Firstly, I don't think I am a tactful person. Once I greeted one of my classmates (girl) who was in a tank top and a mini skirt: “Wow! You may even wear less!”She didn’t reply and just forced a smile. Minutes later I realized how rude it was to say so and I immediately apologized to her. But I don’t want this kind of inappropriate wording to occur any more. Actually I always try not to be too outspoken and comment without thinking twice. Thus I think I really need to learn effective communication skills.
Careerwise, it is also a necessity to grasp the gist of professional communication, especially for a qualified interpreter. Since we will be the media to convey the information, it is quite significant to do the demanding job in an appropriate manner. I am interested in this challenging work and I would like to endeavor to be a professional interpreter. Well, may the dream come true!
I missed the reception party in the building I live here and missed the chance to make news friends in the first place. Till then I still don’t have many friends in my building. I really want to change the situation and be friend with them. So I am really in need of effective communication skills now!!!
I guess your major and future job do require the essence of good and accurate communication skills, be it in written or verbal. It is good that NUS does offer such a module to prepare students for the outside world and also to be a better and approachable person. The events that you have missed will spur you further to be proactive and more confident in knowing new friends around the community. Anyway, welcome to NUS. Hope you have a vibrant academic semester ahead.:)
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ReplyDeleteI agree that the events that I have missed will spur me further to be proactive. Actually I am trying to start conversation with many students around me now. And it really works!
ReplyDeleteHi Linna (:
ReplyDeleteI think communication skills is something everyone continues to explore and learn as we age, because it is such an intrinsic part of us, and we are always engaged in conversations with others in our daily lives.
For myself, it's always a happy experience to come to meet new people and share our stories and common interests. But I usually hesistate to approach others because of my more reserved personality, and I think it has alot to do with being self-conscious. Like how I will be judged by them when I say this or do that. And in a way it is a pity, limiting myself and others the opportunity to have a fruitful interaction based on friendship.
Maybe then, the thing is to keep trying (i.e. how we relate to others), otherwise we wouldn't ever know how things could have turned out. Like in your major as a translator and interpretor, your future work may involve communicating with different people of different needs, wants and expectations. This will require a sensitivity to the situation and to react accordingly, so as to be consistent with your values while upholding professionalism.
Hey, Linna :)
ReplyDeleteAs a non-native english speaker too, i had some really frustrated experience to exchange ideas with my teammates due to the lacking of communication skills.
communicating with others is such a significant part of our lives. it is just so urgent for us to learn more abt the soft skills, because we need them to connect to the world.
also, for ur major. its without doubt essential for u to embrace good soft skills. hope we can improve toghether!!!
Hi linna,
ReplyDeleteI can understand your difficulties when you find it hard to communicate and blatantly say out something when you actually wanted to praised or make positive remarks regarding something or someone but you do not know how to and when a comment is said, it sounds kind of rude because of the way we said it. I guess it takes time for us to learn and comprehend with the language to get ourselves familiarized with it which could take time and I guess this course will teach us greatly on how to be a good speaker. :)
Renaldy
Hi Linna,
ReplyDeleteI think for one to be effective in communicating with people around you also greatly depends on where you are communicating. I realize we tend to communicate differently to different type of people around us. Take for example, the way you communicate with your close friends will definitely be different in how you communicate with your bosses or just some stranger. Often when we use the same way to communicate with everyone around us, we tend to create misunderstanding.
On top of that, i think different countries also have their own way of communicating, hence as an exchange student for you, i can understand why it is hard to get your message across to the locals over here. What i can suggest is that you can first observe how the locals over here communicate and slowly integrate yourself into their conversations. Besides effective communications, you also need the courage to start a conversation! All the best!
Shi Chie