5 Ways to Improve Your Spoken English

Our teacher Ana suggests 5 simple ideas to improve your spoken English faster!

1. Use Technology

We all have a smartphone in our pockets, so why not use it to help you improve your English. You can listen to podcasts (www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts) and audiobooks (www.audible.co.uk) to increase your exposure to natural speech patterns, hear the pronunciation of words as well as increasing your vocabulary and knowledge of expressions and idioms. If you’re feeling brave you can even record yourself and listen to it back to see what you sounds like as this will help you to find any pronunciation mistakes you might be making without realising.

2. Read out loud

Grab a copy of a free newspaper or a book (from the school library) and try reading it out loud. This is a great way to practise pronunciation because you have to make sure that each word is pronounced correctly without having to think of grammar or sentence construction.

3. Watch TV and films

TV and films are a great way to increase your vocabulary and grammar without having to study too hard. Get comfortable on the sofa with a cup of tea and watch something you enjoy. Maybe watch a film you have already seen in your own language, this way you are already familiar with the story and can focus on understanding the language without having to rely on subtitles. If you’re feeling brave you could even act out a couple of the scenes and have some fun getting into character; remember English should be fun.

4. Do something fun

Go to a meetup; sign up a cooking, dance or arts and crafts class; join a book club. Find something you enjoy and jump in. This will help you to make new friends in London as well as giving you a regular time outside school to practise your speaking, possibly with native speakers. Using English to talk about something you enjoy will make the experience a lot more enjoyable for you.

5. Be brave!

The only way to truly improve your spoken English is to SPEAK, SPEAK, SPEAK! Speak as much and as often as possible. Don’t be frightened of making mistakes, the more you speak the more confident you will naturally become and the fewer mistakes you will make. Remember learning a language is like learning a musical instrument, the only way to get better is by actually doing it.