Activities for
Practicing Conversation
by Yourself
(when you are alone)
With Virginia Burrows, ESL Teacher, Tustin Adult School, Tustin, CA
Really?
YES!
Here are a few ideas to help you
exercise your
conversation muscles!
Video Chat with an English Speaking Friend
Skype and Facetime are examples of apps that many people use to stay in touch
with others.
Read Aloud to Yourself
Find a book, short story, magazine, newspaper article or poem that interests you.
(Don’t forget:
children’s books are a great resource, too!)
Record Yourself
Use your cell phone or computer to record and listen to yourself.
Ideas: You can read something, speak the lyrics to a song, or repeat a conversation you hear/heard on TV, radio, or online.
Describe what you are doing around the house.
Example:
“Right now I’m doing the dishes. I never realized how many dishes we use when we are all home together! All this cooking and cleaning is making me tired! After this, I think I’ll sit down for a while and watch the news.”
Talk in front of a mirror.
This can seem strange at first, but pretend your reflection is another person
and create a conversation.
Ideas: Practice for a job interview with questions and answers, ask (and answer) what you plan to do today (using the future tense), ask (and answer) what you did yesterday (using the past tense.)
Try practicing phrases.
Find and practice one or two new phrases that Americans use everyday.
Examples:
“Nice to meet you.” “Nice to meet you, too.” “Where are you from?” “I’m from [Lima, Peru.]” “Are you on Facebook?” “Yes, I am. /No, I’m not,” “How are you doing?” “I’m fine. How about you?” “It is what it is.”
Practice Contractions
Americans use contractions all the time in everyday speech. Try to include them
in your conversations.
Examples:
“I will see you tomorrow. / I’ll see you tomorrow”
“We are making pasta tonight. / We’re making pasta tonight.”
“He does not want to go with us. / He doesn’t want to go with us.”
Write in a journal everyday, then read it out loud to yourself.
You control the vocabulary and the content!
Music and Song Lyrics (words)
We all love music, and it’s an excellent and fun way to practice speaking.
The internet (or karaoke) is a wonderful place to find famous songs and their lyrics
in English. Also, musicals (movies that have a lot of music, singing and dancing) are also great ways to hear and see English. A few popular American musicals include: LaLa Land, The Greatest Showman, Singin’ in the Rain, Beauty and the Beast (Disney), Aladdin (Disney), Mamma Mia, Annie.
But wait:
What about my grammar??
Remember:
grammar is one thing, not everything.
For now, focus on things that can help you sound more natural: contractions, shortened forms (going to / ‘gonna’), difficult sounds, common expressions
and idioms.
Nervous? Shy?
Of course, practicing by yourself
is not the ideal (perfect) way. But for now,
it is one way to keep using your English.
Think of English like a muscle:
If you don’t use it, you’ll lose it!