Any language requires time for mastery. English is not an exception.
When mastering English, your aim should be fluency. You must speak English with the confidence of a native speaker.
This is something we’ll help you with. Below are 6 tips on how to speak English well!
1. Dedicate Enough Time to Practice.
1-2 hours a week is not enough. If you want to master a language, you need to practice daily.
On average, you should dedicate 1 hour a day. Also, you cannot take breaks of mastering the English language.
Why? It’s because a language is something you learn to use. And language is something we use daily.
So practice is key. And you must practice non-stop.
But – Isn’t too Much Practice Boring?
No, it isn’t.
You can vary your practice techniques, from watching subtitled media, to reading books and writing.
In fact, this will be our next tip…
2. Find Situations to Use the Language.
You don’t learn English to keep it in your head. You learn it to use it.
So find a useful application for your English skills.
For example, you can…
- Write online.
- Make videos.
- Socialize with foreigners.
Writing Online.
Start a blog in English. Talk about your experiences and hobbies.
It’s an excellent application of “conversational English.” It helps you sharpen the way you present yourself to others.
Make Videos.
Making videos is another way to use English.
Videos made in English target a wider audience. It’s a good application of spoken English since you’re forced to use it.
You learn how to structure your presentation for clarity, which is vital to be fluent.
Socialize.
Find native English speakers, and spend time with them.
Pick up on how they use the language. Let them distill their fluency into you. Soon enough, you’ll speak English fluently like them.
3. Mistakes are OK.
When learning anything new, you’re bound to make mistakes. And the same applies to language.
It’s a part of the learning process. You make mistakes, then you correct those mistakes. This improves your performance for max fluency.
Don’t be Afraid.
It’ll take you many months to improve your English in conversation.
It’ll take you even longer to speak fluently and confidently, without too much worry.
If you need an example, think of your native language. Do you think much about the mistakes you make while talking?
No, you don’t.
You simply use the language, where you barely make mistakes. And when you do, you don’t pay much attention to mistakes.
That’s what you should aim for with English. It’s OK to make mistakes, but minimize them overtime and brush them aside.
4. Don’t Focus Excessively on Grammar.
Grammar is important for beginners. But when it comes to fluency, you must slowly forget grammatical rules.
You can’t think of grammar rules as you talk. That’ll disrupt your thought and speech flow. What you say will come off as awkward.
Instead, speaking should be automatic. Again, it’s similar to how you use your first language.
You just speak it – you don’t pay conscious attention to grammar rules.
In Fact…
Conversational English often ignores grammar.
To be fluent, you must understand the “everyday language.” And this comes with lots of exposure to speech.
5. Listen a Lot and Takes Notes.
Listening helps you pick up on phrases, idioms, and expressions of fluent people.
Then, you can adapt those phrases into your speech.
What to Note.
Cliché responses, what they mean, and when they’re used.
Also, find ways to speak in short and simple sentences. Long sentences might be confusing to you. And simplification is a hallmark of fluency.
You can find cliché phrases everywhere. They’re in movies, interviews, and informal speeches.
Professional Fluency.
Maybe you want to learn English for professional reasons.
Here, you should note cliché phrases less – and vocabulary more.
You want to expand your verbal repository. If you come across a word you hear but don’t understand, write it down.
Then research it, see how it’s used, and use it yourself.
6. Do a Mindset Change.
This is the final English tip on our list. But it’s the most important.
If you’re learning to speak, you probably see yourself as a student. But, you need to stop thinking of yourself as one…
Instead, look at yourself as a “speaker of English.”
It’s a mindset change, which forces you to use English properly. Also, it makes you less critical of yourself, when making mistakes.
Now, you’re still a student. But, seeing yourself a speaker is a big step towards fluency!
