English phobia

Now-a-days students generally feel shy to speak in English even in front of their family members and friends. They feel that if they make any mistake, people will laugh at them. It is true to some extent. Some people laugh at others' mistakes when they speak English rather than correcting and encouraging them. It is universally true that we learn from our mistakes. English is the second language for many other education systems in our country. Now courses of higher studies in universities are in English. Students who are studying in Bangla medium at SSC and HSC levels, find it difficult to study all subjects in English when they go for higher education in local universities and more so when they go abroad. They also cannot speak English fluently as much as an English medium student does. It is a big problem for those who come from villages. But why do the students face such a problem? And what is the solution?
The fact is we do not practice English either in writing or verbally in our schools and colleges. Students are only given routine exercises and in this way are inadequately prepared for the future. These exercises may bring us A+ in academic life but they are insufficient for students to face real life situation. As a result, they develop a kind of phobia about writing or speaking English. One important element of this issue is grammatical error. Students need to practice more and more to write and speak English and it will be good for them if they make mistakes because they will be able to learn from their mistakes.
Watching English movies or TV serial series and reading English newspapers, articles, magazines will help them learn quickly and in a better way. Presentations in class rooms will help them more. If students work on learning English from the very beginning of their lives it is easier for them to cope up with situations in later life. Kids should watch English cartoons and in this way they will be able to learn quickly along side enjoying the movies. Getting a good job after graduation is not as easy as it seems and fluency in English is a must to qualify for a good employment.
There are students who can write well, but weak in verbal conversations. The only way to overcome this weakness is through speaking English more frequently.  In a nutshell, students need to develop their skills more to develop their career.

Tanzila Nazneen
Department of Business Administration,
East West University
tanzeelatonvi0@gmail.coom