Do you want to develop speaking fluency in English? Are you struggling to feel comfortable while speaking English? If your answer is "YES", stop worrying about your speaking fluency in this language; here are some practical solutions to help you come out of that uncomfortable zone. As we know the term fluency suggests the ability that one has to reflect while speaking smoothly and comfortably without worrying about grammar, vocabulary or pronunciation. The concept of fluency is often linked with accuracy.
Before I move to some meaningful ways to develop or improve fluency in speaking English, I want to share some titbits of its importance with you. As we know, thousands of languages, i.e. 6000 plus languages, are being spoken in the world today. English is in the first position in terms of the speakers, but not based on its native speakers, leaving Mandarin Chinese and Spanish language back in the second and the third position respectively, and has become the most common second language spoken across the globe. This language is not only widely spoken but also taught in over 118 countries and is used as a lingua franca in the fields of transactions, diplomacy and others. It is the language of preference in science, computers, diplomacy and tourism. We know that it is the language of international communication and the media. People can have a better understanding and respect for each other only when they can communicate. It helps them understand each other’s culture, values, and sentiments which in turn promotes a sense of fraternity that results in a better relation among individuals, societies and countries. These attributes obviously contribute to world peace.
Before I take you to consider ways of developing speaking skills in English, let us see why it is thought to be essential to learn. Multilingualism in today’s context is becoming more important as it brings a wider platform and job opportunities to people. Hence, nowadays people are very interested in learning English; they are dedicating special time to develop speaking skills and fluency in English. The reason is clear that learning English makes them just fit in almost all sectors – from teaching to tourism, and participate in the economic development of the globe. In many countries, English has been introduced either as a compulsory subject or as an optional subject in their syllabus. Students learn it from the very beginning. Even parents expect their children to speak English. They feel proud of their children at the moment children speak fluent English. Speaking English has gained a kind of social value because it is directly proportional to elite people in some communities. The skill of speaking fluent English seems to be a symbol of educated people.
It does not matter whether your reasons are professional or very personal to learn English, being familiar with the importance of English will assist you in achieving that. Some reasons to learn English are:
To have wider exposure and a platform
Since English is widely spoken all over the world, you will be exposed to an explosion of knowledge related to culture, lifestyle, business, daily chores, mannerisms, politics, and the like. It does not matter where you are if you have good knowledge of English, it helps you everywhere in the globe. In this sense, it is the language that allows you to travel anywhere in the world since you will not face any communication problem means you can adjust to almost every linguistic community. The reason behind that is the whim of learning this language among people around the world. It is also the most common second language in the world; one in every five can speak or at least understand English – that is some 1.75 billion people worldwide. Nishanthi (2018) shares his views that English is also called the major window of the world, which means that English gives us a view of the various progress taking place in the world.
To have better job opportunities
Who doesn’t wish to have a good job? Yes, there are a bundle of opportunities around every individual but that may not be grabbed by all. To achieve the best of them, you need to own some special skills that can be somehow a prerequisite to have it. One of them is obviously a language, and if you are capable of communicating especially in the English language, you can overtake all who are already in the queue. English is the language of science, aviation, computers, diplomacy, and tourism. Knowing English increases your chances of getting a good job in a multinational company within your home country or of finding work abroad. It means that skills in the English language will add an advantage to your career. The knowledge and skill of English offer you an opportunity for advancement in your professional life because this language has earned a very special status in the world being the common medium of international communication. You can get a job in international organizations like the UNO, international projects, SAARC, etc. Therefore, you can always feel in a safe zone due to the English language.
To enjoy literature for pleasure
As some people are profoundly fond of reading literature, you may have that tendency as well. Nowadays, a large number of films, TV shows, music (albums), newspapers, magazines, journals and books are produced and published in English. Access to English will let you enjoy them without relying on translations anymore. By accessing these media, you will also continuously improve your English listening and reading skills. Moreover, when you are feeling alone, you can get the company of English since it is richer enough in the literature that can always make you feel refreshed. English literature never lets you feel bored. It can provide you with a variety of content from all around the globe including several cultures. This is how you can have full pleasure and will like to have more and more.
To keep yourself abreast of new ideas
As we know every second or minute there is an explosion of knowledge. People who have the inclination to update themselves are always ahead of all and can participate in a rational talk which heightens their personality. Learning English can bring you into a group of elite people where you can communicate with confidence. A vast majority of information comes through the English language around the globe which encourages people to learn this language. Because of the knowledge and skill of English, you can have access to a wide repertoire of information published around. Therefore, you need to learn it to cultivate your mind as well.
To wish to live in an English community
There are a group of people who may wish to live in an English community where the medium of communication is only English like in the USA, the UK, Canada, Australia, and so on. You may like to see yourself there since these countries are developed and there are several opportunities that you can have, and it can help you live a better life. You can have your children enrolled in well-facilitated schools. So, if you dream of living there either temporarily or permanently, you must learn English to survive there.
To have more access to the Internet
For different many purposes, people visit several websites and blogs. As it is estimated, approximately 560 million people visit the Internet every day, and about 52% of the world’s most visited websites are operated in English. Thus, knowledge of English lets you have access to over half the contents of the Internet, which might not be available otherwise. It does not matter why you visit those – for fun or for learning purposes or for any other specific reasons, you will be able to exchange information with people around the globe if you know English.
To have access to multiple cultures
Due to the advancement of science and technology, the world has shrunk, and everybody thinks they are living in a global village where each of us is socially linked with one another. In this global community, we are with our special cultures living together in harmony. This harmony has been maintained because we understand each other and respect every culture. Here, we have been assisted by English to maintain a cordial relationship among all. Although we are linguistically different from each other, we have developed one common lingua franca which has linked us linguistically and we understand the value of each culture and participate in each other’s cultural functions. Good knowledge of English helps us share our cultures with each other; and thus, lets us have access to multiple cultures.
To enjoy travelling across countries
Let’s imagine that you are from China and you have reached Italy to enjoy your vacation. When you go to a hotel and talk to a receptionist to book a room for yourself to stay for some days, you may not get any reply if you speak your local language - Chinese - because the receptionist is unlikely to understand your question. Since English is spoken as a first language in 53 countries with around 400 million native speakers around the world and as a second language in over 118 countries, here, it is likely that the receptionist may understand English and will help you to get a room booked there. So, learning the English language makes it much easier to travel anywhere.
To have the opportunity to meet new people
As mentioned above, around 400 million people speak English as a first language worldwide and as a second language in over 118 countries, it does not matter where you are, where you work, or where you travel; learning English will ever help you have good communication with anyone regardless of their nationality and linguistic diversity. You can easily assimilate yourself into their group and develop a new friendship with people there. And this friendship may help you to get rid of homesickness in a foreign land.
This does never mean that whatever reasons have been mentioned above are all for which people are interested in learning or developing speaking fluency in the English language. You may have some other reasons for it. So, if you are struggling to have the confidence to boost up fluency while speaking English, let me share some suggestions that you should go with to get speaking fluency in English.
Develop confidence.
Do you get your mouth parched when you are told to speak anything in English or when you try to speak it before others? If yes, it means you lack confidence which is a prerequisite to doing any task. First, learn to believe that what you do is right even if it is wrong and unpopular. When you speak, never think that what you speak may be wrong or people may laugh at your mistakes; otherwise, you can never go ahead. Second, be ready to take the risk. Third, admit your mistakes and learn from them. Notice how your listeners are speaking sentences that you struggle with. Correct your mistakes from their speaking and use the correct version next time. Be optimistic. Alternatively, when you are talking to the people around you in your mother tongue, go mixing codes (inserting English words) and sometimes switching codes (using at least some short sentences like chunk; for example, "Pleased to meet you", "Thank you", What's up, man", etc.) as well. This is how you will unnoticeably be coming closer to English.
Overcome your shyness.
Do you feel stressed at the moment of speaking English because of the feeling of shyness? Does your mouth not open due to shyness? Do you get your face blushed when you dare to speak English? If yes, then you are not the one who experiences it. Like you, many second language learners come through the same situation. This situation usually occurs when the learners start learning it from the age of approximately ten. Most affected learners due to shyness are adults. To get rid of this situation, practice speaking English with children or people who do not speak English or who do not know English better than you. Narrate them some short and simple stories. This can be useful to be acquainted with the use of new vocabulary.
Listen and read as much as possible.
Make a note to find daily used words easily.
Do you often forget the words when you need them? Make a note of those words and keep them safe so that you can have them as soon as you need them. Never feel that it is unnecessary to keep a note of those words as they are already in the dictionary because it may kill your time to locate those words in the dictionary at the time of speaking. It is better to keep them along with their use as well so that you can easily know their proper and correct use.
Go speaking as much as you can.
Be sure that there is no magic pill that you just swallow and you will be able to speak English fluently. It needs perseverance and rigorous practice. You must be committed to yourself that you will speak English as much as you can with as many different people as possible when you get an opportunity to practice it. When you don't find anyone, talk to your favourite person: yourself. This means when you are thinking about anything, try thinking in English and also try speaking your thoughts out loud. This will help you improve your English.
Think of yourself as a child.
If you feel shy or have hesitation while speaking English before others, think of yourself that you are a child who has just started acquiring any language. Do not think that you have already a language because it may appear as a barrier in the course of learning English and this can push you back from developing fluency in English. A child never feels that he is committing mistakes while communicating with their parents, you just go speaking, speaking and speaking without caring for any mistakes. This can help you foster a confidence level which is a must to learn it. Once you develop confidence, you will start speaking a couple of utterances subconsciously. Such subconscious production of utterances will gradually appear in a connected speech making a string of language - discourse.
Reflect on your conversation.
After you get your conversation over, take a moment to reflect on it. How did it go? How comfortable did you feel while speaking or narrating? Did you get stuck at any point due to new vocabulary? The mere act of thinking will be useful to combat this situation to get a pace in speaking English. The act of reflecting on your conversation will be even more helpful and effective when you record your conversation. This record can provide you with constructive feedback on your intonation, pronunciation, accuracy, fluency, and appropriacy. This act is supposed to finetune your language as well and to develop confidence for the next time you speak.
Think in English.
The difficult thing about English speaking is not the language itself, but rather how you think about it. Most of the learners of the second language are found thinking in their mother tongue and then translating it into English. Translating one language into another may not be easy to do. Instead, not only fluency in speaking is impeded by the translation process but it also often appears as a barrier and slows the pace of speaking due to which conversation does not sound natural. Therefore, try to use English while thinking about your day - your daily chores. Have a monolingual dictionary of the English language to look up any unfamiliar words so that you do not need to think in your native language to explain or define things. This kind of dictionary will help you explain matters directly in English. This is how you can sound natural with gestures and posture.
Speak before the mirror.
Don't worry if you do not find anybody to speak with. Whenever you are alone enjoying your spare time, choose a topic, stand before the mirror and talk to your image for at least five minutes assuming that somebody is talking back to you. This helps you look at your facial expression and body language as you speak. If you get stuck at some points to express ideas in English, use your own way to express that. This is how you can know what you are struggling with at the time of speaking English.
Go with fluency rather than grammar.
How often do you stop while speaking English? The more you stop, the less confident you sound and the less comfortable you feel. You do not need to be over-conscious about grammar. It may make you think that you are not made for English. If your grammar is not perfect, no problem - you can still be understood and you can feel better; don't be afraid of committing mistakes since your main target is to deliver a message. So, first, develop speaking fluency and later you can improve your grammar once you learn the rules better.
Get an English learning buddy.
If you wish to increase the pace of developing speaking fluency, get a friend who is also learning English. An English learning buddy can be beneficial to practice your English as much as you can. You can create an English environment where both of you can have ample exposure to each other. You can also try another option, and that is if any native speaker of English is learning your mother tongue, both of you can try exchanging each other's language.
Develop a reading culture.
The more you read English literature, the more you can come closer to it. You should read storybooks, comics, children's literature in English, English newspapers, magazines, and so on. Through reading practice, you can have a good repertoire of vocabulary through reading literature, and you can develop your comprehension skills as well. This can help you in the early stages of learning English as you master your vocabulary acquisition. You can be exposed to a variety of structures that you may find useful when you speak. This will also introduce formal and informal language to you. Reading stories and novels is meant to bring conversational language which sounds casual and natural. So, reading literature gets your utterances to flow out smoothly in a connected way to the ears of your listeners. You will be satisfied with your speaking as it lets you get a kind of fluency in speaking.
Watch English programmes.
Watching English programmes surely helps you develop speaking fluency. Out of many programmes, watching news programmes can be a great way to begin exposing yourself to English because news reporters always speak clearly and fluently. Nevertheless, watching a variety of English programmes, for example, short documentaries, movies directed towards children or teens, and the like can help you develop fluency in conversational English. Concentrate on the speakers with your ears and eyes. You can notice how the speakers use facial expressions, gestures, posture, and utterances together to sound natural.
Listen to other people speaking English.
If it is possible to be around people speaking English, listen to them as much as possible and try to practice by repeating what they spoke. Listening to them can frequently be a good way to develop comprehension and catch up on fluency. Listening to people in public conversation is meaningful because you can learn how to take your turn, how to finetune your language, how to interrupt, how to introduce a new topic, etc.
Prepare yourself.
Sometimes, you may have found yourself in a situation where you feel after speaking for a couple of minutes that you have now nothing to speak ahead. Yes? It all happens because of nervousness. To combat this, you can prepare a cheat sheet. Ponder over vocabulary and make a list of them that you may need to use while discussing the topic with the people. For example, if you are going to visit an optician to get your eyes checked, work on vocabulary like the retina, eyeball, cornea, diagnose, irritation, symptoms, prevention, etc. These may help you feel relaxed and communicate with your doctor comfortably.
Use contraction.
Native speakers do not pronounce every word separately. Instead, they use them in a connected way. They speak "I'm", "I've", "They've", and "he's" rather than "I am", "I have" "They have", and "he is". Such contractions make the language flow smoothly in conversation.
Fluent doesn't mean fast.
Have you ever met a guy speaking English fast and you understood him as a fluent speaker? Probably, yes. If somebody is speaking slowly and you think he is not a fluent speaker, you may be wrong. Fluent does not mean fast; it is a kind of ability that helps you speak a foreign language easily and well without getting stuck frequently. So, even if you are speaking in a relaxed way without struggling with vocabulary, pronunciation and sentence structure, give a pat on your back feeling proud of yourself because you are a fluent English speaker.
References
Nishanthi, R. (2018). Important of learning English in today world. International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development. Volume-3. 10.31142/ijtsrd19061.
2 Comments
Thank you for suggestions, sir
ReplyDeleteThank you for good suggestions, sir.
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