How to improve English speaking skills quickly at home free

By Laura Kabelka

If English isn’t your first language, you might find you need to take an English language proficiency exam such as the IELTS or the TOEFL as part of your application to study abroad. These tests may seem straightforward, but learning to write and speak in a sophisticated and eloquent manner in a new language doesn’t come easily. In order to succeed, you’ll need to put a lot of continuous effort into learning a new language, but there are some quick fixes that can help to boost your test performance at short notice.

If the exam is just a few weeks away, here are some ways to quickly improve your English language skills.

Watch movies in English      

Watching series on Netflix might not exactly improve your debating skills or formal register, but it helps you to understand the language better, get used to colloquial, conversational forms of English and implicitly get a feeling for the language. Also, you could try to pick out words that sound highly informal and look up their more scholarly counterparts. Of course, there is also a plethora of documentaries (try anything by David Attenborough to start you off) to be found online as well. Being exposed to a language for the length of a movie might help you to actually start thinking in English.          

Immerse yourself in English language news        

Try to sample a broad range of English language newspapers, including broadsheets as well as magazines and tabloids. As well as helping you keep up to date with current affairs, this range of news sources will also expand your vocabulary. Another advantage is that you will also become more comfortable with how words are spelt and the contexts in which they are used.                 

Start a vocabulary book of useful words              

Either in a notebook or on your computer, start making a list of useful words and phrases. Every time you hear or see a word you’re not familiar with, note it down. Don’t only focus on the word itself, but search for synonyms and phrases in which it’s used. After all, you might understand what words such as “precedence” or “tantalizing” mean, but do you know how to use them accurately?

Have conversations in English

As helpful as listening and reading tasks may be, you also need to use English interactively and practice your own speaking skills. If you’re lucky, you’ll be friends with a few native speakers who can help you out, but if not then try to meet up with someone else studying English. Another option is to talk to yourself in the mirror or record yourself. Listening to the sound of your own voice might be a little bit awkward at first, but you will be able to hear mistakes of which you weren’t previously aware.     

Practice, practice, practice         

Let’s face it, academic phrases won’t just fall from heaven and straight into your brain. Even if your English is already quite good, don’t be complacent and underestimate stressful factors such as the time pressure in an exam. You still have to practice, no matter how much time you have left before your big day. Try coming up with a word of the day, and then try to employ it as often as possible. If you do this, don’t waste time on extremely specific words you will never actually use. Instead, focus on conversational English which is likely to be relevant in the exam.      

Curiosity doesn’t always kill the cat        

In order to improve rapidly, you should ask a lot of questions and resolve them. Don’t just read phrases. Ask why they are used in a particular way, whether other constructions are possible as well and don’t trust everything you read online. Of course, it is tempting to be content with the first answer that pops up on Google, but you’ll find more rewards if you show a bit of curiosity.

Don’t forget to have fun while you learn             

If studying the English language only feels like a burden, it will seem tedious and you won’t perform as well. This is why it’s important to stay motivated and enjoy the experience of learning a new language. Find ways to add entertainment into your studies, such as playing word games with friends that will boost your critical thinking skills.

Obviously, learning a new language is a long-term project and you can’t start from zero and write an academic paper a week later. But, when building on a decent foundation, you can achieve great results quickly if you devote yourself intensely. Especially for exams like the IELTS, you should really know what questions will be asked, what the formats look like and how to deal with the respective tasks. Try to stay focused and improve certain parts, rather than frantically trying to catch up with everything at once.

Laura Kabelka works in Communication and Marketing at StudentJob AT.      

English is the world’s most studied language — around 20% of the world speaks English. Knowing how to speak English can open new life possibilities: from traveling more easily to communicating with more people, and even getting better jobs. It also means that you can study higher education at some of the world’s top institutions, including the University of the People’s online programs, which are tuition-free! If you are looking for advice on how to improve english speaking skills, there are plenty of methods and techniques.

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How To Improve English Speaking Skills

Mastering any skill, including communication skills, comes down to practice. By practicing speaking, you can learn from mistakes and build both your vocabulary and understanding.

Here are some tried and proven methods to enhance your English speaking skills:

• Find a Conversation Partner: If possible, it’s best to find a native English speaker with whom you can practice your English. If you don’t know anyone in your direct network, consider finding a tutor. Otherwise, you can always find someone online to digitally connect with and practice your conversation skills.
• Make Sure To Listen As Well As Speak: One of the best ways to understand the formulation of sentences and build your vocabulary is to listen to people speak. Try listening to podcasts and recorded conversations. From YouTube to real-life conversations, there are so many places to access English speaking.
• Record Your Conversation Practice: When it comes to speaking, you will likely make mistakes. But you have to be open to making mistakes so that you can learn from them. If you record yourself speaking with your conversation partner, you can play it back and learn even better. That way, you can track your progress and pick up on pronunciation.
• Surround Yourself With The English Language: English is everywhere. No matter where you live, you can find menus, marketing materials, books, movies, road signs, and more with the English language. The more you immerse yourself and pay attention to these daily pieces of English, the stronger your foundation will be.
• Practice With Music and Movies: Most people like to relax and unwind with some music or entertainment in the form of movies. You can choose to watch movies in English, or instead, watch them in your native language with English subtitles that you can read.
• Read Aloud: If you like to read more than speak and make up your own conversation, try reading out loud. That way, you can hear yourself pronounce the words and remember them more because you are both seeing and reading them.
• Talk To Yourself: If you’re still unsure whether you’re ready to put your speaking skills to the test, simply talk to yourself! The more you practice with yourself, the better your English skills will become.

Build a Strong Foundation

Foundationally, learning a language comes from understanding the tone, vocabulary, and grammar.

• Build your vocabulary: When you’re a child, you learn words as people point to items and teach you what they are called. You can adopt this same approach when learning and building your English skills. It all begins with vocabulary. You can choose to learn a certain number of words each day.
• Improve your pronunciation: There are digital tools that will speak words out loud so that you can pick up on pronunciation. From YouTube channels to online dictionaries, knowing the pronunciation is key in being understood when you speak.
• Learn the natural flow of English: Every language has its own flow and rhythm. When speaking English, it helps to know contractions — for example, two words that come together to form one word, like “I am” becomes “I’m.” Also, you want to know what syllable to stress when speaking. That all comes from conversational practice and listening to natives speak.

Techniques to Improve English Speaking Skills

There are also a variety of techniques to help improve your English speaking skills. Try your hand (or should we say mouth) at these:

• Speech shadowing: Basically, this is copying how a native speaks. Speech shadowing can be done most simply by watching videos or a movie with subtitles. First, read the sentence and speak it out loud. Then, play it back with the native speaker speaking it. Try to pause in between to copy the flow and pattern as closely as possible. If you want, you can record yourself doing this to compare it with the way the native speaker sounds.
• Self-talk: Whether you choose to speak your thoughts out loud or record yourself singing, talking to yourself and hearing the words will help you improve. You can also read out loud.
• Think in English: This probably won’t come naturally, but you can help train yourself to think in English by first translating the thoughts in your head. Otherwise, you can keep a journal or diary of thoughts and write them in English.
• Retell a story in English: Start with something simple, like a fairytale or traditional story from your childhood. Then you can take this to the next step and challenge yourself to retell a story that someone else shares in English. This helps to check your comprehension and understanding.

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Frequently Practice to Improve Your English Speaking Skills

From friends to strangers, you can always find someone who speaks English to practice with. Here are a few more ideas on how and where you can speak English:

• Participate in public speaking events: Public speaking events, from forums and conferences to slam poetry events, offer a good place to listen to others speak. You can also potentially apply to be a speaker. If it’s something less formal, like sharing your creative writing or telling a story in front of a small group of friends, public speaking can really showcase your skills.
• Go to language cafes: Language cafes exist around the world. This is a place for people to come together and practice the languages of their choice in small group settings.
• Using apps: Technology is here to assist in learning languages. From apps like Duolingo to Busuu, which lets you speak to native speakers, you can improve your English speaking skills wherever you go.
• Chat with Siri: Want to speak to someone at a random time of night or simply set reminders on your phone to benefit your productivity? Chat with Siri!

Strategies and English Trainings

Everyone has their own favorite methods and ways of improving their English communication. There is no one right or wrong choice, so you can pick as many or as few as you wish and mix it up:

• Talk to Yourself: Share your thoughts or read out loud.
• Use a Mirror: Watch yourself speak to build confidence.
• Focus on Fluency, Not Grammar: It’s ok to take time to learn grammar. But it’s more important to be able to communicate your thoughts first.
• English Tongue Twisters: Try English tongue twisters to master the sounds of each letter.
• Listen and Repeat: Practice and keep practicing by listening and repeating what you hear.
• Pay Attention to Stressed Sounds: The language has a rhythm and certain syllables are stressed in both words and sentences.
• Sing Along to English Songs: Use music to memorize words.
• Learn Phrases, Not Words: By learning longer phrases, you combine words in context and can memorize both their meaning and pronunciation.
• Learn Your Most Common Sayings: First, start with things you need to say the most. Whether it’s words for work or eating at a restaurant, you can start with specific situations in your life.
• Have a Debate: If there’s something you’re particularly interested in, talk about and debate it with English-speaking friends.
• Don’t Stress: Don’t be afraid to make mistakes and be kind to yourself in the process of learning. It takes time, so don’t stress!

Resources

If you want to invest more in learning, consider using the following resources:

• Private tutor
• Online services
• Apps

Tying it Up: Talk the Talk

English is the most global language. Being able to speak English will widen your possibilities for higher education and career options. It will also help you access some of the best entertainment straight from the source — Hollywood!

When enhancing your speaking skills, be sure to practice a lot. Don’t give up! You can practice by yourself, with the help of friends, or use technology to make it work for you.