You can learn English on your own. But it will be, firstly, much longer. Secondly, you risk learning grammar and pronunciation incorrectly. And it's very hard to get over. An experienced English tutor will correct mistakes in time, point out weak spots and in general, will teach new material according to a certain curriculum adapted for the beginner. It is quite difficult to compose it yourself.
From the first day of study, listen to English phrases that are spoken around you. Don't take them as background that doesn't apply to you - you have to really hear every word to begin to understand the language. This will help you expand vocabulary understand the features of the construction of sentences and the use of specific words. You will learn to catch the intonation that plays in English language a very big role. To listen, you need to immerse yourself in the environment. When you find yourself in an English-speaking country, you just need to take the subway or walk through the supermarket to hear English spoken. If you are not yet planning a move to New York, radio, television and music will help you out.
To speak at the native level, you need to know about 3000 words. 1000 words will allow you to express your thoughts and understand others. And when you first start learning, you don't have a vocabulary. Learn verbs, nouns, adjectives and other parts of speech daily. If you know 20 nouns, 20 verbs, and 20 adjectives, you can make a couple of hundred phrases with different meanings. Of course you will talk like a child. But this is how a child learns a language!
In learning a foreign language, the main emphasis is always on speech practice. At the same time, communication is effective tool further improvement of English. A language parent is your friend who knows English well. This is a native speaker who really likes you in a human way, and he is interested in helping you. You will become for him a child, which we began to talk about in the previous paragraph.
Parent rules:
- try to understand what you are saying;
- not correct you;
- pretend that he understands everything you say;
- use unfamiliar words.
This gives an amazing effect. After all Small child learning to speak from adults. They use new words and behave loyally with the child, portraying a complete understanding of even the most unintelligible baby talk. Result: the child begins to talk, every day doing it better and better.
We use the muscles in our face to pronounce certain sounds correctly. The sounds in English are different from Russian, so you need to learn how to pronounce them correctly. To do this, copy the facial expressions of native speakers - peer into the faces of the heroes of TV shows and talk show hosts. Repeat phrases after them, trying to copy facial expressions and intonation as much as possible. Do you know what awaits you after such training? Pain in the muscles on the face! This means that you are doing everything right!
You say: "What simple tips! Can they really help?" Why complicate the simple? Especially if these recommendations work effectively with millions of people around the world who are learning English.
Try it and after 3 months you will say: “Unbelievable! It worked! And it will be true.
A few tips from my personal experience of learning English. So how do you learn to speak English on your own? All this I will describe further.
About learning English from personal experience
Last but not least, PRACTICE! If you want to speak English, you must speak! I found very good pen pals and we talked a lot. It was difficult in the beginning, but week after week it got better and better. Try to speak as often as possible and it will serve you well! Try to practice your speaking skill every day. It doesn't have to be face to face, you can also just chat, it's quite useful too. Just remember "If you want to talk, you must talk"!
So after 3 months of studying I started to speak slowly, after 4 months it was better, and after 5-6 months I could speak English and understand people very well!
You can say that you don't have free time for all this, but I didn't either. I also worked and studied at the university. Surround yourself with English, immerse yourself in it! Try to combine English with your everyday life! It's not difficult, and if you really want to succeed in your studies, then you definitely can do it!
Try, friends! Study hard and never give up! Just remember that "If you only speak one language, you can't speak" (c)!
Read my articles, they will help you in your study! Subscribe to blog updates in the form on the right, as more than 3,000 people have already done! Download for free. In it, I have collected all the most valuable knowledge and recommendations that will help you speak English as quickly as possible! Now you know how to start speaking English, the main thing is not to be lazy.
Keep learning English and take care of yourself!
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How to learn to speak English quickly and competently? This question is asked daily by millions of students around the world, for whom the encounter with the language barrier has become an unpleasant step in learning a language. However, any obstacle can be overcome, the main thing is to choose the right means achieving goals. We have collected for you the most simple and effective advice, which will help you improve your spoken English and achieve fluency in communication.
Speaking is the most important skill in learning any foreign language. Some students admit that they easily master grammar, read with pleasure foreign literature and quietly listen to audio recordings. But when it comes to speaking in English, they fall into a state of “I understand everything, but I can’t answer anything.” And this often happens not from a lack of knowledge or a limited vocabulary, but because of a lack of conversational practice and a psychological barrier.
O psychological reasons appearance of a language barrier and 15 effective ways we told about the fight against it in. We would like to offer you not to delve into the details of the emergence of the barrier, but to direct all efforts towards its elimination.
Our student Ilya Usanov spoke with foreign partners and investors on his fingers until he started learning English. .
What's stopping you from speaking English
Let's look at not psychological, but namely linguistic reasons that may stand between you and fruitful communication in English.
Insufficient level of knowledge of the language
The vocabulary of native speakers is 10,000 - 20,000 words. For everyone who studies English, 2,000 words are enough for comfortable communication on everyday topics, which corresponds to the level. As you can see, everything is not so scary!
To start speaking, you must master the minimum grammar:
- present - Present (Simple, Continuous, Perfect);
- past tense - Past Simple;
- future tense: Future Simple and construction be going to;
- modal verbs: have to, must, can, may, might, should;
- indirect speech;
- passive voice.
If your knowledge of English is at the level or , you need to pull it up to Pre-Intermediate. If you have already overcome this bar, then you are ready to communicate in English. Yes, such conversations will not be ideal and easy, but to express your thought accessible ways you definitely can.
Nothing to say on the topic
If it seems to you that you don’t know what to talk about at all, start with the development of Russian speech. Take any object or phenomenon. Think about what thoughts and emotions you have in relation to him. Try to find several subtopics within this broad topic. Then talk about this subject or phenomenon for at least one or two minutes. Exhale. Try the same but in English.
For example, take the theme "Vacation". It resonates with each of us. Some travel to the same favorite country every year, while others value diversity and contrast. Some save for repairs and rarely allow themselves tourist trips, others cannot live without constant adventures. What can you say about vacation?
Structure of the answer to oral questions
We analyzed the monologue. And what about dialogue? Let's imagine that you are asked a simple question. For instance:
What is your favorite kind of food? - What is your favorite food?
If panic arises in your head and the gastronomic variety creates complete chaos, take your time. The fate of mankind does not depend on your answer now. Think calmly and only then speak according to an approximate scheme:
- Introductory offer:
It's difficult to choose because I like many different dishes. - It's hard to choose because I like many dishes.
- Answer:
I think pasta with meatballs is my favourite. - I think pasta with meatballs is my favorite dish.
- Reason/Example:
My wife cooks it very well. And I also like to order this meal at a restaurant. It is so delicious. - My wife cooks it amazingly. And I also like to order this dish in a restaurant. It's so delicious.
- Conclusion:
Well, if I had to choose just one, I would definitely prefer pasta with meatballs. - Well, if I had to choose only one, I would prefer pasta with meatballs.
By practicing answering questions in this way, you can get rid of the “I have nothing to say” problem.
We have analyzed the reasons that interfere with colloquial speech. Now let's move on to practice. Are you preparing for negotiations, presentations or other communication at work? You are probably nodding in the affirmative right now. So it is with a conversation in English: you also need to carefully prepare for it. But not everyone has time for this. If you need to speak English confidently “already yesterday”, we have a solution.
Speaking practice
Many of our students complain that they have crammed some difficult grammar rules and did long written exercises in English, but never learned to speak. To remedy this situation, we have created:
The idea for creating the Conversational Practice course did not come about by chance. Before starting education at our school, potential students communicate with our managers, who clarify their preferences and wishes for the learning process. Many people say that they want to overcome the language barrier, but at the same time they don’t want to study from boring textbooks, they want to learn English in a fun and interesting way, but “without homework and boring grammar”! Based on the wishes of students and teaching principles foreign language we created our course.
If you decide to take this course, you will be able to make new acquaintances and apply the secrets of success (talk about the weather and breaking news), keep up a conversation on cultural topics (films, series, books). You will learn how to talk about everyday problems: if you spill coffee on yourself or get stuck in traffic, you will be able to explain it without any problems.
Together with your tutor, you will role-play typical telephone conversations and job interviews. international companies, prepare for tourist trips and business trips. Abroad, you can easily go shopping, order food in a restaurant, visit a doctor and so on.
The main bonus is no long written assignments. Just you, the teacher and the conversation! !
The more words you know, the more conversational topics are available to you and the more accurately you can express your thoughts. Therefore, being carried away by conversational practice, do not forget about replenishing your vocabulary. We wrote about how to do this in the article "".
2. We make our speech live and natural
To make your speech beautiful and natural, while learning a new word, look in the dictionary, which lists its synonyms and antonyms, as well as related phrasal verbs and idioms. Our article "" will help determine the optimal dictionary. So you diversify your speech and increase your vocabulary.
3. Learn phrases
If you ask modern polyglots how to learn to speak English quickly, many of them will answer the same way: “Learn cliché phrases and speech constructions.” Expressions such as Let's talk briefly about... (Let's talk briefly about...), I am inclined to believe that... (I tend to think that...), I've got an impression that.. .(I have the impression that ...) will help you start the conversation competently and beautifully.
But what if you misunderstood what you were told? You need to learn to catch keywords in a statement. Pay Special attention on nouns and verbs, because they are the main words in any sentence. The rest will become clear from the general context of the statement, intonation, emotions, facial expressions and gestures of the speaker. Practice listening more often and get used to the sound of someone else's speech. In the meantime, you can ask the interlocutor to repeat:
| Phrase | Translation |
|---|---|
| Would you repeat that? | You won't repeat? |
| Excuse me? | Sorry? |
| I run your pardon? | Sorry? |
| Sorry? | Sorry? |
| Speak up, please. | Please speak louder. |
| Would you mind repeating that (speaking up), please? | Could you repeat it again (speak louder), please? |
4. Activate vocabulary
Active vocabulary - those words that you use in speech or writing, passive - you learn in someone else's speech or when reading, but do not use it yourself. The more active your vocabulary, the more ways you have to express yourself and the easier it is for you to express yourself in English. Work on expanding it: learn new words and bring them into your speech. In the article "" we talked about how to turn a passive stock into an active one.
5. Learning to paraphrase
If you are afraid that during a conversation you may forget a word, then do not worry, because you can learn a paraphrase - an indirect, descriptive designation of an object. And in order for you to be able to paraphrase, we will give some tips.
- If you forgot compound word, use the simpler one: a department store - a supermarket.
- Use that, which, who to describe a subject or object:
It's a very large shop that sells food and other products for the home. - This big store, which sells food and other products for the home.
- Use antonyms and comparisons:
It is opposite to a neighborhood shop. = It's not a neighborhood shop. - It's the opposite of a convenience store.
- Use examples:
“Sainsbury's” and “Tesco” are examples of best supermarkets. - Sainsbury's and Tesco are examples of the best supermarkets.
6. Learning to ask questions
The strategy for any successful conversation is to talk less about yourself and be more interested in other people's opinions. To do this, you need to master. For example, a person tells you that he likes to decorate his apartment.
I like decorating my flat. - I like to decorate the apartment.
Think about what questions you could ask this person?
What materials do you like the most? - What materials do you like the most?
Did you learn something about decor? - Have you studied decor?
Could you please show me your best work? - Don't show yours best job?
Would you like to take part in some decorators contest? - Would you like to take part in the decorating competition?
7. Use a special textbook
Development aids oral speech - good help for every English learner. They give you things to talk about interesting ideas and expressions, as well as new phrases that can be successfully used in any conversation. To choose the right textbook for yourself, check out our review "".
8. Improve your pronunciation
Work on your pronunciation: if you confuse sounds or pronounce them indistinctly, the likelihood of being understood is greatly reduced. Do you want to speak correctly? Imitate the speech of those people who speak clearly and distinctly. You can imitate your English teacher, BBC announcer, favorite actor or English-speaking friend, if any. When you learn to pronounce sounds clearly, you will overcome the fear of being misunderstood and you will not feel embarrassed by your accent. More more tips we wrote in the article "".
9. We are engaged in modern listening
English listening doesn't have to be monotonous or intimidating. You can train listening comprehension of English speech by modern podcasts, audio series and radio shows. Some of them are adapted for learning, others contain useful colloquial phrases from real live speech of native speakers.
Even if you don't have much free time to study, you can install podcast, radio and audio drama apps on your smartphone. Listen to them on your way to work, during your lunch break, on a trip, while shopping, etc. We advise you to listen to the same recording several times. If possible, you can repeat after the speaker. This simple trick will improve your listening skills. You can read more about this in the article "".
10. Watch videos
How to quickly learn to speak English with the help of video? Watch videos on topics that interest you, listen to how and what native speakers say, and repeat after them. So you will not only master colloquial phrases, but you can also learn the correct articulation by imitating the heroes of the video. Many videos for people with different levels of language proficiency can be viewed on the resources: engvid.com, newsinlevels.com, englishcentral.com.
11. Sing songs
12. Read aloud and retell what you read
Reading aloud works similarly to listening to video and audio, only here you read the text yourself and retell what you read. As a result, new words and phrases are memorized. In the article "" we covered in detail the choice of the right books for your level.
13. Recording your voice
Choose a general conversational topic, such as a story about your favorite book. Turn on the voice recorder on your smartphone or laptop and record your voice. After that, turn on the recording and listen to it carefully. Pay attention to when you have a hitch, where you delay the pause, how fast your speech is, good pronunciation and correct intonation.
Usually, the first recordings for English learners are not a test for the faint of heart: firstly, we are not used to hearing ourselves from the outside, and secondly, English-language speech at the first stages of learning sounds strange and incomprehensible. We recommend that you do not despair. Imagine that this is not your voice, but some outside student who really wants to learn English. What would you advise him to work on? After a month or two, compare the first and last entries: the difference will be noticeable, and this will inspire you to further exploits in learning English.
14. Talk as often as possible
Dreaming in free time speak English but your friends are not interested? Try participating in conversation clubs with other English learners. These meetings are held both live and online. This is a great opportunity to start talking and get used to someone else's speech. V relaxed atmosphere you can chat on various topics, on occasion, screw in interesting words and phrases that you heard somewhere, and just have a good time.
In our school, all students can sign up for free conversation clubs with both Russian-speaking teachers and native speakers from the UK. Clubs can be selected according to your level and in accordance with interesting topics: sightseeing, art, friends and loved ones, sense of humor - the list is inexhaustible. The big advantage is that you will work in small groups of up to 7 people. If you are already studying with us, sign up for the next meeting of the club, if not yet - it's time!
The more you communicate in English, the sooner you will achieve fluency. And to make it easy for you to find an interlocutor, we wrote an article "". From it you will learn how easy it is to find a friend among native speakers.
15. Finding a partner
Did you buy a membership to a fitness club, but quit after a couple of months? Decided to learn the guitar, but the enthusiasm faded and you switched to something new? Perhaps you just lack motivation and support. You need someone who will support the desire to learn English. Try to find a friend who will go to courses and conversation clubs with you, communicate on various topics and in every way motivate you to continue learning.
16. We do not theorize
Practice, practice and only practice of speaking will bring the desired results. One theory will not be enough: no matter how much you read useful tips about how to start speaking English, the language will not be given to you until you start putting all the tips into practice. Yes, you yourself know this. Whatever you undertake, whether it is driving, cooking or yoga in hammocks, without practice, theoretical manuals will become waste paper.
Today you have received a guide to action on how to learn to speak English. We hope you will not only carefully read our tips, but also begin to put them into practice. If you want to start studying at Inglex, but while you are thinking, be inspired by the experience of our teachers from the article "".
Guess the riddle: “I’m going, I’m going - there’s no trace, I’m cutting, I’m cutting - there’s no blood?” - Everyone probably knows the answer. This is a boat
Here's a tricky riddle: “I’m learning, I’m learning, but I’m silent” - who is this? Guessed? 🙂
It's annoying, of course, to spend an infinite amount of time studying English, not being able to connect even two words.
So how can you speak English quickly?
The answer is obvious: only active practice!
Here are 11 tips to help you improve your conversational English skills:
1. Study words not by themselves, but by phrases and whole phrases.
invent bright examples and say them out loud. Let crocodiles, unicorns, monsters, elves, robots appear in your examples. In this case, you activate different areas brain. Do not be afraid of repetitions, take them as fitness for your speech apparatus.
2.
Regularly, preferably every day, practice pronunciation, for example, using the service https://www.merriam-webster.com
On this site you will find interesting articles about the nuances of the meanings and use of words in modern English (for example, “bake” and “bake” are 2 completely different words), correct pronunciation words and phrases, various online games.
There is a nice feature of getting 1 new word a day for free: so imperceptibly, day after day, you replenish your own vocabulary. The resource has been specializing in dictionaries for many years, but the presentation of the material captures from the first clicks anyone studying English, and on different levels learning.
3. Look interesting videos and try to repeat everything you hear.
These can be short videos, feature films, live streams. computer game, vlogs. Rehearse by copying the intonations of your favorite bloggers and actors.
It is very important to choose sources only of original origin, where English speech native, otherwise you risk learning a deliberately incorrect pronunciation.
4. It is useful to watch and listen to video lessons in which there is a lot of speaking practice.
To evaluate usefulness, use the 50/50 formula: 50% of the time you listen, 50% of the time you repeat what you hear. It is necessary not to be lazy to repeat all the proposed material, without omissions.
Do not wait until you watch to the end, and then start the exercises, practice speaking directly while watching the video lesson. On our BistroEnglish website you will find a large number of educational videos for every taste and color:
5. Talk to yourself and don't be afraid to be considered crazy 🙂
For example, when you are trying to learn how to cook the next culinary masterpiece, imagine yourself as a chef and try to tell the recipe in English for your most popular video blog.
Also, during the morning exercise say out loud what you are doing, even pauses for rest or count steps in English.
6. Be sure to join an English speaking club.
At first, you may feel embarrassed and confused, after all, not everyone can boast of the fact that they can easily come into an unfamiliar environment and talk to new people, and here also in English! But it's worth a try!
English Video Course for Beginners
Intermediate English Video Course
Firstly, the atmosphere of English conversation clubs is democratic and sincere, positive-minded people gather in them, united by one goal - the practice of spoken English.
The vocabulary of a speaking club can be simple - however, you yourself regulate the level at which you would like to communicate. No obligations, just come when you have the mood and time.
Very famous today https://www.meetup.com where people gather according to their interests and organize live meetings, including for the practice of foreign languages.
7. Retell jokes and stories.
Train your memory and retell something you read a long time ago. Reread and retell. Feel the difference?
This is very good habit, which, on occasion, will help you decorate the discussion with an interesting phrase, fact or joke.
8. Try to think in English.
To do this, you need a calm, quiet environment in which you can concentrate.
It is easiest to find such an atmosphere at home, but you can simply practice on the way to work or school, while walking or traveling in transport.
For example, describe the weather, your mood, or the appearance of the people you met along the way, mentally pronouncing phrases.
9. Make up a few short speeches [speech] about yourself and memorize them, adding interesting details and details.
Who am I, what do I do, my food and drink preferences, unusual hobbies, recent travels - short stories that describe you with best sides. When meeting, for example, in conversational English clubs, such stories will greatly help to remove the first awkwardness.
10. Read aloud.
Choose exciting stories or popular articles, even fairy tales!
They can be interleaved to understand different styles and genres. If you correspond in English, reread your phrases aloud, this will help kill two birds with one stone: improve your writing style and more firmly fix verbal turns in your memory.
11. Come up with life dialogues and bring to automatism the phrases that you plan to use in life.
If the imagination refuses to turn on, you can simply find desired topic and memorize the dialogue. For example, if you are going on a trip, you will need any phrases on the topics: hotels, airports, buses, museums, recreation, cafes, restaurants.
By supplementing your question with gestures, a tourist map and lively facial expressions, you will perfectly do without an interpreter abroad.
Don't worry about repeating the same thing over and over. Believe me, as a result, this will bring you to the "automaticity of speaking" when you communicate in English as if it were your own.
Practice at home, sometimes even in front of a mirror, practicing new expressions, facial expressions and gestures - in this way, you activate the brain to perceive new material more easily and firmly, using the features of our memory. It's time to learn public speaking if you've never tried this skill before! 🙂
Your reward for persistent work will be the ease with which at the right moment you will successfully screw in an elegant turn, instead of painfully choosing words and blushing, not daring to start a conversation.
In order to talk, it makes no sense to look for some innovative way, you just need to speak, train the skill yourself.
The more regularly and persistently you practice, the more tangible the progress will be, and soon you will find yourself giving out tips left and right on how to start speaking English.
Hello friends. Very often people who learn English cannot speak it quickly. When they do exercises, work on grammar, everything is all right. But as soon as you need to speak English, and speak quickly, in front of someone, they are silent, as if they took water in their mouths. Fear, self-doubt, stupid mistakes come from somewhere. And the thought simply refuses to work quickly.
I want to give you a couple good advice how to speed up and speak English faster.
- Learn texts and dialogues by heart. To get started, read the same text a lot, a lot. Instead of text, dialogues, movie scripts (episodes), lyrics are suitable. It is also important to have time to read along with the announcer who does the voice acting. a) first learn to read some text quickly. b) orally, without peeping, answer this text to yourself. Imagine yourself as an actress. It's like you're learning a role. Speak your role with expression, with meaning. Even if you don't understand what you're saying. Still, try not to stop. It's like you're already on stage.
- Talk to yourself. Make it a habit to talk to yourself for at least 10-20 minutes a day. Again, like an actor who reads monologues. Pick a topic and talk about it. The topic can be very simple, no need to philosophize. For example, they took a pencil, put it on the table and said at the same time I’m putting the pencil on the table. Then they put it in a book, said I've just put it into the book.
Daily exercises of this kind will help loosen the tongue.
- Retellings of the text. Read the text several times, then retell it in your own words. But a prerequisite for this and the above exercises is to speak out loud. Open your mouth, perform a speech act. It is very important!
When retelling, you need to say the same thought that you read, but in different words. It doesn't have to be complicated, it's better to simplify. Speak as clearly and simple sentences. Where you can say a complex sentence, it is better to say 2 simple sentences.
- Rehearse your speech. Imagine that you have a presentation at work tomorrow, or you will have to say a few words in front of the team. What do you say? Think. Make up a speech. And then rehearse it. Set yourself a time limit. Let's say you have to talk for 1 minute. Speak at a normal pace. Practice the speech until you can speak quickly.
— Write yourself to the camera or at least to the recorder. Keep a video diary. You don't have to show it to anyone. The bottom line is that you see yourself from the outside. At first, you will not like yourself terribly, especially when you speak English. But if you do this every day, then speaking in front of someone will become something normal and familiar to you. And it is also important to hear yourself from the outside in order to know what needs to be worked on.
- Believe in what you can say in English free. Imagine that you already know how. Break that glass ceiling, as they say. Then both stiffness and slowness in speech will go away.
- Get rid of perfectionism. Many people do not speak because they are afraid of making a mistake. But no one will punish you for mistakes. You are not on an exam. On the contrary, foreigners are very responsive people, they are ready to help, ready to wait patiently for you to express your thought. Don't be afraid of your accent, of what you think for a long time. The main thing is that you want to speak and you can express your thought. Anyway, you won’t be able to jump over the stage of mistakes, and all your mistakes will come out in speech. Speak out the mistakes to get rid of them forever.
I once had a student - an adult uncle, the owner of a small but successful company in Ukraine. He had very funny English. But that didn't stop him from speaking it. Use English during negotiations, while traveling. He was not shy and treated English, as it should be done - as a means for expressing thoughts and a way of interacting with people who do not know Russian. You should hear how the Chinese speak English. But this does not prevent them from interacting with enterprises and companies around the world. So more optimism, less perfectionism! If you are physically able to speak quickly (do not have mental disabilities), then you will be able to speak quickly not only in Russian, but also in English. I wish you success!
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