How to learn to speak English?

Speaking fluently in a foreign language is an excellent skill with which to move up the career ladder, make friends in other countries and move to permanent residence abroad.

That is why many people enroll in courses, try to teach on their own, but often waste years on useless training. Here, as in any other undertaking, the help of a professional and the correct teaching methodology .

Oral speech is used to communicate people in different situations. A native speaker uses an average of 15,000 words. In order to communicate more or less qualitatively, a non-native speaker needs to learn about 2000-3000. This is the Pre-Intermediate . With the right approach and regular intensive training, this can be achieved in 12 months.

Now consider the basic rules for teaching spoken English.

Determination of goals

Obviously, for high school students, students and adult entrepreneurs, the goals will be different. As a rule, teachers find out why a person needs the ability to speak fluently and, based on this, forms vocabulary and topics, selects exercises and web resources for training.

To pass school or university exams, you need to learn a formal language. For those who plan to communicate with foreign partners or immigrate, you can additionally study everyday, informal business.

Anyone who plans to communicate with specialists should focus on the possession of professional slang and the ability to ask a question, explain an incomprehensible term or expression.

Choice of spoken language format

Residents of different regions and countries have different dialects. There are British, American, Australian versions. Age also affects the fullness, emphasis, vocabulary used. Carefully analyze those people with whom your student wants to be "on the same wavelength."

There is a language of everyday communication, household - English of a general direction. It, as a rule, complies with all grammatical standards, but it is not burdened with complex stylistic turns and grammatical constructions. On it you can communicate in a work team, in supermarkets, with friends.

Business, worker is distinguished by the presence of certain "clichés" and terms. It is used during reports, meetings, discussions of the project with superiors.

Academic - needed by those who plan to enter a foreign university, master's or graduate school, as well as those who need to publish articles abroad or defend a dissertation. It is used to communicate in the scientific community, describe research and speak at conferences.

Slang, youth - filled with modern words and phraseological units. Often, even the newest textbooks do not contain them. If the goal of the student is communication, friendship or education in an American school, you need to find the sources of such a language. These can be Instagram accounts of well-known bloggers, YouTube channels popular among young people, series and films about American schoolchildren, comics, and author's modern prose.

English for travel and travel bloggers - not only those who want to go to the USA may need it. The language of international communication, in which a person can speak without problems, is a valuable skill on which many earn.

A separate format is pedagogical language, which is used in kindergartens, schools, universities to communicate and educate people. But it is usually studied in special TEFL/TESOL.

Making a list of topics

Communication is interesting when you know what to say. It is necessary to select the most exciting, controversial, relevant topics that are important and necessary for the student. It is important not to limit yourself to one or two topics: you can discuss politics, traditions, articles in newspapers, social norms of the country. All this will definitely come in handy for those who are going to change their place of residence and work.

Don't overdo the grammar. In order to be able to maintain a dialogue, a person needs to know the following basic areas:

• Group Times Simple (Present, Future, Past).
• Present Continuous and construction be going to.
• Difference between Present Perfect and Past Simple.
• List of irregular verbs.
• The use of modal verbs.
• Passive voice.
• Pronouns.

You can make it a rule to pay attention to grammar as it occurs in a test or film, or you can take 20 minutes of each lesson.

Definition of teaching method

Specificity means that the classical method, which includes working with texts and translations, will not meet expectations. A different approach is needed here. Typically, teachers prefer the following methods:

• Direct study involves 100% immersion in the language environment - difficult to do in a Russian-speaking society. However, it is undeniably very effective and people show great results after just six months of living in an English-speaking country.
• Communicative, in which the main task of the student is to convey their thoughts and maintain communication in another language. The most popular, because it is based on life situations, behavioral clichés and constant conversation practice - up to 90% of the time.
• Selective method - the learning strategy is built on the basis of previous experience, profession, employment, goals, level of knowledge, interests and preferences, and includes different options for activities.
• Training method - the teacher issues material for independent processing, which is then checked using tests, oral control.
• Intensive - memorizing the number of professional clichés necessary for dialogue.

The choice depends on the preferences of the two parties involved in the educational process.

Testing learning options

One of the most promising areas for training conversational speech today is the Internet:

• Sites for communication in English with video and audio dialogues, live chats in real time, emails - opportunities that are available on special platforms for native speakers and those who study.
• With the help of Skype lessons, you can arrange dialogues on various topics several times a week. You can connect other students for a more interesting and active conversation. Teaching online can be uncomfortable at first, but over time you will appreciate all the advantages of working without transport and extra time.
• In addition, the student can independently select the films he likes without translation and listen to speech, learn pronunciation in his free time from your studies.
• Comments on social networks that you can read and leave will help you understand how foreigners express their emotions.
• Personal social media profiles can also be a great help in learning if the student indicates that he has started learning and will be glad for any help.
• Even memes can be a fun way to learn.

In addition to online methods, you need to devote time to personal dialogues in order to overcome fear and embarrassment. Ideally, the lesson should be conducted entirely in the target language. This is how communication is built in many developing kindergartens, when from childhood a child hears only English speech - by adolescence, he already knows how to chat freely.

Selection of dictionaries and textbooks

The quality of communication depends on vocabulary, so a good dictionary is not just a necessity, but an important learning tool. It is used when working independently with materials, when reading authentic literature, when watching videos on the Internet.

It's good to have the opportunity to look into the paper Talmud, but online versions are very popular these days and are a truly worthwhile learning factor. And that's why:

• dictionary.cambridge.org - all meanings are selected for each word, the part of speech is indicated, there is a transcription in two versions, and a great opportunity to listen to it right away. Additionally, the context of use and even the level of language proficiency for use are written. There is a list of synonyms. Worth noting is the NewWords, which regularly adds the latest expressions and other parts of speech.
• macmillandictionary.com is a special plus in that even metaphorical meaning, frequency of use, single-root vocabulary, idioms and phraseological units are noted. You can even play in a special section.
• oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com is an electronic version of the explanatory Oxford dictionary with several dozens of use cases, indicated countability, a large selection of synonyms.
• ldoceonline.com is one of the best tools for educators and adult students. Synonyms, antonyms, cognates, frequency of use by native speakers, as well as common mistakes that are made when using. Vocabulary is divided into topics, supplemented by pictures.
• collinsdictionary.com - Shows the value from the most complex to the most simple. Interesting examples from the media and celebrity quotes. There are usage statistics that will help you learn only modern expressions.

If you like paper versions more, then pay attention to such printed editions:

• McGraw Hill Essential ESL Dictionary,
• Oxford Picture Dictionary,
• 504 Absolutely Essential Words,
• NTC Vocabulary Builders.

Additional information can be drawn from textbooks:

• Oxford Word Skills is a three-level thematic course for learning and practicing lexical grammar in context.
• English Vocabulary in Use - you can work from start to finish, or you can select the sections that are most important to you. There are 4 books in the series from Elementary to Advanced.
• Work on Your Vocabulary - suitable for self-study, because there are answers at the end.
• Test Your Vocabulary - 60 short units with tasks, crosswords, tests and brief theoretical notes. In a series of 5 books on the level of English.
• Key Words for Fluency - 3 levels of 22 lessons, during which several words and the rules for their use are studied.
• 4000 Essential English Words - 6 levels, 6 books, each of which consists of 30 units of 20 words each. At the end of the whole course, you can use 4000 words in various variations.
• Boost Your Vocabulary - 4 levels of knowledge in which you need to work with practical tasks, pass tests. There is no theory here, but the practice is varied and exciting.

The textbook is a good base, regardless of the purpose of the study. You can choose it based on the topics of your lessons: business, legal, medical, or general. During the study, you can make notes for yourself, keep a personal notebook and return to topics that were poorly learned.

Activation of the entire stock

All new and old words should be used in conversations. You can write scripts for films, post on social networks, shoot live broadcasts, just talk - the main thing is that a person can express his point of view as fully as possible.

You can draw up contracts with fictitious investors, write business plans, hold mock meetings - the main thing is to follow the 80/20 rule, where 20 is reading, writing, explaining the theory, and 80 is active listening and dialogue.

At first, it is worth selecting materials in such a way that a person knows the meaning of 80 - 90% of the information and can retell what he heard or read. Then gradually adding new units of speech, complicate the material.

In order to create a solid and correct lexical foundation, a person must devote at least 2 hours a day to learning. There is not always a teacher or interlocutor nearby - in this case, you can just read stories or fairy tales aloud, watch cartoons or short videos. In the ability to speak, "hearing" is very important, when a person, with repeated repetition, remembers the correct word order or even whole expressions.

The main thing is to convey to the student the idea that conversational is given only to those who speak without embarrassment of accent and mistakes.

Rules for teaching spoken language

The more you speak out loud, the faster spoken English will succumb - the golden rule. If your student cannot express his thoughts - invite him to memorize clichés, quotes, phraseological units, stable professional phrases and some use them only in dialogues, gradually diluting them with new words.

Explain how to use introductory words: Frankly speaking / to tell the truth, As far as I know, It goes without saying. There are many such words for beginning a sentence, for ending, for expressing doubt - they are incredibly useful for those who cannot immediately come up with an answer.

Teach a person to talk about nothing. For example, It is so heavy for me to start a conversation because I always do not know how to choose the right topic or It's so difficult to decide how to answer - it always seems that there is a more witty version. From the point of view of semantic fullness, these phrases mean nothing, but what an opportunity to show the ability to speak or fill a pause!

It is important to select phrases that are definitely needed. For example, "Excuse me, miss. Is there a hotel somewhere around here - this is clearly more important than "London - is the capital of Great Britain".

Choose podcasts that you will listen to in your spare time and discuss in class.

It's a good idea to have a blog, diary or social network in English. You can write something important from your thoughts or just describe your day - the main thing is to make English a part of your day and gradually learn to think in it.

For adults, a selection of articles on work topics would be a great idea - for example, "TOP retail management tools in 2021" for those related to trade or "Medical marketing research" for those related to the medical field. Such texts can be read during working hours.

Learn the rules for asking questions. You can always give your opponent a chance if you have nothing to say.

Be sure find out your favorite musical genre and prepare translations of songs so that the student can sing along them and practice pronunciation.

If you write down the rules for teaching spoken language in thesis, you get the following list:

1. Start from the true purpose of learning.
2. Topics, vocabulary, exercises should be consonant with the purpose of the study and the level of the student.
3. Come up with routine exercises for each day - listening, writing, reading and speaking.
4. Introduce chips such as memorizing clichés and introductory words.
5. Speak constantly: on Skype, live, using all the words you have learned.
6. Learn to ask questions and sing your favorite songs.
7. We devote time only to the most necessary theory.
8. We constantly pass tests for vocabulary and knowledge of the language.

If you want to professionally engage with students and get good results, we recommend taking online certification courses for teachers, where you will master the foundation of teaching from A to Z. And most importantly, get acquainted with the Communicative Language Teaching or CLT, which is actively used abroad and in the most prestigious domestic educational institutions.