how to improve your english speaking essay

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21 Most Effective Ways to Improve Your English Speaking Skills

English is the world’s lingua franca , a common language that people with different native languages use to communicate with one another.

In fact, 96 countries use English to varying degrees.

That means the more fluent you are in English, the more interesting, exciting and  insightful (thoughtful) conversations you’ll have.

And, for the most part, you can boost your English speaking skills without having a classroom partner or taking stressful lessons.

In this article, we’ll take you through 21 of the best ways to improve your English speaking skills. We’re sure you’ll find at least one tip here that you haven’t tried before!

1. Learn new words and phrases every day

2. improve your pronunciation using authentic english audio and videos, 3. improvise conversations, 4. use tongue twisters, 5. learn the natural flow of english, 6. shadow english speech, 7. think in english, 8. retell a story in english, 9. use english pronunciation apps, 10. participate in public speaking events, 11. go to language cafes, 12. use formal or informal english appropriately, 13. be clear and to the point, 14. ask questions, 15. use filler phrases, 16. don’t be afraid to repeat yourself, 17. watch your body language, 18. improve your speaking by writing, 19. make friends online, 20. brush up on your cultural references and political knowledge, 21. visit an english-speaking country, and one more thing....

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Before you learn things like improving your English pronunciation and accent , you’ll want to have a good grasp of the words and phrases used in daily conversations .

After all, it’s easier to figure out which aspects of your pronunciation can be improved if you know which words you need to practice saying aloud.

Also, you can commit to learning more words every day as you practice your speaking skills. This allows you to kill two birds with one stone (achieve two goals by doing one thing).

• Set a goal for the number of new words you want to learn daily. For example, you can learn three new words or 10 every day. Even if you only have time to learn one new word per day, that will still be 365 new words a year (assuming you commit to your goal every day). You can take note of your target number using your phone, or share it with a learning partner who can help you check your progress.
• Subscribe to an online dictionary’s “Word of the Day” section. Not sure which words you want to learn right now? You can look up English dictionaries online with the “Word of the Day” feature. Just sign up for their free subscription via email, and you can get these words delivered to your inbox every day.
• Pick up new words all around you. Go to an English-speaking area, and listen discreetly (in a way you won’t be noticed) to native conversations. Write down any words or phrases you don’t understand, and look them up later using your dictionary. Do the same with the English songs you hear on the radio. By learning new words in context, you’ll be able to remember them more easily and grow your vocabulary more quickly.
• Learn words in phrases. For example, you refer to drinks as a glass of wine , a pint of beer , a cup of tea , a pot of coffee , etc. Again, learning words in context works much better for recall.
• Learn related words. For example, the moon has four phases every month: crescent , gibbous ,  waxing and waning . It’s more efficient to learn all four words at the same time.

Even if you know a lot of words, you won’t be understood if you don’t pronounce them correctly. That’s wasting the time spent remembering words, right?

So, you need to hear or watch English words and phrases as they’re pronounced by native speakers. Some places where you can do this are:

• Online dictionaries. You’ll notice that these dictionaries often have little speaker symbols next to the new words (like this ). Some of them, like the Cambridge Dictionary , even have different audio for U.S. and U.K. pronunciations. Just click the speaker symbol, listen carefully and imitate the way the audio pronounces the word.
• YouTube. Sometimes, when you search for the pronunciation of a certain word online, the results will show YouTube videos . They often repeat the word slowly several times, which makes it easier for you to follow along.
• Podcasts. Podcasts like English Pronunciation Pod and American English Pronunciation can teach you the many aspects of American English pronunciation.

If you’re having trouble pronouncing whole words, you may want to work on pronouncing individual letters first.

For example, when pronouncing English vowels , prepare your mouth for speaking by making the sounds of the vowels A , E , I , O and U .

Make a shape with your mouth as you make these sounds.  Exaggerate the sounds and shapes—that is, make them very large and very obvious.

By practicing these basic sounds, it’ll be easier to hear the difference between, for example, a  cat and a  cut . (A cat can give you a cut, but a cut can never give you a cat! That’s just silly.)

For consonants, pronunciation practice is a bit trickier, and will require an entire post on its own. Luckily, we have a handy guide that covers how to pronounce consonants in English !

Improvisation (or just improv ) means making things up in the moment.

Here are a few improvisation ideas you can do on your own:

• Choose an ordinary object (like a pen) and make up a story about it. Talk about how important it is to you, how it helped you find your long-lost sister or how it saved your life. Be as creative as you want!
• Choose a letter of the alphabet and speak as long as you can while starting every sentence with this letter. Or start with the letter A and go through the alphabet as you speak. It’s much harder than it sounds!
• Speak for two minutes.  Set a timer to run for two minutes. Choose a random topic from places like Conversation Starters or prompts (ideas) at Writing Exercises . Then, speak about that topic for the full two minutes without giving yourself time to think about it. The first minute might be hard, but by the second minute, you’ll start to speak more confidently and comfortably. Try this as many times as it takes to get comfortable within the first minute.

Practicing improv is a good way to get more comfortable speaking with others, since it teaches you to speak without preparation.

Tongue twisters are phrases and sentences that are difficult to say quickly. They’re designed to help you see how fast you can say them before your tongue gets confused.

But saying them slowly works, too! It’s an excellent way to work on your pronunciation and how clearly you speak. You can choose one of these English tongue twisters , making sure to correctly and clearly say every word.

Once you’re comfortable saying the words slowly, try to say them faster, gradually increasing your speed with each new repetition. Even if you get some words wrong (and believe me, even native English speakers struggle with tongue twisters sometimes), you’ll at least have a good laugh about it!

Being able to say individual words correctly is great, but the secret to speaking English fluently lies in the flow of your sentences.

Whenever you read a piece of poetry, listen to a melodic song or watch a hilarious sitcom, pay attention to:

• Linking. Notice how native speakers link words together. This refers to joining two sounds, making a sound disappear or changing a sound to make it flow better.
• I + am =  I’m
• he + will =  he’ll
• they + have =  they’ve
• do + not =  don’t
• Stress.  There are stressed syllables in a word and stressed words in a sentence .
• Rhythm.  The rhythm is the overall result of stress, contractions and linking. It’s the ups and downs, or the musical features of English. You can also think of it as the speed and “sound” of your speaking.

Finding your perfect speaking rhythm can go a long way toward boosting your fluency. A good speaking pace is comfortable (both for you and the listener), keeps you focused and gives you enough time to think through what you want to say.

Here’s how you can improve the flow of your spoken English:

• Find a short paragraph, or even just a sentence at your reading level. You can find lots of short reading passages for different levels here . You can also open your favorite English book to a random page and choose a paragraph or two.
• Get a recorder or video camera. If your phone doesn’t already have a recorder installed, you can download this for iOS or this for Android.
• Say the paragraph or sentence slowly, then again faster, and again.
• Once you reach a speed that doesn’t feel comfortable or is too fast, slow down.
• Repeat this a number of times, making sure to record what you say every time.

Listen to the recordings. How do they sound? You should’ve felt a difference when you were speaking, too. Speaking slowly helps you work on pronunciation and enunciation (how clearly you say things). Speaking fast helps you work on your fluency, since you’re not worrying about every single word you say.

Shadowing English basically involves listening to how a native speaker says something and copying it.

Here are some ideas on how to shadow English:

• Pick your favorite video with subtitles. Make sure it’s something you enjoy watching. This is important for the next step.
• Listen to it many times. Listen to the video once. Then, read the subtitles to get a good grasp of the general content and flow.
• Imitate the narrator sentence by sentence. Play. Listen. Pause. Speak. Record (optional). Copy the speech pattern as best as you can. 

With enough shadowing, you’ll naturally get closer to sounding like a native speaker. Just make sure to pick videos with the same English accent! 

You can find plenty of English videos with quality subtitles on the language learning platform FluentU .

FluentU takes authentic videos—like music videos, movie trailers, news and inspiring talks—and turns them into personalized language learning lessons.

You can try FluentU for free for 2 weeks. Check out the website or download the iOS app or Android app.

P.S. Click here to take advantage of our current sale! (Expires at the end of this month.)

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When you’re learning English, and you’re having a conversation with a native speaker, your natural tendency is to take what they say, translate it into your native language in your head, mentally create a response in your native language then translate that response back into English.

As you can imagine, this takes a lot of time. It also makes conversations feel slow or even frustrating (something that causes stress) for the person you’re talking to.

On the other hand, if you practice thinking in English , it takes less time to come up with responses and engage in conversations. You don’t have to take that extra step of translating to and from your native language.

A good way to start thinking in English is to keep a diary for writing down your daily thoughts in English. It doesn’t have to be perfect—you just want to practice getting your thoughts out in English as often as you can.

For example, you can start with a familiar story from your culture. Your translation needs to  convey (communicate) not only the meaning of the words you use, but as much cultural nuance (small differences in meaning) as you can pack into it. You can also choose a short story or fairy tale that mostly uses words you can understand.

Then, you can record your retelling or ask a native English speaker to listen to you and give you their thoughts.

Sometimes, you have words in your language that don’t easily translate into English, and that’s okay! You can try to explain it in another way, like how an untranslatable word would feel to a native English speaker, for example.

If you’ve ever wondered whether there’s an app to help you perfect your English pronunciation, the answer is “Yes.” There’s a lot of them , in fact.

For example, ELSA Speak (available on iOS and Android ) uses speech recognition technology to help you correct the way you say words in English. The lessons are arranged according to topic (e.g., travel, business, etc.). If you’re taking proficiency exams like the IELTS, this app can come in handy, too!

Big universities, theaters and cultural societies often organize events like open debates , spoken word readings and improvised storytelling gatherings. These are places where you can come and mingle with like-minded people and practice speaking English.

Many cities host TED Talks where you can register, participate and share your  innovative (something that’s new or original) ideas. Check the events page of your local university to see if there are any of these opportunities available. It might be a nerve-racking experience, but it would be great for your English!

But what if you don’t feel confident speaking in English? Don’t worry, all language learners deal with this at some point! One of the best ways to overcome the lack of confidence is to get out there and practice.

The best way to do this is to try speaking in English with strangers. The following video has tips on avoiding mistakes when starting a conversation in English.

If public speaking terrifies you, you can opt for language cafes instead. These are cafes that create a friendly and relaxing atmosphere for people who want to practice and exchange languages.

You can usually find language cafes through local universities or the Meetup groups in your local area. If nothing else, they’re a great place to find friends you can share your personal interests with.

Depending on the context, you may have to use either formal or informal English . But how do you know which one to use?

Often, it’s a good idea to listen to how your conversation partner is talking, notice your situation and environment and try to match the type of English being used.

For example, if you’re in the office or at school talking to a boss or professor, it’s safe to use formal English. If you’re talking over coffee with a friend in a cozy cafe, you’re free to throw around all the slang you know.

If you’re only learning “regular” English, don’t worry. Most of the time, standard English works perfectly well as a communication tool, no matter who you’re speaking to. Context is key!

Imagine hearing both of these sentences out of the blue (suddenly). The first thing you’ll probably think of is, “What on earth is this person talking about? What do ‘elucidate’ and ‘dihydrogen monoxide’ mean?”

Even if you know what those words mean, you’ll probably still think that they could’ve just said  “Can you please explain to me what this means?” or “Drink lots of water every day!”

You may be tempted to throw around impressive-sounding words in everyday conversations. But, unless there’s no other way to express what you really mean, you’ll want to use the simplest words possible. Not only will you be better understood, but you’re also less likely to come across as pretentious (someone who acts like they’re better than they really are).

But how do you know which words are the “simplest” for English speakers? Again, that’s where regularly listening to authentic conversations comes in. The more you listen to regular conversations by native speakers, the more you’ll pick up patterns regarding the words they use to make themselves understood.

Communication works both ways. To make sure your listener is engaged (interested in what you have to say) and understands you, ask questions. 

The questions can be about anything you want to know more of. If it’s your first time meeting someone, “What’s your name?” is always a good conversation starter. You can also use other ways to introduce yourself in English .

Ask questions whenever the other person stops and there’s something you want to know more about. For example, if you see your friend with a good-looking car, you can say something like “Wow, that’s a nice car! What make and model is it?” The “compliment + question” formula works like a charm!

Whenever you don’t understand what the other person says, just say it back to the speaker in your own words. This will give them a chance to correct whatever you didn’t understand, or confirm that you heard right.

You can use these phrases before the information:

• I want to make sure I got that right, …
• So let me get this straight, …
• If I’m understanding you correctly, …
• Just to make sure I’ve got it right, you mean…
• Are you saying that… ?
• When you said… Did you mean… ?
• I am not quite sure I am following. Did you say…

If you’re worried that this makes you look “slow” or rude (has no manners), don’t fret! Most people will be perfectly understanding of the fact that English isn’t your first language. They’d rather repeat themselves than have any misunderstandings.

Filler phrases are phrases that act like placeholders in a sentence. They fill in silences so that your speech isn’t interrupted, and give you a little time to think of what to say.

Some examples of filler phrases are:

• To be honest…

You’ll hear these words a lot when you’re talking to native English speakers. To have a better grasp of what they mean and how to use them, you’ll want to—you’ve guessed it—practice them regularly.

But, as with any good thing, don’t overuse them! Too many filler phrases are just as bad as too many pauses. As a general rule of thumb, try not to use more than one filler phrase for every couple of sentences you speak. 

Because you’re still practicing English, you may not always be sure if people really understand what you mean.

In that case, just ask! Most of the time, you can make sure someone understands what you said by asking them to repeat what you said.

For example, the next time you give instructions, directions or information in English, follow it up with one of these phrases:

• I want to make sure you got that. Would you mind repeating it?
• I’m not sure if I said that right. Can you please repeat it?
• Can you please run that by me, so I know you got it?
• I’d like to be sure I’m expressing myself clearly. Could you please tell me what I’ve just said, so I know we’re on the same page?

There’s an English saying that goes like this: “Actions speak louder than words.”

The way you sit, the way you hold your hands and even where you look—all of these can add to or change the meaning of the words you say. The most important thing is to relax.

Not all body language and gestures mean the same thing in different cultures, however. Here are some things to keep in mind when you’re speaking in English:

• Avoid certain hand gestures. Showing just the middle finger with the rest of the fingers folded down is considered an offensive gesture. In the U.K., making a V sign with your index and middle finger is also considered rude. (In the U.S., it’s just a sign that means “peace.”)
• Do use your hands when you’re speaking, though. Your hands can show so many emotions. Slamming a  fist (where your fingers are curled into your hands like a boxer’s) into an open hand shows determination. Slamming an open palm or a fist into a table can show anger. Keeping your hands closed and folded on your chest makes you seem cold and uninterested.
• Fingers can speak, too. For example, you can make an “okay” sign by keeping your last three fingers open, and making an “O” with your index finger and thumb.
• Crossed legs can mean different things. If you cross your legs toward the person you’re speaking to, this shows you’re listening to them. If you cross your legs away, it can show you’re not interested or are distracted.

Take note of the situation and mood of the speaker when they make certain gestures. Watching others’ body language in person can help you better understand what they mean.

You can also do this exercise:

• Sit or stand in front of a mirror and speak.
• Pretend you’re having a conversation with your reflection. What are your hands doing? What does your posture say?
• Move around, try different things and see how they change the meaning of the words you’re speaking.

This may seem like a strange tip in a post on how to improve your English speaking skills. After all, what does writing have to do with speaking?

Plenty, in fact. When you know the most natural way to express something in English on paper, that can also translate to how you express yourself in spoken conversations.

Practice writing in English . Take time to collect your thoughts. Try writing a blog in English to hone your writing skills.

Take a look at the steps below and start blogging!

• Choose a platform.   WordPress is a good option for blogging. You can set up an account, then choose a theme and a domain (e.g., imlearningenglish.wordpress.com). Other content management systems like Wix , Ghost and Squarespace are also useful. If you only want to write and aren’t too comfortable with overly technical setups, check out Medium .
• Choose a topic. You can write about whatever you like, of course. But since you want to practice more and more, you should choose a topic that you’re  passionate (interested in or knowledgeable) about.
• Set a schedule and stick to it. Decide how often you’ll be writing—daily, twice a week or once every other week. Be realistic, but committed.
• Write away!  Staring at a blank page can be intimidating (scary). To get started, set a timer for one to two minutes. Think of your topic for that day, then start writing without stopping until the timer goes off. Don’t worry about vocabulary, sentence structure or spelling for now. The point is to express yourself without having to think too much about what you want to say—which is how most conversations go!

Do you feel shy about meeting people in person?

Luckily, you don’t have to leave home to find people to talk to. You can always go to language exchange sites like:

• italki. italki works like a tutoring site where you can find native English speakers to teach you their language. (Read our italki review here .)
• Polyglot Club . A  polyglot is someone who can speak multiple languages. As you can guess from the name, the website consists of a community of people dedicated to learning languages.
• HelloTalk. On HelloTalk, you can connect with English speakers via voice, text or video chat. (Read our HelloTalk review here .)
• Tandem. Similar to HelloTalk, Tandem allows you to contact English speakers from halfway around the world. It has more of a social media feel, though. (Read our Tandem review here .)

Native English speakers love to throw around cultural references in conversation. Cultural references are usually ideas, sayings or jokes related to popular media. For example, the meme (pronounced “meem”) “Brace yourselves, winter is coming” is a reference to a quote by the character Ned Stark from the TV series “Game of Thrones.”

There are so many possible cultural references that it’s hard to keep all of them straight, even if you’re a big pop culture fan! However, you can “get” (understand) most of them by watching lots of English TV shows and movies .

Aside from pop culture, you’ll also want to read about the politics, values and norms of the English-speaking country you’re interested in. That way, you can avoid saying something insensitive or politically incorrect. You can read all about these in newspapers and magazines , where you can also pick up idioms , phrases and other expressions you’ll use over and over again.

If you can afford a plane ticket and accommodations, you can always travel to an English-speaking country. Traveling gives you a chance to see and feel the culture—the food, the drinks, the shops, etc. You can practice chatting with native speakers, testing out your accent and seeing how well people understand you. 

So, off you go! Choose your preferred method to improve your English speaking skills above. Expand your vocabulary, correct your pronunciation and boost your English speaking with the tips that feel right for you. Don’t forget to practice as much as possible!

If you like learning English through movies and online media, you should also check out FluentU. FluentU lets you learn English from popular talk shows, catchy music videos and funny commercials , as you can see here:

If you want to watch it, the FluentU app has probably got it.

The FluentU app and website makes it really easy to watch English videos. There are captions that are interactive. That means you can tap on any word to see an image, definition, and useful examples.

FluentU lets you learn engaging content with world famous celebrities.

For example, when you tap on the word "searching," you see this:

FluentU lets you tap to look up any word.

Learn all the vocabulary in any video with quizzes. Swipe left or right to see more examples for the word you’re learning.

FluentU helps you learn fast with useful questions and multiple examples. Learn more.

The best part? FluentU remembers the vocabulary that you’re learning. It gives you extra practice with difficult words—and reminds you when it’s time to review what you’ve learned. You have a truly personalized experience.

Start using the FluentU website on your computer or tablet or, better yet, download the FluentU app from the iTunes or Google Play store. Click here to take advantage of our current sale! (Expires at the end of this month.)

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11 ways to improve your English speaking skills

My students often ask me for tips on how to improve their English speaking skills.

• How can I learn to speak better English?
• How can I improve my English speaking skills?
• How can I speak English more fluently?
• How can I speak English like a native?

This is especially important if you are preparing for the IELTS Speaking Test .

One of the most common pieces of advice I see online is the advice to ‘speak, speak, speak!’ If only it were that easy!

In this lesson I’ll teach you a step-by-step approach to improving your English speaking skills, with lots of tips and activities.

There are 3 main steps to my approach:

• Step 1: Build a strong foundation

Step 2: Self Talk

• Step 3 : Have conversations

Start with Step 1, then move to Step 2 and Step 3.

Let’s get started!

Step 1: Build a Strong Foundation

Speaking confidently and fluently requires a solid foundation of vocabulary and good pronunciation .

If you don’t know enough vocabulary , you will find it difficult to say what you want.

If your pronunciation is poor, then your spoken English will be difficult to understand.

So it’s important to start by building a strong foundation for your speaking skills. Here are some activities to help you do that:

1. Listen, listen, listen!

My first piece of advice is perhaps not the most obvious.

Instead of ‘speak, speak, speak’, my advice is to ‘listen, listen, listen’.

If your goal is to speak English confidently, naturally and fluently, you need to know how English sounds , so that you can successfully do this yourself.

The more you listen to natural, spoken English, the more you will develop your ‘feel’ for the sound of spoken English.

The more you listen, the better you will speak.

When you listen, you can learn:

• the vocabulary which is used in natural, spoken English
• the pronunciation of words
• the rhythm, stress and intonation of natural, spoken English

And you can do this by listening to:

• talks, such as TED Talks
• lectures, such as those on Coursera

Movies are also great fun to watch, but the dialogue in many movies is often more dramatic than we have in normal, everyday conversations, so personally I think TV shows are better than movies if you want to improve your English speaking skills.

It’s also a good idea to find content that includes subtitles in English as this will help you when you listen.

You can use tools to help you find and use subtitles. For example, Language Reactor is a plugin for Google Chrome. You can use it with videos on Netflix and YouTube.

2. Grow Your Vocabulary

You won’t be able to say much if you don’t know many words and phrases! So it’s important to grow your vocabulary.

So when you listen to, and read, English, try to learn some of the words and phrases you hear.

Some tips for learning vocabulary:

• focus on learning the vocabulary that you think will be most useful to you .
• try to learn words in context – e.g. what other words is the word used with? You can do this by learning phrases and word pairs, rather than individual words.

I’ve also created an IELTS vocabulary course on Udemy to help you grow your vocabulary. You will learn 400 essential words for IELTS, along with example sentences which show you how these words are used in context.

Learn some more tips for improving your vocabulary . and get learn 38 useful expressions for speaking .

3. Get Feedback On Your Pronunciation

When speaking, it is important to have good pronunciation, or people will not understand you. But many students do not know if their pronunciation is good or bad.

Listening to English will help you improve your pronunciation.

But you will also need feedback on your pronunciation .

One way of getting feedback on your pronunciation is to use an English tutor . Ask your tutor to help you improve your pronunciation (e.g. to tell you when you are mispronouncing a word).

You can also use tech tools to help you. For example, Elsa is an app which provides feedback on your pronunciation and gives you suggestions on how to improve. (If you decide to use Elsa , use the code IELTSCHARLIE to get a special discount.)

4. Shadowing

Shadowing is a great technique for improving your spoken English.

When you shadow, you simply listen to and repeat what someone else is saying , right after they say it.

You don’t need to think about vocabulary or grammar – you just need to copy what they are saying and how they are saying it .

As well as simply repeating what someone says, you can also record yourself doing the shadowing.

• play the video or audio through headphones
• record into a microphone on to your phone or computer
• listen to the recording of your voice
• compare your pronunciation with the pronunciation of the native speaker

Then try to identify the differences between your pronunciation and the speaker’s pronunciation.

In other words, it’s like a ‘ spot the difference ‘ activity! What is the difference between YOUR English and native speaker English?

Obviously, your goal is to speak English with real people.

But if you are not confident enough doing this, a great step on the way is to build your confidence, fluency and vocabulary by talking by yourself.

5. Self Talk

Speak to yourself as you do things during the day. Tell yourself what you are doing in English, or ask yourself questions:

• “I am going to make myself a coffee. I’m putting the kettle on and boiling the water. I need a strong coffee because I’m tired so I’ll add 2 teaspoons of instant coffee in my mug.”
• “I’m opening the curtains and sitting on the sofa.”
• “Shall I have an omelette or a sandwich for lunch?”

You could go for a walk and describe what you see around you.

If you have a pet , talk to them in English! Don’t worry, they won’t think you’re crazy!

Try not to script these. Be as spontaneous as you can. If you don’t know or can’t remember a word, then try to use an alternative phrase. e.g. if you don’t know the word, “kettle”, then you could say “the machine that makes hot water”.

6. Describe a Photo

Photographs are a great way of getting you to speak.

Simply find a random photograph on the Internet, or in a newspaper or magazine, and try to describe it.

• What is happening in the photograph?
• Who / what is in the photograph?
• What are the people in the photograph wearing / doing?

You can also do this with a video or movie – just press the pause button and try to say what you see.

7. Summarise a Movie or a Story

Another great speaking task is to summarise one of your favourite movies or TV shows.

For example, my favourite movie of all-time is ‘ Back To The Future ‘. Here’s how I might describe the movie in natural, spoken English:

In ‘Back To The Future’ a 17 year old boy – at least, I think he’s 17 – he lives in 1985 – he’s sent back in time to 1955 in a time machine built by his friend, a scientist, Doc Brown. The boy is called Marty McFly, by the way. The time machine is built out of a DeLorean car. That’s a famous sports car, I think – from the 1980s. Anyway, the boy, Marty, gets sent back to 1955 by accident because he has to escape from some terrorists in 1985. And once he’s back in 1955, he has to find Doc Brown, the younger Doc Brown from 1955, so he can ask him to get him back to 1985. But Marty bumps into his parents and stops them from falling in love, so he won’t get born, so he has to fix that as well.

Alternatively, watch a YouTube video and describe that. Because you may not have seen the video before, this will make it more spontaneous and challenging.

You can also do the same for stories you’ve read, such as a book you’ve read or a famous story from your own culture.

8. Tell a Personal Story

A similar activity is to tell a story about yourself. This could be something as mundane as what you did today. But it could be an important event in your life.

Many everyday conversations involve people telling stories about these kinds of things:

• something they’ve done in their life
• somewhere they’ve visited
• someone they’ve met
• an experience they’ve had

So practice telling personal stories like these and you will get lots of material for real conversations.

9. Record Yourself (video or audio)

You should occasionally record yourself doing some of the above activities. This will give you an opportunity to analyse your language and pronunciation.

• identify errors
• compare your spoken output to what you feel should be natural English (remember, Step 1 was about knowing what spoken English sounds like)

If you have a tutor or speaking partner (see below), you can share your recordings with them for feedback and correction of errors. But it’s also important for you to analyse your spoken language yourself.

It’s probably better to do an audio-only recording of yourself, rather than a video. If you make a video, you may find yourself thinking about how you look, rather than what you are saying!

Recording yourself can be difficult, but it is also very motivating because you will see how your English is improving. On a day-to-day basis, you may feel you are not improving much, but if you record your speaking then you will almost certainly notice an improvement on a month-to-month basis.

Step 3 : Have Real Conversations

10. attend public speaking events.

Language schools, universities and business organisations often organise events where you can go and listen to and discuss particular topics. Sometimes, these events are held in English, especially in big cities.

You can often find these events listed on Meetup , Internations or in local Facebook groups. If there are lots of immigrants or visitors from overseas in your city (e.g. expats, remote workers or digital nomads), they will often hold events in English. You may even find TED or TEDx talks in your city.

The big advantage of these is that, while there will be opportunities to speak in English (and listen to English), there is usually less pressure to speak all the time. So events like these are great if you lack confidence in your speaking ability.

11. Get Speaking Partners or a Tutor

Ultimately, you want to practise having real conversations.

One way of doing this is to create a language exchange. A language exchange is 2 people who want to improve their speaking skills in different languages. Half of the exchange is done in your native language, and half in English.

So look for a native English speaker who wants to learn your native language.

You can find language exchange partners online, such as through HelloTalk and Tandem .

If you can afford a professional tutor, iTalki is also a great place to practice conversation and get corrected. If you do use a tutor, tell them that YOU want to do most of the speaking!

You could also find a speaking partner who is also learning English. You can often find people through Facebook groups for English learners. The main problem with these partners is they may not be able to correct your spoken English. If you do decide to go down this route, try to find someone who does NOT speak the same native language as you. For example, if you live in Brazil, try to find a conversation partner from Asia, Europe or Africa, NOT Brazil.

So those are 11 of my top suggestions for improving your English speaking skills:

• Listen, listen, Listen!
• Grow your vocabulary
• Get feedback on your pronunciation
• Describe a Photo
• Summarise a Movie or Story
• Tell a Personal Story
• Record Yourself
• Attend public speaking events
• Get speaking partners or a tutor

I hope you find these ideas useful. If you have any of your own suggestions for improving your English speaking skills, please add them in the comments below . Best of luck with your speaking!

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About the author

Charlie is a former IELTS Examiner with 25 years' teaching experience all over the world. His courses, for both English language learners and teachers, have been taken by over 100,000 students in over 160 countries around the world.

1 thought on “11 ways to improve your English speaking skills”

Participating on social media and writing comments is a great way to learn and practice, especially by making passive vocabulary active and getting more confident in grammar. When you try to express your ideas, it helps you a lot. I highly recommend it! Particularly, I recommend Quora https://www.quora.com/ which has a lot of topics you can read and comment on, and I myself use it most of the time if I have time.

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8 Practical Ways to Practise Speaking English

Do you feel confident reading English, but find it difficult to speak without hesitating?

If so, you’re not alone. One of the biggest challenges faced by students is learning to speak English fluently. It’s easiest for people who move to English-speaking countries. They have to use English every day: in shops, at work, at college and on public transport.

But if you don’t live in an English-speaking country, you have to be a little more creative if you want to practise speaking English. It can be tempting to focus on reading and listening, but if you really want to become an expert user of English, you need to make speaking the language part of your daily routine. That’s the way speaking English will become second nature to you.

So how can you do it? In this post, we share our top 8 practical ways to practise speaking English. You can use them anywhere in the world, no matter what your skill level.

Let’s take a look at what they are!

1. Change your smart speaker settings

Do you have one or more smart speakers at home? Did you know that some of them will allow you to talk to them in two languages? If yours lets you do this, change its settings so that you can give instructions in English as well as your mother tongue.

Once you’ve changed the settings, you can have a lot of fun talking to your smart speaker in English. For example, if you have an Amazon Alexa speaker, this page has lots of funny things you can ask it, such as:

• Alexa, give me a kiss!
• Alexa, do you know the muffin man ?
• Alexa, can you sing in autotune?

Similarly, if you have a Google Home speaker, there are also lots of entertaining things you can ask , including:

• What language do you speak?
• Do you have an imagination?
• What is the meaning of life?

Of course, you can still use English to get useful information from your smart speaker, such as the daily news, weather and delivery status of your online orders. Be creative!

2. Talk to yourself!

You don’t need an audience to practise speaking English. You can talk to yourself at any time!

The big advantage of talking to yourself is that you can choose whatever topic or theme you like. For example, one day you could decide to speak using the present tense. The next day you could switch to the future or past tenses, and so on.

One top tip is to speak to yourself while standing in front of a mirror. That way you can see how clearly you are pronouncing words and phrases. An even better alternative is to video yourself as you speak in English. This lets you play back the footage and get a more objective view of your pronunciation and fluency.

3. Narrate your everyday life

If it’s difficult for you to dedicate time to speaking English, why not narrate your everyday life? As you walk to the shops, take the bus or train, go for a run or do any other activity, try describing in English what you see around you. How many people are walking ahead of you? What different products are on sale in the shops? How many stops has your bus made on the way to its destination? What would advertising posters say if they were written in English?

Of course, you may not be comfortable speaking out loud when there are other people around. But if even if you narrate your day silently, you’ll be thinking in English – and that’s the main skill you need in order to speak fluently.

4. Try shadowing

This tip is great for polishing your accent, as well as improving your familiarity with spoken English. All you need to do is watch an English-speaking film or listen to anglophone radio or podcasts. When someone speaks, try saying exactly the same thing immediately afterwards. By doing this, you are acting as an ‘echo’ or a ‘shadow’.

For shadowing to work best, don’t stop the audio before you repeat the words. Try to keep up. Why? Because this is the technique developed by linguist Alexander Argüelles, who can ‘ read about three dozen languages and speak most of them fluently ‘!

5. Read aloud

You probably read a lot of English to help improve your language skills. Whether you’re interested in online articles, novels and short stories, magazines or anything else, make a habit of reading them aloud whenever possible. That way, you’ll not only become familiar with the written words, but you’ll get valuable practice of speaking them.

6. Practise speaking with friends

It can be incredibly motivating to learn with friends. So, if you have friends who either speak English or are learning it, be sure to create opportunities to talk to each other. Whether you arrange regular English conversation sessions, decide to speak English when you meet up for a drink, or have regular video chats via WhatsApp, Skype or Zoom, you’ll be helping each other to practise and learn.

7. Play online games

We’ve already blogged about how online gaming can help you improve your English. Games with online text and audio chat are great because they allow you to communicate with native English speakers as you play. You’ll also learn some really fun gaming slang along the way.

8. Take online classes led by an expert English speaker

The very best way to improve your spoken English is to spend time learning with an expert English speaker. That way you can get instant feedback on your spoken English, learn lots of idioms and useful phrases, and ask for help when you need it. These days you can access online courses led by English experts, wherever you are in the world. For example, live online classes with English Online give you the opportunity to take part in small-group tutorials led by an English speaker. Alternatively, you can sign up for one-to-one tuition with a personal English tutor.

Practising your spoken English needn’t be difficult, and it can often be fun. Be creative, make use of what resources you have available to you and – if possible – try and spend at least some time talking with native speakers. One thing we do know: if you make speaking English part of your daily routine, you’ll learn to speak more fluently, much faster.

49 comments

I will like to speak good English

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We can practice together

Do you still need someone to practise speaking English with? If so, then I am available.

Those tips are great! Thanks.

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I hop leaning English

I liked verry much the courses I thing with little bit start speack english verry well. I thinging with my opportunity loock in the future my life for secound languge.

I’m eager to learn English, and proudly want to have it!

Helpful,thanku

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How to understand which sentence I wrote that is meaningfull and grammatically correct. Which App help me to check my sentence.

You can use “Grammarly”, which is an application for grammar literally. I’m using it too.

How to become good as English speaker

Really helpful I will implement

Thank you for the tips.

I am speaking from Bangladesh. This 8 tips was helpful for me. I Wanna be a good freelancer. but I have to speaking for clients for freelancing about Graphics design. i wanna improve accents that help’s us for this sector. How to improve Births, Australia And other accents. please response me.

Good Points to start speaking English yourself

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Hi; I am preparing for IELTS speaking test. Looking for similar english speaking lady. please do contact me

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I like to speak English language wherever iam so as too improve some different vocabularies in english speaking language.

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Let us be friends/ partners and to communicate to each other i also need someone who is willing to learn with me have verbal conversations in between so i can also be fluent?

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ok I want to find fluently speak English

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8 Tips to Write Better Essays in English

Learning a foreign language is an overwhelming experience, especially if it’s one of the most widely spoken languages in the world – English.

Many people are under the impression that learning to read and speak in English is enough without realizing that written English skills are an equally vital asset to have.

From improving academics to boosting career prospects – the ability to write in English not only lets you communicate and express yourself better in today’s globalized world but also makes you more confident.

An effective way to improve your writing skills is to write essays. Wondering where to begin? We bring you eight useful tips to write better essays in English.

1. Keep a Vocabulary Notebook

Using the right vocabulary is an essential element of writing essays. When you make efforts to expand your vocabulary, you will be able to pick accurate words to take your writing to the next level.

Instead of coming across new words and forgetting about them, it’s a good idea to make a note of them in your vocabulary notebook. Doing this helps you remember the meanings of new words and you can also refer to it while writing essays.

So, give yourself a target to learn at least ten new words every day, which you can jot down in your diary and take baby steps in building a strong vocabulary.

2. Refer to Credible Sources

Research forms the first step in writing any kind of essay. The stronger your research, the better is the quality of your essay.

At a time when we have access to a wide range of data, it’s important to evaluate research sources carefully and only refer to credible ones. For example, Wikipedia is not a reliable source and should not be attributed to while writing essays.

Take the effort to read through published journals, research studies, scholarly papers, academic databases, and encyclopedias published within the last 10-15 years. It’s also important to assess the credibility of the author while evaluating the source.

3. Draft a Basic Outline

Once you’ve done your research, don’t rush to write. Take a moment to draft a basic outline for your essay and organize your research and findings.

“Is that necessary,” you ask? Very much.

Working on an outline lets you approach the essay in an organized manner. It serves as the skeleton of your paper while ensuring you’re not missing out on any information and that your points flow logically.

Most essays are categorized into – introduction, body, and conclusion.

The introduction is where you introduce the topic and give context. The body paragraphs need to include your arguments and research methodology (if any). The conclusion needs to reiterate the thesis statement and tie all the points together.

4. Hook the Reader

With attention spans getting shorter with time, it’s become all the more important to start with a bang and hook the reader from the beginning to ensure they are invested in your writing.

Essay hooks refer to the first one or two sentences of your essay which have the power to make or break the reader’s interest. The key is to write a hook that grabs the reader’s attention and reels them in.

From an alarming statistic and relevant quote to using humor and asking a rhetoric question – there are various tactics you can employ to keep the reader engaged.

If you’re unable to think of an impactful essay hook, don’t waste too much time on it. Finish the rest of your essay and come back to write a compelling hook later.

5. Use the Pomodoro Technique

It’s not easy to write an essay in one go, especially if it’s not in your first language.

A smart way to approach essay writing is to use the Pomodoro technique. This technique asks you to set a timer for 25 minutes to finish your task in question and then take a 5-minute break. After four cycles of repeating this, you get to take an extended 20-minute break.

So, start with breaking down the assignment into smaller tasks such as research, outlining, writing the different paragraphs, citing references and proofreading. You can then set the timer, start working on the essay as per the technique and track your progress.

Using this technique keeps distractions at bay and helps you stay more focused.

6. Pay Attention to Grammar Rules

You may raise interesting points in your essay, but poor grammar disrupts the reading experience and should be avoided at all costs.

Be careful when adding punctuations, check your sentence formations, avoid passive voice as much as possible and know the difference between adjectives, adverbs, nouns and verbs.

So  abide by grammar rules to deliver a well-written and cohesive essay.

7. Write with Clarity

You might be tempted to use complex metaphors and jargons to impress the reader, but the truth is, none of that guarantees “good” writing.

One of the most important ingredients of effective writing is clarity. You don’t want to leave the reader confused and puzzled after reading your essay. So, use simple words, stop beating around the bush and explain concepts with the help of examples because clear writing always wins.

8. Reread the Essay

Finally, make it a point to proofread your essay (multiple times) to ensure you have covered all the aspects, cited references accurately and not made any silly errors.

It’s a good idea to read your essay out loud so you’re able to identify errors and awkwardly formed sentences with ease. You should also get a friend or family member to read your essay, to spot mistakes or discrepancies that you may have overlooked.

You may also like:

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35 comments

Thanks a lot all we can derive from reading is the technique to write with clarity, good research and involvement of readers in writing.

Thank a lot dear EnglishClub, it’s help me a lot

I think it is very good site for learn essay writing

As a teacher trainer this contribution is helpful

Thanks for the tips! I’ll have an essay tomorrow and this will surlely prepare me!

Thank you so much

Thanks Please I will like to know more

thank you so much for your amazing informations

encyclopedias

encyclopaedias

Nice one but I don’t understand yet

Knowledge supporter is who u are, keep d good work nd ur reward is from God nd thanks.

thanks alot for your tips…your tips will help me alot while examss!!!

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ur intentinon and thoughts was very nce its useful to somny pepole to learn english tysomuch adela belin

Thanks you for helping

This did help a lot! Thank you very much 🥰

Good tips, I should give it a try, after all, we all improve by exercising hard so I’ll just do the same thing, but right now I gotta focus on what matters, and what I need now is to read as much as I can to know how to spell the words right. Is grammar so important in this task, I mean can’t I just pick the things up because of my experience in listening skill ?

Thanks for the information!

This is a nice explanation ,,,,,proud of you!

Is very interesting for me I really apreicete you help

Thanks so much for these useful tips!! Now, I need to start preparing my essay (“starting” has been always the stone on my way :$)

Please, what is the difference between an essay and an article?

Are they same?

Thanks in advance,

Thanks & best regards English Club

Helpful updated tips to share with our students!! thankssss

I want to know if it is only at the University or if we may take the course online.

Thank you verry much for important advices

thank for your key points, this is really helpful

Thank you and best wishes,

Very pragmatic and helpful essay. Thank so much English club

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• Writing Tips

How to Write Top-Graded Essays in English

5-minute read

• 7th December 2022

Writing English papers and essays can be challenging at first, but with the right tools, knowledge, and resources, you can improve your writing skills. In this article, you’ll get some tips and tricks on how to write a top-graded essay in English.

Have you heard the saying “practice makes perfect”? Well, it’s wrong. Practice does make improvement, though. Whether you’re taking an English composition class, studying for the IELTS or TOEFL , or preparing to study abroad, you can always find new ways to practice writing in English.

If you practice on a daily basis, you’ll be exercising the skills you know while challenging yourself to learn even more. There are many ways you can practice writing in English daily:

• Keep a daily journal.
• Write practice essays.
• Do creative writing exercises .

Read in English

The best way to improve your writing is to read English books, news articles, essays, and other media. By reading the writing of other authors (whether they’re native or non-native speakers), you’re exposing yourself to different writing styles and learning new vocabulary. Be sure to take notes when you’re reading so you can write down things you don’t know (e.g., new words or phrases) or sentences or phrases you like.

For example, maybe you need to write a paper related to climate change. By reading news articles or research papers on this topic, you can learn relevant vocabulary and knowledge you can use in your essay.

FluentU has a great article with a list of 20 classic books you can read in English for free.

Immerse Yourself in English

If you don’t live in an English-speaking country, you may be thinking, “How can I immerse myself in English?” There are many ways to overcome this challenge. The following strategies are especially useful if you plan to study or travel abroad:

• Follow YouTube channels that focus on learning English or that have English speakers.
• Use social media to follow English-speaking accounts you are interested in.
• Watch movies and TV shows in English or use English subtitles when watching your favorite shows.
• Participate in your English club or salon at school to get more practice.
• Become an English tutor at a local school (teaching others is the best way to learn).

By constantly exposing yourself to English, you will improve your writing and speaking skills.

Visit Your Writing Center

If you’re enrolled at a university, you most likely have a free writing center you can use if you need help with your assignments. If you don’t have a writing center, ask your teacher for help and for information on local resources.

Use Your Feedback

After you submit an English writing assignment, you should receive feedback from your teacher on how you did. Use this feedback to your advantage . If you haven’t been getting feedback on your writing, ask your teacher to explain what issues they are seeing in your writing and what you could do to improve.

Find this useful?

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Be Aware of Your Common Writing Mistakes

If you review your feedback on writing assignments, you might notice some recurring mistakes you are making. Make a list of common mistakes you tend to make when writing, and use it when doing future assignments. Some common mistakes include the following:

• Grammar errors (e.g., not using articles).
• Incorrect vocabulary (e.g., confusing however and therefore ).
• Spelling mistakes (e.g., writing form when you mean from ).
• Missing essay components (e.g., not using a thesis statement in your introduction).
• Not using examples in your body paragraphs.
• Not writing an effective conclusion .

This is just a general list of writing mistakes, some of which you may make. But be sure to go through your writing feedback or talk with your teacher to make a list of your most common mistakes.

Use a Prewriting Strategy

So many students sit down to write an essay without a plan. They just start writing whatever comes to their mind. However, to write a top-graded essay in English, you must plan and brainstorm before you begin to write. Here are some strategies you can use during the prewriting stage:

• Freewriting
• Concept Mapping

For more detailed information on each of these processes, read “5 Useful Prewriting Strategies.”

Follow the Writing Process

All writers should follow a writing process. However, the writing process can vary depending on what you’re writing. For example, the process for a Ph.D. thesis is going to look different to that of a news article. Regardless, there are some basic steps that all writers should follow:

• Understanding the assignment, essay question, or writing topic.
• Planning, outlining, and prewriting.
• Writing a thesis statement.
• Writing your essay.
• Revising and editing.

For more information on how to write an essay in English, read “How To Construct an Excellent Essay in 5 Steps.”

Writing essays, theses, news articles, or papers in English can be challenging. They take a lot of work, practice, and persistence. However, with these tips, you will be on your way to writing top-graded English essays.

If you need more help with your English writing, the experts at Proofed will proofread your first 500 words for free!

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How to Improve English Speaking Skills and Become a Great Communicator

Updated: February 9, 2024

Published: March 27, 2020

English is the world’s most studied language — around 20% of the world speaks English. Knowing how to speak English can open new life possibilities: from traveling more easily to communicating with more people, and even getting better jobs. It also means that you can study higher education at some of the world’s top institutions, including the University of the People’s online programs , which are tuition-free! If you are looking for advice on how to improve english speaking skills, there are plenty of methods and techniques.

Photo by  Bewakoof.com Official  on  Unsplash

How to improve english speaking skills.

Mastering any skill, including communication skills, comes down to practice. By practicing speaking, you can learn from mistakes and build both your vocabulary and understanding.

Here are some tried and proven methods to enhance your English speaking skills:

• Find a Conversation Partner: If possible, it’s best to find a native English speaker with whom you can practice your English. If you don’t know anyone in your direct network, consider finding a tutor. Otherwise, you can always find someone online to digitally connect with and practice your conversation skills .
• Make Sure To Listen As Well As Speak: One of the best ways to understand the formulation of sentences and build your vocabulary is to listen to people speak. Try listening to podcasts and recorded conversations. From YouTube to real-life conversations, there are so many places to access English speaking.
• Record Your Conversation Practice: When it comes to speaking, you will likely make mistakes. But you have to be open to making mistakes so that you can learn from them. If you record yourself speaking with your conversation partner, you can play it back and learn even better. That way, you can track your progress and pick up on pronunciation.
• Surround Yourself With The English Language: English is everywhere. No matter where you live, you can find menus, marketing materials, books, movies, road signs, and more with the English language. The more you immerse yourself and pay attention to these daily pieces of English, the stronger your foundation will be.
• Practice With Music and Movies: Most people like to relax and unwind with some music or entertainment in the form of movies. You can choose to watch movies in English, or instead, watch them in your native language with English subtitles that you can read.
• Read Aloud: If you like to read more than speak and make up your own conversation, try reading out loud. That way, you can hear yourself pronounce the words and remember them more because you are both seeing and reading them.
• Talk To Yourself: If you’re still unsure whether you’re ready to put your speaking skills to the test, simply talk to yourself! The more you practice with yourself, the better your English skills will become.

Build a Strong Foundation

Foundationally, learning a language comes from understanding the tone, vocabulary, and grammar.

• Build your vocabulary: When you’re a child, you learn words as people point to items and teach you what they are called. You can adopt this same approach when learning and building your English skills. It all begins with vocabulary. You can choose to learn a certain number of words each day.
• Improve your pronunciation: There are digital tools that will speak words out loud so that you can pick up on pronunciation. From YouTube channels to online dictionaries , knowing the pronunciation is key in being understood when you speak.
• Learn the natural flow of English: Every language has its own flow and rhythm. When speaking English, it helps to know contractions — for example, two words that come together to form one word, like “I am” becomes “I’m.” Also, you want to know what syllable to stress when speaking. That all comes from conversational practice and listening to natives speak.

Techniques to Improve English Speaking Skills

There are also a variety of techniques to help improve your English speaking skills. Try your hand (or should we say mouth) at these:

• Speech shadowing: Basically, this is copying how a native speaks. Speech shadowing can be done most simply by watching videos or a movie with subtitles. First, read the sentence and speak it out loud. Then, play it back with the native speaker speaking it. Try to pause in between to copy the flow and pattern as closely as possible. If you want, you can record yourself doing this to compare it with the way the native speaker sounds.
• Self-talk: Whether you choose to speak your thoughts out loud or record yourself singing, talking to yourself and hearing the words will help you improve. You can also read out loud.
• Think in English: This probably won’t come naturally, but you can help train yourself to think in English by first translating the thoughts in your head. Otherwise, you can keep a journal or diary of thoughts and write them in English.
• Retell a story in English: Start with something simple, like a fairytale or traditional story from your childhood. Then you can take this to the next step and challenge yourself to retell a story that someone else shares in English. This helps to check your comprehension and understanding.

Photo by  Priscilla Du Preez  on  Unsplash

Frequently practice to improve your english speaking skills.

From friends to strangers, you can always find someone who speaks English to practice with. Here are a few more ideas on how and where you can speak English:

• Participate in public speaking events: Public speaking events, from forums and conferences to slam poetry events, offer a good place to listen to others speak. You can also potentially apply to be a speaker. If it’s something less formal, like sharing your creative writing or telling a story in front of a small group of friends, public speaking can really showcase your skills.
• Go to language cafes: Language cafes exist around the world. This is a place for people to come together and practice the languages of their choice in small group settings.
• Using apps: Technology is here to assist in learning languages. From apps like Duolingo to Busuu , which lets you speak to native speakers, you can improve your English speaking skills wherever you go.
• Chat with Siri: Want to speak to someone at a random time of night or simply set reminders on your phone to benefit your productivity? Chat with Siri!

Strategies and English Trainings

Everyone has their own favorite methods and ways of improving their English communication. There is no one right or wrong choice, so you can pick as many or as few as you wish and mix it up:

• Talk to Yourself: Share your thoughts or read out loud.
• Use a Mirror: Watch yourself speak to build confidence.
• Focus on Fluency, Not Grammar: It’s ok to take time to learn grammar . But it’s more important to be able to communicate your thoughts first.
• English Tongue Twisters: Try English tongue twisters to master the sounds of each letter.
• Listen and Repeat: Practice and keep practicing by listening and repeating what you hear.
• Pay Attention to Stressed Sounds: The language has a rhythm and certain syllables are stressed in both words and sentences.
• Sing Along to English Songs: Use music to memorize words.
• Learn Phrases, Not Words: By learning longer phrases, you combine words in context and can memorize both their meaning and pronunciation.
• Learn Your Most Common Sayings: First, start with things you need to say the most. Whether it’s words for work or eating at a restaurant, you can start with specific situations in your life.
• Have a Debate: If there’s something you’re particularly interested in, talk about and debate it with English-speaking friends.
• Don’t Stress: Don’t be afraid to make mistakes and be kind to yourself in the process of learning. It takes time, so don’t stress!

If you want to invest more in learning, consider using the following resources:

• Private tutor
• Online services

Tying it Up: Talk the Talk

English is the most global language. Being able to speak English will widen your possibilities for higher education and career options. It will also help you access some of the best entertainment straight from the source — Hollywood!

When enhancing your speaking skills, be sure to practice a lot. Don’t give up! You can practice by yourself, with the help of friends, or use technology to make it work for you.

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English Language Skills Improvement Essay

Today, in the era of high technologies, English language skills are an important component of everyone’s competence. Text messages and documents are essential to effective communication, and literacy is a significant part of the modern person’s image. To improve my English language skills, I will need to watch movies and read books in English and allot enough time for writing and speaking practice.

Watching movies in the original might help me enrich my vocabulary and improve my listening comprehension. Furthermore, this solution would allow me to combine study and pleasure and improve my motivation. I can watch my favorite movies for hours. If I start with the movies which I have already watched, I will not have difficulties with understanding what the characters say. By the way, I would be able to find some differences between the English version and the translation. However, the next step would be to start watching new movies. By the way, I will be able to watch the recently released movies, which have not been translated into other languages yet. Even if I have problems with understanding certain episodes, I may turn on the subtitles that are frequently available. Therefore, by watching movies in the original, I will get a number of advantages, including not only the improvement of my language skills but also exciting leisure time.

Along with watching English movies, reading English books might also be helpful for improving my language skills. In the time of social networks, students frequently prefer texting with their friends to reading. Certainly, communicating and texting might be beneficial, but they are not worthy substitutes for reading. When reading books, I will be able to use my visual memory and improve not only the spelling of particular words but also sentence structures. By the way, by making notes of new words and most interesting phrases, I would become a thoughtful reader and get the maximum from my reading sessions. Certainly, reading for pleasure on a comfortable couch is relaxing. However, to gain the maximum effects of reading English books, I will need to pay special attention to new words and phrases so that I can include them in my active vocabulary.

Finally, I should allow enough time for writing and speaking practice, which are actually the most powerful tools for improving language skills. A lot of learners are afraid of making mistakes. This fear can lead to writer’s blocks and public speaking anxiety. However, practice is a critical element of language competence. Otherwise, the new words, phrases and constructions learnt by watching movies and reading books in English will be easily forgotten without using them in my papers and communication. Importantly, along with overcoming my fear of making mistakes, I will need to do everything possible to improve my grammar, learning the rules and carefully proofreading the papers. For example, when working on my English papers, I should use spell, grammar and style checkers. This would allow me to gain more confidence in my language skills. As to speaking practice, along with participating in class discussions, I might find an English-speaking friend. When communicating with my peer, I will not be preoccupied with my grammar, and it can be beneficial for my speaking practice.

By watching movies, reading books in English and paying attention to writing and speaking practice, I would be able to improve my language skills and make a valuable contribution to my competence. While reading and watching movies allow combining study and pleasure, substantial practice is required for exercising the received skills and enhancing my confidence.

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Persuasive Essay: How to Improve Your English

Good English skills are vital to succeeding in life, in terms of education, career, and personal relationships. This means that many people want to improve their English, but it can be hard to know how to go about it. There are three main areas that have to be worked on: pronunciation, vocabulary, and grammar.

Getting the pronunciation right is something that many international students worry about, but that people born in English-speaking countries often forget about, but it is equally important for all. After all, pronouncing the words you use correctly makes you look far more intelligent. The first step to improving pronunciation is often to slow down your speech a little and think a bit more carefully. Pay attention to consonants, particularly at the end of words (as these are often missed off in speech), and make sure sounds like “sh” and “th” come out properly. A good way to improve pronunciation is often to watch English movies in which people are speaking properly.

The second way to improve your English is to widen your vocabulary. One good way to do this is to learn a new word (or a few) every day, and make an effort to use them. Reading is also important in learning new words, as is looking up words you don’t know in a dictionary so that you will be able to use them yourself. Making sure that you fully understand the meaning is really important, though, because it is no good using new words if you don’t use them in the correct place.

Because of this, just knowing a dictionary definition may not be enough; you will need to know in what contexts the new word can be used or you could say something that makes no sense. The same applies to colloquial phrases, which many people use incorrectly after hearing them one time (perhaps used by a friend in the wrong context). Understanding the register is very important too, as you don’t want to use slang in a formal context, or alienate people in social situations with overly complex words that only serve to make you look arrogant.

The final thing to really work on is grammar, and spelling and punctuation with it. Reading will help a great deal in this respect, as you can learn from seeing it used properly. There are also plenty of websites and books available to help with grammar and punctuation if you’re unsure of how to use something. Improving your grammar is so important because spellcheckers still aren’t advanced enough to pick up most errors, or even incorrectly tell us to change something. Pronunciation and vocabulary must be improved though too, as all are equally important and all affect your grasp of the English language.

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My English Language

English language resources for efl students and teachers, improving your english, how to improve your english.

How can you improve your English language skills? This is the question most students ask at some point in their studies and there are many answers that are practical for English students of all abilities.

There are many ways to improve your knowledge of the English language, whether it is your English speaking skills you would like to work on, or need to further your reading, writing or listening skills.

Here are some useful ideas, methods, tips for improving your English:

Practice, practice and more practice!

It is true that the more you try to speak English the more you will naturally improve. Just by using the English language as much as possible, your fluency will rapidly develop.

Speak on the phone, write e-mails and letters , make lists, read as much as possible. Surround yourself with English!

Image source

• One step at a time

Try learning just a handful of words a day and aim to use a new word every day in conversation with someone.

In this slow and steady way, fluency with the new word develops naturally and you are able to produce the word more and more quickly and accurately without much thought.

• Don’t be shy!

In order to chat with as many English people as possible, you need to try not to be self-conscious of your language usage. If you make mistakes – so what? Speak up , loud and proud!

People will be pleased to help you and flattered that you are making the effort to speak their language. Normally, you will be able to get your meaning across without perfect grammar and those you are speaking to will understand the gist of what you are trying to say.

Make contact with native English people

If you have friends who are English then speak with them about as many different topics as possible. The more diverse your subject matter, the wider the vocabulary you will develop.

Try mixing with different kinds of English people, those in different jobs and with diverse interests in order to expose yourself to wider varieties of vocabulary, accents and language usage.

Speak English whenever you can: in shops , at the pub , in a queue – seize your opportunity to communicate!

Watch English television

Many films are in English and this is a great place to start to listen to faster spoken sentences, colloquial expressions and accent varieties.

If the voices sound too fast, try using subtitles in English to help you follow the speech. Be aware of which English you are listening to though, as in many mainstream films you will be listening to American accents which are very different from British accents.

Television soaps are an excellent way to pick up idiomatic expressions and casual language usage, though these expressions often may not be ‘proper’ English !

Find a Good Dictionary

A good quality dictionary is vital for every language learner. To start with you will find a dual language dictionary more useful but as you improve your skills, a mono-lingual dictionary will be much better for your development.

This is because it will help you learn synonyms in addition to finding the meaning of your chosen word.

There are many excellent dictionaries available, including light and portable electronic dictionaries. These devices can help you get an instant translation at the touch of a button.

• Listen to English radio, song lyrics and audio books

Listen all you can to English language radio programmes, such as the discussions and stories on BBC radio 4 .

Song lyrics are also an excellent way of learning English idioms , slang and colloquial expressions (just don’t necessarily use these expressions in a formal situation or in an essay!)

Audio books put English into context in an interesting way and can be especially effective when used while reading the book yourself, letting you hear how the words are supposed to be pronounced .

Read newspapers

Read all the English text you can find. Newspapers are a good way of reading lots of smaller articles if you do not feel ready to tackle a book. The tabloid newspapers use more basic English vocabulary and sentence structures and will be easier to read than broadsheet newspapers.

Cartoons are a excellent way of involving humour in your English reading and offer visual clues to the text. Broadsheet newspaper cartoons often contain puns so are good ways of improving vocabulary and comprehension .

• Take private lessons

One on one practice with an experienced teacher of English language is one of the best ways that you can improve your English language skills.

Even though this can be quite expensive , the personal attention you will get means that you should improve more quickly than with a larger language class and any problem areas can be more quickly identified and tackled.

A teacher will teach you the proper way to use the language and personal lessons are especially useful when combined with these other improvement methods as any colloquial expressions you have learned can be discussed with your teacher.

You could also take online lessons, where all you need is an internet connection.

•   Find a pen friend

English writing skills can be improved by writing to an English person regularly. Perhaps you can find an English person who wants to learn your native language? You could both write half a letter in English and the other half in your native language and correct each other’s messages.

Exchanging letters, e-mails or chatting on instant messengers on the internet are great ways of making friends. You could also write Christmas cards  and birthday cards and send postcards whenever you travel to somewhere new.

The messages from your English pen friend will expose you to new words and sentence structures which, as they are written down, you can then study at your leisure.

• Join a language group

Your local library or citizens advice unit will have information on local groups who meet in an informal setting to practise their English language skills.

Many groups are for people from a specific country, perhaps your country has a language club in your current home town? If not, there will be similar communities online that you could join.

There are lots of other people wanting to practise English just like you – once you find them, you can help each other.

•   Identify your motivation

The goals and aims of the English language learner are crucial to the learning experience and its success. Why do you want to learn English?

If you keep this goal in mind when learning, you will find a strong motivation which will carry you through you studies to becoming a fluent English speaker. Read our tips to improve your language learning .

Find regular study time

Even if you are comfortable with using some aspects of English, it will always help to review old knowledge to consolidate phrases and grammar in your mind.

Finding regular times to study will encourage you to remember all the new things you have learned. Studying for twenty minutes three times a week is always better than two hours once a fortnight.

Combining new and old knowledge will help you to understand how words and grammar fits together and will help your fluency in the long run.

Regular study time also provides a backbone to your language development, putting it down on paper, structuring your knowledge, reviewing it and letting you see just how far you have come.

• Make English friends

Making friends with native English speakers, whether British, American , Canadian, Australian or otherwise, will really help your English.

The chances are that you will be far better at speaking English than they will be at speaking your native language. This means you will be forced to use your English and, of course, this can only be good for developing your English language skills.

Even socialising online will improve your grammar and vocabulary and you could use a voice attachment or a verbal communication tool, such as Skype or Google Hangouts, for pronunciation practice .

• Make it fun!

If your language learning is not enjoyable then you will find it hard to be motivated . What do you find fun, amusing or fulfilling? Try to incorporate the English language into that.

If you like computer games , you could find an English language interactive adventure game where you have to understand and use instructions to play.

Alternatively, if you like cartoons, you could try reading them in English. Similarly, if you like comedy, watch English comedies or go to see a English comedian.

You can also play word-based board games , do crosswords, chat in internet chat rooms or read crime thrillers – whatever floats your boat , as long as it is in English!

• Set yourself targets

It is important to regular, realistic targets. You might want to improve pronunciation one week, so work hard on that and by the following week you can be proud of your achievements.

You need to be clear of your goals and how you propose to achieve them. This will form a structure for your learning and therefore create a more confident and relaxed environment as you can see exactly where and how you are progressing.

• Acknowledge your achievements

It is always important to acknowledge the progress you are making. It is a big step to learn a new language and every further step you take is one bit closer to achieving your goals.

Think how much better you are at English now than a few months ago, or a year ago! Feel proud when you use that new piece of grammar correctly – your confidence will grow and you will feel even more motivated to improve .

Share your thoughts on improving your English skills

How do you like to use and improve your English?

Do you have any creative ideas for practising English in your daily life?

Which is the best way to improve your English skills?

Share your ideas in the comments box below!

Vote in our poll

What are your favourite methods of practising English?

• Watching English TV
• Listening to podcasts and the radio
• Reading English newspapers and magazines
• Taking language classes
• Writing to a pen friend
• Taking part in a language exchange group
• Talking to English friends

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2 thoughts on “ Improving Your English ”

English language improvement I want to know because I am good in writing essays I usually make grammers in writing essays

first of all it is very good news for You that you are very good in English .Mean you know very well about the basics of English language .You have started your journey of learning English language .Now if you want to improve your grammar as you have told that you are good in essay writing ,i would like to advice you that you just have to revise your english grammar once again from A to Z.It will help you much and you will come to know from where you have forgotten English grammar roles,i hope it will be helpful for you,Thank You

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7 Ways to Improve Your Writing Skills

Writing, like any other skill, is something you can get better at with time and practice. Learn how.

From sending emails to preparing presentations, writing is often a day-to-day task in many professions spanning diverse industries. Writing skills go beyond grammar and spelling. Accuracy, clarity, persuasiveness, and several other elements play a part in ensuring your writing is conveying the right message.

In this article, we'll explore various aspects of writing skills and offer tips for improving yours.

If you'd like to start enhancing your writing skills now, two popular options on Coursera are University of California Irvine's Academic English: Writing Specialization and University of Michigan's Good with Words: Writing and Editing Specialization .

What are writing skills?

Writing is a technical skill that you use to communicate effectively through the written word. Though these may vary depending on what you’re writing, there are several that transcend categories. Writing skills can more specifically include:

Sentence construction

Research and accuracy

Persuasiveness

Each of these components can influence the quality of writing.

Why are writing skills important?

Being able to write well is a form of effective communication , which many employers see as a crucial job skill . In fact, strong communication—spanning written, verbal, non-verbal, and visual—is among the nine common employability skills that employers seek in job candidates.

Regardless of your role, with good writing skills, you can clearly transcribe your thoughts into meaningful messages, enabling you to share your ideas, build relationships, and strengthen your professional image.

Learn more: Important Communication Skills and How to Improve Them

How to improve your writing skills

Writing, like any other skill, is something we can get better at with time and practice. Here are some strategies for developing your own written communication:

1. Review grammar and spelling basics.

Grammar and spelling form the foundation of good writing. Writing with proper grammar and spelling communicates your professionality and attention to detail to your reader. It also makes your writing easier to understand.  

Plus, knowing when and how to use less-common punctuation, like colons, semicolons, and em-dashes, can unlock new ways to structure sentences and elevate your writing. 

If you’re looking to strengthen your grammar and spelling, start by consulting a writing manual. The Elements of Style by William Stunk and E.B. White has long been considered a staple for writers. You can find similar resources at your local library, bookstore, or online.

2. Read what you want to write.

Knowing what a finished piece of writing can look like can guide your own. If you’re trying to write a humorous short story, read humorous short stories. Writing a book review? Find a few and take note of how they’re structured. Pay attention to what makes them good and what you want to emulate (without plagiarizing, of course). If you’re working on a school assignment, you can ask your instructor for examples of successful pieces from past students.

Make reading a part of your everyday life to improve your writing. Try reading the news in the morning or picking up a book before you head to bed. If you haven’t been a big reader in the past, start with topics you’re interested in, or ask friends and family for recommendations. You’ll gradually begin to understand what subjects, genres, and authors you enjoy.

3. Proofread.

While it’s tempting to submit work as soon as you’re done with it, build in some time to revisit what you’ve written to catch errors big and small. Here are a few proofreading tips to keep in mind:

Set your work aside before you edit. Try to step away from your writing for a day or more so you can come back to it with fresh, more objective eyes. Crunched for time? Even allotting 20 minutes between writing and proofreading can allow you to approach your work with renewed energy.

Start with easy fixes, then progress to bigger changes. Starting with easier changes can get you in the rhythm for proofreading, allow you to read through your work once more, and clear distractions so you can focus on bigger edits. Read through your work to catch misspellings, inconsistencies, and grammar errors. Then address the larger problems with structure or awkward transitions. 

If you could say something in fewer words, do so. Being unnecessarily wordy can cloud your message and confuse the reader. Pare down phrases that are redundant, repetitive, or obvious.

Read out loud. Reading out loud can help you find awkward phrases and areas where your writing doesn’t flow well. 

Should you use computer spelling and grammar tools?

Many computer-based tools—like spell check on your word processor, or Grammarly — can help you find and fix simple spelling and grammar errors. These tools are not perfect but can help even the most seasoned of writers avoid mistakes. Take note of any frequently highlighted words or phrases so that you can avoid the same mistakes in the future.

4. Get feedback.

Whether you’re writing emails or essays, asking for feedback is a great way to see how somebody besides yourself will interpret your text. Have an idea of what you’d like your proofreader to focus on—the structure, conclusion, the persuasiveness of an argument, or otherwise. 

Approach a trusted friend, family member, coworker, or instructor. If you’re a student, your school might also have a writing resource center you can reach out to. 

You might also consider forming a writing group or joining a writing class. Find writing courses online, at your local community college, or at independent writing workshops in your city.

5. Think about structure.

Grammar and spelling keep your writing consistent and legible, but structure ensures the big ideas get across to the reader.

In many cases, forming an outline will help solidify structure. An outline can clarify what you’re hoping to convey in each section, enable you to visualize the flow of your piece, and surface parts that require more research or thought. 

Structure might look different depending on what you’re writing. An essay typically has an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. A fiction piece might follow the six-stage plot structure: exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, resolution, and denouement. Choose what’s best for your purposes.

Like many skills, one of the best ways to improve your writing is to practice. Here are a few ways you can get started:

Start a journal or a blog.

Join a class or writing workshop.

Practice free writing.

Write letters to friends or family.

Put together an opinion piece for your local newspaper or publication you like.

7. Know some common fixes.

Even if a text is grammatically correct, you may be able to make it more dynamic and interesting with some polish. Here are some common ways you can sharpen your writing:

Choose strong verbs (for example, “sprinted,” “dashed,” or “bolted” instead of “ran”).

Avoid passive voice.

Vary sentence length.

Cut unnecessary words.

Replace cliches with original phrasing.

Showing your writing skills in a job search

Your writing skills will shine throughout the job search process , whether or not you intend to show them off. This is because job applications are largely written materials, including your cover letter , resume , and email communications . Use these opportunities to demonstrate your writing skills to prospective employers by submitting clear, accurate, and engaging materials.

Additionally, if you have specialized expertise, such as experience with legal writing, medical writing, technical writing, or scientific writing, you can note that in a resume skills section and further detail that experience within your cover letter or during your interviews .

Getting started

Whether you’re a scientist or a product manager, journalist or entrepreneur, writing effectively will enable you to communicate your ideas to the world. Through practice, exposure, and familiarizing yourself with basic rules, you’ll be able to use your writing to say exactly what you want to say.

If you’re looking for a structured way to expand your writing skillset, explore writing courses on Coursera —the first week is free.

Build job-ready skills with a Coursera Plus subscription

• Get access to 7,000+ learning programs from world-class universities and companies, including Google, Yale, Salesforce, and more
• Try different courses and find your best fit at no additional cost
• Earn certificates for learning programs you complete
• A subscription price of $59/month, cancel anytime

Give your team access to a catalog of 8,000+ engaging courses and hands-on Guided Projects to help them develop impactful skills. Learn more about Coursera for Business .

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This content has been made available for informational purposes only. Learners are advised to conduct additional research to ensure that courses and other credentials pursued meet their personal, professional, and financial goals.

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How to improve your English grammar

What are the best ways to improve your English grammar? This article gives you six tips for better grammar learning.

Learning grammar helps you learn English faster. 

It helps you learn English efficiently, without wasting any time or effort. 

Grammar also improves your accuracy. That means you can feel confident your words will have the right effect on people.

So, if you want to improve your English grammar, you've come to the right place! 

This article tells you the best ways to improve your English grammar, according to research into language learning. If you want to know more background about why grammar is useful, read Three big reasons to love English grammar . 

Here are six tips for better grammar learning.

1. Do some grammar exercises

Some people are happy to do grammar exercises. They might even enjoy it, a bit like doing a crossword or sudoku puzzle. If that's you, that's absolutely great! Consider getting a book with explanations, exercises for practice and – very important for self-study – the answers!

Alternatively, you can find this but in digital form on LearnEnglish - Grammar . 

2. Look it up!

Even if you're not going to do practice exercises, it's really useful to have a grammar book with clear information and explanations. 

Our Grammar reference section will also help you whenever you want to know how a particular bit of language works. 

Every doubt is an opportunity to learn. And research shows that you remember language better when you need it at that moment. So when you're next writing an email in English and you think  Is that right???? ,   look it up! The answer is at your fingertips.

3. Practise using the grammar you know

OK, I have a question for you. Does studying grammar help you speak English better?

What do you think?

If you're thinking Yes … Well, sort of , that's basically what experts think too. 

Knowing grammar rules is very helpful. But it doesn't necessarily mean you can remember and apply those rules in a natural conversation. It's as though all your grammar knowledge is in a different part of your brain, and when you're speaking, you don't have time to access it.

Does that sound familiar?

Here's the good news. Every time you use a particular grammar pattern when you're speaking English, you make it more available to your brain in spontaneous conversation. 

With practice, your grammar knowledge stops being just theory and becomes more automatic or natural, just like when you learn to drive a car.

So, practise using the grammar you know. Get that knowledge out there! Learn how it feels in your mouth and ears! 

That's the challenge. If you can do that regularly, you'll soon be speaking accurate English without even thinking about grammar rules.

4. 'Notice' correct grammar

There's another really useful thing you can do to improve your grammar. It's called 'noticing'.

Noticing means paying attention to language patterns when you hear or see them. And it's something you can do in your everyday life.

Imagine you've been going around saying, 'Don't worry for that'. And then one day you hear someone say, 'Don't worry about that'. If you're a good noticer, you'll recognise that what you just heard is the correct version, and you'll make a mental note to say it correctly next time.

When you notice a correct bit of grammar being used, congratulations! That means you're ready to learn it and use it yourself.

The great thing about noticing is that it happens in a communicative situation. That means you're more likely to be able to use it when you're communicating too.

5. Learn the grammar of words

We often think of vocabulary and grammar as separate. Vocabulary means words and grammar means the structure of phrases, right?

But words have grammar too. 

Let's take the example of want. Learners often know the meaning of want , but they don't know the grammar that goes with it. 

Can you take the following elements and make a sentence?

She wants / you / learn / whole phrases

I'll give you a clue: 'wants that you' is not correct.

You need to know the grammar of the word want. It's want someone to do something.

Now you've got it, right? The correct answer is: She wants you to learn whole phrases. 

So, when you learn new words, make a note of them in a longer phrase. Pay attention to how we use those words in a sentence. You're studying vocabulary, but you're learning grammar at the same time. Genius!

6.  Read a lot

Reading in English is brilliant for your vocabulary, speaking, understanding and also … (drum roll … what could it be??) your grammar! 

Seeing the correct grammar on a page helps you remember and use grammar that you've already studied. It also shows you new structures in context. The more you see a particular grammar pattern written down, the more likely you are to be able to use it yourself. Reading anything and everything in English helps. And that includes subtitles on your favourite series too.

So, there you have it. Six tips for how to improve your English grammar. 

• Do grammar exercises.
• Look things up.
• Use the grammar you know.
• Notice correct grammar.
• Learn the grammar of words.
• Read a lot.

Happy grammar learning! 

What are your favourite tips for learning English grammar?

Dear teachers, could you tell some books about grammar exercises? Thank you!

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Hello Claire Rabbit,

I'm afraid we don't recommend specific books. Not because we don't want to help, but because we don't want to endorse some books over others.

There are lots of very good grammar books. I'd recommend that you search for several popular ones. Then read reviews about them and look inside if possible so that you can choose the one that you think will be most useful for you.

Best wishes, Kirk LearnEnglish team

There are many strategies to learn English grammar and to improve your vocabulary, that through listening to tv news for picking new spoken words up or reading newspaper, magazines and books. For my opinion, the effective one is watching tv shows to understand how these characters express themselves and how to use words in a proper way. And don’t forget to take a note for reviewing.

great,i read all the arcticle ,now i am ready to put my self under the given strategy.

Actually, I pay attention to the way that some characters in TV series express themselves, also the dialogue between them. It helps a lot to understand the proper way to build and use good grammar in conversations. It does not an ad, but using the Grammarly extension on your computer and smartphone, will help you to recognize those common mistakes. So, enjoy and learn while you're watching TV series, and do not be afraid to write.

1) Notice correct grammer 2) Read a lot

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