Is it possible to get a job even if you don’t know English? Reasons why Malaysian kids must learn English

Parent’s name: Shermyn

Child’s name: Sky, 7 years old

I remember the first time I was recruited in an American factory in Penang. I was recruited by a Chinese engineer, and I was so nervous that I couldn’t speak fluent English. However, I was fortunate enough to be accepted. It was because my job only required me to communicate with my colleagues in Malay and Mandarin. I always appreciated my supervisor who was not only fluent in English but was also able to conduct conference calls with American companies. At that time, I knew that I had to improve my English to be able to communicate with foreigners if I wanted to go to the next level.

In our time, we could get a job even if we didn’t know English, so why do we have to give our children a good English education now? Nowadays, we are in the age of technology and a lot of information sources are in English. Comparing the difference between the requirements of social work in the past and those of today, education nowadays has emphasised the importance for children to learn English. If we do not have a good command of English, we will be lagging behind others in society.

The starting line is different

Back in the older days, I didn’t learn my multiplication tables until I was in the 3rd grade. Nowadays, children are learning to memorise their multiplication tables in kindergarten. Just look at the skyscrapers in Kuala Lumpur, and you can see that the pace of society and people is accelerating and progressing all the time. Today’s education is also promoting Project-Based Learning (also known as thematic learning). Every subject is becoming more and more challenging, especially English. The theme of my last 51Talk class was “Let’s Build a Skyscraper! Therefore, I went on a trip to Kuala Lumpur with Sky to tie in with the theme. 51Talk’s life-like themes can be used as PBL learning projects. This enables him to gain a deeper understanding of what he is learning in the classroom.

Current job requirements

In the past, the only qualification was SPM, but nowadays many people have a Diploma or above. This also means that there are more knowledgeable people. English is also the most commonly spoken language in the world. It plays a very important role in education and business, especially in international organizations where English is one of the workplace languages. When children go to work in society, the content of presentations and letters required at work will be in English, presentations will require the ability to speak English, and international teleconferences will require the ability to listen to English. As a result, a lot of job vacancies require English, and opportunities are even reserved for those who can speak English.

Therefore, as parents, we often communicate with parents of our child’s classmates on Whatsapp Parents Group about our child’s English learning, including where to go for tuition and which teacher is particularly good. …… Parents around me and I have let our children go to numerous tuition centres, and we have come up with the conclusion that:[ Nowadays The way of learning in tuition centres is not really able to make children learn a language well.]

Until I let my child try 51Talk, my child’s English improved very quickly. I introduced the course to the parents in my parents’ group and asked them to try 51Talk for their children, and we as a parents especially like to let our children take 51Talk because we don’t have to urge them to do so, but they ask for lessons on their own initiative!

It’s amazing, right? Before I gave my child 51Talk, I never thought that my child would be pestering me to arrange English lessons for him every day.

51Talk’s 1-to-1 teaching method allows the foreign teacher to concentrate 100% on guiding Sky in the lesson. The foreign teacher can correct Sky on the spot when he is speaking English, including where the grammar is wrong, the pronunciation is not accurate, etc. In addition, 51Talk’s teaching materials are very vivid and attractive, and the animations and films are more interesting than the boring textbooks. In addition, the teaching materials of 51Talk are also very vivid and lovely, and the interesting animations and films can attract children’s attention more than the boring textbooks. Apart from lessons, I don’t need to worry about my child’s revision. Because every lesson in 51Talk App has a preview and review for children to complete on their own. At the same time, every 4 lessons will have a review 51talk Kids English course, in which the foreign teacher will take the child to review what he/she has learnt in the previous lessons.

As a result, Sky is mastering more and more English vocabulary, using more and more accurate grammar and pronunciation. Now our parent group often shares videos of their children taking 51Talk and their Unit Test results. It’s very gratifying for us parents to see our Malaysian children’s English getting better and better.

A good grade in English is not the same as speaking good English

Can you believe that Sky has never taken a test until now? For me, mastering the skill of answering the question paper will enable me to score in the exam. Therefore, grades only indicate that we have mastered the skills of answering question papers. And I personally prefer independent learning, just like 51Talk’s online English courses for kids, so I didn’t send my kids to tuition classes. As far as I know, the approach of many tuition classes will be more focused on exams. Normally, they will make the child keep practising similar exercises based on the format of the exam. Through repetitive exercises, the child will be able to cope with the exam questions when he/she sees similar topics. I am convinced that a lifestyle approach to learning is the only way to keep the knowledge in the mind forever.

This time, the course is Review, which allows your child to review the topics they have previously covered and reinforce their knowledge. 51Talk builds a good foundation of English and also enables each child to speak a lot of English. This boosts your child’s confidence and allows them to communicate with foreigners with no barriers.