Are you a PhD student looking to improve English? We can help

[one_second]Are you a PhD student looking to improve English? We can help. As the leader in global English language programs, we help ESL students from all parts of the world at different levels in their careers. From doctors to engineers, from fashion models to entrepreneurs, we have helped people from all walks of life improve English.

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Recently, we started a new partnership with a leading research university in the US to help their international PhD students (from non English speaking countries) improve English communication skills. What started as a fun, informal English conversation class for these students have now become a critical skills development activity within a few months.

What have we learned about building English communication skills of PhD students (or graduate students)? Here are the top insights:

• Most PhD students know a lot of English words, but struggle to “find” the right word during conversations

As you might expect, lot of the non-native English speaking PhD students have fantastic vocabularies. One reason for this is that they have recently studied for exams like the GRE where you are tested on how broad your vernacular is. That said, knowing the meaning of a word does not guarantee you will be able to bring it up in a conversation and use it real time. In other words, there is difference between a vocabulary and an active vocabulary. A key area that we worked on with the PhD students is to activate their vocabularies through consistent and persistent English conversation practice.

• Most PhD students know how to speak about their projects in English

Also, as you might expect, most non-native English speaking PhD students have little trouble communicating their research findings in English. Also, since most academic presentations are pre scheduled, it gives students an opportunity to come prepared on what they want to present. Where most PhD students struggle is in more general conversations where they have to speak in English out of their comfort zone, without any pre preparation.

To address this problem, in the Spoken English sessions we conducted, our approach was to get  them to talk about topics outside of research – about pop culture and sports and history and recipes. This approach forced the group  to speak English in a more natural way, on topics they knew nothing of. This approach is the best way to improve English.

• Most PhD students over think how to improve English, especially speaking

PhD students (and academics in general) by nature look at problems in a scientific way. They are methodical and try to analyze an issue vigorously in order to find a solution. They probe, ask questions, and when results don’t come, they get frustrated.

Our advice, however, is to apply a different method when it comes to improving English speaking skills. Speaking English fluently is 90% about practice. Just like learning to dance Salsa, you have to get an intuitive feel of what is correct and what is incorrect when speaking a language. If your over analyze every mistake you make you will end up frustrated and extremely tired. So our recommendation is to find a native English speaking conversation partner and practice with them 2-3 times a week. You will be amazed by the results!