People usually talk about learning English. So, how about learning Vietnamese? I used to be very bad at Vietnamese, although I'm a native speaker. I just focused on learning mathematics, chemistry, and physics in high school. It was my tunnel vision to ignore other subjects related to Vietnamese. Now, I still need to improve my mother tongue every single day. I will tell you why.
1, The importance of using Vietnamese fluently
When I was in university, I had to work in a group on every subject. And I realized that it was tough for me to make people understand my ideas quickly. I had limited Vietnamese words and what I said was primarily unlogical. That was the reason why my group members often ignored my thoughts. It was the first time I knew something was wrong with my Vietnamese.
When I started my professional working journey at my first company, I had to do a lot of presentations, reports, and emails to my manager and stakeholders. Once again, the ability to communicate well in Vietnamese was so essential. I must know how to make things done. But I must also know how to show my results to others. That was when I had to use both my written and verbal language skills.
In my daily life, I have many conversations with my family, friends, and even strangers using Vietnamese because I live in Vietnam. I realize that there are many times that I hurt people because I use the wrong words. That makes me reflect on my language ability. I conclude that I must practice my Vietnamese, although I'm a native speaker.
2, Learning Vietnamese is a must
I start with my writing skills. I write every day about any topics that I can think about. When I write things down, I have enough time to think about my words and my ideas and try to make things logical. On top of that, I signed up for several writing courses on Skillshare recently and applied some excellent methods to my notes. That's one of the reasons why my writing ability gets better day by day. And I get positive feedback from my readers.
Learning how to write helps me a lot in how I speak. But for me, speaking is not enough, and I have to learn how to ask good questions because I believe that asking them can take me to discovery.
Reading always plays an important part in my life. Nowadays, I don't just read books. I also read stuff on social media, see how people make exciting conversations, and then learn from them.
Listening seems easy, but It's not. If I use my phone while someone talks to me, it's so rude. For me, listening is an important skill. And the important is, how can I listen to and understand people's ideas quickly? It might be a complex skill to practice.
3, It's an art to talk gently and politely
When I reread my chat conversations and emails some years ago, OMG, I was a disaster. I made spelling mistakes, and talked rudely, and so on. The "Helen" you have seen so far has been practiced.
Some people make me feel happy and ready to help them because the way they talk is so gentle and polite. I think it's an art. That's why I always admire people who have good language ability. They might practice their skills a lot, and I think they are experienced people.
To sum up, I just want to say that we use Vietnamese daily, and sometimes we take it for granted. Even though we are native speakers, Vietnamese is in our blood. There is still room to learn how to use this language effectively. It seems easy but using it as a professional. It's more complicated than I thought. In my case, I'm still working on my language and improving it daily. It takes me so much effort, but I believe It will be worth it in the long run.
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