Hello, I'm writing a blog entry because I'm seeking the answer for the problem: Competitive Programmers and English. As you can see, it is not a competitive programming problem, but a real-world problem.↵
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At first, I describe why I want to ask it to Codeforces users.↵
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In my case, I'm very poor at English, especially speaking fluently. For example, I didn't get an internship jobs outside Japan because of the language problem, although I applied for many companies and I was very good at writing codes for interview problems. Most companies did not give me why I was rejected, but it is almost obvious that it is because of my very poor English speaking skills. Besides, when I went to IOI 2015 as the problem statement translating team of Japan, I have many opportunities to talk with competitive programmers from outside Japan, but indeed I couldn't talk with them very well. Somehow I took a TOEFL exam, and I've got not so low score in total. However, my speaking score is about 10pts out of 30 lower than reading, listening and writing. So it is obvious that my weakness is English speaking, and I feel it is a big barrier to do many things, such as internships, attribution for competitive programming community, organizing contests, and of course communicating with coders from over the world.↵
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Today, it is very easy to find the article such as "How to practice English speaking" or "n things to improve your English fluency", but almost all of them said the same thing like "don't be nervous" or "fluency is more important than accuracy" and I know those things. However my problem is I (very very) often take blank period for several seconds when I'm speaking English. Of course it is absolutely impossible for me to consider about fluency or accuracy. (That's why I wrote this article here, because if I wrote on another website I could get only typical answers.)↵
Those articles also said that speaking with friends by using Skype or Hangout is also good. There're many websites for finding a partner to practice languages. I agree with the idea, but the greatest problem is how to find the person who I can talk with.↵
Recently I find that I can only talk for a long time with people who has some common hobbies, such as competitive programming (of course!!), rhythm games or "standings" of many sports leagues (I know only 3-4 friends who have this hobby! Most people say why "standings"!?). My friends in Japan are reluctant to practice speaking with Skype because they don't have microphone, it is not allowed to make noise at night, or some of them can't understand English completely (I don't know why these guys can compete in Codeforces contests), etc...↵
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So I want ask for your ideas. Is there any hangout community of competitive programmers? Is screencast in practicing problems a good way? (I'll definitely not to make screencast in English during contests because my performance would be 1/1000000007.) Is it possible to find a partner to practice English here? ...↵
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I hope someof readers offer a good idea. ;)readers offer a good idea. ;)↵
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*Update 2015/10/22:*↵
Thank you for your advice! I'm trying to speak intrapersonally these days (and I find that when I talk to myself, I choose the similar topics...), and I've found some friends who would like to practice English on Skype with me (but many of them aren't allowed to talk loudly at night, so we haven't practiced enough). I feel it is not easy to practice well, but I'll keep practicing as much as possible...
↵
At first, I describe why I want to ask it to Codeforces users.↵
↵
In my case, I'm very poor at English, especially speaking fluently. For example, I didn't get an internship jobs outside Japan because of the language problem, although I applied for many companies and I was very good at writing codes for interview problems. Most companies did not give me why I was rejected, but it is almost obvious that it is because of my very poor English speaking skills. Besides, when I went to IOI 2015 as the problem statement translating team of Japan, I have many opportunities to talk with competitive programmers from outside Japan, but indeed I couldn't talk with them very well. Somehow I took a TOEFL exam, and I've got not so low score in total. However, my speaking score is about 10pts out of 30 lower than reading, listening and writing. So it is obvious that my weakness is English speaking, and I feel it is a big barrier to do many things, such as internships, attribution for competitive programming community, organizing contests, and of course communicating with coders from over the world.↵
↵
Today, it is very easy to find the article such as "How to practice English speaking" or "n things to improve your English fluency", but almost all of them said the same thing like "don't be nervous" or "fluency is more important than accuracy" and I know those things. However my problem is I (very very) often take blank period for several seconds when I'm speaking English. Of course it is absolutely impossible for me to consider about fluency or accuracy. (That's why I wrote this article here, because if I wrote on another website I could get only typical answers.)↵
Those articles also said that speaking with friends by using Skype or Hangout is also good. There're many websites for finding a partner to practice languages. I agree with the idea, but the greatest problem is how to find the person who I can talk with.↵
Recently I find that I can only talk for a long time with people who has some common hobbies, such as competitive programming (of course!!), rhythm games or "standings" of many sports leagues (I know only 3-4 friends who have this hobby! Most people say why "standings"!?). My friends in Japan are reluctant to practice speaking with Skype because they don't have microphone, it is not allowed to make noise at night, or some of them can't understand English completely (I don't know why these guys can compete in Codeforces contests), etc...↵
↵
So I want ask for your ideas. Is there any hangout community of competitive programmers? Is screencast in practicing problems a good way? (I'll definitely not to make screencast in English during contests because my performance would be 1/1000000007.) Is it possible to find a partner to practice English here? ...↵
↵
I hope some
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*Update 2015/10/22:*↵
Thank you for your advice! I'm trying to speak intrapersonally these days (and I find that when I talk to myself, I choose the similar topics...), and I've found some friends who would like to practice English on Skype with me (but many of them aren't allowed to talk loudly at night, so we haven't practiced enough). I feel it is not easy to practice well, but I'll keep practicing as much as possible...
