Learning a language? Speak it like you're playing a video game | Marianna Pascal | TEDxPenangRoad (2)

Someone is talking to you, and you're so busy thinking

about how you're going to respond and express yourself correctly,

you don't actually hear what the other person said.

And I can see a lot of nodding in the audience.

The second thing to go is your speaking.

Your mind sort of shuts down,

and that vocabulary you do know just disappears,

and the words don't come out.

The third thing to go is your confidence.

The worst thing about this is

you may only be [un]confident because you cannot express yourself clearly,

but to the person talking to you,

they may misunderstand this

as a lack of confidence in your ability to do the job, to perform.

So if you want to speak English like Faizal with that great confidence,

here's the one thing that you can do.

When you speak, don't focus on yourself.

Focus on the other person and the result you want to achieve.

Imagine a next generation of Malaysians,

all with that wonderful confidence in communication that Faizal has,

at any level of English.

Because let's remember

that English today is not an art to be mastered,

it's just a tool to use to get a result.

And that tool belongs to you.

Thank you.

(Applause)