Dan lok how to speak english fluently

#005 How to Speak English Fluently without grammar

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You’re welcome 🙂 Obrigada!

Thanks for taking time to make these audios and videos to helping us. God bless you!

Hi Nelvin! I’m happy that you like my lessons!!

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Thank you so much Georgiana teacher.this episode is very useful for me

I want to speak english

can you help me?

I heard some of you audio

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Hello GEORGIANA.
Thanks for your awesome podcast.

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The podcast makes me addicted to English

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That’s just awesome! Keep up with the good work!!

Thanks so much Georgiana! From Ecuador… I am improving a lot!

Thank you, I love this way it’s enjoyable really I live it.

Thank you for making me understand easily on listening, reading, Writing and speaking

Thanks for your help me. You are the best. God bless you.

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Speak English Fluently: 7 Powerful Ways to Improve Your English Speaking Skills (2020)

You’re reading this because you want to improve your English speaking skills.

You could have been learning for weeks, months, or even years but you still don’t speak with confidence. Then you start asking yourself, “What am I doing wrong?”

Well, wonder no more, because you’re about to learn what you need to do to speak English fluently. And you can do this from anywhere in the world!

After watching the lessons and reading this article, you’ll:

Watch the video and then read on to learn more:

2 Reasons Why You Can’t Speak English Fluently

If English isn’t your native language, then here are two reasons why you find it difficult to speak in English:

Now that we have figured out the two main reasons why you’re still having difficulties speaking English fluently let’s now move on to the good part: the SOLUTION!

Note: many of these techniques will improve all areas of English. But they focus on speaking. You can follow these methods from anywhere in the world in the comfort of your own home.

7 Ways to Improve Your English Speaking Skills

1: Work on pronunciation (for accuracy)

Learn the sounds of English and learn how to make them correctly. You have to learn the proper way of speaking, use of intonation, use of stress, relaxed pronunciation etc.

This is going to make a huge difference to the way you speak. People will understand you better. Your English will be more accurate. And things will just flow for you.

Think about a situation when you last spoke English. Did you have to concentrate on how to make the sounds of English? If so, you need to work on this area. You want to reach the stage where the right sounds come out of your mouth without you thinking about how to make them.

You might be thinking, but how?

This is just like improving your golf swing. Or the way you play the piano. Or kicking a football.

You learn the skill, practice, get feedback, make changes, and then get lots of repetition.

2: Imitate Native Speakers (yes, copying is good!)

This is a very effective way to improve, not only your speaking but your listening, vocabulary, and grammar skills as well.

It works like this (LRRC):

What you’re doing is imitating an English speaker AND correcting yourself so that you’re accurate.

Once you can repeat the originally audio accurately, it’s time to get lots of repetition.

Here is a way to do this:

Learn more about this method here. I highly recommend using this method. It’s powerful!

3: Shadow English Speakers (be careful!)

This is all about working on your English fluency. It’s more challenging compared to the first two methods. In shadowing, you have to listen to audio and repeat what you hear without pausing it. No stops, no pauses! It is also vital to choose an audio piece that you can follow.

This is key: only do this with audio that you can easily repeat.

I’ve seen students do this incorrectly. They choose difficult audio to repeat and end up mumbling.

Take your time to find audio that is easy to repeat. Doing this will help you improve your fluency. A good test to see if you’re doing it properly is to record yourself and listen to it.

Learn more about accuracy vs fluency here:

4: Take English Speaking Classes / Courses (or find friends to practice with)

Speaking with friends might be the best and most enjoyable way to learn. Talk to your peers in English, you’ll have fun while learning!

You also find a language exchange or take English lessons with a teacher. These would provide you the safest environment to learn because you know that your mistakes will be corrected. You can dramatically improve your speaking by having a natural conversation.

Working on your English at home is great. But you need some real-life practice to put it all together.

Plus, most people learn English to have conversations. So, start having them now!

Note: I recommend iTalki. It’s a platform where you can find native speakers to practice with. Use my link to get a discount.

5: Expand Your Vocabulary (but be specific!)

Learn more words and phrases that you are going to use when speaking English.

Make this specific to you: learn words or phrases you need to talk about a certain subject. For example, if you need English for business, learn business English phrasal verbs.

You may want to learn common everyday English because you will use it no matter what. Here’s a video where I talked about some of the common words and phrases:

Remember, when learning words and phrases it is so important to learn by sentences, complete phrases or chunks of sentences. This is going to help with your grammar and so that you know exactly how to use these words.

Expand your vocabulary by getting lots of input. Here’s the video with the full lesson about input:

6: Listen As Much As Possible (ABL)

I have a video about ABL: Always Be Listening. Check it out here:

Listening all the time and getting as much listening practice as possible will dramatically help your speaking. Of course, listening and speaking are two different skills. But in order for you to have a conversation, you need to understand the person you are talking to.

Remember, having a conversation isn’t just about speaking.

Additionally, when listening to people when having a conversation, you can steal phrases that they use. But you can only do this if you work on your listening skills.

Listen to conversational English by clicking here.

Listening is also input. It will help you increase your vocabulary and it will also help your pronunciation. Listening to the sounds of English will help you better make the sounds of English.

The good news is that you can listen while doing other things.

7: Stay Consistent (Practice Every Day!)

The English speaking methods that we’ve described above only work if you use them.

Here’s what I recommend:

Do a little every day.

Commit to 5-10 minutes every day. If you can do more, great! Some days you might do 2-3 hours. But make sure that you do the minimum every single day.

This means that even if you’re tired or really busy you still have to commit. Everyone can find 10 minutes a day to commit to something specific. You can do as much as you can, but make sure to do this every day. Remember, consistency is key in learning a complex skill, like the ability to speak English at a high level and with confidence.

Common Questions about English Speaking Skills

How can I improve my English speaking at home?

The beauty of the digital age is that you can now learn online at home. Learn the sounds of English, improve your fluency by imitating native speakers, and take online lessons from anywhere in the world.

Which is the best method to improve my English speaking?

If you had to choose one, use the LRRC method (imitation method). Find audio phrases, listen to them, record your version, and then listen to both versions and make changes. Once you are accurate, repeat the phrase over the long-term.

How can I become a more confident English speaker?

Know that the vast majority of people don’t care if you make mistakes. If someone does make fun of you, this person isn’t worth your time. Additionally, confidence comes through skill levels. As you improve, you’ll get more confident. Finally, find someone to practice with – someone who you trust.

What to do now?

Firstly, please share this article if you found it useful.

And then, consider joining my course: The To Fluency Program.

This gives you the method and materials you need to start speaking English with confidence.

How to Speak English Fluently: 50 Simple Tips!!

Learn how to speak English fluently and confidently! With our 50 useful tips for Speaking English Fluently, you can dramatically improve your spoken English and speak fluent English without hesitation.

Table of Contents

How to Speak English Fluently?

Do you want to learn how to improve your English speaking?

Do you want to speak English well?

Here we’re going to explain how…

How to Speak English: 50 Useful English Speaking Tips

How to Speak English Fluently | English Speaking Tips 1-5

1. Be realistic about your English learning goals

Do not expect your English to be as good as that of a native speaker soon after taking up the language. It takes time.

How to Speak English: Useful English Speaking Tips | Image 1

2. Practice speaking as well, not just reading and listening

While reading and listening can help you learn a lot about the language, the only way to speak better English is by speaking it yourself.

3. Practice speaking English whenever you get a chance

Do not pass up a chance to speak English whenever one arises.

4. Get native English-speaking friends and practice speaking with them

If you want to speak English like a native. You should have friends who speak it like you would like to.

5. Do not be afraid of making mistakes

Mistakes are part of learning; they help you know where you need to make improvements to become a better English speaker.

How to Speak English Fluently | English Speaking Tips 6-10

6. Use simple sentences at first, then progress to more complex sentences

You have to start from somewhere; do not struggle to master the complex language parts until you have mastered the basics.

7. Get a reliable English learning course

Having the right English speaking course can accelerate the rate at which you learn to speak this language fluently.

8. Make an effort to improve your pronunciation

The way you pronounce certain words could be the reason your English speaking skills seem a little off. So, practice saying some problematic words properly.

9. Try saying something extra

Do not give one-word replies like yes and no; try to say something more to build your skills and your confidence.

10. Learn from your mistakes

Once you learn you tend to make a certain mistake, work on getting rid of it, and over time, your English will improve considerably.

How to Speak English Fluently | English Speaking Tips 11-15

11. Listen to English-language music

Listening to music that is sung in English can help you master how to speak the language faster, especially when you try to sing along to the lyrics.

12. Learn some English tongue twisters

Tongue twisters can reveal certain weaknesses in your speaking skills, and you can know where you need more practice to speak the language more fluently.

13. Accept English and all its uniqueness

English has some strange rules; accept them and move on.

How to Speak English: Useful English Speaking Tips | Image 2

14. Try learning some new words every day

Every day, learn at least one new word and how to pronounce it to improve your vocabulary and speaking skills.

15. Try some public speaking

Public speaking events can really test how good your speaking skills have gotten, so, give them a try whenever you can.

How to Speak English Fluently | English Speaking Tips 16-20

16. Let English be all around you

When you spend your time in places where English is spoken, your speaking skills will inevitably improve. Seek out places where English speakers gather.

17. Become part of a conversation group

This should increase your exposure to spoken English and help you have better speaking skills.

18. Read your favorite books aloud

Reading aloud will improve your confidence and enhance your flow when speaking in other situations.

19. Watch videos of popular songs online

Watch music videos, especially if they have the lyrics onscreen—try searching for the title of a song you like, plus the word “lyrics.”

20. Try thinking in English

When you start seeing things and deliberating in English, you will notice an improvement in your speaking skills as well.

How to Speak English Fluently | English Speaking Tips 21-25

21. Practice paraphrasing

Trying to say things you hear can significantly improve your speaking skills.

22. Conduct small talk in English

Whenever you have the chance, choose to carry on small talk in English. It will boost your speaking skills.

23. Try creating your own responses, rather than repeating what people say

When you can come up with ways to answer in English on your own, your speaking fluency can increase considerably.

24. Have confidence whenever you speak

Even though you have a lot to learn, always speak with confidence as this will improve the rate at which you master the language.

25. Learn to listen better

You can learn which language areas need improvement by listening carefully to how native speakers say certain words.

How to Speak English: Useful English Speaking Tips | Image 3

How to Speak English Fluently | English Speaking Tips 26-30

26. Substitute phrasal verbs for regular verbs

Native speakers usually use phrasal verbs instead of regular verbs, and you should learn to do this as well for better-quality speaking skills.

27. Be passionate about English

When you are enthusiastic about learning English, you will learn how to speak it much faster.

28. Try to learn from everyone

While surrounding yourself with people who speak perfect English is a great way to learn English, you can also learn from those who make mistakes in their speaking.

29. Learn from your favorite personality or public speaker

Surely there is an orator/actor/actress whose speaking skills you admire; listen to this person more, and you will learn the language faster.

30. Watch children’s cartoons

Weird as this may sound, kids’ cartoons can teach you plenty about speaking English, especially with regard to proper diction.

How to Speak English Fluently | English Speaking Tips 31-35

31. Don’t focus on speaking exclusively

While speaking better English is the ultimate goal, polishing up your grammar and vocabulary will also improve your speaking skills.

32. If you haven’t done so already, change the language on your computer/phone to English

This ensures there is more English in your life, and the exposure will translate into better speaking skills.

33. Learn some short natural responses

You will have greater speaking confidence when you always know how to respond when spoken to, and short automatic phrases can help with this.

34. Follow the news

Listening to the English news can really improve your speaking skills, as presenters often have excellent diction.

35. Record yourself speaking and have friends listen and comment on the recording

Sometimes we may not realize some of the issues in our speaking skills unless they are pointed out to us by friends.

How to Speak English Fluently | English Speaking Tips 36-40

36. Be ready for specific situations

Learn to speak English for special circumstances, such as when ordering in a cafe, when at a sports field, and so forth to broaden your speaking skills.

37. Make learning English fun

There are many fun ways to learn spoken English, including taking part in games.

38. Practice speaking English in front of a mirror

This should be especially handy when preparing for public speaking events as it will boost your confidence.

How to Speak English: Useful English Speaking Tips | Image 4

39. Learn to say things in your own way

By learning to paraphrase English statements, you can avoid repeating statements so that you increase your speaking fluency in random situations.

40. Master some specific phrases and English Idioms

Knowing particular phrases can enrich your language and enhance your fluency. One of the key to become more fluent in spoken English is to master English phrases, collocations and Idioms.

How to Speak English Fluently | English Speaking Tips 41-45

41. Try writing based on new things you have learned

Writing can also improve your speaking as it will give you a hint of what you would sound like when you actually speak the language.

42. Retell a story or a joke in English

If you know a story in your native language, try retelling it in English and see how easy or hard it is.

43. Engage in English activities

Taking part in activities that involve the use of spoken English can make you more comfortable speaking the language.

44. Debate in English

Getting into debates in English on topics you love can really improve your speaking skills.

45. Don’t rush your speech

If you have not yet mastered some words, speak slowly until saying them fast and comfortably becomes a possibility.

How to Speak English Fluently | English Speaking Tips 46-50

46. Listen and try to sing along to rap music

The music can help you learn the rhythm of some English words.

47. Try interrupting and interjecting politely

This will help you improve your speaking confidence and eliminate the anxiety that would come from not knowing when to speak.

48. Understand that there is always room for improvement

This means that learning English should be a long-term commitment for you, even after completing an English speaking course.

49. Speak the English you know

The English you can speak the best is that which you have learned; struggling to speak complex English you do not fully understand can derail your progress.

50. Try to be realistic

Know that it will take time to learn English, and that an accent might always be evident in your speech. Learn to accept that.

How to Speak English Fluently: 50 English Speaking Tips | Pictures

50 Useful Tips for Speaking English Fluently | Image 1

Useful Tips for Speaking English Fluently | Image 2

Useful Tips for Speaking English Fluently | Image 3

Useful Tips for Speaking English Fluently | Image 4

How to Speak English Fluently: 50 English Speaking Tips Video

Learn how to speak English fluently with pronunciation video lesson.

How to Speak English Fluently: 7 Golden Tips (For FAST result)

Have you been learning English for years, but still cannot speak easily and fluently?

You are not alone!

Many people have no problem with reading or writing skills, but when it comes to English speaking, they just feel embarrassed and get stuck.

In this post, I would like to share with you 7 practical tips that will help you improve your English speaking fast.

1. Learn phrases, not single words

Learning separate words is a very common mistake learners usually have. And of course, it’s not an appropriate method to learn any language, not just English.

I’ll show you why.

Knowing the meanings of words is useful. But knowing how to use them in context is even more important. I mean the collocation in English.

Have you ever wondered why we say “take a picture”, not “do a picture” or “make a picture”?
It deals with the combination of words. Thinking about what goes before and after the keywords may take time. It interrupts your conversation as well.

Learning phrases seems like the smart way, since once you’re familiar with the word chain, you may speak naturally and automatically; so, your communication may go more smoothly.

It’ll take you less time to think if you learn phrases instead of words.

Let’s say we use English in thousands of daily-life situations, for example for greeting, suggesting, apologizing, thanking, inviting, complaining, complimenting, and so on.

Each English expression has its own language function. To suggest something, you may use “why don’t we…?” or “what about…?”, “Let’s…”, etc.

You will surely know “why”, “don’t”, “we”, but when they’re put together, the meaning is very different. How can you listen and speak well if you just learn individual words?

Learning phrases helps avoid mistranslating. It’s a bad habit that English learners usually think in their mother tongue and translate ideas into English.

But you know, languages mismatch. Mistranslation is possible to happen when learners just learn words and put them together following the order in their own language.

A very common mistake is instead of saying “a green house”, beginners in some countries tend to say “a house green” since they apply directly the grammar rules from their first language into English.

That’s to say learning phrases is somehow learning grammar.

It’s clear now that we should learn phrases, not single words. But HOW?

There are thousands of resources for you to pick up. Just make sure that they’re authentic, or they reflect real-life language.

In such an Internet era, seeking for these resources isn’t hard at all.

Some suggestions are podcasts, newspapers, stories, audio books, movies, or songs.

Taking notes of the phrases and sticking them somewhere in front of your eyes is also good for remembering. Seeing the phrases every day may improve memory a lot, even when you don’t intensely learn them.

When it comes to speaking, the phrases will automatically appear in your mind. The more input you have, the easier your communication will be.

So study every single word and it’ll lead you nowhere. Let’s study phrase, phrase and phrase.

2. Pay less attention to grammar

​ I mean focus on fluency, instead of grammar. Some experts even say you don’t need to study grammar in order to be able to speak English fluently.

Just look at the way kids learn to speak English. Even though they rarely learn any grammar rules, their English speaking can be considered fluent, natural like native speakers.

And the truth is kids acquire language; they don’t deliberately learn language at all.

Kids say whatever comes to their mind and they aren’t afraid of making mistakes.

This principle can be applied successfully to adults.

Grammar is just an aspect of English. There are other things, which are much more important in speaking.

Focusing too much on grammar stops you from opening your mouth to speak. The fear of losing face makes you nervous when it comes to speaking.

I’ve seen a lot of English learners who are very excellent at grammar, yet can’t say a word when it comes to speaking. So, studying grammar doesn’t help.

Why study grammar when you just use English as a tool to get your message across?

So let’s start with simple English, and then make it longer with more complicated words. And remember that your listener isn’t an IELTS examiner who is going to analyze your language. Your listener just wants to get your messages.

And you know, they aren’t patient enough to wait for you to go back and forth with all the grammar tenses in your mind.

There are too many rules to learn in grammar, which can cause obstacles for beginners. So, the key idea is put grammar aside; speaking will turn out to be less stressful and more joyful.

3. Listen to more English

​ The more input you have, the more output you can produce. Listening and reading are two channels of getting input.

If you want to improve your English speaking, focus more on listening rather than reading. Learn with your ears, not your eyes.

Listening helps to build up your vocabulary and grammar. Knowledge and understanding about some topics are also broadened if you often read and listen.

Once again, the materials for input should be authentic. Some easily-found resources I would recommend are TED talks, BBC English news, cartoons and movies, songs, audiobooks and thousands of others.

Listening alone doesn’t make you a fluent English speaker; BUT it’s an important stepping stone for you to move on.

Once you have enough input, speaking is just the last step in the process. When you listen to correct English sentences, they stay in your memory, and then you will be able to build similar sentences yourself easily.

4. Practice thinking in English

​ Are you translating from your mother tongue to English when you speak?

If yes, stop it right now. Start to think in English when you speak English.

Lots of people can listen and understand 99% what the English speaker says but fail to express a simple thought because they can’t find the right words.

That’s the reason why you have to think directly in English.

I know it may not be easy for beginners since you’re quite new to the language. But once you’re familiar with the process, everything will be all right.

Thinking directly in English reduces the time to think by half. It takes you double time when you generate ideas in your first language, and then seek for equivalent words in English.

Another reason why you should think in English is that there are many words in your language that you can’t find a translation for in English or the translation doesn’t fully transfer the sense you want to make.

Mistranslating happens sometimes as well.

These reasons easily lead to communication breakdown for sure.

Now perhaps you are eager to know how to think in English, aren’t you?

Everything needs training, you know.

Start small with common and simple phrases. Do a little English thinking every day and you’ll be surprised with your output one day. Start with some pieces like “let’s go”, “dinner’s ready, come and get it”, “good job. You did it”, “come on”, “come in”, and so on.

Say them every day while grabbing some new phrases at the same time to see the progress.
In communicating, guessing what the speaker is going to say next may help. Keep your brain busy by processing information and preparing what to say when it comes to your turn.

This preparation gives you more data for the speaking output. This also helps avoid getting stuck when you can’t think of anything to say in a conversation.

5. Talk to yourself

Needless to say, self-practice plays an important role in learning a foreign language. You need to prepare yourself first before you happen to talk with others in a foreign language.

The more you practice, the more comfortable you’ll feel when using the language. Just like your mother tongue, you were born with it, so speaking isn’t a big issue for you.

The idea is to just try to familiarize yourself with English.

HOW to talk to yourself?

There are a lot of ways. Choose the most common situations in your daily life so that you may have real contexts. You may talk about your hobbies, family, favorites, school, holidays, or jobs.
When you’re at home alone, stand in front of the mirror and practice. It’s better if you can use some body language along with the talk.

When you’re on train or bus, talk to yourself or just think of something to talk about when you’re in such situations.

When you’re doing some housework, talk to yourself. Try to maximize the amount of speaking every day.

In daily life, there may arise new situations that you haven’t experienced before. Think of something you may say in this case. Later when you encounter the situations again, you can find yourself ready to communicate.

Before bed, try to summarize what you have and haven’t done during the day and talk about the plan for tomorrow. That really helps.

6. Expose yourself to English speaking environments

Talking to yourself may be not enough.

Joining English-speaking clubs, speaking English with friends, making friends with foreigners, or getting involved in any place where English is used to communicate are recommended.

What you need for your speaking skills is a daily practice. Make it a habit. Your speaking won’t get better if you just take the input and leave it there without any output.

After all the preparing of self-practice, the environment for the language to be spoken out is necessary.

Just be aware that everything has its beginning. Speaking English as well.

If you don’t open your mouth to say a word, you’ll never be a good English speaker.
If you want to speak fluently, you have to force yourself to speak first. Gradually you’ll become more fluent.

Just remember “practice makes perfect”.

7. Learn deeply

​You can’t speak English easily and fluently when you don’t remember words, phrases and sentence patterns instantly.

A common issue of English learners is that they only try to learn as many language items as they can, yet never review them later on.

A study has shown that people forget 40% of what they learned in 20 minutes, 77% of what they learned in six days and 90% after one month.

As you can see, our short-term memory can’t store things for so long. When you don’t spend time memorizing things, they will fade away from your memory easily.

What you need to do is to turn the language from short term to long term memory. So, when it comes to speaking English, you can recall what you have learned immediately and automatically. In other words, you can speak English fluently.

Have you ever heard a saying that repetition is the mother of learning? That means everything can be learned through training, and English speaking is not an exception.

What does that mean by learning deeply?

Well, learning deeply means you repeat something many, many times over again until you master it.

For example, today you learn a phrase: “work out”, which means to train the body by physical exercise. You have repeated the phrase a few times and made different sentences with the phrase. You think you’re done with this phrase and move on to the new one?

That repetition is not enough. Tomorrow you have to review the phrase, make sentences, use it in speaking or even writing all over again.

One week or two weeks later, you still do the same until you can use the phrase automatically without thinking. That’s when you’ve mastered it.

As a result, when you need to use this phrase, it just comes out automatically and instantly.

Learn Deeply With Shadowing Technique

​Shadowing technique is a method that will help a lot when you learn English speaking. Trying this technique, you’ll have a chance to practice your pronunciation, rhythm, and intonation.

Learning something deeply or spending time on it will better your memory with the words. You can improve speaking very fast from shadowing for sure.

Why? Shadowing helps you not only memorize words, phrases, and sentence patterns, but also correct your pronunciation and use the words in context.

So, how does Shadowing technique work?

To “shadow” is to repeat what you hear as quickly as you hear it.

The very first thing you need is an audio with transcript.

Then, listen and follow the text once before shadowing. This step is to help you figure out hard words as well as to understand the context.

You may need to pay more attention to hard words.

And finally, listen to the audio while reading the text with a minimum delay. Repeat the process many times until you can read it at the same speed as the track.

Some suggested materials for shadowing include audio books, movies, podcasts, videos, news, etc., of course with transcripts.

Conclusion

I guess you may feel overwhelmed now since there are many things that need doing. That’s totally OK. Learning needs time and effort.

But if you commit to put these 7 tips into practice and make it a daily routine gradually, you’ll soon see significant improvement in your English speaking skills.

What are your best tips to improve English speaking skills?

How to Speak English Well: 25 Simple Tips for Extraordinary Fluency

Do you want to learn how to speak English well?

Read on for 25 solid tips that will help you speak English more fluently, in less time.

Our team includes language learners from different countries who picked up English as a second language as well as native English teachers, so these are all based on our own experience.

From pronunciation practice to handy online resources, consider this your roadmap to becoming confident with English.

Contents

Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)

1. Get clear on what fluency means

You know that you want to become fluent in English, but what does that mean?

There are two parts to fluency: knowing the language and knowing how to produce the language.

Being fluent means that you can use the English language comfortably. You can communicate freely and you can have conversations with native speakers without having to constantly look for help.

Fluency can also be seen in how you speak. You can know plenty of English vocabulary, but if you have to pause or repeat a lot when speaking, your fluency might not be so obvious to someone. If you speak very slowly or in a very flat, unemotional manner, then you won’t sound very fluent, either.

On the other hand, sounding fluent doesn’t mean you actually are speaking good English.

To be fluent in English, you need to master both the language and how you speak it!

There’s often an expectation that you must know a certain number of words for fluency. But it’s important to remember that you can’t just study the words and grammar. It can be scary, but you’ll also need to practice speaking.

The tips below will help you master how your speaking skills so that you can speak proper English and sound good doing it. Don’t forget how important both features of fluency are!

2. Immerse yourself in English every day

Studying English for an hour once a week isn’t usually enough to make any real progress. The best way to quickly improve your English is to spend at least a few minutes practicing every day.

There’s a special language learning method called “immersion.” With immersion, you try to surround yourself with the language as much as you can in your day-to-day activities. You want English to become part of your daily schedule so that you’re frequently learning and practicing until it becomes natural to hear and speak the language.

You can create immersion in a lot of fun, creative ways, besides just constantly studying English from a book or a course! You can switch your phone settings to the English language. You can start watching and listening to English movies and songs, keep an English diary or volunteer in a place where English is required.

Immerse yourself in English as much as possible every time you study. Challenge yourself to listen to, read and even say things in English that you think might be too difficult for you. If you want to speak English fluently, you need to make it an essential part of your everyday life.

A program like FluentU can help with this, by exposing you to the natural sounds of the language with the support of learning tools. FluentU lets you watch authentic English videos—which are videos that are made by and for English speakers. For example, you can watch clips from popular movies, well-known music videos, children’s cartoons for beginners or TED talks for more advanced learners:

A common problem with native content, though, is that it’s easy to get lost in it if you’re not fluent yet in the language. FluentU fixes this through interactive subtitles—tap on any word, and you’ll see a detailed in-context definition, an audio pronunciation, example sentences and clips from other FluentU videos where the word shows up.

You can also study new words as flashcards and take post-video quizzes that hone your speaking and listening. And the more you watch and understand authentic videos, the more you’ll get used to natural speech.

FluentU has both web and mobile versions (Android and iOS).

3. Accept that English grammar has a lot of exceptions

Sometimes, you can find patterns in English grammar, but other times English doesn’t make sense at all.

For example, why are “read” (pronounced reed) and “read” (pronounced red) the same word, but said differently depending on whether you’re speaking in the past or present tense? Or why is “mice” the plural of “mouse,” but “houses” is the plural of “house”?

Unfortunately, there are many exceptions to English rules. It’s easy to get stuck on learning how to speak English properly if you try to find a reason for everything. Sometimes, English is just weird! So the best thing to do is just memorize the strange exceptions and move on.

4. Use mirroring to answer English questions

Listen carefully when someone asks you a question in English and you’ll answer perfectly every time. English questions are like mirrors:

If someone asks you a question and you’re not sure how to answer, start by thinking about the words used in the question. The person has already said most of the words you need to make your answer.

Instead of just memorizing English grammar, start to look for patterns like this one. There are a lot of simple ways to “cheat” and make it easier to remember the right words.

5. Focus on whole phrases instead of single words

Speaking English fluently means being able to express your thoughts, feelings and ideas. Your goal is to speak English in full sentences, so why not learn it in full sentences?

You’ll find that English is more useful in your everyday life if you study whole phrases, rather than just vocabulary and verbs. Start by thinking about phrases that you use frequently in your native language, and then learn how to say them in English.

6. Learn intonation, body language and gestures

True English fluency is about more than just vocabulary and grammar. If you can figure out intonation, body language and gestures, you’ll really look and sound like a native speaker.

Intonation is the “rise and fall” or tone changes in how a person speaks. Body language is how a person uses their own body to support (or go against) what they mean. Gestures are hand and body movements that work together with what someone is saying.

It’s not easy to learn these three things because they seem very natural. One way to learn is to just watch how native English speakers communicate with each other.

One way to study these aspects of the language is by hiring an English teacher, if that’s in your budget. Another is watching YouTube videos, if you can avoid getting distracted with other videos.

7. Use speech-to-text for all (English) text messaging

You can practice English speaking even when you’re texting people. Just speak your texts instead of typing them!

You may need to change your settings to enable speech-to-text first. Then, find the “speech” option on whatever keyboard you’re using. Often, you just need to tap a microphone icon on the right side of the keyboard.

Start speaking, and your words will appear on the screen. No one hears you talk, but you still get practice. Pretty good deal, huh?

But what if most of your communication is with friends and family in your native language? Microsoft Translator has a way around this. Check to see if your native language is included in Microsoft’s Conversations feature—if it is, you can speak out loud in English, and have your words automatically translated into text in your native language.

Your chat partner can speak in your native language and have their words show up for you in English. This way, you get English speaking (and reading) practice while having the conversations you’d be having anyway.

8. Talk yourself through everyday activities

Think about all the things you might do that have a beginning, a middle and an end. For example, following a recipe when cooking dinner or putting together a piece of furniture.

These processes are opportunities to improve your English speaking skills. Write out instructions for a process in English on a piece of paper. Make it as simple as possible and number your steps.

For cooking something, your instructions might start like this:

Once you have your instructions, follow them. In the meantime, say what you’re doing out loud. For example, “Now I’m cutting up the onions. Uh oh, my eyes are starting to water!”

Your instructions are a kind of “cheat sheet” to help you along the way. They’ll help you talk continuously, without having to stop and think about what to do next.

9. Memorize conversation starters (and use them!)

You might miss out on opportunities to practice English speaking if you just can’t think of anything to say.

An easy solution to this is to memorize conversation starters or ideas for beginning conversations. You can find lots of these online. For example, here’s a list of 250 conversation starters from Conversation Starters World.

Of course, you wouldn’t want to use all of these at any moment. It would probably seem weird if you just walked up to someone and said, “What three words best describe you?” But memorizing some ideas will help you feel better about talking to people in casual situations or to keep conversations going when talking to exchange partners.

10. Share your opinions online

To really learn English speaking, you need to learn how to express yourself in English. Even if you have ideas for conversations, it can be hard to know how to put them into your own words.

You can practice this by participating in conversations online. Posting on social media, leaving comments on articles or writing reviews are all good approaches.

Goodreads is a site where people leave their thoughts about books they’ve read. Writing about books and movies is always a nice way to practice sharing your opinions in English, because they give you a lot to think about!

But if you don’t have time to do this, there are simpler options: Watch a short video on YouTube and leave a comment underneath it. Post short opinions on Twitter about anything. There are many options for practicing your English skills before you speak out loud!

11. Learn some English slang

While you should be focusing on learning standard English, it can be helpful to know English slang words and phrases so that you can “stay current” and understand modern English speech. Slang is always present, especially online, so you can’t really avoid seeing it.

Knowing slang, idioms and other casual expressions can improve real English fluency, because they can let you follow along with the kinds of conversations that happen today.

12. Look out for common pronunciation issues

While there’s no single “correct” English, if people have trouble understanding you, it’ll be hard for you to speak confidently.

There’s no magic to improving pronunciation—you just need to learn the mechanics, and then practice. It’s all about how you move your mouth and use your lips, tongue and throat. For this, you should watch native speakers while they’re talking and observe not just what they say, but how they say it.

It’s also helpful to know about well-known pronunciation issues. English has a lot of pronunciation “traps” that you should watch out for.

13. Record your own English-language audiobooks

When we think of practicing a language, we often think of putting ourselves in situations where we have to use the language. But the truth is, a lot of confidence and fluency come from actually speaking. This technique can help you do a lot more of that.

Think about your favorite books. Even if you don’t have any favorite books that were written in English, you can probably find some in English translation. For example, the Harry Potter series has been sold all over the world.

Take any English-language book that you already enjoy, and record yourself reading it in English. This will take you a while, of course. But it’s a way to practice your English pronunciation every day in a way that’s fun and interesting for you.

Once you finish recording the book, you’ll have a homemade audiobook of it to listen to, which will give you a way to practice your listening skills, too.

14. Record what you want to learn, then listen to it throughout the day

Use the same technique described above to learn English in general while also practicing your speech.

For example, let’s say that you’d like to get better at talking to waitstaff. Maybe you see a FluentU post that includes examples of English conversations to have in restaurants. Instead of just reading the post and trying to remember the examples, record yourself reading it!

This will give you multiple opportunities to remember the material: when you first read it, when you read it out loud and when you listen to yourself reading it later.

15. Think directly in English instead of translating

Stop thinking of yourself as someone who is learning English, and start thinking of yourself as someone who speaks English. It’s a small change, but it’ll make you feel more confident and help you to better use the English you already know.

This also means you need to start thinking in English. If you want to say the word “apple” in English, for example, you probably think of the word in your native language first, and then try to think of the correct word in English. Instead, try imagining a picture of an apple, and then just think the English word “apple.”

Real fluency happens when you stop mentally translating conversations. This is the biggest step from learning English to just being an English speaker!

16. Set specific goals

Fluency is a very high level to reach and will take a long time to achieve, so “becoming fluent” can be a pretty unclear goal. Having such a big, non-specific target won’t be helpful in planning out your studies.

That’s why you should think of more concrete and obvious goals that can lead you to fluency. By themselves, they may seem like small steps, but all together they’ll provide a steady path in your English learning journey.

Good goals should be specific and achievable. When setting a goal, you should decide exactly what you want to learn, and how long you want to spend learning it.

Here are some examples of good goals:

Make sure that the goals you set are reasonable and challenging enough to keep you motivated. You want to achieve your goals without over-stressing yourself!

17. Figure out your “weak spots”

You might find some parts of the English language are especially difficult for you. These “weak spots” can be anything: grammar usage, pronunciation, sentence formation and so on. It’s important that you find out what they are so that you can focus on improving them.

English does have a lot of tricky features, and some can be even trickier depending on your native language. Pay attention to what you’re having problems with and dedicate more studying to it.

You want to make sure you improve in all parts of the English language without lagging behind in any of them.

18. Pay attention to the sounds native speakers use

When most students listen to a native English speaker, they focus on understanding what all the words mean. This is definitely important, but there’s a lot more you can learn from listening.

Try listening not just to what the words mean, but to how the person says them. Notice which words the person links together in a sentence, or when they say “ya” instead of “you.” Try to remember these details the next time you speak and your English will begin to sound more natural.

It sounds easy, but it can be difficult to actually do! When you listen to native English speakers, it can be hard to understand every single word that’s spoken. They might use many words you don’t know, talk too fast or have a strong accent.

19. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes while talking

Sometimes, it can be difficult to put all those rules and words together into a simple sentence. Don’t let the fear of saying something wrong stop you from speaking at all.

Even if you think you’re making a mistake, keep speaking anyway. Most of the time, people will understand what you’re trying to say, even if you make a mistake.

Plus, the more you speak, the easier it gets, and the faster the right words will come to mind.

20. Record your mistakes

Don’t be afraid to make mistakes… but also make sure that you understand them!

When you know that something went wrong in your English conversation, make a note of it (in your mind or, better yet, on paper). In your own time, study what exactly made you trip up. Did you use the wrong vocabulary? Was something pronounced incorrectly? Maybe you were using the wrong tense in your sentences?

Mistakes are unavoidable and necessary, but to lower the chance of repeating the same mistakes, you must learn (and not run away!) from them.

21. Review and test yourself often

Reviewing what you learn is just as important as, well, actually learning!

Without proper review, you can easily forget a lot of previously learned material. This can greatly slow you down in your path to fluency because advanced English constantly builds upon basic, easier concepts. That’s why you must frequently test your skills.

You can review your learning in a number of different ways. You can make your own vocabulary quizzes, do translation exercises or have quick training sessions with a speaking partner. There are also online resources that you can use for review.

You should also think about when to review. Maybe you want to review right after you finish a new topic or after completing a whole unit of study. Or maybe you want to be extra studious and just review every time you study English!

Your reviews and tests will help you see your progress in English. Seeing how much you’ve improved can greatly increase your motivation to learn!

22. Practice using new words right away

There’s an expression in English: “Use it or lose it,” which basically means if you don’t practice an ability, you might forget it. This idea can be used to help you remember new English vocabulary.

The best way to remember a new word is to use it right away so that it stays in your memory. When you learn a new word, try to say it in sentences a few times over the next week and you’ll be less likely to forget it.

Sometimes, you may learn a word or phrase that might not be immediately useful to you. It’s okay to not focus on memorizing that vocabulary right away, especially if there are other more important things to learn.

23. Don’t worry too much about grammar

The key to learning a language is finding a balance between studying and practicing. Speaking English fluently isn’t the same as knowing perfect English grammar—even native English speakers make grammar mistakes!

Fluency is about being able to communicate. That’s why sometimes it’s important to put the grammar textbook away, so you can go out and practice those writing, reading, listening and speaking skills in the real world. As you keep practicing, you can learn plenty of grammar rules along the way.

24. Get comfortable first with the English words you know

When you’re writing and saying your own sentences, focus on using the words you’re already familiar with. You may want to use more difficult, advanced English words to sound more fluent, but you should stay true to your skill level and keep practicing what you already know.

Make sure that you’re “comfortable” with the English you use, instead of just trying out new, unfamiliar words just because you want to. Doing so can lead you to say incorrect or strange things.

Of course, you do want to learn more and more words and skills to advance. I recommend studying a new word for a little while in context (in sentences and videos) before you use it in real conversations.

25. Learn from everyone who speaks English

You don’t have to only learn English from textbooks and teachers—anyone who speaks English can help you practice.

Imagine how you’d feel if someone asked you, in your native language, how to pronounce something. Would you be angry? No! You’d probably be happy to help, just like most English speakers are happy to help you.

If you know any English speakers, whether it’s a friend or co-worker, take advantage of the opportunity to practice and learn from them. Make sure to also ask any specific questions you have and be open to feedback.

Other Resources for Learning to Speak English Fluently

“Why English Is Easy: Language Hacks That Make English Easy”

We’ve seen a lot of English learning products out there, but we really like this one. It’s not a normal English learning course. Instead, it’s a whole new approach to learning English.

What makes the course great is the author, the famous polyglot Benny Lewis. He has many years of experience quickly learning and mastering multiple languages. He shows you the shortcuts and techniques that he’s learned over the years.

The English Speaking Practice app

This app lets you practice having basic conversations in English. It’s really simple to use!

Just choose a subject that you want to hear a conversation about. Then, listen to the conversation. After that, you can take a quiz to test your understanding, or use the “Record” tab to practice speaking.

Decide which person in the conversation to speak for, and go through the dialogue talking as them. You can then save the recording and play it back.

The SayHi translation app

This is a simple voice translation app that you can use to have bilingual conversations. However, you can also use it as a quick way to look up translations or to practice speaking, as long as the app has an option for your native language.

Set up the translator for a conversation between English and your native language. Then, try speaking English and see how your English translates. This will give you an idea of how well the app understands your English speech.

Also, if you ever forget how to say something in English, you can speak your native language into the mic and see how it translates into English. This can be much faster than using a dictionary!

American superhero movies and TV

Watching English-language movies and TV, in general, is a good way to get used to natural speech.

American superhero movies and TV series are especially great for learning English because they’re meant to appeal to a wide audience, sometimes including children. This means that it’s usually pretty easy to figure out what’s going on.

Another reason why superhero stories are easier to understand is that they tend to be very dramatic and emotional. Characters will often talk about what’s happening in a very loud and obvious way.

While there’s a lot to choose from, a good way to start is with some of the CW network shows that are available on Netflix, like “The Flash” and “Black Lightning.” These shows have a lot of talking in them, and focus a lot on relationships between characters. You can keep up with them for multiple seasons and become used to the way different characters talk to each other, all while being entertained by exciting storylines.

The English TV YouTube Channel

This YouTube channel has a bunch of videos that you can use to hear different types of English speech and conversation. For example, this video, “Conversation Between Two Persons in English Speaking – Practice English Conversations Dialogues,” includes over 50 minutes of multiple conversations between native English speakers.

The audio in this video and others like it on the English TV YouTube channel are actual recorded conversations. American English is the dialect of English mostly used in these conversations, but there are examples of British English and Australian English, as well.

These conversations are also spontaneous (done with a script, natural), so this is the way that English is actually spoken by native speakers. There’s a bit of slang used, but these conversations will help build your listening skills so that you can understand English speech in real life.

Loecsen Learn English

This is a free online English course with a big focus on speaking. To practice your English speaking, scroll down to “Start a new quiz.” You’ll then be able to choose from different lists of phrases that you can listen to and repeat.

When you repeat a phrase using the microphone on your computer, you get to see if the program is able to understand your speech. This is useful even if you already know the material in the lessons because you get a chance to speak English out loud and practice your pronunciation.

If you’re wondering how to improve your English speaking skills, there isn’t one easy answer.

Learning how to speak English fluently isn’t something that happens overnight. Because of this, it’s important to have tools and techniques ready for practicing every day.

Ultimately, if you have activities that you enjoy and that require you to speak English, your skills will improve more and more over time.

Try the resources and suggestions above, and pay attention to how they make you feel. Which ones help your confidence? Which ones seem to help you speak English over longer periods of time?

Use the methods that work for you, and your speaking will come together naturally.

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