{"id":14350,"date":"2015-06-23T14:40:20","date_gmt":"2015-06-23T14:40:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/keblog.demoapp.xyz\/?p=14350"},"modified":"2022-10-19T04:56:30","modified_gmt":"2022-10-19T04:56:30","slug":"call-center-applicants-how-tos-improving-your-english-speech","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/neo-blog.kalibrr.com\/blog\/call-center-applicants-how-tos-improving-your-english-speech","title":{"rendered":"Call Center Applicants How-to&#8217;s: Improving your English speech"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) industry in the Philippines is very accepting when it comes to hiring call center personnel. Compared to other fields, most call centers are open to employing anyone regardless of age, sex, and educational attainment as long as you have the basic skill required for the work: speaking English. Make no mistake, it\u2019s not the only skill needed but without it, you might as well consider another job. Another option is, not to give up and actually make an effort to improve your spoken English.<\/p>\n<p>We asked a Training Specialist from a BPO admissions training company, April Ibay, to help identify the most common problems of call center applicants. What\u2019s more, Ibay offers self-help tips to address these issues, backed up by her several years of experience in English as a Second Language (ESL) as a module developer for an ESL company, online teacher to Japanese students and English instructor in Thailand. So whether you are a newbie hoping to make it in the BPO world or a call center veteran in need of a tune-up, help yourself below!<\/p>\n<h2><\/h2>\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_26 counter-hierarchy\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\">TOPICS<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" style=\"display: none;\"><label for=\"item\" aria-label=\"Table of Content\"><i class=\"ez-toc-glyphicon ez-toc-icon-toggle\"><\/i><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\" id=\"item\"><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class=\"ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1\"><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/neo-blog.kalibrr.com\/blog\/call-center-applicants-how-tos-improving-your-english-speech\/#English-speaking_problems\" title=\"English-speaking problems\">English-speaking problems<\/a><\/li><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/neo-blog.kalibrr.com\/blog\/call-center-applicants-how-tos-improving-your-english-speech\/#Consonants\" title=\"Consonants\">Consonants<\/a><\/li><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/neo-blog.kalibrr.com\/blog\/call-center-applicants-how-tos-improving-your-english-speech\/#Vowels\" title=\"Vowels\">Vowels<\/a><\/li><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/neo-blog.kalibrr.com\/blog\/call-center-applicants-how-tos-improving-your-english-speech\/#Sound_Linking\" title=\"Sound Linking\">Sound Linking<\/a><\/li><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/neo-blog.kalibrr.com\/blog\/call-center-applicants-how-tos-improving-your-english-speech\/#Intonation\" title=\"Intonation\">Intonation<\/a><\/li><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/neo-blog.kalibrr.com\/blog\/call-center-applicants-how-tos-improving-your-english-speech\/#Sharpen_your_listening_skills\" title=\"Sharpen your listening skills. \">Sharpen your listening skills. <\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"English-speaking_problems\"><\/span><strong>English-speaking problems<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>When it comes to language, Ibay explains that the most prevalent issues with call center applicants mostly involve lapses in pronunciation and diction, which can be hard to unlearn, especially for speakers with a regional accent. Another problem area is grammar, especially subject-verb agreement and verb tenses. On top of these, applicants who have failed their interviews before, and those who are applying to call centers for the first time, also struggle with confidence issues and are intimidated by the interview process. (Read:\u00a0Call Center Applicants How-to&#8217;s: Improving your Attitude) For this article, our primary focus is the speech problems of call center applicants.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Consonants\"><\/span><strong>Consonants<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>According to Ibay, Filipinos are prone to interchanging the following sounds:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em>P\/F \u00a0&#8211;\u00a0<\/em>examples given, \u2018Philippines\u2019 gets pronounced as &#8216;Pilipins&#8217;; &#8216;Photographer&#8217; becomes &#8216;Potograper&#8217;, &#8216;of&#8217; becomes &#8216;op&#8217;<\/li>\n<li><em>Th (voiced)\/D &#8211;\u00a0<\/em>e.g,- &#8216;Mother&#8217; becomes &#8216;Moder&#8217;; &#8216;Together&#8217; becomes &#8216;Togeder&#8217;<\/li>\n<li><em>\u00a0Th (soft\/unvoiced)\/ T<\/em>\u00a0 \u00a0&#8211;\u00a0e.g., &#8216;something&#8217; becomes &#8216;someting&#8217;;&#8217;bath&#8217; becomes &#8216;bat&#8217;; &#8216;three&#8217; becomes &#8216;tree&#8217;<\/li>\n<li><em>B\/V<\/em>\u00a0 &#8211;\u00a0e.g.- &#8216;believe&#8217; becomes &#8216;belib&#8217;; &#8216;very&#8217; becomes &#8216;beri&#8217;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Vowels\"><\/span><strong>Vowels<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Our native language, Tagalog, only has five vowels: the \/a e i o u\/ we learned in Filipino class. In English, however, these vowels are pronounced in various ways, which the unused Pinoy tongue often have trouble with:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em>\u00a0short u\/ short a sounds &#8211;\u00a0<\/em>e.g.- &#8216;cut&#8217; becomes &#8216;cat&#8217;, &#8216;hut&#8217; becomes &#8216;hat&#8217;<\/li>\n<li><em>\u00a0short i\/ long e sounds\u00a0<\/em>&#8211; e.g., &#8216;bin&#8217; becomes &#8216;been&#8217;.<\/li>\n<li><em>short e (&#8216;eh&#8217;) becomes short i (&#8216;ih&#8217;)<\/em>\u00a0&#8211; e.g., &#8216;industry&#8217; becomes &#8216;endustree&#8217; (especially common for those with regional accents)<\/li>\n<li><em>short o\/ long o<\/em> &#8211; e.g.- &#8216;model&#8217; becomes &#8216;mow-del&#8217;<\/li>\n<li><em>short e (\u2018eh\u2019) becomes long a (\u2018ey\u2019)<\/em> \u2013 \u2018special\u2019 becomes &#8216;ispeyshal&#8217;<\/li>\n<li><em>schwa<\/em>\u00a0&#8211; the vowel sound in many lightly pronounced unaccented syllables in words of more than one syllable. It is sometimes signified by the pronunciation &#8220;uh&#8221; or symbolized by an upside-down rotated e. <a href=\"http:\/\/englishplus.com\/grammar\/00000383.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">A schwa sound can be represented by any vowel<\/a>&#8220;.)\u00a0e.g., the last syllable in the word &#8216;sugar&#8217; gets enunciated; so instead of saying &#8216;shu-guhr&#8217;; it becomes &#8216;shu-gAr&#8217; ; &#8216;available&#8217; becomes &#8216;aveylabol&#8217;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Sound_Linking\"><\/span><strong>Sound Linking<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>A common example used to illustrate this issue, as Ibay points out, is &#8220;May I have a cup of coffee, please?&#8221; In most cases, call center applicants would enunciate each word, resulting in a statement that sounds rather choppy instead of linking the sounds together for a more natural flow to the sentence. If spelled out phonetically, the sentence should sound like: &#8216;Mayyai havuh cupov coffee please?\u2019<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Intonation\"><\/span><strong>Intonation<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>The usual error here, Ibay says, is when declarative statements are said like a question. (i.e,- have a rising intonation towards the end of the statement) For example: &#8220;I worked as a service crew in Jollibee.&#8221; sounds like &#8220;I worked as a service crew in Jollibee?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Self-help tips:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Call center trainees usually undergo two weeks of speech and other soft skills trainings. That time, however, is not enough to unlearn what Ibay calls \u201cfossilized\u201d errors \u2013 those that you have developed over your lifetime. Language is a habit, she explains, so try as much as you can to study and practice outside of formal training. She suggests doing the following: <em>Befriend your dictionary. <\/em>Apart from giving the definition, the handy-dandy wordbook also has a pronunciation guide. Online dictionaries even have an audio clip that would let you listen to how the word is pronounced. <em>\u00a0If you don&#8217;t have an online\/electronic dictionary, familiarize yourself with the International Phonemic Alphabet (IPA).<\/em> A simpler version can be found in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.englishclub.com\/pronunciation\/phonemic-chart.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Learning the IPA will help you make sense of the pronunciation guide that you usually find beside the word. <em>Record yourself. <\/em>Most smartphones have a voice recording function. Listen to and\/or record a native speaker, then try to imitate how he\/she says something. After recording your own voice, listen to both statements again (the native speaker&#8217;s and the one that you&#8217;ve recorded) and evaluate how well you&#8217;ve done.<\/p>\n<p>Try doing this with short phrases and sentences first, and then progress to whole paragraphs and short passages. Do this for at least 10 minutes every day and make note of the improvements you make. You can also use the voice recorder on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kalibrr.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Kalibrr<\/a>. <em>Check out these websites that can help regarding pronunciation and intonation.<\/em><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/rachelsenglish.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Rachel&#8217;s English<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/worldservice\/learningenglish\/grammar\/pron\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">BBC Learning English<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.englishclub.com\/pronunciation\/linking.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">English Club: On linking consonant to vowel, and vowel to vowel<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.manythings.org\/lar\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Daily Pronunciation Practice<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Sharpen_your_listening_skills\"><\/span><em>Sharpen your listening skills. <\/em><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Expose yourself to English shows, listen to English music. Learning doesn&#8217;t have to be a chore. You can choose stuff that interests you and try building up from there. Following the above tips to improve your English can increase your chances of landing that call center job you\u2019ve been vying for. But remember, this is only the first problem area of call center applicants.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>For more self-help advice, check out these tips to improve your <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kalibrr.com\/advice\/2015\/06\/call-center-applicants-tos-improving-grammar\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">grammar<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kalibrr.com\/advice\/2015\/06\/call-center-applicants-how-to-improving-your-learning-attitude\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">build your confidence.<\/a> If you have more questions, let us know in the comments below.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) industry in the Philippines is very accepting when it comes to hiring call center personnel. Compared to other fields, most call centers are open to employing anyone regardless of age, sex, and educational attainment as long as you have the basic skill required for the work: speaking English. Make no [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":14354,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/neo-blog.kalibrr.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14350"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/neo-blog.kalibrr.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/neo-blog.kalibrr.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neo-blog.kalibrr.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neo-blog.kalibrr.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14350"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/neo-blog.kalibrr.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14350\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neo-blog.kalibrr.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14354"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/neo-blog.kalibrr.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14350"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neo-blog.kalibrr.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14350"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neo-blog.kalibrr.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14350"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}