One of the fundamental things that bolster your progress in life is your ability to fluently communicate your needs. No matter the language, fluency in communication is indispensable. In this article, I will be teaching you how to increase your language proficiency at any point in time.
First, think in the language you want to converse in. Let’s take English as an instance. Sometimes the difficult thing about English speaking isn’t the language itself, but how you think about it. If you think in your native language and then try to speak English, you’ll always have to translate between languages. Translating isn’t an easy thing to do! Even people fluent in two or more languages have trouble switching between languages. The solution to this is to think in English. You can do this anywhere, anytime. Try to use English when you’re thinking about your day, or when you’re trying to decide what food to order. Even try to use an English-to-English dictionary to look up words. That way you never have to use your native language and translate words. You’ll notice that when you think in English, it’s easier for you to speak in English. So, you must do every ‘business’ in the language which is appropriate for that particular moment (Geikhman, 2018).
In some cases, if you have the opportunity, try to find an English-speaking partner.It’s important to find native speakers to practice with. Students who are living around many English speakers may be able to find informal opportunities to chat with neighbors and local business people. Joining a club or a volunteer organization can be a great way to get to know people informally. If that isn’t an option, consider hiring a private tutor. A lot of students find and meet with tutors online via tools like Skype or Google Hangouts. So, professionals who are in a dire need of proficiency in what they do too can seize this privilege and work on themselves (Effortless English, 2017).
Make sure that you balance listening with speaking. When practicing with a native speaker, try to balance your listening and speaking. It’s a good idea to prepare questions in advance so that the conversation will flow back and forth. If your conversation partner asks you a question and you answer at length, you can always turn the question back to your partner by asking, “What do you think?” or “What about you?” (Effortless English, 2017).
Further, record every of your conversation practices. Recording is a great way to get the maximum benefit from a conversation with a native speaker. When you listen again, you can evaluate your own pronunciation and notice areas where you need to improve. You can also review the content of the conversation, take notes on new vocabulary or misunderstandings, and prepare questions for the next meeting (Effortless English, 2017).
Another technique is to speak to yourself. Whenever you’re at home (or alone somewhere else) you can improve English speaking with your favorite person: yourself. If you’re already thinking in English, try speaking your thoughts out loud. Read out loud, too. Practice is practice, and even if you don’t have anyone to correct your mistakes, just the act of speaking out loud will help you become more comfortable speaking English (Geikhman, 2018). You need to be disciplined with this by being consistent and very committed to it until it produces the right and enviable results. You need what you are in need of and even if someone gives you what resembles it, you will be wise by rejecting such in totality. So, until you reach the desired fluency level, you must keep digging. This leads to the next point.
Make use of a mirror. Whenever you can, take a few minutes out of your day to stand in front of the mirror and speak. Choose a topic, set a timer for two or three minutes and just talk. The point of this exercise is to watch your mouth, face and body language as you speak. It also makes you feel like you’re talking to someone, so you can pretend you’re having a discussion with a study buddy. Talk for the full two or three minutes. Don’t stop! If you get stuck on a word you don’t know, try expressing your idea in a different way. You can always look up how to say that word after the two to three minutes end. This will definitely help you find out what kinds of words or sentences you have trouble with (Geikhman, 2018).
In the same vein, try to beam the searchlight on English fluency and not its grammar. When you speak in English, how often do you stop? The more you stop, the less confident you sound and the less comfortable you become. Try the mirror exercise above, but challenge yourself to speak without stopping or stammering (taking pauses between your words) the entire time. This might mean that your sentences won’t be grammatically perfect, and that’s okay! If you focus on speaking fluently instead of correctly, you’ll still be understood and you’ll sound better. You can fill in the correct grammar and word rules as you learn them better. Moving forward in the same light, you can try English tongue twisters. Tongue twisters are series of words that are difficult to say quickly. One example is: “The thirty-three thieves thought that they thrilled the throne throughout Thursday.” Try saying this a few times! It’s not easy. Word games like this will help you find the right placement for your mouth and tongue, and can even help your pronunciation (Geikhman, 2018).
Practice with movies and music. Listen to music in English and sing along. Music is one of the best tools for learning intonation pronunciation. Listening to and singing songs might also help you remember vocabulary and phrases (if the song is easy to understand), and it will help you learn to pronounce English rhythm in a more natural way. By unconsciously imitating the singer, you’ll learn to pronounce phrases the way native speakers do. One good song for ESL or EFL students is “Tom’s Diner” by Suzanne Vega because it uses simple language to describe everyday scenes and actions. Movies are a much better choice for learning English. You’ll learn vocabulary, idioms, slang, pronunciation, and listening by watching movies (Effortless English, 2017).
References
British Council (2018). Speaking Skills—How to Improve Your Fluency. Retrieved from https://premierskillsenglish.britishcouncil.org/skills/listen/podcasts/speaking-skills-how-improve-your-fluency
Effortless English (2017). How to Improve English Speaking Skills. Retrieved from https://effortlessenglishclub.com/improve-english-speaking-skills
Geikhman, Y (2018). How to Improve Spoken English (without a Speaking Partner): 14 Incredible Ways. Retrieved from https://www.fluentu.com/blog/english/how-to-improve-spoken-english/
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(C) 2021, Alan Elangovan, All Copy Rights Reserved.