As a non-native English speaker, public speaking is doubly challenging. Not only do I face all of the stresses associated with standing in front of a crowd, but I also need to mentally translate every single thought from Chinese to English prior to speaking. The cognitive load sometimes proves to be extremely difficult. Even while practicing with my teammates, I tend to tense up, overthink my ideas, and sound unnatural.
After one dry run, one of my teammates, sensing my apprehension, said, “Harper, don’t worry so much about your English skills; we just need to present the data to the client.” My teammate was right. I didn’t need to use high-level English to deliver our team’s message. I simply needed to be clear and concise.
Still, though, I wondered how my fellow international students acquired their mastery of the English language. How did they make it look so easy? I decided to poll some of my peers to determine which aspects of language most English learners focused on: speaking, listening, or writing.
This survey got responses from 30 students. Figure 1 shows where our respondents are from, giving us an idea of the group.
Figure. 1: Nationality demographics of responders
After gaining insights into the demographics of our survey respondents, I dove deeper into their language learning experiences. Figure 2, constructed from responses to the question ‘Do you remember how you began learning English?’ offers a word cloud that shows different methods employed by individuals in starting their English learning journey. Words like books, reading, and school were prominent. This tells me that reading English books and going to school is common for learning English.
Figure 2: Word cloud of the way people started learning English
Let’s now explore the relationship between the age at which individuals embarked on their English learning journey and their preferences.
Notably, in Figure 3, a significant 61.5% of respondents began between ages 1 and 3, while 17.9% started between ages 4 and 7. The percentage of respondents for the age 8-11 category was 10.3%, which was the same as the greater than 11 category.
Figure 3: Ages participants began learning English
Expanding on this idea, let’s take a look at Figure 4. It reveals something interesting: people who began learning English between ages 1 and 3 tend to prefer speaking English. This discovery lines up with what we’ve learned from established research. It confirms that starting early often means a better understanding of the language and being better at speaking the language.
Figure 4: Preference for English by age when started learning English
Lastly, I asked for advice on learning English. Figure 5 shows the most common suggestions, with words like Reading and Books standing out, which is highly related to Figure 2. This tells us that reading a lot and practicing is important for learning a language.
Figure. 5: Word cloud of English learning recommendations
As I look forward to more effective communication in future teamwork, I’ll remember that reading is key. The data I gathered shows that sometimes simplicity is the best way to explain complex ideas, especially when it comes to learning a language.
Columnist: Harper Wang