I don’t need to start thinking about how effective I am at communicating at a professional level before I can conclude that my communication skills need improvement. Already in my everyday social life, I often find myself in situations where is misunderstandings and confusion due to poor communication, causing me (and the other party involved) much needless irritation or frustration.
Boo, to me!
They say students in Engineering aren’t as vocal or eloquent as those in the Arts… Such sweeping statements should seriously be condemned, but honestly (and embarrassingly) for me, it is true. My friends often laugh at me (jokingly, of course) being so animated because I like to use a lot of sound effects and gestures when I talk about something.
“… then it tiewwwww and after that chibabooh! …”
The underlying explanation is that I always seem to somehow be unable to express my thoughts and intentions in words.
Boo, to me!
While communication has the non-verbal aspect to it, verbal communication is crucial for good communication. I mean, in social settings with friends, my manner of communication is OK, but I can’t imagine tiewww-ing and chibabooh-ing to my project supervisor or my future boss. The message that I would have like to bring across just won’t be appropriate or credible.
Boo, to me!
With my FYP at hand and one year to graduation, it may have been much easier to choose a module that is less demanding in workload. But upon reading the synopsis of this module, (as first ‘advertised’ to me in our NUS mail) I thought it would be really useful to acquire effective communication skills “…in writing and orally” (as stated in the module synopsis).
Yay, to me!
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ReplyDeleteYour "tiewwwww"-ing "chibabooh"-ing just reminded me of BattleStar Galactica that i sat at universal studios last week(its a super fun ride!). All engineers in class, the onus is on us to prove those stereotypes wrong! If your friends ever tell you to stop "chibabooh"-ing, you can jokingly tell them that Onomatopoeia is a legitimate linguistic device :D
ReplyDeletePS. the "advertisement" email got my attention too! Brad makes one heck of a sales pitch doesn't he?
Not only do people talk about the Engineering students for not being eloquent, Science students are also one of them too. We are often said to be very technical, always chronological.
ReplyDeleteI had to write a personal statement for my Ecology module and the professor had to remind all of us not to number our statement (For eg, No.1 Why I choose Ecology; No.2 What I expect to learn). All of us laughed.
I agree that many of us could have chosen a module that is less demanding in workload. But at the end of the day, this is one module that is really going to help us improve ourselves and prepare ourselves for a real working environment. Being from engineering faculty, most of our classes are almost non-interactive. This class will force us to speak up, speak out and write professionally- and these skills can only be improved with correct practice.
ReplyDeleteEric: Yeah that is our ES2007S Tutor for us! Anyway, the classmate in your monday joke post is me right?! Hahaha.
ReplyDeleteKlara: Very true! But I guess it depends on who our audience is also and being technical has its advantages too. For me, I think I prefer things in general to be systematic because I find it more clear and concise, easier to understand!
I thought the part about the “… then it tiewww-ing and after that chibabooh! …” was really cute! (and I think many of us are still guilty of that XD). Maybe what we can do is associate 'fixed phrases' to common sounds we make? 'Tiewww-ing' can be like 'firing lasers' and 'chibabooh' can be 'a massive explosion'? Haha, so before maybe we wont be THAT tempted to make the sounds out of habit and try to use these words? Just my two cents worth :)
ReplyDelete*PS: I was also persuaded by Brad's email to take E2007S :O. Maybe after this module, we all can write persuasive emails like him!*
Thanks, Noelle, for this self-critical, entertaining post. The way you have organized it -- with the "boo to me" segments and the "yay to me" segment -- is very inventive. You keep your ideas well focused via that format and the specific examples.
ReplyDeleteI also appreciate the humor, although for the non-Singaproeans like me, it might have helped if you had explained your phrase: "...then it tiewwwww and after that chibabooh!" Is that just yours, or is that Singlish?
In short, this sees to be a fine justification for your taking this course.