from my students who are trying to improve their English then how do I improve my clarity when I speak then how do I reduce my grammatical errors where do I practice speaking English more I don't have anyone to talk to and how do
• 01:30 - 02:00 I do all of this without burning out and make it more enjoyable and before I even get to answering any of these questions I want to address the biggest elephant in the room me no no I'm not an elephant I just I feel like an elephant because I've been eating a lot of carbs lately and getting a little bit weight conscious but let's address the biggest metaphorical elephant in the room with this situation for this video hey Vin I don't like my accent it's holding me back from being a better speaker let me shift you on your perspective right here
• 02:00 - 02:30 right now your accent is not a problem the problem is poor articulation and poor pronunciation I want you to realize that your accent is beautiful it's what makes you unique so don't ever look down on your accent instead focus on improving your articulation and your pronunciation and soon your unique accent will become your greatest asset I first of all would record a 20-minute video of myself speaking I know it's a lot you're really
• 02:30 - 03:00 freaking out at this point you're thinking wait what film a 20 minute video of myself I can't even do a one minute video you can do a 20-minute video just go to Google or chat GPT and type in top 10 Deep conversational starters get those 20 Questions put them in front of you turn on the camera and answer the questions and just answer it on camera you're not allowed to prepare you're not allowed to rehearse because I'm trying to tease out all of the problems with your everyday speech you
• 03:00 - 03:30 will get 20 minutes plused if you were going to answer all of those questions and elaborate on those questions preferably also do these videos while you're standing once you've got that video now what you want to do is also get the video transcribed so you got the text version of the video as well take that video send it to a speech pathologist you can pick one of your choosing in your local area and it will probably cost you when I did this cost me about 150 bucks so when you do this you send it to the speech pathologist you say hey I wanted to send this
• 03:30 - 04:00 because English is my third fourth language second language even only language and say I've been struggling with my pronunciation and articulation however I don't know what sounds I'm struggling with could you watch this video and give me your top 10 exercises to work on the sounds that I'm struggling with it will be one of the greatest Investments you ever make in your communication because now they're going to come back to you and go oh yeah no worries look I I reviewed the video and there 10 key sounds you're struggling
• 04:00 - 04:30 with and with each one of these sounds here are three exercises I would suggest you had someone use 30 years of their knowledge to review a 20 minute video distill everything in their career and say here are the top 30 activities you should do every single day I used to say the number three as free can I have threee of those and I used to slur all of my words and use so much slang like um I was going to but I didn't want to
• 04:30 - 05:00 do you hear how bad that sounds yeah I was going to but I didn't want to I was going to but I didn't wan to where I should I should say and complete the entire word I was going to but then I decided I didn't want to but that's how I used to talk there was so many incorrect mouth movements that I was making I didn't realize it until I did this activity so that's fire tip number one oh my goodness once you do this and you start to improve your articulation I know you're going to send me an email and go then that changed my
• 05:00 - 05:30 life I get those emails coming through quite often and that is one of them next thing you're going to do take the transcript of your speech that you did that 20-minute video plug it into chat GPT and ask chat GPT this specific prompt what are the top 10 grammatical errors that I'm currently making inside this transcript and chat gbt will go through the entire thing in approximately 30 seconds and help you identify the top 10 grammatical errors
• 05:30 - 06:00 that you currently make when you speak and usually with people who have English as a maybe second language third language there are a lot of grammatical errors when it comes to past tense future tense plurals use of plurals and and and I don't mean to go back to high school English however this is very important because one of the quickest ways to lose credibility one of the fastest ways to lose Authority in the Western World especially if English is your second third fourth fifth language right is not using the correct grammar because when you don't use the correct
• 06:00 - 06:30 grammar it immediately makes people perceive you as being less intelligent and also if you slur your words if you Mumble and if you don't articulate this is why we think of the British people as being smart do do you notice that when someone has a British accent you kind of go oh this person seems really smart they seems sophisticated and you think that because they over articulate what that means is you don't now have to become British all of a sudden if you want to come across smart I don't have to all of sudden now
• 06:30 - 07:00 go would you like a spot a t right I don't have to all of a sudden now sound British in any accent you can sound smarter by articulating more and you'll be able to improve your articulation and pronunciation with the speech pathologist's help in thinking about how to make all of the the mouth shapes the other component was the transcript into chat GPT to get all the grammatical errors out of the way if you're new to communication skills and you want to begin your Learning Journey then you can join me in one of my classes it's completely free and you can click the link in the description below or there's
• 07:00 - 07:30 also a pinned comment below you can click as well two more things I would say speak English as often as you can you will never get better at something if you don't practice it more find more opportunities to speak English and now you're going to say to me because I already heard these excuses before but V I've got no one to talk to I've got everyone I talk to speaks Vietnamese when I'm at home everyone I speak to speaks Chinese speaks Russian speaks Italian well I'm going to remind you of something my dear
• 07:30 - 08:00 luminary then talk to yourself yeah that's still a form of practice talk to yourself can you open your mouth and talk by yourself by yourself when you're by yourself yes I'm talking to myself right now there's nobody else in this studio what is this this is a form of practice and if it excites you more put your camera down turn it on record yourself Talking practice speaking your mind more there's a mind and mouth connection and this links in with the practice while you're practicing by yourself what I'm doing here is I'm training myself to be able to speak from
• 08:00 - 08:30 my reservoir reservoir of knowledge shaping that information using metaphors stories and everything and then articulating it almost immediately I'm doing a form of practice here the more of this I do the more I strengthen the ability to retrieve information immediately from the bank of knowledge and then almost spontaneously then being able to communicate that across right away that is a skill there are neuro Pathways that you've got to strengthen and if you never are put in a situation where you immediately have to go into
• 08:30 - 09:00 your head and retrieve knowledge and then speak it spontaneously well then you'll never be good at it so a wonderful way to get better at English and on top of that get better at speaking impromptu is you need to practice last thing I'll say to get better at it is to play when you're doing the practice session play play with your instrument you know go a little bit silly have a little bit of fun and then just play it's okay and while you're doing this while you're trying to get better at English in that same practice session you can practice
• 09:00 - 09:30 vocal foundations you can practice body language and then if you stick to this consistently oh you're going to get good so fast you're going to get good so fast you're not going to know what to do with yourself