Tired... of using English all the time
Nguyen Cat An is an international student in Melbourne, Australia. Before studying abroad, An achieved IELTS 7.0. In addition, An studied at RMIT University for a year before moving to Australia to continue her studies. While studying in Vietnam, An still talked to teachers and gave presentations in English very well. However, when studying abroad in Australia, An encountered many difficulties in communication.
An said that Australians often use abbreviations or acronyms when speaking, which makes it difficult for An to understand. Sometimes they use words that are different from the common words that An has learned, for example, they use "arvo" instead of "afternoon", "cheers" instead of "thank you", which makes An need time to adapt to using the appropriate words when communicating. That also makes it difficult for An to express her story to others.
When first going abroad, international students often encounter language barriers.
“In Australia, I and many other friends shared the same experience of difficulty communicating in English. Although I could communicate, using English continuously all day made me... tired, as if I was trying to integrate and adapt rather than talking every day," An shared.
Similar to Cat An, Dang Thao An (studying abroad at Feitian University, USA) was an English major but Thao An never felt comfortable speaking English. Thao An commented: "Americans sometimes learn to speak very quickly and the English vocabulary that they usually learn in school, they do not use that word but replace it with other synonyms."
Not only English, but also international students who study other languages in countries where English is not the main language also face similar difficulties. For example, Nguyen Son, who is studying in Germany, found the German of the native speakers quite difficult to understand when first exposed to it. And Hoang Yen, an international student at Bonn University (Germany), was also shocked because she could not understand anything even though she had a German certificate before studying abroad.
Communication barriers come from cultural differences
My Chung, a senior student at the National Economics University, is the representative of Vietnam participating in the ASEAN Study Visit program in Thailand & the Philippines in 2022. Chung also studied abroad in the US and received a SEED scholarship to study in Canada. Before having the opportunities to study abroad and confidently communicate with native speakers like now, Chung's English level was quite modest.
My Chung said that she had studied literature since she was young, but by the time she was in 11th grade, she decided to drop her major and devote all her time to learning English from scratch. In addition, during her time studying abroad, Chung also encountered obstacles because she did not understand enough about the culture to communicate.
Chung believes that communication barriers are real, but they do not necessarily come from language but from differences in culture, living environment, education, beliefs, etc. “English or any other language is not only a language but also a crystallization of culture. When you have a certain understanding of that culture, communication barriers as well as awkward situations will be significantly reduced,” the female student shared.
From her own experience, My Chung advises that when having problems with listening and speaking, it is best to practice more diverse reflexes with many people in different countries. Spend more time practicing listening and speaking with British and American people to imitate pronunciation and intonation more accurately.
“Being persistent and disciplined in practicing every day to improve my communication skills and making friends with people who have the same goals also helps me to be more motivated and not get discouraged,” Chung said.
Advice for international students
Ms. Nguyen Hoang Yen Oanh (English teacher at IIG Vietnam Education Organization) commented that the problem of international students having difficulty communicating when studying abroad, despite being good at foreign languages, comes from many factors.
According to Ms. Oanh, your IELTS score or your English score at school will not reflect your ability to communicate in English. In fact, some students get high scores thanks to other skills, without investing time to improve their speaking skills. In addition, having a good foundation in a foreign language does not mean that we can communicate well in that language. The grammar and vocabulary learned at school cannot help you much if you do not have an environment to practice speaking and responding to the language.
Ms. Oanh said she is studying for a master's degree in applied linguistics and English language teaching at Macquarie University (Australia). "Even though I am an English teacher and use English almost every day at work, I still cannot avoid some difficulties in communication when I come to Australia. Sometimes people speak too fast or the terms created on social media platforms also make me pause a bit when communicating," Ms. Oanh said.
To overcome communication barriers, Ms. Oanh advises international students to watch English vlogs about studying abroad in that country or vlogs of classmates. Send messages to get to know and connect with classmates so that when they meet, they will not feel too awkward and shy when talking.
“Try to expose yourself to English as much as possible, experience living together, working in groups with friends from other countries or find part-time jobs where you communicate in English. When exposed to the language, let yourself become a child, observe and imitate how people around you use that language. And most importantly, be confident, dare to think and speak,” Ms. Oanh advised.
Sharing the same opinion with Ms. Oanh, Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Thai, a teacher at Le Thi Rieng High School (Bac Lieu), who participated in training in educational methods at the University of Queensland (Australia), added that foreigners will speak according to their accent, dialect and culture. Sometimes they speak briefly, do not focus on grammar or speak slang, which is the reason why international students have difficulty communicating.
"Before going to study abroad, students should listen to conversations with native speakers to get used to their accent and learn about the customs, lifestyle, culture, soil and climate of that place," said Mr. Thai.
Source: https://thanhnien.vn/gioi-ngoai-ngu-nhung-van-gap-kho-khi-du-hoc-phai-lam-sao-185240917144154315.htm
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