There is a common doubt in the minds of candidates that during the SSB, how important it is to be able to write and speak fluently in English. Well, first of all, one needs to understand the difference between “poor communication skills” and “weak in the ability to speak in English”.
Most of the time we ‘think’ that we are unable to be effective in group discussions because our spoken English is not so good or the others in the group did not give us a chance to speak. However, the actual reason is that we have less information about the subject being discussed and we feel handicapped and under-confident to participate.
During your SSB if you are able to contribute effectively, even in a mix of Hindi and English, provided your awareness level is high and the contents of your views are of a higher order, you will have no problems in clearing the SSB on this account.
Now that you know that the language of the services is English and all correspondence, formal interactions, professional discussions, wargaming, etc happens in English, it will be wise to improve your written and verbal expression of this global language. It goes without saying that basic working knowledge of English is a MUST for you to get recommended in SSB.
Now, let us begin by understanding how you should go about preparing yourself to improve your written and verbal English expression.
Naturally, to improve fluency in the English language, you will have to read and write as much as you can. I would recommend that, on a daily basis, prepare topics of common interests or current affairs topics from the newspaper or Olive Greens blogs, in your own words, stand in front of a mirror, and give a speech of 15-20 min to yourself. You could also record your voice and see for yourself, as to how effective your expression is.
Another thing that you could do on a daily basis, to improve your written expression, is to do some creative writing. Think of any good experiences of your life, which gave you happiness and satisfaction. Write them down in 3-4 pages and then read these again to improve the sentence formation, choosing better words and altering the syntax of some of the sentences, to bring about greater clarity of expression. This exercise will immensely help the flow of your thoughts and clarity of expression, especially while writing the psych dossier.
Everyday decide to learn 5-7 new, commonly used words from the newspapers/ magazines/ OG blogs after checking their meaning from the dictionary, note them down, and practice them in your day to day conversation and creative writing practice.
Read the newspaper “aloud” and record your voice, listen to it and try to improve your diction and delivery. A good way to improve your verbal expression is to read comics where the characters are in pictorial conversation with each other. Also, read informative magazines like India Today, Frontline, etc.
Watch English news channels, and other interesting channels like “Discovery”, etc. You could also watch English movies and programmes, with the aim to learn new words, expressions and manner of speech.
You could consider developing a hobby like “Diary writing” or write short stories/ articles on any topics that interest you. Also start thinking in English, as that will continuously keep happening and you will get more practice.
Last and the most effective way to improve your verbal expression and also to shed hesitation is by participating in more and more interactive sessions. Make a group of like-minded friends with similar difficulty and participate in GDs with them and resolve to converse only in English with each other.
Also, once you are here at Olive Greens Institute for training we will teach you the techniques of putting across your ideas with greater clarity and effectiveness by using a mix of Hindi and English during GDs and various other interactions.
All the best!!