How to Improve Spoken English at home?

In this era of globalisation, knowing the English language is no longer an option. It has become mandatory for an individual to be proficient in English speaking. Mastering this language is a prerequisite for academics, career, social life and everything one can think of. Being fluent in English does not mean using technical words in every sentence, that no one understands; it’s all about speaking confidently and in a way that the audience understands what one is trying to communicate.

English language skills involve listening, speaking, reading and writing. Speaking skills are very important in day to day life to have conversations with people around us. Reading, writing and listening are the skills that are more focused on. Listening and speaking go hand in hand, the better the listener one becomes, the better one can speak. In order to communicate effectively, one needs to be a good listener because if one listens to what is being said or asked, only then one can respond appropriately.

Speaking in English is commonly referred to as ‘spoken English’. In order to master the English language, one needs to improve English fluency, as this is considered the most important skill when it comes to communication. To become a fluent English speaker one should consistently put efforts to achieve the art of speaking effectively.

Do you wonder, “How can I improve my spoken English?” 

Have you ever heard people speak fluent English? Have you admired the way they speak? If you think that it is a different form of English language, the answer is, no. It is the same English language you speak; with the same English words, English pronunciation and English grammar. The main difference lies in the confidence, the accuracy, the style and the perfection in the language. One needs to have a stronghold on the language to be able to communicate effectively. Jargons should be used only when required. One needs to speak clearly and without any errors in the simplest manner, for others to understand. The improvement needs to be done on the right pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary and so on.

How to improve Spoken English?

One needs to improve spoken English to be able to communicate with others more confidently. It plays a major role in boosting one’s self-esteem. Imagine yourself in a situation, where you need to answer a question to get the best opportunity of your life. You know the answer, but the inability to communicate effectively would cost you,  your lifetime opportunity. The fear of feeling embarrassed might keep you quiet. To avoid such situations from arising and making the best of every opportunity that may come your way, it is important to stay confident in spoken English.

• The best way to improve fluency is to practice English speaking. The more one talks in English, the more one can learn. It is rightly said, “Practice makes a man perfect.” This applies to English language learning as well. The more one practices, the better one gets at it. ‘Hyperpolyglots’ are people with a gifted sense of language and can learn multiple languages quickly. It is surveyed that, the biggest trick of hyperpolyglots is that they practice and immediately use what is learnt in the language. They learn new concepts or new words in a language and in no time, use it in their conversations. This is how they master different languages quickly. The key is to practice whatever one learns. Do not fear to communicate; just talk and put to practice all that you learn. That is the best way possible to improve your Spoken English.

• Find multiple resources to make your English learning better and faster. Don’t depend on only one single resource for improvement. For instance, one can use online video lectures, watch English movies, tv shows with subtitles, download notes from reliable websites, read English books, journals, magazines etc.

• One can choose topics, in which, one is more interested. This makes the learning process easier. The main focus here is to improve speaking English and the trick is, to choose something out of interest rather than compulsion.

• Goal Setting- One can break the big goals into smaller objectives. The goals can be short term and realistic. One can achieve these smaller set objectives, and get a sense of self-satisfaction. This can help fulfil the aim of improving Spoken English.

• ‘Smart working’ is a new way of life now. The current competitive market demands one to know the techniques to get things done easier, faster and with lesser efforts. People who work smartly and utilise advanced technological techniques are likely to get more success.

• Practice with a partner- The best way to bring fluency is to practice speaking more often. One can substitute the local language with English and use it for daily conversations at home. Parents these days are very particular on conversing with their kids in English as soon as they begin to babble. It is with the intention to make children understand English so that they become fluent at it when they grow up.

• Another technique, which one can use if one fails to communicate with others is to record one’s own voice. One can use a basic voice recorder or use their mobile phone for recording the conversation and listening to it. This can help understand the mistakes, grammatical errors, pronunciations, tone etc.

A number of ‘learn English’ mobile applications have also been launched for this purpose. They have the ‘speak’ feature and soon after one’s voice is recorded and entered, the app responds accordingly. The only difference is that one would be talking to a bot, that is functioned with responses and has no function of ‘judging’ the sender of the message.

• For individuals who wish to improve spoken English, it is important to focus on getting the English grammar right. It often happens that one learns a language with vocabulary, pronunciation etc, but forgets to polish the grammar skills. While speaking, grammar plays a major role. One needs to be good with the tenses, adjectives, prepositions, sentence formation etc, to communicate effectively.

• Games- There are many android games which one can download free of cost from play store, games that are related to word building, grammar, English language learning, etc. These games help one to understand the concepts better and have a lasting impact on the learners as it is practically oriented.

• A very old and traditional technique, that one uses at some or the other point of time is, to talk in front of the mirror. It works pretty well. One can stand in front of a mirror and practice to communicate; this technique helps one to observe the body language, posture, gestures and all other forms of non-verbal communication. This even helps people who have to face a good number of audience. Using this technique, one can improve Spoken English, and also enhance confidence to communicate with people and thereby improves interpersonal skills.

• Be an active listener- There is a fine line difference between hearing and listening. While hearing is associated with just perceiving the sound, listening involves understanding the meaning of the sound perceived. In order to become a good speaker, one needs to be a good and active listener. If one fails to listen to what is being said or asked, one might not be able to respond accordingly, even if the speaking skills are good.

• Learn to think in English- The usual problem non-native English speakers face, is that they think in their native language and then try to translate it in English. This process is carried out mentally and it takes time. It often results in ineffective communication. The entire time taken to think, translate and speak makes the speaker delay his/her response. Hence, this hampers the otherwise smooth communication process. One can start practising to think in English. This may take time but eventually one can master English thinking skills with consistent efforts. One can start by recalling a past event and thinking about it in English.

• For music lovers, listening to English songs could turn out to be a wonderful opportunity to explore a completely new genre of music. Singing along when listening to English songs can help. The rhythm in songs helps the mind to learn things faster. It is usually easier to grasp things that are learnt with rhythm, just like rhymes in schools.

The key to improving Spoken English is to talk freely. One shouldn’t worry about the fluency, grammar and the thoughts of being judged as an average speaker. One needs to communicate confidently; there are chances that the other person has the same apprehension about being judged, both would be ‘rowing in the same boat’. One needs to get rid of the fear of making errors.