That I received a 4.0 rating in English1 in college is not an indicator that I speak English well. I must admit that I still have difficulty speaking the language and find writing the language much easier. Last week was a tough one for me as I had to battle through activities that required me to speak in straight English.
E Western Union mo!
There was a meeting around mid this week with the people from Western Union based in the US. It was a conference call with 2 executives from our partner about customer service and naturally speaking in Tagalog or Taglish was unacceptable. Boy, do I hate these types of meeting! But, a man’s got to do what a man’s got to do hence I had to fire away. I believe I did well. Confidence was definitely there while competence (in speaking the language) was just there for the ride. My point for improvement: loose the UHM and AH.
Now for the Global News
During the latter part of the week, we had to fly to Cebu for a conference and I had to deliver updates on the department’s participation on the Global Business. That too had to be delivered in English so more nosebleeds. I believe I gave justice to the presentation as I injected in the last minute a presentation approach which I termed “Around the world in under 5 minutes.” My point for improvement: KISS – Keep it Short and Simple.
Malaysia, Truly Asia
Last weekend, I spoke to a fellow parent whose son also studies in DB. He was a Chinese-Malaysian therefore conversation in English was the only alternative. He spoke little Tagalog while I spoke very, very little Mandarin. I got tons of tips from him about traveling in his motherland and neighbor Singapore. The tips will come in handy during our upcoming trip.
Mother of All Nosebleeds
Now here’s the mother of all nosebleed – my 4 year old daughter whose prime language is English. She speaks little Tagalog. This is actually a matter of choice by her parents as we wanted her to be exposed to the language at an early age. Aside from that, it’s also a form of practice for the parents. My mother once said that the best way to converse is to think in English, then speak it in English. What we normally (or at least what I normally do) is think in Tagalog and translate it in English.
The top 3 widely spoken languages worldwide includes English, Chinese (Mandarin) and Spanish. Good bye! Zaijian! Adios!
E Western Union mo!
There was a meeting around mid this week with the people from Western Union based in the US. It was a conference call with 2 executives from our partner about customer service and naturally speaking in Tagalog or Taglish was unacceptable. Boy, do I hate these types of meeting! But, a man’s got to do what a man’s got to do hence I had to fire away. I believe I did well. Confidence was definitely there while competence (in speaking the language) was just there for the ride. My point for improvement: loose the UHM and AH.
Now for the Global News
During the latter part of the week, we had to fly to Cebu for a conference and I had to deliver updates on the department’s participation on the Global Business. That too had to be delivered in English so more nosebleeds. I believe I gave justice to the presentation as I injected in the last minute a presentation approach which I termed “Around the world in under 5 minutes.” My point for improvement: KISS – Keep it Short and Simple.
Malaysia, Truly Asia
Last weekend, I spoke to a fellow parent whose son also studies in DB. He was a Chinese-Malaysian therefore conversation in English was the only alternative. He spoke little Tagalog while I spoke very, very little Mandarin. I got tons of tips from him about traveling in his motherland and neighbor Singapore. The tips will come in handy during our upcoming trip.
Mother of All Nosebleeds
Now here’s the mother of all nosebleed – my 4 year old daughter whose prime language is English. She speaks little Tagalog. This is actually a matter of choice by her parents as we wanted her to be exposed to the language at an early age. Aside from that, it’s also a form of practice for the parents. My mother once said that the best way to converse is to think in English, then speak it in English. What we normally (or at least what I normally do) is think in Tagalog and translate it in English.
The top 3 widely spoken languages worldwide includes English, Chinese (Mandarin) and Spanish. Good bye! Zaijian! Adios!
