The art of mastering a language

Updated on: Wednesday, December 29, 2010

There is little sense in telling that you know a certain language. There are two pertinent questions. What are the skills you have acquired in the language? What is the level of proficiency you have attained in each skill?

There are four basic skills – listening, speaking, reading, and writing. The LSRW skills are related to one another. The skills needed in different jobs may be different. Usually an interpreter has to emphasise on speaking skill, whereas a translator's forte is writing skill.

Imagine the matchless listening and speaking skills required for the job of an interpreter at a closed-door meeting of two Prime Ministers who do not share a common language of communication. The spontaneous translation at international conferences where different languages have equal status calls for considerable listening and speaking skills, as well as quick thinking and wide general knowledge.

There are government employees who are posted in turn to listen to overseas broadcasts round the clock and provide transcriptions for news service and for defence/ diplomatic purposes. Accuracy in both listening and writing are vital in the job. A person who carries out secret service for the country needs all the LSRW skills.

Listening: This involves the process of comprehension through listening to what is said by others. We should distinguish between hearing and listening. Hearing may be an idle process, whereas listening involves complex mental activities. You have to know the meaning of terms. You should follow the logic of what is heard. You have to link any new idea with whatever related ideas you have in mind. Listening is not just one skill. It has different elements such as recognising typical word-order patterns, keeping words in short-term memory, identifying key words, and guessing the meaning of words from the context.

If listening is effective, you will be able to express in your own words what you were told. Also, you will be able to answer questions on what you heard. You may say that listening involves receptive skill only, as when you listen to a radio broadcast or watch a television show. But in interactive situations as in face-to-face conversation or phone calls, you will have to show speaking skill as well.

Speaking: This is an area where you may experience considerable difficulty, as in developing a neutral accent free from the influence of your mother tongue. In a foreign language, there may be sounds that do not exist in your native tongue. You might have come across situations where MTI (Mother Tongue Influence) creates barriers in communication with overseas visitors who are natural speakers of English. Some lessons in basic phonetics may be required in developing the right accent and pronunciation in the foreign language you try to master. Tonal distinctions are important in conveying the right message through your words. As you would know, a great deal is usually conveyed through the tones, and not just the dictionary meaning of words. Choice of words and proper word order also help in easy communication through speaking. All said and done, your skills are effective if your listener easily gets the ideas you present.

Reading: Skill in reading is relatively easier to acquire than skill in speaking. You might have seen many of the employees in our offices easily read and understand letters or circulars in English, but many of them would fail miserably in speaking out effectively in English what they gathered from the text. If you ask them a question on what they have read, they would explain in a language that is a mix of English and the mother tongue. Reading is a receptive skill. You should focus on the various elements of reading skill, if you want to improve your reading. Developing your vocabulary, identifying key words and ideas, and skimming for main ideas, are of serious concern to a learner. Deciphering manuscript (hand-written matter) may sometimes prove to be an uphill task.

Writing: Good writing is a difficult area even for native speakers of the language. When we read simple passages written in a lucid style, we may feel that writing is easy. But when you try to write a readable passage, you will find that choosing appropriate words and putting them together in the best order are not easy tasks. Use the right spelling, punctuation, and grammar. Use effective words. Avoid ambiguity. Ensure quality, style, and readability. Pay attention to logical development of ideas and coherence of the text.

There are different types of tests to measure language proficiency. The style of the Language Proficiency Examinations (LPE) used by the United Nations to measure the written and spoken skills of its employees would illustrate a practical method for testing. The examinations are held in the six official languages of the United Nations: Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish.

There are two parts – oral and written. A candidate should secure at least 65 per cent marks each in the two parts.

Oral: An interview up to 15 minutes conducted by an expert. To preserve the anonymity of candidates and to ensure fairness in grading, the interview will be tape-recorded. The U.N. Headquarters will evaluate the taped interview on the basis of fluency, comprehension, correctness, and range of expression.

Written: A single session lasting 3 hours and 10 minutes. The written part consists of five segments. You have to answer multiple-choice questions.

Listening comprehension: 25 points, 40 minutes. A series of recorded texts followed by multiple-choice questions. You will hear each text twice and you may take notes

Reading comprehension: 30 points, 60 minutes. You have to read a number of passages and answer questions. Two questions after short passages and up to seven questions after long passages.

Vocabulary: 10 points, 15 minutes. Two types of questions, ten in each type. In the first type, you have to select the word which most logically and appropriately completes each sentence. In the second, you will choose the word closest in meaning to the underlined word in each sentence.

Grammar: 15 points, 25 minutes. You will be given thirty sets of sentences. One of the sentences in each set is incomplete. You are to select the word or words that best fit the context both from a syntactic and logical point of view.

Composition: 20 points, 50 minutes. You will be given two topics, related to work or personal experience. You will write at least 200 words on one of the topics. Your writing will be principally judged on the basis of your control of vocabulary and syntax, the coherence of your paragraphs and your range of expression.

Total 100 points 190 minutes

The art of mastering a language

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