Have you ever thought or asked a teacher one of these questions?
How can I speak English fluently?
How can I improve my spoken English?
How can I speak better English?
These are the most common questions I am asked! In this article, you’ll learn some simple changes you can make to your life to help you improve your English.
Move to an English-Speaking Country.
This is the easiest and the fastest way to learn English. If you are serious about learning a language, take any opportunity you can to spend time in an English-speaking country (for a long period of time, not just one or two weeks). Living with, working with, and speaking to native speakers all day every day will improve your English very quickly.
For many people, this is not possible. So, what you need to do is …
Make English a part of your life.
If you can’t go to an English-speaking country, you need to create an English-speaking environment & lifestyle as much as possible!
- When you get up in the morning, listen to an English radio station, watch an English TV channel, or read an English newspaper
- On your way to work, listen to English music, English podcasts, or English radio stations (in your car or on your phone)
- Speak English to everyone and everything: your family, children, friends, co-workers (if possible), pets, plants…
- After work, watch English TV shows and movies (it’s OK to watch with English subtitles if you need to!)
Whatever you do during the day, do it in English!
- Write something in English! Even if you only write one sentence a day, this will help you focus and THINK in English. Write it in a diary. Start your own blog. Use Twitter, Facebook or MyEC. Just start!
- Do you like to cook? Use English cookbooks.
- Do you like clothes and fashion? Read English fashion magazines.
- Do you like to know what’s going on in your country? Look for English newspapers and magazines that talk about local or national issues in your part of the world.
- Use an English day planner or calendar (or set your phone/email calendars to ‘English’)
- Change all the settings on your phone, on your computer, on Facebook/Twitter/YouTube to English
Think of it this way: if you decide to live a healthier life, you don’t say “I’m going to live healthfully for 2 hours every day, from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.” When you decide to live healthfully, you do it all day long, every day, as much as possible. If you decide that you want to become fluent in English, you can’t say “I’m going to be fluent for 2 hours every day, from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.” It’s something that you have to do all day every day as much as possible!
Every little bit helps!
Lots of little things add up to big things. The more you listen to and read English, the more comfortable you become with it and the easier it is to remember new words. You get used to the sounds of English and you can imitate them when you speak!
Hello Melanie, How are you?
I'm a Brazilian girl and I appreciated your advices, I try to do some things in your list, but is hard…I think the best way for I to learn English is to go to English-speaking country.
Thank you again….Have a good week Melanie!
thank u very much it'll really help.
Yeah Melanie! =)
I do some of those things you said. Every day I keep on speaking english alone or with mom, relatives and some friends even they can't speak english at all. It helps a lot. =)
As you speak english more and more, it becomes something like a habbit and you start to get used to some characteristics, the spelling and the pronunciation of words in english.
Am I right Melanie?
Sometimes I guess people who pass by my house think I'm crazy because I keep speaking english out loud everyday, almost all the time and alone (hehe), but the thing is that I like english a lot. =D
Thanks a lot for sharing all these informations Melanie! =D
All the best!
Marcos
You are correct Marcos! You 'train' your brain to remember these things, just like 'muscle memory' in sports. So make sure you have the right spelling & pronunciation – you can just as easily start bad habits as good ones!
You sound like a very enthusiastic & dedicated student, Marcos!
All the best in 2012,
Melanie
= )
it's an importent tips and helpfull ,from you
thank's alot to you
thanks melanie your are nice and i going to put into practice these tips. i thought these advice are very clever like you.
see you and take care.
Thank you again for your kind words!
This is so important, Richard! You can make small changes to your environment that will help you make HUGE improvements in your English. Make sure you do something every day in English!
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hello melanie..
i’am an indian boy..
thank you for your tips
i’ll improve my english by these tips..
You’re welcome! Good luck to you with your English studies.
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Hey, Melanie! You’re great, thank you. I’m 13 and I’ve been spending all my time talking in English on Twitter and it definitely helped me a lot! I find my way to write in English good, but my pronunciation isn’t good at all. I’m from Brazil, and I’m gonna follow your tips. Thank you again for doing this, that’s so nice of you.
xoxo
hi teacher you are wonderfull with your advices, i guess that is what i going to do the rest of my life.
thank you so much, you are very kind, and i will speak english fluente someday.
and i from colombia
Hi Melanie! I am a bit confused and frustrated because I can express myself only in writing. When it comes about speaking I am a total mess. My accent is bad, I forget all the rules and I think all this will get me to the point where I will not be able to speak English anymore. Everybody speaks better than me, even French people. I am such a mess.
Hi, Bianca!
First, YOU ARE NOT ALONE! Many, many English learners feel the same way you do. “I can express myself only in writing.” Did you study English in school? This is very common when students learn languages in school. I am the same way in French, because in our French classes in school, the focus was on grammar and writing, and we didn’t have many opportunities to speak.
Second, “everybody speaks better than me” is NOT TRUE! You may meet people who have more confidence speaking English than you, but that does not mean that their English is better than yours. Your English is fine, you just need to become more confident speaking English.
So, what can we do to help you become more confident? Here’s an article on how you can improve your accent/pronunciation:
https://therealmelanie.dream.press/study-tip-how-to-improve-your-english-pronunciation/
Another thing you can do is listen to and read English as possible. This will help you become more comfortable with English. You will start to ‘feel’ what is right and you won’t need to think about the ‘rules.’ You will just know them because you have heard & read the right sentences so many times. Finally, just start talking to yourself if you don’t have anyone you can speak English to!
I hope that helps you feel better!
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Hi Melanie and Bianca,
I hope you are fine.
I’m Cynthia and I live in France near Paris. I just want to say Bianca that I’m agree with Melanie you are not alone, I have the same difficulties. Last year, I made a presentation in my classroom in english and it was awfull and bad. I said so much “Euhhhh” and my classmate didn’t understand anything. It was the shame of my life, (lol). Since this experience I feel badreally , If you want we can comunicate by mail and after by phone only in english ? What do you think about it ?
It’s the first time that I give my opinion on a website.
I writte here because I think that the advices of Melanie are true and I want to congratulate her. Really, thank you Melanie, I ‘ll follow your advices and I hope that my english level improve.
Hi, Cynthia!
What a nice comment! Thank you for taking the time to write something here.
Think of it this way: You will never make such an awful presentation again! Your English will only get better from now on! Was it a problem with your English, or were you just nervous about giving a presentation in general?
I hope that it makes you feel better to know that there are many, many English learners who feel the same way you do!
All the best to you with your English studies,
Melanie
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Hi, Melanie!
Thank you for your advice. You help me much. I hope you will continue to help others to improve their English. Because your advise is very useful. I’ good at listening and writing but not in speaking. So, I hope with the help of your advice I can improve it.
Good luck to you!
Delany
Hi, Melanie!
its really very helpful…
thanks for your advice…….
good luck.
Hello teacher !
Well , I’m a first year college now but still I can’t able to express my ideas through speaking English . My classmates do speak fluently in English and they have the confident to share their ideas specially in class discussions. I have lots of ideas but I’m afraid to participate in class discussion .I really feel pity and ashamed for myself for in my age now , I do not have still the skill in public speaking . What should I do now teacher ?
Hi, euphy YmS!
“My classmates do speak fluently in English and they have the confident to share their ideas specially in class discussions.”
~ Just because your classmates are confident speaking English doesn’t mean that they speak English fluently! Being confident and being fluent are not the same thing. I suspect that your classmates make a lot of mistakes when they speak. It’s OK!
“I have lots of ideas but I’m afraid to participate in class discussion.”
~ Why are you afraid? What are you afraid of? Are you afraid that you might say something wrong? Are you afraid that people will laugh at you? When your classmates say something wrong, does anyone laugh at them? So what if someone laughs at you?
“I really feel pity and ashamed for myself for in my age now, I do not have still the skill in public speaking.”
~ There is no reason for you to feel pity & ashamed. I think you are putting too much pressure on yourself.
If you don’t feel comfortable speaking English in public yet, maybe you should try private lessons instead of group lessons. Speaking with a private teacher will help you improve your confidence!
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That was a very nice advice teacher ! thanks for inspiring ME :-) MORE POWER and GOD BLESS !!! <3 LOVELotS !
Pls help me to learn speak English free
i love you melanie
hello….nice tips…..i’ll try your tips…hopefully will be increase my skill to speaking english language……thanks
Thanks admin..
These r really important and effective advice
i’ll try my best to follow most of these instrctions…
Thanks alot