By Min Zan

IN a world where words dance and gestures sing, communi­cation emerges as the vibrant thread weaving through the fab­ric of human connection. It is an art form as ancient as humani­ty itself, a symphony of spoken nuances and written elegance that transcends mere words to embrace the subtleties of tone, the eloquence of silence, and the unspoken poetry of body lan­guage. From the lively chatter of a bustling Myanmar marketplace to the poised exchanges in global boardrooms, the ability to convey ideas, emotions, and desires with clarity and grace has ascended as a cornerstone of modern exist­ence. As the 21st century unfolds, with its tapestry of technological marvels and cultural crossroads, communication skills illuminate the path to personal fulfilment, professional triumph, and societal harmony – bridging generations, cultures, and dreams in an ev­er-shrinking world.

Communication skills are the ability to convey our ideas, feelings, attitudes, perceptions, wants, needs, knowledge, etc. in a precise and lucid manner in line with the intention of the person communicating the message, either in the spoken, or written form, face-to-face or via commu­nication devices, such as phone, email, and video conferencing. Since communication is usually a two-way interaction between two or more persons, one must also include listening and reading skills among the communication skills.

Communication is not just using words. Spoken communica­tion also involves the use of a va­riety of features to express differ­ent nuances of meaning, such as body language which includes facial expressions, posture, gestures, tone of voice, eye contact, proximity between speaker and listener, etc. On the other hand, written communica­tion exploits choice of word, order of words, sentence patterns, the sound system of the language concerned, the organization of texts, size, and design of letters of the alphabet, etc. to gain spe­cific communicative effects. In addition, an interpretation of human communication is made more complex due to the fact that more than one meaning can be conveyed by a single utterance, and indirectness is frequently used to communicate different shades of meaning including the opposite of what is said. Moreover, such non-verbal features as the style and colour of one’s clothes and hair, and for women and some men, the use of certain kinds of jewellery, make-up, lipstick, per­fume, etc. may be employed to subtly convey information about the personality of a person.

There are many reasons for communication skills to have come to be regarded as a vital life skill in the 21st century. Firstly, it would be extremely difficult to fulfil even our most basic needs and wants, as anyone who has had the experience of travelling in a foreign country whose language he or she does not know will attest to. Secondly, just as our appearance creates the first impression, so does the way we speak and write. Thirdly, com­munication skills are important in our social dealings both within the family as well as with friends, acquaintances, and strangers as they can improve the relationship or worsen it. Fourthly, good com­munication skills are required by many jobs, especially those that relate to dealing with the pub­lic, whether it is the position of a salesperson, or that of a CEO, as seen from the many job advertise­ments in newspapers. Fifthly, the higher the position of a person, the more expertise he or she will need in communication, as he or she has to interact with a wide spectrum of people, including those from other countries and cultures, in different situations.

In Myanmar, with the advent of a market economy, expansion of micro, small, and medium en­terprises, growth in employment opportunities, increase in young people pursuing higher educa­tion both at home and abroad, and greater interaction with for­eigners and foreign countries for business, tourism, and other purposes, effective communica­tion, including the ability to use a for­eign lan­g u a g e , especially the English language, and the ability to translate and interpret, has risen to the fore­front of the skills much in demand these days.

On the other hand, with more parents going out to work and a reduction in the number of extended families, there seems to be less opportunity for young people to communicate with peo­ple of different generations or to receive their guidance on how to converse appropriately. This situation is compounded by the fact that a lot of young people in cities spend more time with their cell phones playing games, and surfing the net than talking with other people. It is my im­pression that young people need to be trained to overcome their shyness and reticence to talk with persons of different generations and to make appropriate use of the polite forms traditionally used in conversing with older persons and more formal contexts.

Some people have the gift of being able to communicate effec­tively, but some do not. However, this does not mean that it cannot be developed. The place to begin training young people to develop communication skills is the home. It is important that parents talk with their children as often as possi­ble, not only to stay connected with them but also to develop t h e i r l a n ­guage s k i l l s . Through parental talk, children can enrich their stock of vocab­ulary and sentence patterns and at the same time, develop critical thinking, satisfy their curiosity about their surroundings, and expand their knowledge about the world around them. When children are old enough, parents should begin teaching them to use more polite language.

The goals of schools and universities should include the promotion of effective communi­cation, as it is not just a vital life skill, as pointed out earlier, but it is also a skill that will bring aca­demic success. Communication skills can be taught as part of the Myanmar and English language courses, or they could be inte­grated into all the subjects that students have to study. The latter has the advantage of giving more opportunities to use communica­tion skills by students across the curriculum and also strengthen­ing linkage among knowledge, cultural norms, thinking, and communication, which are cru­cial not only for students but also for those in employment. Below are some of the prerequisites for developing communication skills:

1. Overcoming shyness, brevity, and reluctance to talk, so that one can interact with both peo­ple one is familiar with, as well as strangers
2. being aware of the audience - age, gender, job, status, inter­est, educational background, knowledge, etc., to adjust the style of one’s language and topics
3. be aware of the setting, the place, and the occasion where the interaction is taking place, to make one’s communication appropriate to it
4. having relevant knowledge, vocabulary, and structure to interact on a wide range of topics
5. making one’s communication informative, so that it will be worth paying attention to
6. being aware of how much time is available, to adjust the length of one’s interaction
7. making one’s communication relevant to the topic being dis­cussed to maintain the atten­tion of one’s audience
8. making one’s communication well-organized to make it com­prehensible to the audience
9. giving turns to talk to one’s listener(s), so that one will not be regarded as dominating the interaction too much
10. giving examples, relevant to the topic and participants, in­jecting a bit of humour, when and where appropriate, to make the interaction inter­esting
11. using polite language to show one’s regard for one’s audi­ence and to create rapport
12. using appropriate tone of voice, body language, ges­tures, and posture to enhance the interest of the audience

To promote the above-men­tioned qualities in students to en­hance their communicative skills, schools, and universities will need to give sustained attention to their development. Schools will need to create a culture of interaction from the very first day students enter school. Teachers should begin their training on commu­nication at the lower primary lev­el by asking students questions and by answering their questions patiently and maintaining young children’s eagerness to talk.

As the curtains of the 21st century draw ever wider, com­munication stands as the lumi­nous bridge spanning the chasms between generations, cultures, and dreams in a world that grows smaller yet infinitely more vibrant with each passing day. The writer beckons us to nurture this vital skill from the cradle of the home, where parents weave rich tapes­tries of language and thought with their children, and urges schools and universities to cultivate it as a garden of academic and social triumph. Looking ahead, one can envision a future where the voic­es of the shy grow bold, where Myanmar’s youth converse with eloquence across borders, and where the polite cadences of tradi­tion harmonize with the rhythms of a global stage — predicting a world not just connected, but beautifully united through the power of words and understand­ing.