So you feel that you struggle sometimes to express yourself in English, right? Well imagine the intensity of the struggle that Asha Khemka, OBE(Order of the British Empire) had to face when she moved from a small town in Bihar, India to England in back in the 1970’s. In those days it was unthinkable for that someone from Bihar learns English by watching TV and yet here is a lady who did it and became so successful. Read on to find how you can do it too.
The Indian province of Bihar although very rich in natural resources suffers from a lack of economic and social development. Even though one regularly finds people from Bihar doing exceedingly well in various fields especially in civil services yet the education standards in the state are not up to the mark. The English proficiency levels of young adults in Bihar are low which constrains their productivity and employability. In such a scenario it is imperative that the professional class of Bihar learns English and projects a new image of the state to attract employers.
Coming from such humble background Asha knew next to no English and had spent the better part of her life managing her house and her family as her mother passed away when she was just 12 years old. She faced the biggest test of her life on landing in England with her husband and children. The test of being able to learn and master English as fast as possible. And she did it in a way that few Biharis do. Usually Bihar learns English by reading grammar books and more grammar books. But then grammar books can get daunting.
Is that your challenge too? Well then read on to find out what this lady did to leap up from such humble origins and rise to such dizzying heights of success that she was awarded the highest civilian honor by her majesty the Queen of England.
She learned most of her initial English by watching the programs that her kids used to watch on TV! Don’t believe it? Well you can watch her own speech and verify. Check the video below:
How to improve spoken English by watching children’s programs
- Children’s animation series like Paw Petrol, Rusty Rivets, Dora, Mickey Mouse adventures offer a wonderful opportunity to English learners to expose themselves to natural English conversations.
- English learning or for that matter learning any language is best done by observing good speakers of the language and then copying them. Good speakers are not the ones who speak very fast or who use difficult expressions. Good speakers are the ones who speak slowly but effectively and who use simple but appropriate expressions. This is usually always the case in children’s programs.
- Watching children’s programs in English also has a wonderful indirect benefit for your quest to improve your English. It gives you the opportunity to engage in discussions with young kids in your home or neighborhood about these programs. And trust me at the initial stages the best way to practice whatever English you have learned is to do it by speaking with children because they are more patient and they do not judge you on each mistake you make in your use of English. (In case you need any help with basic English grammar feel free use our Free English Grammar Course)
So what are you waiting for? Go ahead and subscribe to those cartoon channels on your cable TV and even those youtube channels for animated series for children.