help

hellen   Sun Sep 10, 2006 8:23 pm GMT
I need a help please. I have been in England for 8 years now. English is not my first language. I have been try to be fluent but it is very difficult for me ,when I start do conversation with people my mind get blank and I start speak like someone never speak the language before. Now I reach the final stage which is, cost me my job last week because my job involve with phone. My boss doesn’t like my accent and he said you are very nervous person so he wants a loud person and confident. So I don’t know what to do?
Deborah   Sun Sep 10, 2006 10:14 pm GMT
Have you taken classes that concentrate on conversation, rather than reading and writing?
Laura Braun   Mon Sep 11, 2006 12:04 am GMT
I have better advice which is called self confidence. If you lived in England for 8 years that means that you know pretty well grammatica construction and have base of vocabulary which help you to understand language.
First of all excange your hair style. If you are brunette, just make yourself blonde. Second forget about T-shirts, wear simple, but elegant clothes. Make the things which other can see, for example bring coffee to your couleagues. Give your boss smille and make to look yourself more confident. It's not the question with your accent, it's the question how do you feel about it. Forget about it. Some mistakes in english can make the language to sound even more sweet. Don't blush every time when you make a mistake. Wear only ladies shoes (forget about shoes with flat platform). If you don't make a progress that means that your boss is real asshole.
Laura Braun   Mon Sep 11, 2006 12:08 am GMT
when you are working on the telephone in fact you don't see the person who is speaking from the other side. That will make you to feel more confident. Imagine that you are someone else. Remove the shy from your face it won't help you. Just speak clearly and if you don't understand something say 'could you repeat that again please'. Your voice has to sound like a melody.
Joey   Mon Sep 11, 2006 1:04 am GMT
(when I start do conversation with people my mind get blank and I start speak like someone never speak the language before.)

When you say that you go blank I dought you do so in your first language right? It sound to me as if you are translating from your first language. If you think in English you will see the things will come to you much faster and quicker.
This can be easer said then done though but if you practice you will see it won't take you long before you will get it right.
Robin   Mon Sep 11, 2006 3:23 am GMT
Hi, There are classes in 'English as a Second Language', ESL: at Local Colleges of Further Education. A lot of people who have been in the UK for a long time, still speak English very badly.

A job on the phone is going to make a lot of demands on your language skills. I worked in a Call Centre, and it was not a very enjoyable experience.
Uriel   Mon Sep 11, 2006 3:45 am GMT
Hellen, it's not your accent -- it's your language skills and grammar that your boss needs you to work on.

<<I need a help please. I have been in England for 8 years now. English is not my first language. I have been try to be fluent but it is very difficult for me ,when I start do conversation with people my mind get blank and I start speak like someone never speak the language before. Now I reach the final stage which is, cost me my job last week because my job involve with phone. My boss doesn’t like my accent and he said you are very nervous person so he wants a loud person and confident. So I don’t know what to do? >>

Corrected version:

I need help, please. I have been in England for 8 years now. English is not my first language. I have been tryING to be fluent but it is very difficult for me; when I start CONVERSING with people my mind GOES blank and I start speakING like someone WHO HAS never SPOKEN the language before. Now I'VE reachED the final stage which is IT cost me my job last week because my job involveS WORKING ON THE phone. My boss doesn’t like my accent and he said you are A very nervous person, so he wants a loud, CONFIDENT person. So I don’t know what to do.

If you want a job that makes you deal with the public, I suggest really getting professional tutoring in your English skills. If you haven't become more fluent in 8 years, it may be that you developed some mistakes early on and have been reinforcing those mistakes ever since without being aware of them. This is a common pitfall, as most ordinary people are too polite or uncomfortable to point them out in ordinary conversation -- they let them slide, and you remain unaware of them. What you need is a classroom setting where an instructor can point those problem areas in your grammar out to you and retrain your speech habits. When you know you are speaking correctly, you will gain the confidence you need to stop being "nervous" and take on whatever job you like.