Do you want to get better speaking English? Practise speaking.
This might sound like common sense. And it is.
Still, I find that too many learners simply want to practise speaking in class only. Period.
If you have one or two language lessons per week, that’s ideal for maintenance.
If you want more, you need to do more. Unless you live in an English-speaking country. But that’s a different story of course.
What can you do in order to keep your speaking practise going outside class?
You need to find and/or create opportunities to speak English. That is application.
This can include finding time to practise on your own.
1-Minute Tip ⏳
Yes, practising speaking on your own is totally possible.
Actors do it when they are learning their role. Public speakers do it when they are rehearsing their speech.
Learning to speak a new language is somewhat similar. It is like learning a new role, a new personality.
This shouldn’t be an issue, as we rarely sound as “real” in a foreign language as we do in your mother tongue anyway.
Relax into individual home speaking practice. And when you do, slow down.
Practising new language forms slowly means giving your brain enough time to process all the things it needs to pay attention to and coordinate.
Think of how musicians train. If you have ever studied any instrument, then you probably remember. If not, you may have seen that musicians practise musical parts slowly at first when they are learning a new piece or fixing errors.
The same goes for speaking a language. There is a great deal of coordination going on of details that you need to learn to pay attention to.
So, when you’re practising speaking to prepare a presentation, or you’re simply practicing different phrases and parts of a dialogue on your own, slow down.
With time, your speaking will become faster naturally, and it will develop up to the ideal speed you feel comfortable with.
This content is authentic. It is not AI generated.
I write these weekly tips for you because I enjoy sharing techniques that I have seen work for my students through my 20+ years of teaching experience.
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👋 Hi, I’m Gábor
I specialize in helping Spanish speakers develop confident speaking clarity in English for professional and business success.
Talk to you next time 🙂
Questions?
Connect on LinkedIn | Gábor Légrádi | MA, RSA/CTEFLA