{"id":41234,"date":"2019-10-31T14:00:20","date_gmt":"2019-10-31T13:00:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/oxfordhousebcn.com\/?p=41234"},"modified":"2019-10-31T14:27:27","modified_gmt":"2019-10-31T13:27:27","slug":"6-ways-to-improve-your-speaking-fluency-in-english","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/oxfordhousebcn.com\/en\/6-ways-to-improve-your-speaking-fluency-in-english\/","title":{"rendered":"6 Ways To Improve Your Speaking Fluency In English"},"content":{"rendered":"

There are four linguistic skills that you utilise<\/strong><\/em><\/span> when learning a new language: reading, writing speaking and listening. Of the four skills, speaking is often the skill that students find the most difficult. Having a conversation in a foreign language can be very stressful if you don\u2019t understand, or find yourself lost for words<\/strong><\/em><\/span>.<\/p>\n

However, having a successful interaction is one of the most rewarding parts of learning a language – so how can you make it easier?<\/p>\n

Read on for our tips and tricks to improve your fluency when it comes to speaking English!<\/p>\n

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1. Let go of your ego<\/strong><\/span><\/h1>\n

The first and most important thing you can do as a language learner is to let go<\/strong><\/em><\/span> of your ego. Speaking in a foreign language is limiting – you can\u2019t be as funny or as quick as you are in your mother tongue. It\u2019s easy to feel self-conscious about making mistakes, or asking people to repeat themselves, but it\u2019s important to remember that nobody cares about your mistakes as much as you do. Once you lose the fear of making mistakes or looking foolish, you\u2019ll find it a lot easier to speak without inhibitions<\/strong><\/em><\/span>.<\/p>\n

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2. Practise, practise, practise<\/strong><\/span><\/h1>\n

Now that you\u2019re less worried about making mistakes, you can practise speaking – and the more you speak, the faster you\u2019ll improve. There are lots of ways you can practise speaking, even if you\u2019re on your own. You can talk to yourself in the mirror, or read out loud to improve speed and fluency. This post about how to practise speaking English at home<\/a> has lots of interesting ideas to try. And best of all, it doesn\u2019t matter if you make mistakes – there\u2019s nobody else there to notice!<\/p>\n

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3. Prepare for conversations<\/strong><\/span><\/h1>\n

You\u2019ll be much more confident about speaking if you feel prepared, and a good way to do this is to try the conversation out in advance. If you know you\u2019re going to be speaking English in a particular situation, for example booking a hotel, rehearse<\/strong><\/em><\/span> what you\u2019re going to say. Were there words you didn\u2019t know? Then look up the vocabulary you need and rehearse again. Was there a phrase you struggled with? Then check the grammar and make some notes before rehearsing again.<\/p>\n

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4. Brush up on your conversational phrases<\/strong><\/span><\/h1>\n

The exercise above is great for prepared to speak, but an important conversational skill is being able to listen and to reply. One of the reasons is that speaking is so nerve-wracking<\/strong><\/em><\/span> is that it\u2019s horrible in a conversation when you don\u2019t know what to say. But learning some common conversational phrases will help you speak more fluently in English. You can pepper<\/strong><\/em><\/span> your speaking with phrases such as \u201cOh, I didn\u2019t know that\u201d or \u201cI can\u2019t believe it\u201d and it will help to fill in any gaps. Make a list of conversational connectors and keep updating it when you learn a new one, and you\u2019ll notice that it will make a big difference to your fluency when speaking.<\/p>\n

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5. Attend a language exchange<\/strong><\/span><\/h1>\n

Language exchanges are a fantastic way to practice speaking English and improve your fluency. It\u2019s a low-pressure environment, where everyone is a learner so it doesn\u2019t matter if you make some errors. There are lots of language exchanges on in a big multicultural city like Barcelona – in fact Oxford House has our very own language exchange<\/a> every month. Think of some topics you\u2019d like to chat about, then try out our technique in preparation for going along – you\u2019ll be able to see how well it works! For more tips on how to get the most out of a language exchange<\/a>, check out this post. Even better, if you go regularly you\u2019ll get to know people, and you might make some new friends.<\/p>\n

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6. Discipline<\/strong><\/span><\/h1>\n

Speaking confidently and fluently is one of the biggest hurdles<\/strong><\/em><\/span> for a language learner, so often it\u2019s easier to do a reading task, or a writing task. But the quickest way to improve is to have a disciplined approach. So practice speaking to yourself every single day. Prepare for any English conversations you\u2019re going to have. Learn those conversational connectors and phrases. Keep going to your language exchange, even when it feels like hard work. And if you have the discipline to keep making the effort, you\u2019ll see that your speaking fluency will improve in a matter of weeks.<\/p>\n

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Glossary for Language Learners<\/strong><\/h1>\n

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Find the following words in the article and then write down any new ones you didn\u2019t know.<\/p>\n

To utilise (v):<\/strong><\/em><\/span> to use.<\/p>\n

Lost for words (id):<\/strong><\/em><\/span> when you don\u2019t know what to say.<\/p>\n

To let go (p.v):<\/strong><\/em><\/span> to release.<\/p>\n

Inhibition (n):<\/strong><\/em><\/span> something that stops you from expressing yourself freely.<\/p>\n

To rehearse (v):<\/strong><\/em><\/span> to repeat, to practice.<\/p>\n

Nerve-racking (adj):<\/strong><\/em><\/span> stressful.<\/p>\n

To pepper with (phr.v):<\/strong><\/em><\/span> to put something in many places.<\/p>\n

Hurdle (n):<\/strong><\/em><\/span> a barrier or obstacle.<\/p>\n

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Key<\/strong><\/p>\n

v = verb<\/p>\n

id = idiom<\/p>\n

exp = expression<\/p>\n

p.v. = phrasal verb<\/p>\n

n = noun<\/p>\n

adj = adjective<\/p>\n

adv = adverb<\/p>\n

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Study English at Oxford House Barcelona<\/h4><\/i>Interested in taking an English course at Oxford House Barcelona? Check all the different English classes<\/a> we can offer you and contact us<\/a> for more information.<\/div>
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There are four linguistic skills that you utilise when learning a new language: reading, writing speaking and listening. Of the four skills, speaking is often the skill that students find the most difficult. Having a conversation in a foreign language can be very stressful if you don\u2019t understand, or find yourself lost for words. However, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":39346,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_joinchat":[]},"categories":[268],"tags":[],"yst_prominent_words":[1340,9669,9679,9676,1252,5753,9668,9680,9648,9647,9672,1245,1079,4033,9677,9674,9662,9678,9675,2538],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/oxfordhousebcn.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41234"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/oxfordhousebcn.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/oxfordhousebcn.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oxfordhousebcn.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oxfordhousebcn.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41234"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/oxfordhousebcn.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41234\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":41236,"href":"https:\/\/oxfordhousebcn.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41234\/revisions\/41236"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oxfordhousebcn.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39346"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/oxfordhousebcn.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41234"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oxfordhousebcn.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41234"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oxfordhousebcn.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41234"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oxfordhousebcn.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=41234"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}