Thursday, August 31, 2006

MUET Speaking (Paper 800/2) Tips

How to improve your English speaking skills?

Speak in English at every opportunity
Speak in English with your teachers and friends at school and speak in English with your parents and siblings at home. Grab any opportunity you have to speak in English.

Most Chinese native speakers are ashamed to speak in English because they think they cannot speak fluently compared to those English native speakers. In fact, the earlier you start to speak in English, the more fluent you can speak.

Think in English
You might be surprised that thinking in English actually helps you in speaking in English. Try to think or think aloud in English. It helps since you do not have to worry about the spelling error.

Again, thinking in English for non-English native speakers is sometimes very hard at the beginning. However, once you have started for a few days or weeks, you will get used to think in English.

Practice makes perfect. By following these effective tips, you should be able to speak in English confidently in your Malaysian University English Test (MUET).

Saturday, August 26, 2006

MUET Listening (Paper 800/1) Tips

How to improve your listening skills?

Listen to wide range of audio materials
Since the recorded texts in MUET may include dialogues, radio talk shows, etc, the more types of audio materials you have listened, the more prepared you are.

Listen to television news broadcasts
News broadcasts are very informative and up-to-date. Try to watch and listen to news broadcasts daily at regular time, this way you will be addicted to news broadcasts.

Listen to conversation in the movies
When watching movies, sitcoms or dramas, instead of reading the subtitles, you should listen to the conversation between the actors. If English is not your mother tongue, you may find it quite hard to start. Try to train yourself not to read the subtitles but listen carefully to what the actors are talking about in the movies.

Listen to radio talk shows
This is another effective way to boost your listening skill. Tune in to your favourite radio station and enjoy the talk shows.

Listen to podcasts available on the Internet
Similar to blog (weblog), podcast is something very new in the Web 2.0, even dictionaries haven’t coin these words. Download some podcasts on your preferred topics and enjoy them while upgrading your listening skill.