This month we spoke to Scott Xie who is based in Shanghai.
| Peter: | So just confirm your name is Scott Xie and you work for Coca Cola’s IT Dept? |
| Scott: | Yeah. |
| Peter: | How long have you worked in Coca Cola? |
| Scott: | About two years. |
| Peter: | Did you work on another company before that? |
| Scott: | Yeah, sure. A local company, but they didn’t use English. |
| Peter: | Do you like working for Coca Cola? |
| Scott: | Yes. It’s a great company. |
| Peter: | Ok, can you tell me whether communicating in English is necessary in your job at Coke? |
| Scott: | Yes, very important and necessary. You know, in school and university, you improve your English by writing or listening, and so our oral English is poor. |
| Peter: | And has the emphasis changed now that you work at a foreign company? |
| Scott: | Yeah. After I started working at Coco Cola, it became important to communicate with foreigners, and listen to foreigners. I think most of them use American or Britain English but some foreigners are from other Asian countries and it is difficult to figure out what they are saying, especially if they talk fast. |
| Peter: | So when you’re talking to people from your HQ in Atlanta or another off-shore location, how would you normally communicate with them? |
| Scott: | Emails and MS – it’s an internal chat system similar to MSN. |
| Peter: | I see. That seems to be becoming more popular now. |
| Scott: | Yes, it’s easy to use and I feel I can explain problems better when I write. |
| Peter: | Ok, when working face-to-face with one of your colleagues, is there any different challenge, say, working on the telephone? |
| Scott: | Yeah, different. Maybe I cannot understand people of the phone very well, especially…if they aren’t from the US or England. If they try to speak Chinese, I also cannot understand them very well. And I am more worried when speaking to foreigners. But everyone is very kind and it is easier to fix problems face-to-face because they can show me on the computer what is wrong. |
| Peter: | What have you being able to do to help yourself to improve your English at work? |
| Scott: | I have no problem reading English. Sometimes we make grammatical errors but most foreigners can understand my meaning if I write in simple sentences. I think the most important thing is to practice. If it’s simple, I can express my ideas easily; if complicated, I cannot express myself very well. |
| Peter: | You just mentioned practice; you obviously get opportunities at work, in real life situations. Do you do any other practice outside your job? Do you practice at home, with your friends, or something like that? |
| Scott: | Sometimes I learn English at home, listening to FM87.9. It’s an English radio channel. I think it’s very good. Sometimes I talk English with our staff, but that’s quite difficult because we are all Chinese! |
| Peter: | So there’s limited opportunity to practice speaking? |
| Scott: | Well, I have the class, and in the lessons we get lots of opportunity to practice and do role-plays |
| Peter: | That’s good. Based on your personal experience, what do you find to be the best way to learn English? Or to help yourself to improve? |
| Scott: | For oral English, I think practice with foreigners is a good way. Sometimes I talk with foreigners in the office, and I think they are every polite to me. It is enjoyable even though sometimes I cannot understand complicated sentences. |
| Peter: | People are always happy when you fix their problem. Do you have plans to do anything in the future to maintain your English? |
| Scott: | I read New Concept English and study the book at home. |
| Peter: | New Concept is a very well-known book. I think it has good reputation. |
| Scott: | Yeah. Some sentences are very useful, and you can practice vocabulary. |
| Peter: | It’s a long time since I used New Concept, but I did teach with New Contacts book for a time. So you read this book and do the exercises? |
| Scott: | Yes, and there are some wonderful sentences that I can remember and use. |
| Peter: | How do you help yourself to remember those sentences you have learned? |
| Scott: | I read and then I try to use them in my job, in my life. |
| Peter: | Ok, Scott, we very appreciate your time. Thank you for telling us about your work at Coca Cola. |