Common English pronunciation errors for Chinese people in Hong Kong · Jul 11, 05:09 PM
Chinese people (whether in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Beijing, or Mainland China generally) face several difficulties with oral English.
Firstly there is the problem of sounds. Speech can be broken down into individual sounds and people have difficulty saying or listening to sounds that do not exist in their own language. The lips, jaw, tongue, vocal chords and even the brain just do not know how to make the sound! It is rather like swimming when you only know the breast stroke…. you will have difficulty doing the crawl!
For instance the V sound as in van does not exist in Hong Kong Cantonese. Hence Hong Kong Chinese people often confuse the use the the F sound (which does exist in their language) with the V sound and so van becomes fan.
The problem is confounded because it not only happens when speaking but also listening!
How can you get over this problem? Firstly you need to have a native English tutor listen to your speech and do a pronunciation test. He can then help you rectify these problems by teaching you the common differences and the correct way to make the sound.
Of course practice makes perfect and speaking (and listening) regularly every week with a native English speaker will improve your fluency no end.
— Charles
Learn how to succeed in job interviews · Jul 2, 06:49 AM
Are you bored with your current job? Are you working long hours with no rewards? Want to find a better one? Has a promotion become available? All of these, unless you are very lucky, require a challenging formal interview process to enable you to get the post.
For some this can be a terrifying and daunting experience. And a lot depends on it. Success in interview is something that cannot be guaranteed but with proper training you can rest assured that you can give 100% of yourself and avoid pitfalls on the big day.
What happens when they ask you a question that you would rather not answer? Or a difficult question that you just do not know the answer to? How do you respond? Learn how – “The Easy Way” with HKEnglish.com.
Training and coaching for interviews is the best preparation – just like learning a sport or driving! Our experienced and skilled trainers will show you how using state of the art coaching methods.
Find out more about our interview preparation courses here
— Charles
IELTS Test Reading Paper Tips · Jul 2, 06:39 AM
The IELTS reading paper is one of the most difficult papers in the IELTS test to handle.
Why is it so difficult? Because on the surface it looks so easy! In reality, the structure of the questions is such that only an advanced reader can get high marks in this part of the IELTS exam. Of course, that is the whole idea of the IELTS test in order to differentiate between the level bands.
The IELTS exam reading section consists of three reading passages from a variety of sources such as newspapers books and magazines. Although the content is not specialized, the articles are fairly high level. Even though they may be scientific, they are of general interest and you do not need any prior knowledge of the subject to be able to answer the questions. One will probably contain a chart or diagram, and at least one will contain a complex argument
One of the main obstacles is the fact that the articles are quite long (about 900 words each). There is only 1 hour for the whole test, so its impossible to read the articles and understand every unknown word.
As with the rest of the IELTS test, you must have a good understanding of the types of questions you have to answer. There are ten types of questions including multiple choice, sentence completion, short answer questions, completing sentences, classifying, yes/no/not given, labeling paragraphs with headings, matching, identifying the location of information, and labeling a diagram or completing a summary.
You should also learn which reading skills you should use to answer each type of question. For instance, if the question requires you to label paragraphs then using skimming to get a general idea of each paragraph is the appropriate skill. For the sentence completion the questions you need to use scanning to get a deeper understanding of the text.
Like the rest of the papers, the IELTS reading texts get more and more difficult as your progress through the test. Time is limited so if you cannot answer a question, do not waste time trying to find the answer but just leave it and go on to the next question. You can always come back to it and even guess if needed (there is no penalty for wrong answers in the reading section, unlike the listening paper).
When answering questions be careful about spelling and grammatical mistakes as these will reduce your marks. Be extra careful with plurals as well. And if the question says “write no more than 3 words” then do not write 4!
The IELTS reading test booklet is designed rather like the listening test but in contrast there is no separate answer sheet. You must write all your answers in the test booklet and there is no extra time at the end to transfer your answers. Be sure to write your answers legibly and if you need to change your answers, indicate clearly which is your “final” answer.
The best way to prepare for your IELTS exam is by taking an IELTS preparation course. HKEnglish.com runs regular IELTS preparation courses which are customized to your exact needs. Click here to contact them and get more information.
Good luck with your exam and your further studies!
— Charles
Learn how to write good English emails quickly · Jun 9, 08:02 AM
When the internet started everyone went “Wow! this is great”. But in reality we are all spending more and more time writing and answering emails. If English is not your first language then this can be very difficult and a big headache. What’s worse is that everyone expects a reply instantly. If you don’t reply promptly the sender will either phone you or re-send the email.
Because you don’t have so much time in your busy day and since everyone expects a quick response, you usually don’t have time to plan or organize effectively. For some emails this is okay – a quick confirmation of a meeting for instance. But for others when you need to communicate more complex information it is important to spend a few minutes planning what you want to say.
How do you do this? Firstly, brainstorm your ideas. Spider diagrams, or mind maps as they are sometimes called, are really good for this as they use the creative, right side of your brain. Using this technique it’s easy to get a lot of ideas on paper very quickly.
The next step is to select and organize your ideas from your spider diagram. Now its time to use the logical. left side of your brain. Some of the items you brainstormed will not be relevant so delete them. After this you need to organize the points so write down points you want to include in a numbered list in the order that is most logical. Read through your list and endure that the information flows correctly.
The final step is to start the writing process. This is also complicated and will be the subject of several more articles, but always remember to be Clear, Concise and Correct.
Start improving your English today. And if you need to practice and have expert guidance, then one-to one private tuition is your best bet. HKEnglish.Com provides the highest Quality English Tuition in Hong Kong and all its tutors are experienced, native speakers. Times are flexible and lessons are customised to your exact needs so Contact them now.
— Charles
How To Improve Your Oral English Easily · Jun 9, 07:57 AM
Using English outside the office is rare in Hong Kong. Most people prefer to use Cantonese. “Why not? It’s our own language!”, people will exclaim. A survey found that even in academia English is 99% only used in the classroom and even then often supplemented with Cantonese for the difficult explanations that always occur. Most of my students say that their objective of studying English is to become more fluent and have better pronunciation.
So how can YOU improve your English when all your friends and colleagues want to speak Cantonese? Even if you try they will probably answer you back in Cantonese or even worse, bad English!
Seeing how there are so few opportunities to practice, getting the help of a private English tutor is your best bet. You can practice one to one with a native speaker and become more fluent. You can get your pronunciation and vocabulary corrected there and then.
Its great fun! And its not expensive! You can even team up with your friends for even more fun! Think what an investment you are making in your job prospects and career!
HKEnglish.com’s customized English courses can get you right on track. So contact us now and get yourself moving up the career ladder!
— Charles