Tips to Improve English Speaking Skills

The following 10 tips will help you to improve your English speaking skills and help you feel more confident when you talk.

1.    Practice speaking with other people as much as possible.  If possible try to practice in authentic speaking situations.   Maybe you could join a club or organisation, to help you get more English speaking practice.

2.    Practice speaking by yourself.  You can practice speaking about a particular topic, or write question cards and practice answering them.

3.    Develop your vocabulary so you are able to talk about different topics. Try and learn new words that are useful in different contexts.  Using a thesaurus is a good way to develop your vocabulary.

4.    Practice changing the tone of your voice.  Listen to native English speakers and note the way they say things – the tone of their speech.   Do they sound friendly/unfriendly, bored/interested, kind/cruel.    Listen to how their tone affects the message they are giving you.   Try and vary your tone when you are speaking.

5.    Try and place extra emphasis on the important parts of what you are saying.  English is a rhythmical language which means that in any sentence some words are stressed more to indicate their importance in the message.

6.    Make a note of times when you are asked to repeat yourself.  This may indicate a problem with your pronunciation or accent, and tell you which areas you need to practice on.

7.    To improve your English speaking skills, find a partner to practice your English with.  It is advisable to find someone at the same level as you, but has a different first language.  That way you will be forced to practice in English!

8.    Practice your grammar skills.   Record yourself speaking and try to identify your grammar errors.  Study up on your mistakes and try again.

9.    Practice reading aloud.  When you read, think about the different syllable sounds within the words.

10. Record yourself speaking and check your volume and speed.  Are you speaking loud enough?   Are you speaking too quickly?   If you speak too quickly other people will have difficulty understanding you.  Remember to pause when required.

Remember, to improve your English speaking skills you need to  

PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE.