Posted by girish seshamani on July 15, 2010
As a trainer for CAT\MAT and other competitive exams over the last ten years, I find lot of intelligent students not being able to crack the Group Discussion and Interview. The fear of the unknown is so high, that these set of students, see themselves as failures.
In our country, English is the second language. Apart from metropolitan cities, which have a number of convent schools, all other students stand at a huge disadvantage, since they are not exposed to the English Language. In all these states, even though the English Language is part of the curriculum, the English Language is taught in their mother tongue. The teachers themselves are not trained properly and they do not have the ability to make the English Language interesting. Moreover the interaction between students also happens in their mother tongue, with the net result being a rude shock, when they get exposed to the outside world.
When I interacted with this category of students at length their concerns were:
If we try to converse in English with our teachers, they reply in our mother tongue
English is not required for me because I am joining the family business
Our friends make fun of us or treat us as social outcasts, if we try to converse in English
Our parents are not educated and our siblings are also sailing in the same boat
Our teachers discourage the use of English
We know only a few words
We do not know how to construct a sentence and pronounce the word, so we will end up making fools of ourselves
Emotionally sensitive
Inability to speak in front of a small group or public speaking
Thinking in one’s mother tongue and translating into English
After listening to their concerns, I just asked them one question, How did you pick up your mother tongue? The answer was prompt. We learnt to speak our mother tongue by listening to our parents speak. My next question was, Did your parents teach you grammar? The answer was No
I then went on to tell them, the English Language also needs to be learnt, the same way.
I worked out a plan of action which I am listing below:
Be passionate about the English Language
Make it a point to watch News Channels, Animal Planet or National Geographic. Close your eyes and focus on the words. Likewise, if you share a passion for a particular game, as in, cricket or football, listen to the commentary
In the initial phase do not bother about your grammatical accuracy, fluency or vocabulary. Your focus should be to reach a level, where you can boldly communicate in the English Language, with whatever vocabulary you have
Identify one person in your locality who speaks the English Language fluently. Have a serious discussion with this person, and tell him that you want to improve your language, and you are prepared to stretch the limit. Ask him to correct your mistakes. Fix up a time convenient to him and interact with him for anywhere between 10 – 15 minutes daily. This conversation can be in person or on phone. Ask him to correct your mistakes and make it a point, not to repeat the same mistake again.
Avail of every opportunity that you get to speak. Never bother about the reaction of the audience. There are bound to be people in the audience who will smile sarcastically or may laugh at you, while you are delivering your speech. Let me tell you that these people are failures. They have not achieved anything in their life, and are filled with envy. Make yourself mentally so tough, that nothing should pull you down, and destroy your confidence
Do not compare yourself with anyone. You are unique
Read any magazine which is related to your area of interest. If you want to go in for fiction, there is nothing to beat, James Hadley Chase. You will not put the book down, till you have finished, reading the book fully. The language used is also simple.
Always think in English. If you think in your mother tongue, and translate into English, the structure will go horribly wrong. Let us take a sentence; Rita is beautiful, which is the right structure. Assuming that your mother tongue is Hindi, the translation will be, Rita khoobsurat hai, which when translated to English becomes, Rita beautiful is. Always remember the basic structure of the English Language, which is, Subject + Verb + Object
Practice Auto Suggestion. Human beings are blessed with two minds, conscious mind and the subconscious mind. When we go to sleep in the night, the subconscious mind comes on top and the conscious mind goes down. Auto suggestion means feeding your subconscious mind with positive thoughts. In this case, let us assume that you have to deliver a speech after one week. Everyday before going to sleep, imagine that you are one of the best speakers in the world. People admire you and they have come in huge numbers to listen to you. See yourself talking confidently, and the audience listening to you, with full attention. After your speech gets over, the entire crowds’ gets up from their seats and give you a standing applause. Do this everyday without fail, and more importantly, believe in the power of the subconscious mind. Visualize this whole scene again and again. The great tennis player, Andre Agassi, is a master of the subconscious mind. When you get up in the morning, the conscious mind comes on top, and the subconscious mind goes down. The job of the conscious mind, is purely to implement the commands, given to it, by the subconscious mind. You can rewrite your whole destiny, if you tap the power of your subconscious mind
Before I wind up, I would like to quote Martin Luther King, who said, “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenges and controversies”
HAPPY SPEAKING
Posted by girish seshamani on July 10, 2010
Once you get into your B School, you are all set to begin an exciting stage in your life. Undoubtedly MBA is a coveted degree, if it is done from a reputed institute. Over a period of two years, we study or we are exposed to around 35 subjects.
The basic objective of studying these subjects, is to ensure that your fundamentals are strong. No one expects you to master all the subjects. Tomorrow when you take up a leadership role, you should have the basic knowledge about all functions, to ensure that no one takes you for a ride.
At the end of the first year, students go for summer placements. The summer placement runs for around four months. After finishing their summers, students come back and the second year begins wherein they specialize in their core area.
Before the students go for their placement, they have to choose their core specialization, as in, Finance, Marketing, Operations and Human Resources. The students have a dual specialization. On most occasions, whenever I interact with students, I see students choosing the core field due to peer pressure. When I sit with them and discuss as to what made them choose that field, the replies that I get are:
Majority of my batch mates have chosen that field
We heard it is a sunrise industry
This field pays much more than any other line
As a teacher, it pains me a lot when I see students getting into functions they are not fit for. Personally I do make it a point to tell students to identify their strengths by doing an honest introspection and to discuss the same with their family members and close circle of friends. If they have professional contacts, they are the best people, since they are already working in that line. They are not only the best source of information they will also guide you properly. Once the student narrows down on his core specialization, he will know the gap to be bridged in terms of skill sets after he interacts with professionals working in that industry.
Lot of B Schools have come out with super specialization programs which is an add on to the core specialization. The areas are:
Airlines and Airport Mangement
Shipping and Logistics Management
Retail Mangement
Supply Chain Management
Let me also tell you that there is nothing called as a sunrise industry. Each and every industry has to go through the stages of Infancy, Growth, Stability and Decline. It is part of the economic cycle.
I also reiterate the point that compensation is totally secondary. According to me, at the start of your career what you learn, is more important than what you earn. I also see students having unrealistic expectations and living in their own dream world. Your specialization should be in tune with your skills. If you choose the wrong line, apart from being a misfit for the job, you are also putting your entire career at risk. If you get into an industry purely for money, the day is not far off when you will get frustrated and land up in a mess.
Once you have identified your skill sets and decided your core specialization, ensure that you keep yourself updated in that line. You need to seriously devote time to understand the industry, the major players, the standing of the industry right now and the future of the industry. The best source of information will be newspapers like Economic Times and Business Standard. Apart from this, try to identify a mentor, when you go for your summer placements. If you prove your worth during the summer placements, there is every chance that the organization will consider you, when they come for the final placements.
I would like to share some critical points to be kept in mind throughout the program:
- Integrity is the foundation on which your career is built. Never lie. If you have done a mistake have the courage to accept your mistake, instead of trying to hide it or getting into arguments.
- Be the first person to take the initiative. Put your heart and soul in your job, when you go for summer placements.
- Be disciplined and punctual. Never take any leave.
- Strictly adhere to organizational decorum.
- As I mentioned earlier, this is the apt time to identify a mentor, who will be your guiding and inspirational force. Never try to put on a mask and show interest. They are seasoned professionals and your reputation will take a beating. Be genuine. Be yourself.
- Be in touch with your mentor and work on your weakness. This should be done throughout the program.
- If you have the habit of gossiping, work seriously on it. All relationships are built on trust. Trust is built up only once. It cannot be built again and again. Likewise during the course of your program never criticize any of your batch mates or professors.
- During the program, you will get lot of opportunities to make presentations. Take each presentation as a challenge and keep on raising your bar.
- Be mentally alert and focused on the program.
- In group presentations you may have to work with other candidates who are not known to you. Extend your full cooperation and take the responsibility of keeping the group bonded together. Each individual will have his idea. Genuinely congratulate your group member if he has come up with excellent points. It is natural to get discouraged if your points are not included in the presentation. Try to find out why the point is not relevant. Always remember that our learning process continues till death. Moreover when you start your career you will inevitably be part of a team. You cannot afford to create disharmony within the group.
- Be very careful whenever you speak. Choose your words with care. Never indulge in any kind of casual talk. Likewise ensure that you are well dressed and maintain good hygiene. Groom yourself to become a person who can be trusted.
- Work on your vocabulary. Keep a daily target and strictly adhere to it.
- Keep working on honing your listening skills. There is a huge difference between hearing and listening. Hearing is done with the ears. Listening is done with the mind and the heart. Powerful listeners can create miracles.
The basic objective of having summer placements is to get exposed to what an organization is, how does it work, the role of each department and how the industry works as a whole. This is because most of the students are fresh from college and directly enroll for an MBA Program.
The second year is the time when you have to hone your skills in your line or function and ensure that you keep abreast of all the latest developments in that line.
Likewise during your final placements make a very careful choice. There are two critical points which you need to keep in mind. The first is the reputation of the organization. The second is the Human Resource Interventions that the organization has in place. All professional organizations have an individual career growth plan for each employee. They also have structured training programs to help the new employee develop his skill sets and also get him exposed to all the functions. Your first job is the most critical because it is going to determine the entire course of your career. When an organization selects an employee, it does so with a long term perspective in mind. Never make the mistake of job hopping. It is suicidal. As of today, job hopping is looked upon very negatively by all reputed players in the industry. Even an experience of five years in an organization, makes the other company think. You need to have a really valid reason for quitting the organization.
My only advice to all MBA students is to make the right choice in terms of their specialization. Once you make the right decision, believe me, it will be an eternal honeymoon for you.
CHEERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Posted by girish seshamani on July 6, 2010
The stage has been set for the CAT November 2010 exams. With the CAT going online from last year, and the format also undergoing a change, it is essential to ensure that we get the basics right.
One major factor, which I notice, is students complaining about CAT going online. There was this fear of the unknown which haunted nearly everyone.
The only difference is, instead of a paper and pencil test, the test will be online. Everything remains the same. Students are given sheets to make their rough calculations. The right answer has to be clicked using the mouse. Candidates can scroll the entire paper and start from wherever they want. Likewise they can also change their answers.
If we look at GMAT, it is a computer adaptive test. A computer adaptive test will throw up questions according to your level. Just to cite an example, if you have clicked on the right option of a question which is difficult, the next question will be more difficult than the previous one. If you get this question wrong, the system will again start throwing questions, depending on your level. The marking will also happen according to the level of difficulty. If a candidate has got lot of difficult questions right, he will obviously get a higher grading than a student who has answered all simple questions correctly.
Coming to CAT, we have three sections, Quantitative Aptitude and Data Sufficiency, Analytical and Logical Reasoning and the English Language which includes Comprehension also.
As individuals we have our strength and weakness. Go to the section, where you are very confident and finish it off first. Ensure that you crack it fully. Once you are over with this, come to the other questions, where you will need some time. Taking the new format into consideration, you are required to answer 60 questions in 90 minutes. Ensure that you manage your time well.
I would like to focus on the Verbal Ability Section. The English Language happens to be the section, where I have seen students take a huge beating. Let’s have a look at all the possible question formats:
- Synonyms
- Antonyms
- One Word Substitutes
- Idiomatic Phrases and Phrasal Verbs
- Foreign words
- Jumbled Sentences
- Fill in the blanks with the right word
- Error Correction
- Cloze Test
- Sentence Improvement
- Reading Comprehension
If we look at the all the above exercises, the bottom line is vocabulary. If we do not have an excellent vocabulary, we are bound to take a beating. If you do not understand the meaning of one word, you will find it extremely difficult to pick the right option. This applies to all the sections in Verbal Ability. Unfortunately vocabulary is the most neglected part during the CAT preparation. I have seen all the so called reputed coaching classes giving a book full of words in alphabetical order from A till Z with their meanings and asking students to mug up all the words. Rote learning will never work for you. It is virtually impossible to recall the meaning and more importantly by doing this you are in a way, blocking your career also.
A committed vocabulary building exercise involves two major activities. The first is adding new words to your arsenal. The second is to keep in mind the vocabulary you already know. The English Language has over one million words and the average speaker is well versed with only 30000 words. You can see the huge gap. A good vocabulary is a prerequisite for professional growth.
There is only one proven method to increase your vocabulary and also ensure that you do not forget the usage of the words, which you know. Make it a habit to read a newspaper or magazine. You are bound to come across words whose meaning you do not know. First try to guess the meaning of the word with respect to the whole sentence. Only then look up the dictionary and understand the precise meaning. Once you comprehend the meaning, make a sentence using that word in a sentence and have it corrected by a person who is excellent at the language.
Another excellent technique is to use the word in any area of your liking, as in your hobbies or extra curricular activities. Since you already like that line, you will find it motivating to use the word and the learning process becomes interesting and quick. Once you do this you will never forget the meaning and application of that word. Vocabulary Building is a long term process. There are no short cuts.
Having an excellent vocabulary has got lot of advantages. A better vocabulary will help you to enjoy reading more. Likewise having an excellent vocabulary will also give you the confidence to interact with professionals at the highest level. It will undoubtedly be a huge boost for your self esteem.
Another effective method is to understand the meanings of root, prefix and suffix. A root is the basic building block or a key which will help you to understand the meanings of many words.
To understand the importance of a root, let us take the word ‘ali’ which means another. From this, we can easily get to know the meaning of the word, alias, which means an assumed name. Another example is the root ‘am’ which means love. From this, we can understand the meaning of the word, amiable, meaning friendly.
Coming to prefix, it is a word which comes at the beginning. For example, the prefix ‘bi’ means two. We can easily understand the meaning of the words; bisect, bimonthly, bigamy and so on.
A suffix is a word which comes at the end of the word. For example, if we take the suffix ‘cide’ it means killing. We can easily get to know the meaning of the words, homicide, patricide, matricide, regicide, etc. If we take the suffix ‘mania’ which means madness, we get the meaning of the words, megalomania, kleptomania, and so on.
Another area I would like to touch on is Synonym and Antonym. Synonym means words which are similar in meaning. But this does not mean it can be used interchangeably. The right synonym needs to be used taking into consideration the message, we want to communicate. For example, if we take the word active, we have lot of synonyms like, agile, alert, efficient, energetic, quick, prompt, assiduous, indefatigable, etc
Let us take three examples to understand the usage of synonyms:
Mahesh is an efficient worker
A prompt reply is always appreciated
The guard was quite alert and this helped to catch the thief
The same logic applies to antonyms also.
Lastly, coming to Reading Comprehension, lot of books mention words like speed reading, skimming, etc. Let me tell you that all these skills can be acquired only through practice. Start practicing with small comprehension passages and gradually go to bigger ones. Read the questions first and understand what is required. Then go through the passage. While going through the passage, try to get the answers and mark the respective option.
The same technique applies to Cloze Tests also. Go through the whole passage. You will get an idea of what the passage is about, as in, the central idea. After this, filling up the blank with the right option becomes easy.
With this, I conclude my write up and wish you all the best. Ensure that you
BELL THE CAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Posted by girish seshamani on July 5, 2010
In the first part of my article, I had introduced you to the importance of having a Neutral Accent, and where we stand as of now.
In this article, I shall cover the common issues with Indians and the steps to be taken to come to a Neutral Accent.
I will list down the common problems with Indian speakers in general:
Indian speakers of English are known to speak much faster than people in the West. This means that in many cases Indian speakers of English will make business communication difficult. We need to ensure that we understand and are understood.
Indians do not speak with their mouth fully open. As a result, the speech muscles get tight over a period of time, and the pronunciation gets severely affected. In other words we are not able to articulate properly.
Indians have a very fast rate of speech. The ideal speaking rate is between one hundred forty and one hundred sixty words per minute. Indians speak at anywhere between one hundred eighty to two hundred forty words per minute. At this speed, the listener is bound to lose the message. Take any article from a newspaper or magazine and work on your speed by reading it regularly. Read it for one minute. Keep a count of the number of words you read in one minute. Over a period of time you will automatically come to the right pace.
In the English Language, the vowels give the sound and therefore the stress has to be on the vowel sound, taking the syllable into consideration. Indians stress on the consonants because of which the word gets horribly mispronounced and this creates a huge communication barrier.
The consonant B is pronounced as P and vice versa
The consonant D is pronounced as T and vice versa
The consonant L is pronounced strongly
There is no distinction made between V and W sounds
The vowel U is pronounced without opening the mouth
There is no distinction made between the words, their, there and they while pronouncing it
The ‘th’ sound is not clear
The consonant T is not pronounced sharply
STEPS TO BE TAKEN TO COME TO A NEUTRAL ACCENT
To learn a new accent you need to listen to English again and again. It is not what you say, but how you say it, therefore, get familiar with the feel, tone and delivery of the accent. That adds a lot more meaning to what you say, rather that just the actual words.
Learning a new accent is making your subconscious mind conscious.
The critical thing to remember is to relax and speak in a flow, instead of speaking each word separately, to sound clear. Pronunciation is governed by two factors, syllable stress and the vowel sound articulation.
Vowels and consonants come together and form syllables. Syllables give the word its pronunciation. Each syllable has a vowel sound and can have one or more consonants
Let us take an example:
Chair – This word is pronounced in one breath of air. It has only one syllable
Moment – This word cannot be pronounced in one breath of air. We take a pause while pronouncing the word. The place where we pause is exactly where the first syllable ends. It is broken down into parts,
Mo \ ment (2 syllables)
We can see that the first syllable has the vowel ‘O’ and the second syllable has the vowel ‘E’
Deliver – This word is broken down in three parts.
De \ li \ ver (3 syllables)
In this word, the first syllable has the vowel ‘E’ the second syllable has the vowel ‘I’ and the third syllable has the vowel ‘E’
As a rule of thumb, if a word has two syllables, stress on the first syllable. Likewise if a word has three syllables, stress on the second syllable.
Received Pronunciation is the most widely understood pronunciation. It is also referred to as Queen’s English or Oxford English.
The English Language uses over 45 basic sounds but has only 26 letters in the alphabet to represent them. This means that a word is not pronounced in the way it is written, unlike our mother tongue.
The International Phonetic Association (IPA) has laid down the pronunciation for each word. Special phonetic symbols are used to represent sounds. There are several accepted pronunciations for each word.
The Oxford Dictionary is very useful. The pronunciation is clearly mentioned for each word. Take the help of a professional who speaks the language well and practice your pronunciation.
Most poor pronunciations happen due to the omission of a sound altogether or swallowing of the last one or two alphabets.
Just to cite an example, if we take the word ‘going’ speakers often drop the last ‘g’
The ‘ch’ sound also creates lots of problems. If we take the word, chair, the ‘ch’ sound is strong whereas if we take the word, champagne, it is pronounced as ‘sh’ not ‘ch’
The ‘k’ is silent in the words, knight, knife and know
The letters ‘gh’ are silent in the words, height, might and right
The letter ‘l’ is silent in the words, should, could and would
Kindly note that the words mentioned above have been given purely for the purpose of understanding. Apart from the above words, there are lots of other words also where the ‘k’ is silent. The same applies to all the other examples also.
We need to breathe correctly for good modulation and rate of speech.
If we do not breathe properly, we cannot speak long sentences. An effective voice is possible only with an effective breath. Indians on the whole have a very poor breathing pattern which needs to be worked on.
BREATHING EXERCISES
Sit up straight
Relax your shoulders and arms
Drop your neck down with your chin touching the chest
Open the mouth and let the breath go in and out gently without exercising any kind of pressure
Do not make any noise while pulling in the breath
Take a quicker breath and then release it slowly
Repeat this exercise at least ten times
OTHER EXERCISES
Take a deep breath. Pronounce each alphabet from A till Z by throwing the air out. Initially you will feel lot of pressure on the chest. Do not give up. Keep on practicing this exercise.
With the tip of your tongue touch the back side of each tooth.
Hum any song which you like. Over a period of time you will notice a perceptible change in the quality of your voice.
As I have mentioned earlier, our goal should be to come as near as possible to the British Accent. In our country English is the second language. It is very critical to interact or listen to native speakers of English. The best channel is BBC News. Observe very carefully how the news readers pronounce the words, as in, the movement of the lip and the tongue.
Record your voice regularly which will help you to understand how far you have progressed and where you are going wrong.
To conclude, a poor speaker is often considered to be inept in all other areas also. People judge you not only by what you say, but how you say it.
HAPPY SPEAKING
Posted by girish seshamani on July 3, 2010
OBJECTIVE
The first reaction of all professionals whenever I used to mention the importance of Accent Neutralization was one of sarcasm and smirk.
When I interacted with these professionals at length, I found one point in common. They were technically very sound in their function. Moreover they were proven performers. But somewhere down the line, the growth stopped. They probably never realized this or probably did not sit down and introspect where they should have been and where they are right now.
As we are all aware, the English Language has become the lingua franca linking businesses across the globe. So it becomes all the more imperative to be fluent in our speech. Fluency is a combination of many factors put together.
Fluency includes your pronunciation, intonation, and use of the right words, flow of language and the rate of speech.
Drawing from my experience of working with multinational organizations,
I have without exception, seen professionals at all levels, having a very limited vocabulary. Moreover the use of colloquial expressions and slang is on the higher side, which makes them look totally unprofessional.
Effective Communication is very simple to define. The target listener should understand the message, in the way you want him to comprehend. If there is a mismatch here, the very purpose of communication gets lost.
Professionals, who rise up the hierarchy very fast, are without exception excellent communicators.
Indians have a very strong regional influence while speaking. In professional parlance it is called as the Mother Tongue Influence (MTI)
When people speak with a very heavy regional accent, people get distracted because the pronunciation is not clear and the class aspect is lost. The net result is your image gets spoilt. I have seen umpteen cases, where professionals have a good vocabulary, but unfortunately their heavily accented English coupled with the rate of speech creates a huge barrier in the communication process, and their reputation also taking a beating.
Neutral Accent is nothing but globally understandable and comprehensible English Language. This means that a person from any part of the world should be able to understand what you are speaking without having to strain him or interrupt you.
People have this wrong notion that they need to imitate a certain accent, as in, American Accent or British Accent. There is absolutely no need to imitate any accent. Your English should be devoid of regional influence.
When professionals speak, using the right word, with excellent pronunciation, intonation and the ideal rate of speech, people perceive you as a classy person and you command lot of respect. Likewise, a very heavy accented pronunciation, puts off the listener, and thereby the very purpose of communication is lost.
Business today is very fast paced, and in order to survive and excel in this cutthroat competition, it is of utmost importance to articulate in diction, and, be globally understood.
Comprehensibility is therefore the ultimate focus.
Now I come to the most critical part. All MBA programs talk about lot of skill sets being developed over a period of two years, but no one talks about the importance of Neutral Accent. Moreover during the selection process, Neutral Accent becomes a very critical skill which is assessed, irrespective of the industry. Lot of people have the misconception that Neutral Accent is confined only to the BPO industry, which is totally wrong. Neutral Accent is not industry specific. It is an essential requirement across all industries and more importantly one of the most critical skills if you want to move up the hierarchy.
Your voice is the means by which you convey your inner thoughts and feelings to the outside world. It is the outward expression of your inner self.
The English language, its structure and the accent or dialect changes from country to country. Hence, it is very critical to speak in a globally comprehensible English dialect.
In the second part of this article, I shall cover the problems faced by Indians and the steps to be taken to come to a Neutral Accent.
