One cannot overemphasize the importance of effective
communication, however clichéd it might sound. Human beings are, after all,
social creatures and we cannot discount the sheer magnitude of interactions we
have with family, friends and even strangers. Furthermore, we come to realise that these interactions
throughout the course of our lives go on to define or even dictate the rest of
our lives.
I had never considered this in my youth, of course. What
need did one have for communication in primary school? We answered teacher's
questions, we answered parents' questions and communicated with each other via
a weird "single-word question," type language. For an instance,
"Let's go get some food from the canteen. " was transliterated into
"Food?" and so on. My parents still joke that they feared throughout
my primary school years that my speech would deteriorate into a series of
primitive grunts and clicks. But in those days, we didn't have a need for
sentence construction let alone the elimination of ambiguity in what we meant.
Me and my friends were on what is colloquially termed "the same
frequency".
My transit to secondary school however, changed all that
rapidly. My school emphasized the importance of effective communication and
prized oratorical skills as well as the ability to interact with our peers and
teachers in a clear, concise and unambiguous fashion. I had difficulty adapting
of course, coming from my days of barely comprehensible language. But the
school forced us via presentations, formal events and other meet and greet
sessions. We were expected to hold our own in conversations among not only
ourselves but with adults regarding any topic. It is said that on the steepest
learning curve, one acquires the most knowledge (voluntarily or not) and at
this stage of my life the adage held true. More than that though, was the
development of confidence in oneself.
As I moved through the various stages of academia I began to
comprehend the advantages of possessing effective communication. Those among my
peers who were able to confidently converse with others or present content in
front of large crowds began to stand out. Furthermore the confidence we had
gained allowed us to converse with people from any sort of background and
comprehend exactly what their motivations were. We made friends easily, mingled
in crowds easily and were able to interact with people in a satisfactory
fashion. CCA's and other social interaction based activities were made easier
on account of the skill we gain. Networking and other skill sets we acquired
allowed us to participate in things we would have never dreamed of considering.
I have seen first-hand the importance of effective
communication and world of opportunities it opened up was nothing to scoff at.
It is for this reason alone, more than any form of academic instruction that I
am forever grateful to my secondary school. The motto for Anglo-Chinese School
(Independent) [ACS(I)] was "The Best is yet to Be." I hope sincerely
that this will hold true in terms of my skill and knowledge regarding effective
communication.
Hahaha i liked the way you said for the primary school part, "grunts and clicks". what an interesting way you put it!
ReplyDeleteOh i remembered the secondary school days. The show-and-tell sessions and oral tests really create butterflies in my stomach feeling at that time. But i guess the secondary education really did prep us abit for our future!!
Hi Govin,
ReplyDeleteYour article is very interesting. Especially you point out how academic education help us to communicate more effectively. I just realized it after reading your article.
In the other hand, I think I am doing what you did in your primary school now, haha. That single word language part. Really hope my staying in Singapore can assist me to speak more effective.
Hey Govin!
ReplyDeleteI almost went to ACS! haha but sadly, I didn't as I lived too far away. Anyway, I think what you mentioned about the transition to secondary school really made a lot of sense. No one really bothers about proper language in primary school but as we grow older, our need to communicate ideas, thoughts and feelings make effective communication skills all the more necessary. Nice perspective on age-communication correlation.
Leon
Hi Dass,
ReplyDeleteVery comical blog post and I can't imagine you 'grunting', especially since the naidu bros are so eloquent. And I've got to agree that confidence enables you to communicate effectively and also allows you to interact with people easily. :D