Ask any group of students what they want to improve most and nearly always speaking will be at the top of the list. But ask students what they do or can do to improve their speaking, and many will say ‘nothing’ as they don’t know anyone to practise with. That’s a shame, as there many actions and activities that will assist in improving the speaking skill. Here are just ten, try them and see if they work for you.
1 Speak English with Friends
Do you have friends, family or work colleagues that speak English? If yes, then agree to speak English with them on a regular basis. At work you could agree to have one day a week where everyone tries to communicate in English, or at home the evening meal could be English time. Don’t be worried that you aren’t native speakers, you are aiming for fluency, and a few unnoticed mistakes isn’t an issue.
2 Speak to yourself
If you don’t know anyone who speaks English, then speak to yourself. That could be talking to yourself internally in your head, or speaking out loud when no-one is around. You may find this feels a bit strange at first, but it can really help. One of the hardest aspects of speaking another language is thinking in the language. Talking internally to yourself means that you are training yourself to think in English.
3 Talk to a pet
Pets have many great advantages. Many of us naturally talk to them as if they are a friend, so why not talk to your cat or dog in English? While you may not get any feedback on your ability, it may seem more natural than talking to yourself, should none of your friends or family speak English.
4 Join an English speaking club
Joining an English speaking club is a great way to meet new people, take part in interesting events and practise speaking English at the same time. There are some organisations such as Toastmasters (https://www.toastmasters.org/) and the English Speaking Union (https://www.esu.org/our-network/international) that may organise events in your country, but social media sites are also a good place to find such events.
5 Form a club
If you can’t find a suitable club in your area, why not form one? You could start with just a few friends and then invite others via work, university or social media. There are many things you could do in such a club, from organising discussions and debates to chatting over tea and biscuits. – whatever suits you and the other members. There is lots of great advice in this Teaching English article, so give it a read. https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/english-clubs
6 Record yourself
Your mobile phone is a great device for improving your speaking. Find a video or audio file with a transcript (there are many here http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/listening), listen to it and then record yourself speaking the text. After listening to yourself speaking, see how well you did compared to the original. Don’t worry if you don’t sound exactly the same, what’s important is that what you say is clear and easy to understand.
7 Speaking skills practice on LearnEnglish
There are many online tools for speaking practice and a quick search can find you many interesting things. One of my favourites is the LearnEnglish exercises here, http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/speaking, in which you interact with the videos which represent real life situations.
8 Prepare conversations
Many times the conversations we take part in are predictable, such as knowing my colleagues will start the day by asking me ‘How are you?’ Whether you are meeting your manager at work, introducing yourself to a new client or going shopping or taking a taxi, we can imagine what we want to say and how the conversation will unfold. Considering this, why not spend a few minutes in advance thinking about what words and expressions you will need to use and what you might be asked in return. This will make you much more prepared. What’s more, why not save some useful phrases in a notebook or on your phone so you can refer to them when you forget what you wanted to say?
9 Reflect on what you can and can’t do
On the other hand, to make greater progress it is useful to reflect on what you can or can’t do. The next time you struggle to say what you wanted to say, make a note of it, and when you have time look at the different words and expressions you could have used. Perhaps these exercises on LearnEnglish can help you, http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/vocabulary.
10 Join an online course in English
Meeting people with similar interests to you is a good way to improve your English and make friends. One way of doing this is to join an online course such as the free ones offered by the British Council, https://www.futurelearn.com/partners/british-council. While these courses don’t offer direct face-to-face communication, regularly commenting and replying to other people’s comments simulates real life communication. People who take part enthusiastically often find that their fluency and other English skills improve. Perhaps what’s most useful here is that you will be in regular contact with the language and so you will begin to think in English.
So which tip works best for you? Try them and find out!
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