Do you want to speak English fluently and confidently? The biggest problem today is that Affiliate Marketers work hard to find a powerful solution, but fail to present it and communicate about it effectively as they are unable to speak English.
Speaking English fluently and confidently is an achievable goal and anybody with consistent practice can speak fluently. So to help you out, I have created a list of 7 methods to help you speak English fluently, provided you practise daily.
If you live in a country where English is not the first language, you are going to make mistakes, since it is not your native language. I have observed that when you speak a non-native language, you will make mistakes, you will stutter, you will mumble, and you will also have a fear of being mocked.
However, if you follow the steps I am going to share, you will be fluent in a few months.
(1) Listen To English
To understand how a language is spoken, you must listen to it as frequently as you could. Let me give you an example to explain the importance of listening.
Do you remember how you started to speak your native language? When you were a toddler, your parents uttered some words, and you listened to them and tried to emulate them. The more you repeated those words, the more they cemented in your brain. Then your brain processed them and you were able to say them.
Similarly, if you want to speak English fluently, you must listen to English as much as possible. Listen to the content that you love. You can watch your favourite web series, movies, cartoons, news, podcasts, etc. Watch whatever you love, listen closely, and, if possible, repeat what you hear.
(2) Speak In English
The most important activity for speaking English fluently is to speak! If you cannot speak English you might think what kind of advice is this? But let me tell you something: Speaking English fluently is akin to swimming.
Imagine this: If you want to learn to swim, do you take a dip and swim like a pro on the first day?
To become a pro at swimming, you will start with the basics and in a few months, you will get good at it. Similarly, if you want to speak English fluently, you must speak.
Start with something basic, for example, your hobby. If you have a friend with whom you can practice – great! You can decide a time of the day when both of you meet and speak only in English for 30-40 minutes.
Why should you practice with a friend? Because they will never discourage or mock you. If you have a friend who supports your goal, you can practice and get better together.
When I was a beginner, I used to call a friend and talk only in English for 30-40 minutes and we would talk about the following topics:
- Our hobbies
- A movie that either one of us watched
- A recent incident at work, college, school, etc.
- An event that we attended
- A tourist spot
- Our day, in general
- A memory (happy, sad, etc.)
However, if you will practice alone, I will share how you can speak English fluently later in this post.
(3) Read English Aloud
Reading English is crucial for expanding your vocabulary. If you have to speak English and use words like your idol, mentor, or favourite teacher, you must read – A LOT!
When I was struggling with a poor vocabulary, I would pick up a book, newspaper, magazine, or anything that I love and read it. While reading, if I came across new words, I would note them down in my notebook along with their meanings and usage in sentences.
I would aim to note down only 3-5 words every day. Along with the words, I also saw how they are used in sentences and used them during conversations. If you want to know how to use words in sentences as per content, open your browser, and type “usage of <<word>> in sentences.” Google will provide a long list of examples that you should learn.
Why should you go through all the effort of learning words? Because a word’s meaning changes as per the context. Hence, example sentences will help you understand how a particular word is used in different situations.
Additionally, you should also learn phrases and idioms and use them regularly. Incorporating phrases and idioms will make you sound like an advanced speaker and your speech will sound more refined.
When you read aloud, you exercise the muscles involved in speech, and this will result in better pronunciation. So, when you read, please read aloud and DO NOT whisper.
(4) Imitate Speakers
In my experience, imitation is the most powerful technique if you want to speak English fluently in less amount of time. This technique has been followed by English learners all over the globe and it has helped them speak English fluently in a few months.
The imitation technique works as follows:
Step 1: Choose a speaker, movie, web series, cartoon, etc. that you love. You can also search for videos of your favourite celebrity or YouTuber. Having videos of people you love will make this exercise fun!
Step 2: If possible, get the transcript or the subtitles of the video or audio that you chose. Transcripts or subtitles are words spoken by the speaker.
Step 3: Play the audio or video for 10-15 seconds and listen closely to what is being spoken.
Step 4: Pause the audio or video.
Step 5: Repeat what you heard. If you have the subtitles, this step will be easy.
Step 6: Repeat steps 3 to 5 until you cover the entire audio or video.
This exercise will help you with pronunciation, intonation, diction, etc. It will also help you identify the words you have been pronouncing incorrectly. However, with time, you will improve, and soon, you will start to speak like a native.
(5) Talk To Yourself In English
This is one of the weirdest, yet most powerful methods for improving your English fluency.
When I started my English fluency journey, I was so terrified to speak, that I could not speak/utter even one sentence properly. And I know that beginners feel the same.
By talking to yourself, you are saving yourself from the embarrassment of making mistakes in front of people and feeling sorry. You will also train yourself to speak in English.
Yes, you will make mistakes. But if you practice regularly, you will improve and if you add 3-5 words to your vocabulary every day, you will become a better speaker in no time.
When I started my journey in 2011, my English was awful! I could not say even the simplest of things. Due to this, I was afraid to talk to people in English. I was afraid of making mistakes. However, I started talking to myself and in 3-4 months, I could speak basic, simple English.
You could talk to yourself about:
- Interview yourself: I am both, a cricketer and a cricket fan. So, after cricket matches, I used to note down all the questions the presenters asked the captains and the “Man of the Match.” When the presentations ended, I used to go into my room and answer each one of them as if I were being interviewed.
- Summarise your day: Before sleeping, take 10-15 minutes and tell yourself about your day. It doesn’t have to be too long, but, long enough to sum up the entire day.
- Plan your day: Like the previous tip, take 10-15 minutes as soon as you wake up and talk to yourself about the activities lined up for the day or if it’s a holiday, say how you plan to spend it.
(6) Record Yourself
If you are also terrified by the sound of your voice, welcome to the club! 😛 Although this technique is terrifying, it will help you!
The first part of this technique is to speak and record yourself every day. I follow this technique even now and it helps me understand where I make mistakes. Initially, speak for 1 minute and record yourself.
Then, save the recording and listen to it. When you listen to the recording, you will find mistakes, grammatical errors, etc. you made while speaking. You can, then, learn the correct sentences and use them in the subsequent sessions. Once you identify the problems, correct them and practice regularly to become a better version of yourself as an English speaker.
Every day, you must speak for 10 seconds more. For example, on day 1, speak for 1 minute. On the following day, speak for 1 minute and 10 seconds. On the third day, speak for 1 minute and 20 seconds and so on.
(7) Practice, Practice, Practice!
If you want to become a pro swimmer, you’d have to swim regularly. You would need to go to a pool, take a dip, and practice daily. It takes a lot of hard work, patience, and effort.
If your goal is to become a pro swimmer in 6 months, you would have to break it down into daily, weekly, and monthly goals. It will take time, but regular practice will make you better.
Similarly, if you want to speak English fluently, you will have to practise every day! Speaking English fluently is like developing a skill. It will take time, effort, and a lot of practice.
Please bear in mind that you will not speak fluently overnight. No “trick” works here. You will have to put in the effort and practice consistently.
Bonus Tip: Have Fun!
Famous Indian Cricketer, Mahendra Singh Dhoni has said many times, “Process is more important than the result.”
So, it is crucial that you love and enjoy the process. If your process is right, the result will be right. Usually, you focus so much on the result that you forget to enjoy the process.
If you do the process right, that is, if you learn 3-5 new words every day and practice for 30 minutes every day, after 180 days, you’d have added 540-900 words into your vocabulary and spoken English for 90 hours. 540 words coupled with 90 hours of speaking will make you a far better speaker than you were at the beginning.
During the journey, you will go through bad days. There will be days when words will be in your mind, but they won’t roll out of your mouth. You will have a lovely speech in your mind, but only a few words will come out of your mouth.
When you get stuck, please keep in mind that English is a foreign language and you are NOT a native speaker. You will face challenges, you will get stuck, and you may even lose hope, but KEEP GOING!
It is also important that you believe in yourself. If your favourite celebrity speaks English fluently, you can speak fluently, too. It will take time, but if you persist, you will achieve any goal that you set.
Conclusion
Do you want to speak English fluently and confidently? The biggest problem today is that Affiliate Marketers work hard to find a powerful solution, but fail to present it and communicate about it effectively as they are unable to speak English.
Speaking English fluently and confidently is an achievable goal and anybody with consistent practice can speak fluently. So to help you out, I have created a list of 7 methods to help you speak English fluently, provided you practice daily.
If you live in a country where English is not the first language, you are going to make mistakes, since it is not your native language. I have observed that when you speak a non-native language, you will make mistakes, you will stutter, you will mumble, and you will also have a fear of being mocked.
However, if you follow the steps I am going to share, you will be fluent in a few months.
- Listen To English: Listen or watch your favourite TV shows, web series, movies, podcasts, etc.
- Speak In English: Speak with your friends or close individuals. Speak every day for at least 30 minutes.
- Read English Aloud: Read any content that you enjoy reading and learn 3-5 new words every day and use them.
- Imitate Speakers: Get audio or video and copy the speaker. Play one sentence, pause and repeat.
- Talk To Yourself: Talk to yourself about your day, plan your day or ask some questions to yourself, etc. Talking to yourself helps in building confidence as you become ready to talk with natives or fluent speakers.
- Record Yourself: Record yourself and compare with native or fluent speakers. Incorporate this with Imitation for getting better quickly!
- Practice: Practice is essential to improve any skill. Practice speaking English every day and use the new words, phrases and idioms.
- Have Fun: Enjoy the process of learning and focus on the process than the result.
