Use the Language Right

I was invited to serve as the Language Evaluator by President Gordon Chu, Taipei City Government (TCG) Toastmasters Club, yesterday evening, the 24th of July. As a Taipei citizen, I felt honored that I could do something for the city government employees to hone their English language skills. In return, I benefited from the golden opportunity to listen to a array of eloquent speakers, Vic Row, Rita Hsu, Virginia Yuan and Chao Huang, at Room 406, Taipei City Hall.

It has been quite a while since I started visiting different Toastmasters clubs in Taipei. I am happy to meet with dynamic and enthusiastic members in the big extended Toastmasters family. Luckily and gradually, I become a professional Toastmasters of the Evening, Language Evaluator, Speech Contest Judge. While developing my sensitive ears, I make a bunch of buddies in Toastmasters.

I am not a native speaker of English. I started learning English when I was a 7th grader (Junior High School) like most students in Taiwan in the 60's. I improved a great deal of my English proficiency when I studied at the graduate school of LSU Medical Center in New Orleans for three years. Returning to Taiwan, I've kept using English in Toastmasters. That's where I acquire the essence and spirit of English language for the past twenty years.

No doubt we don't have the English environment in our everyday life in Taipei. People can use Mandarin only from dawn till dusk in the office and at home. English is supplemental, not essential. But, we live in the 21st century. We are equipped with all means of telecommunication power to build our own language learning environment. We can learn Swahili in Taiwan if we are determined, let alone English, the most powerful language in the world scientifically, financially, culturally, and politically.

Take Toastmasters for example, more than half of our members are non-native speakers of English in the world. Our Incumbent International President Johnny Uy, DTM is from the Philippines. He uses the language better than many native speakers. It is not difficult to imagine how hard he is still disciplining himself to advance his language skills. Use it or lose it. The more often we use the language, the better we can make friends with it.

Toastmasters is a good learning environment, in communication and leadership skills, on top of that, in the usage of English language. In addition to the club meetings, the Toastmaster Magazine is a valuable source for us to pick up the right usage of the language. Don't shelf the monthly flow of new knowledge of the Toastmasters language. If every Toastmaster in Taiwan can read and study the Toastmaster Magazine from cover to cover, I believe we not only can become a better Toastmaster but also a better English speaker.

Why not take the initiative to build a Toastmaster Magazine Reading Group in your club? Spend one or two hours a month with your group members to discuss the articles in the magazine. Apply all the words, phrases, sentences, articles, concepts from the magazine. One small step at a time today, we shall impress ourselves with our giant achievement tomorrow. Sherry