four steps to improve your speaking skill

spy4me · 2011-10-11, 20:29

(How to improve your speaking skill by Jane Lawson (British english teacher
here are some tips to help you out improving your speaking skill

1A good way to improve your English speaking is to read aloud whenever you can. Even if you make mistakes, reading aloud will help you to speak English more easily. To read aloud, you can use a book or newspaper - in fact, anything with English on it - and speak the words rather than reading them silently. Even if you don't understand all the words, it will still give your mouth and brain practice in speaking English words, and you'll find that you can form sentences more easily and quickly when you are really speaking English.

2You can also try talking to yourself (only when you are alone or you may sound a little crazy!) when you are doing daily things. This will help you to think in English. For example, you can say 'I am walking up the stairs and going into the kitchen. Now I am making a cup of tea. I like tea because it r.efreshes me and so on, while you are actually doing these things. I know this sounds a little unusual, but try it, it works.

3Similarly, you can look out of the window or at the television, and say all the things you see. For example 'A man in a blue shirt is walking across the road to his car. He is getting in the car now and driving away. He has just gone past the church and turned right into the main street.' All these things are simple l.anguage, but you will be surprised how much this can improve your brain-to-mouth speed with English. After a while, you'll find that you do not have to translate things in your head, and that when you are having a real conversation, you can express your thoughts much more easily. And even better, all these techniques are totally free! Try not to worry too much about mistakes when doing this - fluency is the important thing in these exercises. If you want to correct your mistakes, then record yourself while you are speaking and listen again later to hear where you were wrong.

4Finally, please make sure that you keep a little book where you write new English words when you learn them. When you have some free time, please review your new words. Set yourself a target each week of how many words you are going to learn, and every few weeks raise the target. Remember, never learn a word on its own, always learn it in the context and with its correct prepositions etc. For example, don't write 'interested', but instead you should write 'to be interested in something' and 'to find something interesting'. So you are learning the true way to use the word. Then, write a sentence about yourself using this word. For example ' I am interested in learning English' and 'I find learning English interesting.'

I think it's better not to write the translation in to your own l.anguage next to the vocabulary, because if it is only in English you will recognise it better and learn it quicker. If you need to write your own l.anguage translation, write it in a separate book or on the back of the page ( the other side.