Fellow toastmaster, and to our valued guest, Good evening.

One of the many definitions about engineers is that we are bad in English
language. Whether it’s in writing, speaking, or any form of communication,
engineers, they say, just do not have that gift, the English language. And each
time I hear them say that, I just raise an eye brow and give them a half smile.
Because by the way, I am an engineer by profession and yet one of my passion
way back when I was in college is debate and speech contest.

Some friends gets bamboozled, like they ask me how I do that, I am in the
debate team even though I’m an engineering student. That was actually funny,
because I never thought that speech contest was way too high for engineering
students that time. So I just went off and continued what I love until they get
used to it.

They say, we are bad at it due to a scientific reason, the different function of
Left and Right hemisphere of the the brain. The left specializes in facts, logic and
mathematics, while the right expresses intuition, imagination and Arts. And
English language is an Art. They say, that you can’t specialize or be good at both.
Well, ladies and gentlemen that’s what they said. And this is what I have to say.

First, every engineering subject requires reading and comprehension aside from
analysis. Engineering students deal with math, but that’s just a part of it, we
also deal with worded problems involving numbers. Is there any one of among
you here able to solve calculus using Cebuano or tagalog dialect? Or simply say,
what’s the tagalog version for calculus?

Engineering problems need to be fully understood in order to provide the best

solutions. They need to be dissected to identify which is given and what is
required in a problem. When there is a failure to interpret the problem
correctly, there is also a failure to provide the solution to that problem. In that
regard, engineers are bound to learn English because there’s need to interpret.

Second, we are thought English language since we are in preparatory learning.

Kinder, elementary and high school. Engineering course comes in last in the
regular education program, which is a choice in the tertiary level. Meaning
therefore, the competency in the language is learned before anybody choses
whatsoever course they want in college. If you are bad in the English language,
it maybe because your competency was not that well, and it’s not because of a
chosen course.
Third, when I was an engineering student or now that I am a working engineer, I
am bound to submit reports at many instances. These reports are never in
dialect but always in English, and there is no escape to this kind of submissions.
To be able to survive, I need to be proficient in English. That’s one reason why I
am here tonight because I have to learn and be more proficient with the English
language.

If you are an engineer and able to read, write, and speak English, keep it up. Go
out there and prove to everyone that they are wrong – engineers do not suck in
English! Fellow toastmasters and guest once again, good evening.