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����5 Ways to Improve your Speaking Skills�

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I am going to give you 5 simple tips you can do everyday that will improve your English speaking

  1. Learn Speaking by Listening
  2. Repeat and Juggle
  3. Focus on Chunks
  4. Push Your Comfort Zone
  5. Immerse Yourself in Natural English

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1-Learn Speaking by Listening

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  • Speaking came first.
  • We began speaking more than 10,000 years ago, but we only first began writing in around 3000 BC with Egyptian hieroglyphics 
  • Writing and grammar was actually a way to capture what we say.
  • So, it makes sense that we should learn to speak by listening to people speak, not by reading words.
  • Yet so many people try to learn to speak through reading books often reading aloud. We can see this in classrooms around the world, mainly because it is easy and possibly because in the past many teachers teaching a foreign language did not have access to native speaker voices or audio. 
  • But the world has changed!
  • You can find native speaker voices anywhere on the Internet. 

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So I propose you should learn to speak by listening. 

The benefits are:

  • You learn natural English
  • You know it’s spoken language
  • You learn pronunciation 
  • You get context 

Sure the books can help, but just have the ‘written word’ as a support.

We are surrounded by spoken language!

Use it to learn how to speak.

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2-Repeat and Juggle�

A great way to automate your vocabulary (that means you can use it automatically without thinking) is to follow this simple 3-step method:

                • Listen
                • Repeat
                • Juggle  

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So, for example, you hear this phrase: I love Paris 

you then repeat it. 

After that, you repeat it but changing one word. Do this several times, changing for a new word each time.

So you might say: I love London, I love Hanoi, I love New Delhi

  • Finally to juggle, is to change the tense. So instead of using the present tense, you might use the past simple, future or other tenses.
  • So you might say:
  • love Paris
  • loved Paris when I was there last year.
  • will love Paris when I go there next month

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  • A great tool to practice repeating words from an audio or video is the Woodpecker mobile app.

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3-Focus on Chunks

One of the best ways to increase your fluency is to focus on chunks.

  • What is a chunk?
  • A chunk is simply a piece of language. So, maybe 2 to 4 words that are usually spoken together as one sound.
  • Chunks appear almost everywhere in spoken English. For example, chunks can appear as:
  • Collocations  – heavy rain 
  • Idiomatic expressions – kick the bucket 

When you learn individual words you have to think about putting each one together.

  • When you learn chunks, you no longer have to think about putting each word in place, you focus on putting the chunks in place. 
  • This is easier, increases your fluency and will probably produce more accurate language.

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  • Imagine building a wall brick by brick. It can be very slow. Now imagine you could build the wall, layer by layer, each layer having chunks of 3 or 4 bricks.
  • It is going to be faster and you will actually get a straighter better wall!
  • So instead of learning just individual words, focus on learning and practicing chunks.

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4-Push Your Comfort Zone

  • When studying we like to have a safe environment where we feel comfortable and happy studying, and that is a good thing. 
  • How can you do that?
  •  Simple, just push your comfort zone. 
  • Do some Speaking practice where you feel uncomfortable, such as joining a class, finding a speaking partner on line, engaging with others, even just posting a comment on a forum. Whatever it is, just start engaging with others and practicing your English with others. 
  • After all, speaking English is all about communicating with others. 
  • So push your comfort zone and you will see yourself slowly building your confidence as you speak.

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5-Immerse Yourself in Natural English

  • Studying with a teacher is good, and reading course books for English students can be useful. This gives you a limited amount of language to learn step by step. The teacher will speak slowly and help you understand, correct your mistakes and be polite.

  • However, people in the real world usually don’t speak like teachers. They speak quickly, expect you to understand and respond quickly too. 
  • So it is essential that as well as learning from materials designed for English students, that you also learn from the real world. 
  • You need to immerse yourself in natural English, so you can communicate effectively in the real world. 

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There are lots of opportunities for language immersion. 

      • Videos /podcasts 
      • News broadcasts 
      • Current affairs  
      • Chat shows 
      • TED talks 
      • Films 
  • Choose things you enjoy and find useful. At times, choose things that you wouldn’t usually

choose, to expose you to new language and new topics. This will help you build confidence

to talk on a wide range of topics.