SPEAKING

Learning a foreign language is easier for some people than others. Whether learning another language is comparatively easy or difficult for you, your goals and attitude about improving your English have a strong effect. If you are determined to use your English experience to improve your English, and you make a conscious effort to do so, improvement is more likely.

Problems

Make a list of the problems that you have when you are speaking, and the situations where you have these problems. For example

Example Problem 1: I'm nervous when I am speaking English.
I am worried that I will make a mistake and other people will laugh at me.

Example Problem 2: It's showing off to speak good English.

Example Problem 3: I can't remember all the grammar and vocabulary I need, so I speak very slowly and I sound stupid.

Materials and Resources

Materials can be books, handouts, videos and computer programs on speaking
Resources can be teachers, classmates, computers

Working Alone or With Other People

Reasons for working with other people on speaking are:
- You can't learn speaking alone, you need to talk to someone
- People can suggest improvements
- They can tell you if you make a mistake
- They can encourage you to do better
- You can share your thoughts and feelings

Reasons for working alone are:
- You can't find anyone to speak to
- You don't want to pick up mistakes from other learners

Speaking Strategies

- Questions for Clarification: This means talking to English-speakers and asking for them to repeat, paraphrase (summarise in different words), explain or give examples. You can say:

- Recording yourself: record yourself speaking, either on your own, or with other people. Later you can review the recording, listen for problems such as saying "Um" too much, and research anything that you didn't know how to say.

- Form a group of people to practise speaking English.

- Sing: You can sing English songs that you like, either alone, or with friends; e.g. karaoke.

- Act: you can join a drama club or group that puts on English plays.

- Imagine: Imaging that you are in a situation where you need to speak English; e.g. as a character you like in a movie. Try to imagine what you would say. Do you know what to say? If you are not sure, you can research it later.

How To Learn English!

Here are some tips which may help you to master the English Language!

Speak without Fear

The biggest problem most people face in learning a new language is their own fear. They worry that they won?t say things correctly or that they will look stupid so they don?t talk at all. Don?t do this. The fastest way to learn anything is to do it ? again and again until you get it right. Like anything, learning English requires practice. Don?t let a little fear stop you from getting what you want.

Use all of your Resources

Even if you study English at a language school it doesn?t mean you can?t learn outside of class. Using as many different sources, methods and tools as possible, will allow you to learn faster. There are many different ways you can improve your English, so don't limit yourself to only one or two. The internet is a fantastic resource for virtually anything, but for the language learner it's perfect.

Surround Yourself with English

The absolute best way to learn English is to surround yourself with it. Take notes in English, put English books around your room, listen to English language radio broadcasts, watch English news, movies and television. Speak English with your friends whenever you can. The more English material that you have around you, the faster you will learn and the more likely it is that you will begin ?thinking in English.

Listen to Native Speakers as Much as Possible

There are some good English teachers that have had to learn English as a second language before they could teach it. However, there are several reasons why many of the best schools prefer to hire native English speakers. One of the reasons is that native speakers have a natural flow to their speech that students of English should try to imitate. The closer ESL / EFL students can get to this rhythm or flow, the more convincing and comfortable they will become.

Watch English Films and Television

This is not only a fun way to learn but it is also very effective. By watching English films (especially those with English subtitles) you can expand your vocabulary and hear the flow of speech from the actors. If you listen to the news you can also hear different accents.

Listen to English Music

Music can be a very effective method of learning English. In fact, it is often used as a way of improving comprehension. The best way to learn though, is to get the lyrics (words) to the songs you are listening to and try to read them as the artist sings. There are several good internet sites where one can find the words for most songs. This way you can practice your listening and reading at the same time. And if you like to sing, fine.

Study as Often as Possible

Only by studying things like grammar and vocabulary and doing exercises, can you really improve your knowledge of any language.

Do Exercises and Take Tests

Many people think that exercises and tests aren't much fun. However, by completing exercises and taking tests you can really improve your English. One of the best reasons for doing lots of exercises and tests is that they give you a benchmark to compare your future results with. Often, it is by comparing your score on a test you took yesterday with one you took a month or six months ago that you realize just how much you have learned. If you never test yourself, you will never know how much you are progressing. Start now by doing some of the many exercises and tests on this site, and return in a few days to see what you've learned. Keep doing this and you really will make some progress with English.

Record Yourself

Nobody likes to hear their own voice on tape but like tests, it is good to compare your tapes from time to time. You may be so impressed with the progress you are making that you may not mind the sound of your voice as much.

Listen to English

By this, we mean, speak on the phone or listen to radio broadcasts, audiobooks or CDs in English. This is different than watching the television or films because you can?t see the person that is speaking to you. Many learners of English say that speaking on the phone is one of the most difficult things that they do and the only way to improve is to practice.

Finally - HAVE FUN