Are you interested in sharpening your English speaking skills quickly?
Do you want to overcome your fear of speaking in front of people?
If yes, this guide is for you. I have created this post based on years of experience and after doing tons of research. You will certainly find it useful.
So let’s get started.
Tip #1: Do NOT just speak, speak, speak
Weird right?
I come across a lot of sites and people that just tell you to speak, speak and speak to enhance your English Speaking Skills. In reality, that’s not very effective.
You’ll just waste time speaking the wrong way.
Here’s what you should do instead:
Learn the right things. For example, read a book or an article on the Internet.
As a result of this practice, you might have learnt new sentences. Now, speak those sentences as it is.
If you use this method, you don’t have to use your brain. Just copy and speak initially. Later when your vocabulary power increases you can add variations while speaking. 🙂
Initially, don’t spend much time learning grammar if you want to enhance your English fluency QUICKLY.
Just observe what native or good English speakers use and utter the same sentences and words.
The goal here is to speak correctly, in the right manner. 🙂
Simple, huh?
Learning English should be fun and interesting, it should NOT be boring.
Pro tip: Identify the words that you cannot pronounce properly. Then use Google or other applications to correct your pronunciation. Try to read difficult words 3 – 4 times. After that, use those words and form sentences. Within days you’ll see results. Try it today!
Let’s move on to tip no. 2 which is
Tip #2: Listen to native English speakers a lot
To improve your English fluency, you don’t have to learn grammar from day one.
If you just focus on the listening aspect, you’ll notice your ability to grasp new words or slang dramatically improves.
Why?
Because we learned our native language (mother tongue) by listening to our family and surroundings. We can easily communicate in those languages, right?
Listening is a powerful & interesting way to improve English fluency.
Here’s a common problem you might face at the beginning:
When you start listening to native English speakers, you’ll face difficulty in grasping their words and sentences.
However, if you keep on listening, you’ll begin to understand their speaking mannerisms and words.
Note: British, Australian and New Zealand English speakers’ accents are a bit hard to understand if you’re a beginner.
I would suggest listening to American and Canadian English speakers at the start. It’ll be much easier for you to understand their conversations and improve your English fluency.
Pro tip: Listen to any video or audiobook based on your favorite topic. You’ll enjoy listening and learn better as well. When I started, my favourite topics were related to self-help; like productivity, growth mindset, law of attraction, etc.
I love listening and talking about those subjects. So choose your favorite subject today and head on YouTube/Spotify and start listening to good English speakers.
Tip #3: Start Writing to THINK Better in English
You might be like, now I gotta write? No way!
And chances are you might have already started giving excuses like:
I don’t know how to write.
I hate writing.
I failed my English exam.
And many more.
But let me tell you a “secret” to get started with writing.
To start writing, you don’t have to use complex words and slang.
Just pen down your thoughts in plain English, similar to what you’re reading now.
Plus, nobody is going to read your writings until you share it. 😉
In today’s time, anybody can become a writer even with basic English.
All you need to have is willingness to learn daily.
Okay. Enough lecture on writing.
You might be wondering, how can writing help me in improving my English fluency?
When we write, we have to think. The more you think, the better your ability to think spontaneously becomes.
The best part is, writing is a type of one-way communication. When we are speaking, it is two-way communication. You have to think, then speak.
When you’re writing, you’re just thinking and using your hands to type the words.
Here things become exciting, once your thinking ability improves, you can speak better English and form better sentences with little effort. 🙂
Isn’t it amazing?
To become a fluent English speaker, you need TWO main ingredients: listening and thinking.
Do you know we have already covered 3 TIPS and we are heading towards the fourth tip?
Tip #4: Begin small talk with yourself
This tip is very powerful, and will save you from a lot of embarrassment too.
When you learn new things, try making small talk using that and speak to yourself. Eventually, your mind gets used to it.
We fumble when we try to speak a new word or slang without practice.
These small self-talks will prepare your mind and tongue to think and speak respectively.
Without daily practice, if you try to speak English in front of anyone, you’re bound to face embarrassment.
The key is to practice small, DAILY. Use the self-talk method from today.
For example,
Today I woke up at 7:00 o’clock in the morning. I am feeling energetic and fresh. I am excited to continue my work or studies. I learned new things about the human brain and how it works. I read a few pages of my new novel that I bought last month and forgot to read.
You get the idea, right?
You can create small-talks on anything. You can create small-talks on your daily routine, your favorite books, shows and movies.
When you try the “Small-talk method” for 7 days, you’ll see amazing results.
Tip #5: REPETITION is key to becoming a fluent English speaker
Want to speak difficult words or sentences without stammering?
Then start repeating the things that you’ve already learned.
Why?
Our mind cannot learn new things 100% for the first time. You would have to repeat the same thing 3 – 4 times, especially the difficult terms.
When you repeat stylish English phrases and words again & again, it will become your second nature. That’s the secret sauce to speaking better English.
Start repeating what you are learning.
Pro tip: Repeat those concepts and words which you find difficult to remember or speak. Got it?
Tip #6: Test your English speaking ability
Learning is not enough. You have to test yourself to know how much you’ve learnt.
By this I mean that it’s time to speak in English with people.
If you apply this tip, you’ll save yourself from embarrassment.
Join a like-minded Facebook community.
Find a speaking partner who also wants to improve their English fluency.
Speak with that person. You can record your session as well for identifying your mistakes.
Moreover, you won’t feel nervous as you know the other person won’t make fun of you.
Many times we know a lot of things but we cannot express our thoughts because of FEAR.
This powerful tip will vanish your hesitation of speaking in English with people.
We are heading towards our final tip. It is not a tip. It’s more of an advice based on my experience. 🙂
Want to know what it is?
Tip #7: Don’t Treat English as a Subject
Most Indian schools and colleges treat English like a boring subject.
This is why students start feeling like English is a burden for them.
In reality, nobody teaches us why we need to learn English.
In schools and colleges, we learn English for the sake of good grades.
In reality, if you want good grades in life (in other words, if you want to succeed in life), you NEED to know English, especially in India.
Here’s a fact. According to Wikipedia, India is the second largest English-speaking country.
The first one is, of course, the United States.
Be it for business deals or making friends, cracking interviews or understanding international content, it becomes essential for Indians to speak in English.
According to research, it is predicted that India will be the largest English speaking country in the future.
Whether you want to get a job in a multinational company, or want to do a startup, you need to know English (exceptions are always there).
Here, I am only talking about the majority of cases where we need to know English.
Treat English as a language and learn with a motive- that you’ll be able to communicate with a global audience if you speak in English.
Learn English with excitement and enjoy the process.
Pro tip: In the beginning you may find learning English is difficult. But believe me, if you continue learning, English will become a piece of cake for you. Never give up. Take breaks, but don’t ever give up.
Final Thoughts
I hope you found these tips useful. I share these only because I’ve used them myself and know that they work. So today, we learned 6+1 powerful tips to enhance your English fluency.
I encourage you to apply these tips in your life and notice the positive outcome.
Let’s not make learning English boring. At Genius Trainings, our aim is to make your learning process enjoyable.
We have tons of things to share with you. But unfortunately, we cannot share everything in one blog post or through text.
This is why we have many training programs and free workshops.
You can check them out below.
Free workshop on communication & public speaking. Click here to REGISTER now!
It’s time to bid goodbye, but I’ll see you in the next blog post. Until then, keep learning!
5 Proven Ways to Overcome Fear of Public Speaking. Click here to read our new blog post.
Cheers,
Team Abhishek