A GUIDE TO IMPROVING YOUR SPOKEN ENGLISH

1. Becoming a confident speaker

Confidence is a very important element in learning to speak English.Many learners worry that they are going to make a mistake,or that the people listening will not understand them.

How can you sound more confident?
1. The more often you speak, the easier it becomes. You need to put yourself in a position where you need to speak.
2. Relax and think about the message. Speaking is easier when you have something to say,and you are enjoying the conversation.
3. If you are very nervous, try to practice saying what you want to say to yourself a few times.

Planning and repeat to yourself can make your speaking more confident.

2.Fluency or accuracy ?

SpeakingEnglish fluently is a goal for many learners of English. Fluency means being able to communicate your ideas without having to stop and think too much about what you are saying.However, many learners also have the goal of spoken accuracy.Speaking accurately means that you speak without errors of grammar and vocabulary.

Speaking English well requires both fluency and accuracy.So how can you make sure that you develop both?

The first step towards improving your spoken English is recognizing what is easy for you and then working on what is difficult.

When you speak English, do you notice any mistakes which you make quite often?Ex: Maybe you make mistakes with tenses, or with questions form? Or do you sound slow- as if you are always searching for words and correct grammar? Next time you speak, try to work on the problem you have noticed.If it´s fluency, try to focus on making sure that people understand what you´ve said, not on avoiding mistakes.By choosing an area to work on, you can help yourself overcome problems.Discussions are good fluency activities.

3.Finding the right words

We all know how important vocabulary is when we are learning a language, finding the exact word for the idea you want to express is important for becoming a fluent, confident speaker.

Let´s analyse this case:

My name is Suyen one of my problems is my spoken English. Sometimes I try to say something but I don´t know the word so I feel…um…..a bit confused and I stop because I don´t know how to say What I want to say. So I feel less confident in speaking and I stop myself from speaking sometimes.

As Suyen says, not having a wide vocabulary can have a serious effect on your confidence as a speaker.
Don´t worry if you can´t find exact word you are searching for.Instead, try to explain what you mean.This is known as paraphraising and is an important skill. You can give a short definition-for example, if you forget the word “envelope”, you might say “ the thing you put a letter in before you post it”.

The most important things to consider when thinking about pronunciation are:

a) Can people understand what I´m saying easily?
b) Do I feel comfortable and confident when I speak?

……….So let´s speak English!
PRACTICES:

1. Practice introducing yourself- How would you introduce yourself?
2. Explaining what you mean – Try to think of a definition or explanation for each word or phrase below:

a) dictionary b) God c) bread d) water

e) I feel confused f) I ´m hungry g) I stare at somebody