Communication skills enable growth & mental health!

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Being able to express improves self-image and imparts confidence in kids.

Communication skills training is imperative for the young ones for numerous reasons. While better communication skills help in every field, when it comes to mental health, the ability to communicate effectively has quite a few advantages. For a growing kid, self-image and confidence are vital ingredients of development and these elements are strongly linked to the child’s ability to effectively communicate in his / her environment. Thus, when it comes to communication skills training, special attention from the very start is a mandate.

Communication gaps & mental health

It seems natural that kids talk and convey their message; so what is the whole fuss about communication skills? Well yes, kids talk and they try to send out the message, but the aspect that demands attention is if they are actually able to convey the right message, comprehend what is being said and what happens if they are not!

To understand better, take the case of an infant. The baby is too young to use words or sign language and thus resorts to crying whenever anything is needed. Parents eventually get accustomed to these signs and the baby’s schedule and thus comply as per their understanding to satisfy the baby. Eventually, this child is expected to make use of spoken words and adequate sentences to express. The growth seems natural and perhaps in the safety of the home environment and in the language used at home, kid is able to convey the thoughts.

However, as the kid grows and moves out into the real world, things change quite rapidly. From physical surroundings to people, from language to mannerisms, everything changes drastically. Further clubbed with competition and academic pressures, many kids find it quite challenging to maintain pace.

How can communication skills help maintain the needed wellbeing?

This challenge which is posed by the outside world, can be countered by enhancing the communication skills. Communication skills training works on a very simple formula.

Key components:

  • To be able to say / write the desired message using the correct grammar & sentence structure.
  • Ability to patiently listen to others.
  • Capability to hear and understand what is being said, including the meaning of unsaid words and used language tones.
  • Respond in an appropriate manner, using the right set of words.

Crying for everything might work for a 1 year old, but a 10 year old or a teenage does not have the luxury to simply replace words with sounds. An authentic expression of thoughts is the only solution to the problem. The mentioned components, when suitably mixed, provide the needed communication support for enhanced self-image and self-monitored positive expression.

Why Conversation Club for communication skills training?

The focus at Conversation Club is imparting the needed elements of communication, while strictly working as per the individual child’s needs. Customized practical communication sessions for kids ensure learning at a reasonable pace. We understand their struggles and provide a communicative curriculum that enables learning & development.

Twisted Pygmalion connect between expectations & reality!!

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Every aspect of life has a story behind it, the Pygmalion effect beholds one too. Back in the day, the Greek sculptor Pygmalion had once, sculpted a woman out of ivory. Absolutely in awe of what he had just created, he turned the woman from a common to a personal noun and gave her the name ‘Galatea.’ There was no denying in the fact that he was profoundly, and deeply in love with ‘it.’ Inspired by his love, Aphrodite – the goddess of Venus decided to do him a favor and brought his significant other to life.

But why are we discussing Pygmalion & his love for Galatea … what is the relevance of this Greek anecdote today??

Pygmalion was so deeply obsessed with his sculpture that he imagined that the creation was a living person. His imagination or rather his obsession was so grave that the goddess granted his wish and in effect the sculpture indeed became a living person.

If we look at the situation from an aerial view, who gave life to Galatea? The Greek goddess or the creator Pygmalion’s love??

There’s a Pygmalion in all of us … we birth our reality as per our desires!!!

How is the Pygmalion and Galatea’s story connected to us, our situations? It was Pygmalion’s expectations which, in the first place motivated him to craft such a sculpture and inspired Aphrodite to bring Galatea to life.

In simpler words, the Pygmalion effect is a psychological phenomenon wherein our expectations from a person push that person to behave in the way we desire. Thus we decide the result beforehand and work in the direction to achieve it, which eventually leads to the same result.

Expectations = Behaviour = Result as per expectation.

To understand better, consider the experiment below:

An experiment regarding this subject was held in a school in a district of Mexico. Students were separated in two groups and they were led to believe that those in group A were better in terms of their ability & skills to read and thus were intelligent. Group B was also informed about this division criterion.

This made the students believe that A group had high expectations set from their respective teachers whereas the other flock believed that they had failed to make the teachers proud. This resulted in the first group, showing better academic excellence in comparison to the other, which withered.

How can it help??

The above mentioned phenomenon has several real life implications too. It can be used by seniors to motivate their unit to complete a project by setting high standards and expectations. It can be used by parents to make sure that their children score well in their upcoming exams and furthermore, it can also be smartly and statistically used by coaches to help their players win. There are 3E’s that help create such a situation:

  1. Elect – elect candidates who are fit for such a role, candidates who will not be harmed by such a psychological deliberation.
  2. Expect – create expectations and certain standards for the people elected.
  3. Eye – observe carefully how it affects them and their results.

Pygmalion effect sounds interesting, but is it ethical? Let us consider the Mexican school – study once again. The first group definitely improved but what about the second? It compromised one entire year of their academic lifespan and destroyed their confidence.

This leads us to the discovery of the Golem effect, also called the Pygmalion fall, which states that reduced expectations lead to diminished results. Both the effects are like two sides of a coin.

The golem effect is the segment of the Pygmalion effect which causes several drawbacks. It leads to a certain stereotype threat, a situation where people belonging to certain communities feel more vulnerable to conforming to stereotypes regarding their gender, caste, and status, hampering equality and perpetuating discrimination, especially in the cases of gender. Furthermore, it has a significant role in creating insecurities between siblings who go through what is commonly called ‘favoritism.’

This brings us to the commonly asked question, “Is the Pygmalion effect self-validating?”

The effect does create a condition where the expectations set do modify the final outcome. In other words, in such an event, an individual’s expectations about another person eventually result in the other person or entity acting in ways that confirm such expectations. So ultimately, yes, it can be called self-validating.

“Before we acquire great power, we must acquire wisdom to use it well.”

As for a final feedback, the Pygmalion effect may seem intriguing at some point, and may be a part of our daily life, but it needs to be controlled and used properly to make sure that there are no casualties, that is, no victims of the fall, or the Golem effect. All that glitters, after all, isn’t gold.

Conversation partners – we elevate together!

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Learning with a friend, who understands … challenges … motivates … helps … shares, is the definite path to excellence. Especially when it comes to communication skills training, if we have someone to work with, the sharing of ideas and constant deliberations help excel.

Teamwork has proven to be a tool that leads to innovative ideas and effectively solve problems. When it comes to learning in the domain of communication skills, working with a study partner has similar benefits. Study partners ensure that the process of learning is stimulated in a happy zone. It lowers the risk of burnout and through the helpful clubbed sessions, students tend to observe from varied perspectives and thus learn effectively.

Furthermore, knowledge when shared with a study partner, significantly enhances in terms of value. Combined efforts act a fuel and provide the desired momentum. Academic excellence is guaranteed if there is the option of working with an ideal learning mate.

Why work with a study mate?

One cannot improve upon his / her ability to communicate in isolation. Communication skills training is a domain that relies heavily upon an environment to connect & express. In fact learning can only prosper in an environment, which provides ample opportunities to freely open up. It is only when we speak that we are able to identify our mistakes and thus correct them. Connecting with a suitable learning partner or a study group has numerous addition benefits; few of them are as below:

  • The content is better understood post discussions with other learners. Analyzing a content from various viewpoints enables better assimilation.
  • When clubbed with a study group / mate, one is motivated to keep up with the learning schedule and thus there’s less inclination to delay.
  • Learning partners motivate each other by identifying frequent mistakes and learning barriers. They help correct each other and thus achieve the desired goals.
  • Working with a conversation partner, as part of communication skills training, makes sure that the process does not become monotonous.
  • Peer review and the option to improve reduces anxiety and thus encourages learning.
  • Social interaction is an integral component of the communication skills training program. The conversation partner program encourages interactions and thus stimulates growth. 

Conversation partner @ conversation club!

Verbal expression is a pertinent ingredient of the communication skills course. While communication course mentors can impart the required tools and guidance to comprehend the language basics and associated formats, practicing in a challenging environment is of integral relevance. The notion behind encouraging 1:1 discussions and communicating with conversation partners is to duplicate the nuances of practical environment. A close to realistic communication driven scenario is encouraged at Conversation Club, which extensively promotes learning.

Conversation partners are carefully matched up to ensure optimum results. Age, background (education & profession) and language proficiency levels are considered critical influencers. Communication skills training at Conversation Club is not merely about brushing up the grammar concepts or learning new words. The sessions are designed around the objective of expression, sentence articulation and language usage & clarity. These communication skills objective are met through conversations.

Story threads to weave the mind and enable learning!

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Be it words or pictures, there lies a story, waiting to be told. Communication skills sessions and learning plan at Conversation Club revolves around the intuitive art of visualizing scenarios and weaving them into interesting narrations. Each of these narrations is an experience that the learner undergoes to explore possibilities, to ask questions, to absorb new words, to imagine distinct scenarios and to allow escape, thereby fostering creativity & learning.

If lessons were weaved as stories, they would never be forgotten.

How do stories aid learning in kids?

  1. Knitting together boosts imagination – Working with a story mate, building upon those abstract phrases and pictures together, fosters creativity and learning in kids. Young, unrestricted minds, when given the opportunity to engage and converse freely, open up towards new intellectual avenues and together explore the widened creative horizons. Learning becomes a collaborative mission and it is on this path that the adolescent mind blossoms.
  2. From theoretical to practical visualizations – Education shouldn’t have to revolve around tedious facts and formulas. True learning only happens when the mind and heart are intertwined and receptive to information. Stories help engage young audiences and build the apt communication skills training grounds. The flow of thoughts, linked narratives and the ability to venture in multiple directions, opens up new thinking avenues.
  3. Exploring the indefinite possibilities – Exploring abstract avenues and learning in an environment that fosters the idea of freely venturing into all avenues, nurtures creative minds. A close interaction with the fictional scenarios and mysterious characters prompts experimentation, which is turn educates kids and helps with personality development & enrichment.   
  4. Stories boost memory and cultivate retention – The exercise opens up new worlds and conversations. It stimulates thinking and enables comprehension of details, which would otherwise be difficult to retain. Through colorful depictions and word play, stories leave an imprint, thereby boosting the memory. Asking relevant questions, explaining new concepts through stories and engaging in rich discussions together stimulate retention.
  5. Nurtures social skills and empathy – The colorful world of pictures and braided words are an interesting way to introduce new emotions and social scenarios. Outside world is complex and while we dream to preserve and shield the young ones forever, it is only a matter of time that they’ll have to deal with the unknown intricacies. Stories act as windows to such alien scenarios. They help visualize situations and arouse feelings for characters, thereby promoting empathy in readers.
  6. Word play enhances vocabulary – There is a direct correlation between the world of stories and vocabulary. Learning new words through various story activities ensures understanding and retention. Story creators are able to effectively grasp the meanings of new words. The understanding helps them apply the learned knowledge. Enriched vocabulary play an imminent role in both professional and personal domains and the world of stories helps attain the objective.

Stories have a reach, they sink in. Articulate sentences and pictures get embedded in the mind. These captivating narrations are an effective learning tool and can be suitably harnessed to improve communication skills, educate kids and ensure personality development and overall learning.

Learning enablers @ Conversation Club!

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Words and our ability to verbally communicate is one of the most crucial tool available to humankind. While on personal front, we yearn to express and connect with like-minded people; on professional front, ability to get across a message, holds significant value. Be it seamless work execution or conflict resolution or performance measurement parameters, communication skills are a pertinent measurement criterion. We humans deploy words to enable, to heal and to emote.

However, it is not just any random combination of words that leads to communication. Effective communication skills rely upon the basic rule of coherent composition of the message and absolute transmission to the desired receiver, in a desired format. This is where the need for communication skills training arises. Communication is a skill which needs to be regularly sharpened and one where there’s always room for improvement. Communication skills training enables clarity of expression, imparts the eloquent style and lends a hand with empathetic articulation, which are all together critical at any given instance in life.

The relevance of communication skills training is underlined, but how can the objectives be achieved? Platforms like Conversation Club provide the solution.

Conversation Club is a platform that enables the opportunity to practice and improve. Communication skills learning & growth happens here through the loop of practice – feedback – correction – practice! 

Student teacher rapport

Trainers at Conversation Club are skilled at the art of communication and teaching. Backed by years of practical experience in communication domains, mentors and curriculum designers categorically focus upon establishing a rapport. Effective learning in communication skills or any domain can only happen if the trainer is equipped to understand and modulate the program as per learner’s intake. While one ought to be slow enough to ensure assimilation of information & interest, the momentum portion of the classes too needs to be cautiously managed. Trainers at Conversation Club encourage thinking and application, provide regular feedbacks, correct and thus ensure improvement in communication skills.

Assessment of the gaps and steps towards fulfillment lead towards improvement of communication skills!!!

Effective curriculum

We all have our own ecosystems. A student’s life has its own variables and these are quite different from the parameters of a working professional’s life. Depending upon our age, profession and interests, we all have different communication needs. If the needs are different, how can the solution possibly be generic?

At Conversation Club, the curriculum is designed to meet the specific requirements and is further customized to meet individual targets. Thus, there are individual sessions, where the trainer works with the student to fill in specific communication related gaps and clubbed sessions with other conversation partners, which provide the needed exposure.

Information Exchange or Communication??

There is a tricky difference between sharing information and actual communication. The former relies upon sending out the message to an individual or a group of people. Latter is about actually reaching out and getting through to the desired audience by way of effective communication. Communication skills training @ Conversation Club helps bridge this gap from information relay to actual communication.

What your kid watches & reads matters!

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We all crave to be part of society and to belong to social groups that adhere to certain standards. Like us, kids too have the impulse to attach themselves to various social groups and thus belong to a space that they feel is safe. But how do they do this?

Psychologists have conducted various studies over the years and research have led to the findings that point towards a child’s tendency to imitate. To feed the essential need of belonging to a system or in other words to coexist, children tend to copy. To this end, while parents play a critical role, peers, role models and quite importantly media acts as a major influencer.

The role of environment

Our brains tend to replicate behavior from an early age. As we grow, we mimic the people we interact with or are exposed to and thus from early childhood years, our personality tends to depend upon the factors that frame our environment.

It is thus of imperative value that from the very beginning we present a nurturing & learning environment. Our young ones rely upon us for their growth and as parents, it is our duty to ensure that the learning progresses in a holistic manner.

Expose them to the environment that harnesses growth

At Conversation Club, an important objective of the communication curriculum is working around a model that inculcates positive reinforcement by way of discussions. The discussions are based on topics that require research and reading. Furthermore, children are encouraged to watch and discuss. The discussions are targeted towards enhanced learning. Moreover, these activities boost creativity and impart them with an expanded vision about various relevant subjects.

Enriched knowledge gained during these sessions also helps them with the academic curriculum. Each session is circled around topics of interest. The involvement of conversation partners, coming from similar age backgrounds, acts as a positive encouragement. Kids when exposed to this healthy environment of learning & discussing, tend to positively imitate their peers and connect over subjects that illuminate.

The communication platform further inculcates the various aspects of learning English and thus acts as a strong education tool. Language experts guide them through the nitty-gritty of the language. Vocabulary, grammar, presentation techniques, sentence structuring and more are paid adequate attention. Alongside reading, watching & narrating, listening to these educated discussions further strengthens the progress. These positive cues encourage participation, which in turn yields the desired results.

Imitation is invariable! Irrespective of the positive or negative nature of influencers, kids will invariably imitate. Studies have proven that it is a human urge to be part of a group and in the case of kids, the groups they chose have a very strong impact on their personalities & thus growth. While you cannot possibly control or supervise your kid at every hour of the day, exposing the child to a positive influence through Conversation Club is certainly a start. Here the discussions are aimed at learning the language and participating in a rich scholarly environment.  

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A bridge to the Art of Reading

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Unlock your child’s imagination with reading based discussions

Reading stimulates learning, reduces stress, increases vocabulary and expands thinking and yet it is an art that seems to be getting extinct. Despite the well-known and extensively researched positives of reading, these days we hardly get to see anyone devoting enough time to imbibe the valuable treasures hidden in a book. Gone are the days when people spent their commuting time reading books and magazines. Smart phones have led to an era when reading more than 5-7 lines seems a cumbersome task and people simply move on to the next post. Scrolling through reels, digesting the quote of the day, skimming the headlines and perhaps listening to a podcast pretty much summarizes the content intake routine of any typical human being these days. While the trend is spreading like a virus, younger generations are the most severely impacted.

The purpose of reading

The goal of reading is to comprehend and assimilate the content. Be it for entertainment or educational purposes, unless the reader is able to take in the desired information, reading is a futile task. It is a psychological event, which is critical for a learner of any age and from any background.

When it comes to sharpening communication skills and thus the ability to interact and present oneself in a language of choice, reading text greatly promotes the objective. In fact, reading skills are critical for academic endeavors.

  • Reading can stimulate thinking abilities & mental functioning.
  • Mental stress can be largely relieved by indulging in this activity.
  • Vocabulary and grammar applications of the language can be well assimilated by reading.
  • Books enhance memory and promote insights into varied subjects. The overall knowledge pool expands by reading.
  • Concentration levels too are positively affected by reading.
  • Regular readers are better writers.
  • Books are windows to so many worlds; reading expands horizons.

Discussions @ Conversation Club

The above mentioned benefits of reading work best when the collated information is discussed in a stimulating environment. This is a learning platform where reading based discussions are an integral part of the curriculum. Learning the English language critically motivates learners to spend time with books and magazines. Interesting subject matter is identified and the learners are motivated to invest time and read relevant material. These materials form the basis of discussions in subsequent sessions. The exchange of knowledge, based upon the reading tasks, greatly enhances a learner’s capability to grasp the nuances of the English language and at the same time, enriches the knowledge pool.  

The benefits of these reading based discussions are universal to all age groups and profiles. Young kids develop a habit of spending time with books, which greatly helps their concentration levels and prepares them for academic pursuits. In addition to the stated, knowledge bank helps improve thinking skills and further creates a favorable mindset to gel in social settings.

Amongst adults, reading offers a self-managed pace of learning. The option of viewing and reviewing the information as many times allows a flexible intake pace.  Once the grasping skills are enhanced, reading helps retain and improve concentration skills.

Thus the learning English sessions and communication skill classes at Conversation Club strongly advocate the art of reading. In fact, mentors pick enthralling subjects and thus motivate English language enthusiasts to communicate effectively.

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