My English...

Hey, guys. I am a graduate student of China. I have been telephone interviewed twice by two top tier investment banking firms. but I have all failed for my poor oral English. could you please provide some way to improve it? thanks a lot.

I am quite confident of my abilities except my English:(

Region
8 Comments
 

You're not gonna find a way to improve your English on this website. Enroll yourself in some classes, and read a lot of books in the long run.

 

Is this for positions in IB in China/HK or London/NYC?

I have a few Chinese mates and the main problem you guys have is more oral communication than reading and writing (although this is very important too in IB of course).

Sean's right, there's no "quick fix" for this. Spend time (a year...) in a purely english speaking environment only with native english speakers. That's the solution if you really want to try and get good english skills. Otherwise watching shit loads of english/american films helps understanding, but won't get you all the way.

 

stop speaking chinese with your friends. elimniate all chinese speaking people, including family members. take english speaking classes. WRITE a lot of essays. read a lot. when you watch TV, sit with a pen and a pad and write down all quotes that you like. repeat these statements during commercials as if you were the person who spoke them on tv. this will make you articulate.

this plan is bullet proof, as long as you STOP SPEAKING CHINESE.

 

sometimes the language used in eng/american movies gets too colloquial. my advice would be to watch as much of bbc/cnn n other news channels as u can.. paying special attention to pronounciation and intonation...dont get too carried away by the accent though.

if language is the only thing that's stopping you...practice by voice recording ur answers and keep revising them. u'll gain confidence with time n practice.

 

Tenetur rerum quia qui est. Vitae suscipit sunt sed impedit natus ut facilis harum. Illo consequatur veniam nesciunt eaque veritatis ea itaque. Similique ab iusto eum at.

Iure cum in iste rerum. Eum aperiam illum odio labore. Qui et iusto natus architecto fugiat et ut. Nobis voluptas incidunt et saepe qui reprehenderit. Ut consequatur cupiditate quam ipsam est.

Nemo non atque aperiam itaque eveniet atque ut consequatur. Aut illum deleniti id in tempore enim.

Career Advancement Opportunities

October 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.4%
  • Guggenheim Partners 02 97.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 06 97.4%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

October 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.5%
  • Morgan Stanley 02 98.9%
  • Evercore 01 98.4%
  • Banco Santander 02 97.9%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.4%

Professional Growth Opportunities

October 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 05 98.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.9%
  • JPMorgan No 97.4%

Total Avg Compensation

October 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (16) $429
  • Associates (57) $264
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (28) $184
  • Intern/Summer Associate (16) $161
  • 1st Year Analyst (84) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (76) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”