How to speak English fluently -- Importance and Tips

You know the language, the grammar and even the pronunciations. However, you might find it difficult to speak flawless English without hesitation for five whole minutes. That is due to lack of fluency. Your brain knows all the words, but since you have not trained it enough, it is not able to bring forth those words as quickly as needed to speak fluently.

Importance of fluency in English

Just like grammar and vocabulary, fluency in English is a mark of a learned person. Fluency helps you sell your ideas, communicate your thoughts to others, convince, reach out, and even impress with a speech that is clear, confident, to the point and crisp.

You can improve fluency of a language only by talking. You need to go about learning a new language just like you learnt your mother tongue. You listened and you repeated. You do the same with English. Most people have excellent written expression but when it comes to verbal, they are stumped.

You get enough time to repeat your thoughts in your head before writing or typing. However, while speaking, you have to be quick. The other person does not have all the time in the world to listen to you stammering and grope through words. By the time you actually finish your sentence, the listener would have forgotten what you began in the first place. Being fluent helps your thoughts to be heard clearly and correctly.

Three simple tips to improve fluency

Listen

Listen to the common phrases, words and diction. Listening to news broadcasts such as BBC and CNN will be of great help. Repeat newly learnt phrases with a colleague or family member. Speak aloud. Muttering in your head will not help because your mouth is not used to moving that fast or used to certain set of words. Listen and repeat.

Read

Read good quality books by famous authors and good English newspapers. You will find many new words by reading books. This will improve your vocabulary. Understand the context in which the new words are used. Use them in sentences while speaking to colleagues and family or friend. Do not make it sound too artificial.

Talk

Communicate in English as much as possible. It is all right to be wrong. It is totally fine to make mistakes. You learn from your mistakes and move on. Your mental block could also be a hindrance for fluency. That means that the thought ‘I am poor in verbal expression’ can make you stammer. So do not just talk. Talk confidently. Talk to convince. Talk to take people by storm. That is how you improve English. Once this mental block clears, your fluency will improve on its own.

Follow these simple tips to improve fluency. Believe in yourself and never shy away from mistakes. Take them seriously and vow not to repeat the mistake ever again. In addition, do not forget to listen, read and talk your way to fluency.

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