Ten tips to improve your spoken English

Rojina Safavi has been Head of Education for the adult section at the Ultimatebridge in Uk since 2021. Through this blog, she shares some tips to help you improve your oral English.

1. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes, be misunderstood, or look silly. You are learning and it is all part of your learning.
2. Whenever possible, prepare your conversations in advance. If you have to call for business, prepare what you have to say, anticipate questions, and make sure you know the important words you or your caller will likely use. If you have any doubts, you always have the option of sending an email confirming the details. Make sure you have a list of useful expressions handy, for example:

• “Could you please repeat?” – ” could you repeat Please?”
• “Could you speak more slowly, please?” – “Please, could you speak more slowly?”
• “How do you spell this?” – “How do you spell this?”
• “Do you mean 80, eight zero or 18, one eight?” – “Do you mean eighty, eight zero, or eight teen, one eight?”

3. If you have to attend a social event, think about the topics that are likely to be discussed and plan what you will have to say. For example if you are attending an international news event, make sure you know the important words; if your host loves movies, think back to the script of the last movie you saw and what you thought of it.
4. Repeat, if possible. Formulating sentences to yourself or role-playing with colleagues or friends will help you have more fluid conversations. Practice speaking English anytime, without necessarily preparing for a precise conversation but by commenting internally on what is happening in your daily life. Training to think in English is a step that promotes memorization and therefore improves fluency in English.
5. The next step is to register in English. Pick a topic, try talking about it for a minute, then listen to your recording and spot any mistakes you made before doing the exercise again. You will be amazed that your second try is much better. You can make the challenge more difficult by increasing the duration of the speaking time. This activity will help you speak more fluently and accurately.
6. Listening is the other essential part of communication, so you need to practice listening; you will learn expressions that you will have the opportunity to use later. There are the usual ways: watch TV shows, films in their original version with subtitles, listen to podcasts and watch clips on YouTube. But why not also try to attend live events such as plays or comedies in English, readings by English authors in bookstores or libraries, recitals or concerts? This may give you the opportunity to make English-speaking friends.
7. Find a partner to converse in English. Preferably someone you know or a friend of a friend. There are also associations in France that organize events around language exchanges.
8. Integrate English into your daily life: change the language of your news feed and that of Facebook; send emails in English to your English-speaking colleagues, call them on the phone instead of writing to them, choose to visit a museum or an art gallery with an English guide. If your children are learning English at school, talking to them in English is a great way to encourage them and show them that they shouldn’t be afraid to take the plunge.
9. Improve your grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation. In addition to your courses, you can also consult specialized sites such as Learn English.
10. Stay motivated. Learning a language is difficult, it takes time and goodwill. Remind yourself of your overall goal often, set milestones, and reward yourself when you hit them.