Speaking Series #2

SPEAKING FOR Academic PURPOSES

Robi Soma, M.Pd

Universitas Jambi May 2023
Contractions and Sound Changes

Group 1
1. Gonna ___a. want to
2. Don’no ___ b. going to
3. Wanna ___ c. don’t know

Group 2
4. Hafta ___ a. give me
5. Gimme ___ b. has to
6. Hasta ___ c. have to
Group 3
1. can’tcha ___ a. won’t you
2. Don’cha ___ b. can’t you
3. Won’tcha ___ c. what (are) you/what (do) you
4. Whatcha ___ d. don’t you

Group 4
5. Didja ___ a. should you
6. Hadja ___ b. would you
7. Couldja ___ c. had you
8. Wouldja ___ d. did you
9. Shouldja ___ e. could you
Group 5
1. Whydja ___ a. where did you
2. Wheredja ___ b. who did you
3. Whendja ___ c. why did you
4. Whodja ___ d. how did you
5. Howdja ___ e. when did you
Pronunciation Practice

Full Form Contracted Form with sound changes

1. I have to work on Saturday. 1. I hafta work on Saturday.
2. I will meet you after class. 2. I’ll meetcha after class.
3. We are going to study at the lab. 3. We’re gonna study at the lab.
4. He has to finish his homework. 4. He hasta finish his homework.
Common mistakes we make while speaking English

English is a global language, thus knowing how to speak English

correctly can help you in various aspects of your life. Since we’re not
the native speakers, there are some common mistakes that we make
whenever conversing in English. We’ve listed down 8 common
mistakes made by us while we speak.
Mistake #1

Use of double negative. Since most of the us try to translate a

sentence to English from our native language, thus, we end up
adding double negative while speaking out. This is wrong.
For example:
We say - “I don’t know nothing.”, this means that we know something,
but the correct one is
Correct - “I don’t know anything.”
Mistake #2

Use of the wrong tense. Many of us have the tendency to use the

wrong tense.
For example:
We say - “I didn’t cried when I saw the movie.” Here the word didn’t
is never followed by a past tense verb. So, the correct one is
Correct - “I didn’t cry when I saw the movie.”
Mistake #3

Use of two comparatives/superlatives together. A sentence must not

have two superlatives or comparatives together.
For example:
We say - “This could never have turned out to be more better.” Here,
better is the comparative of the adjective good and more is the
comparative to the adjective much. Thus, the correct one is
Correct - “This could never have turned out to be better.”
Mistake #4

Me v/s I. Clear it in your mind that “I” is the subject and “me” is the
object. We usually confuse between the two.
We say - “They are going to send my wife and I a package.” Here, if
we remove the person and preceding the I. It would sound; “They are
going to send I a package.” This is wrong!
Correct - “They are going to send me a package.”
Similarly, if we say “Jim and me are going to the gym.” what’s wrong
here? When we remove Jim and the sentence becomes “Me am going
to the gym”. This is also wrong. The correct one is
Correct - “Jim and I are going to the gym.”
Mistake #5
Say v/s tell. While we speak in English, most of use make mistake differentiating
between say and tell. For example:
First with “Say”
We say - “Say me your name.” Here, “say” is not the appropriate word because it is
basically used to express something in words. Whereas, the sentence demands to say
something. The correction done is as follows:
Correct - “Tell me your name.”
Now, with “Tell”
We say - “So I told what a good idea.” Told is the inappropriate word, because here,
the sentence wants to express the phrase “what a good idea”. So, the correct one here
is:  
Correct - “So I said what a good idea.”
Mistake #6

Fewer v/s less. The word fewer is only used for items that can be
counted, whereas less is used for the uncountable. For example:
We say - “Today, the market has less people.”
Correct - “Today, the market has fewer people.”
Mistake #7

Using ‘s’ unnecessarily after every word. This is a very common

mistake we usually make.
For example:
We say - “Unless you gets your act right.” This is wrong! Only if you
is replaced by he/she and your is replaced by his/her. The correct
sentence is:
Correct - “Unless you get your act right.”
Mistake #8

Does v/s do. “Does” is used for the singular form of the

subject, while “do” is used to indicate the plural form of the
subject.
We say - “Why does they bother you a lot.”
Correct - “Why do they bother you a lot.”
Mistake #9

Blunder and mistake. Another common mistake we make

while speaking is mixing blunder and mistake. Blunder is the
synonym for mistake, thus it cannot be used together. For
example:
We say - “It was a blunder mistake”
Correct - “It was a blunder”, or “it was a mistake.”
Mistake #10

Cope up v/s cope with. It is a common mistake that people

make while speaking. This is a common mistake that we
usually make. We generally use both cope up and with
together.
We say- “let’s cope up with the classmates.”
Correct- “Cope with the classmates”
Mistake #11

Revert back/ reply back and revert/reply. This mistake is

mostly made by all of us. We always use ‘revert back.’
However, meaning of both the words are similar.
We say- “Please revert back or reply back to the mail.”
Correct- “Please revert or reply to the mail.”
High level mistakes
Indonesian students often use the word “make” in their both
writing and speaking for the phrases which have their own
expressions
Examples:
“make the students familiar with”  “familiarize the students
with”
“make the situation good for working”  “promote a conducive
working situation”
“make us want to learn more”  “encourages us to learn
more”
Continue …..

Sometimes, students use the word: USE in their sentences.

Examples:
“ Use language which is easy to understand”  “Use simple
language”/”Simplify the language”
What foreigners’ thought on their minds

Most Indonesian people often misunderstand about what is said by the

British people. It is due to the lack of knowledge about the expressions
the British people use in their daily conversation. Therefore,
Indonesian people fail to catch what is really meant by the British
people through their expression(s).

Let’s take a look at the following examples:

EXPRESSION #1

What the British say : “I hear what you say”

What the British mean : I disagree and do not want to discuss it
further
What others understand: He accepts my point of view.
EXPRESSION #2

What the British say : “With the greatest respect”

What the British mean : I think you are an idiot
What others understand : He is listening to me
EXPRESSION #3

What the British say : “That’s not bad”

What the British mean : That’s good
What others understand : That’s poor
EXPRESSION #4

What the British say : “That is a very brave proposal”

What the British mean : You are insane
What others understand : He thinks I have courage
EXPRESSION #5

What the British say : “Quite good”

What the British mean : A bit disappointing
What others understand : Quite good
EXPRESSION #6

What the British say : “Very interesting”

What the British mean : That is clearly nonsense
What others understand : They are impressed
EXPRESSION #7

What the British say : “I would suggest …..”

What the British mean : Do it or be prepared to justify yourself
What others understand : Think about the idea, but do what you
like
EXPRESSION #8

What the British say : “Oh, incidentally/by the way”

What the British mean : The primary purpose of our
discussion is …..
What others understand : That is not very important
EXPRESSION #9

What the British say : “I was a bit disappointed that…”

What the British mean : I am annoyed that
What others understand : It doesn’t really matter
EXPRESSION #10

What the British say : “I’ll bear it in mind”

What the British mean : I’ve forgotten it already
What others understand : They will probably do it
EXPRESSION #11

What the British say : “I’m sure it’s my fault”

What the British mean : It’s your fault
What others understand : Why do they think it was their fault?
EXPRESSION #12

What the British say : “You must come for dinner”

What the British mean : It’s not an invitation, I’m just
being polite
What others understand : I will get an invitation soon
EXPRESSION #13

What the British say : “I almost agree”

What the British mean : I don’t agree at all
What others understand : He’s not far from agreement
EXPRESSION #14

What the British say : “I only have a few minor

comments”
What the British mean : Please re-write completely
What others understand : He has found a new typos
EXPRESSION #15

What the British say : “Could we consider some other

options?”
What the British mean : I don’t like your idea
What others understand : They have not yet decided
Tips for learning SPEAKING

1. Talk to yourself more or talk to your friend(s) who has/have good

English.
2. Record your talk and ask your friends to give comments. Use 5W1H
(What, Who, When, Where, Why, How) pattern.
3. Read a lot of information from mass media and listen to English
news.
4. After you get the current topic or issue, explain it in English by
using: PACK
What is PACK?
P  Pernyataan (statement) in one sentence.
E.g. I disagree with illegal logging.
A  Alasan (reason)
E.g. As we know that illegal logging will destroy the ecosystem and
destroy the forest and it also gives bad impact to everyone’s life…..
C  Contoh (examples)
E.g. for instance: flood, landslide, and other natural disasters.
K  Kesimpulan (conclusion)
E.g. To sum up, illegal logging brings long life effect on human life not
only for this generation but also future generation.
Topics for discussion
1. Smoking is a bad habit
2. Cheating in exams is a bad habit
3. Early marriage is good for teenagers
4. Mastering a foreign language is a must nowadays
5. Getting up early is good for your health
6. Career is more important than marriage
7. Using headphones has good effects on our hearing
8. Cutting class is a good habit
9. Teachers should not practice favoritism among students
10. Skipping breakfast is a healthy habit
11. Baby abortion
12. Bullying on other people
13. Students’ brawl
14. Criticizing people on their faults
15. The capital city moved to Kalimantan
16. The Communist party has no right to live in Indonesia
17. Currency is converted into Dinar and Dirham
18. Kids bullying
19. The limitation of plastic bag
20. Game online subject at school
21. Full day school
22. Boarding school
23. Family planning
24. Debating between religions
25. English subject is reduced at schools
26. Religion subject is eliminated at schools
27. English is the second language in Indonesia
28. Entrepreneur subject in universities
29. Two lecturers teach in a class at the same time
30. Liquor factory is closed down
31. Using explosive in fishing
Thank you!