How To Speak English Fluently

How To Speak English Fluently: 8 Helpful Tips

Edited By Shashwat Khatri | Updated on Mar 05, 2024 10:59 AM IST

Learning a foreign language is no walk in the park, and English is one of the trickier ones to master. For all the popularity it enjoys, it is chock-full of idiosyncrasies and inconsistent patterns that can throw even the most adept of speakers off at times. Native speakers of English don’t necessarily know all the rules of grammar. What they do know, however, is how to think and express themselves in their language. This is what non-natives eventually come to do as well, but because it is a second language, it often comes across as a daunting prospect at first.

How To Speak English Fluently: 8 Helpful Tips

Even though the journey towards better fluency in English can be challenging, learning how to speak English fluently is a skill that pays huge dividends in life, both professionally and personally. In this article, we go over a few tips to help you learn how to communicate effectively and become fluent and confident in your speech.

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Things To Note Before Starting

“How can I speak English fluently?” - This is a common wish of many, and ever so many people are learning to speak English to further their careers and interact with a world that has the English language at its centre.

Before we begin, there are a few things to take note of which will help you avoid all that is unnecessary and concentrate on the right things. Additionally, knowing how to learn English speaking fluently is perhaps more important, for it is mainly a participative activity, and no amount of theoretical knowledge will help you state your cause. It has to be spoken, and with clear purpose and intent.

Non-native speakers also concern themselves too much with grammar, especially if they’re starting out. Granted, a fair bit of grammatical knowledge is essential, but that is only one part of the puzzle. Having a basic knowledge of grammar with a big vocabulary is preferable to being grammatically precise but with a smaller vocabulary. One doesn’t need to know everything perfectly to speak fluently and confidently in English.

So, with these things in mind, let’s consider the steps that you can take to learn how to improve English speaking fluency.

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Start Right Away

The earlier you start something, the more time you have of getting better at it, honing your skills, and learning through experience. This includes knowing how to learn English speaking fluently. Most advice you get on knowing how to improve English speaking fluency will boil down to this.

When it comes to improving their English speaking fluency, many people have poorly defined goals and tend to put off practising until a later time. However, unlike some skills that can be developed with intermittent learning, English speaking requires constant effort and immersion, a dedicated approach, and a purposeful plan of action. In the learning phase, speaking English follows the ‘use it or lose it’ principle. So, the best thing that you can do to know how to learn English speaking fluently is to start right away and to keep practising.

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Think In English

In the initial few stages of learning a new language, we tend to translate the words of the non-native language (English, in our case) to our mother tongues. But when it comes to understanding how to improve speaking fluency, this mental translation becomes inefficient, to say the least.

Doing so also keeps you from appreciating the nuances of a language and those untranslatable phrases that come unique to a language. One of the best things that you can do, then, is to think in English. It’s a small change but one that will lend confidence in your abilities right off the bat.

When we communicate verbally, we use the play tools of a language to say what is in our heads. Thinking in English simply changes the playfield, but the idea remains the same. Even though the words are different, the grammar absurd, and phonetics foreign, a basic understanding of the English language is all you need to know how to learn English speaking fluently. Don’t get hung up on grammatical perfection. Think about what you want to say, string the words together that will get your point across, and speak the words.

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Surround Yourself With English Speakers

If you’re serious about learning how to improve English speaking fluency, you may want to put yourself in places where you have to interact with others in English.

Depending on how big a change you’re comfortable with, this could involve joining your school’s debate club, applying for an English course or a job where English is the means of communication, or relocating to an English-speaking country. The latter is one of the fastest ways to learn how to improve English speaking fluency, and one of the reasons why expats and emigres often become good at speaking English in a very short time.

When the only source of communicating with others is in English, there’s no other way but to fully commit yourself. Immersing yourself in a language as such is essential to not just become fluent in speech but also to master the language on the whole, complete with all its sundry rules.

Besides making English speaking part of your daily life and providing a better appreciation for the language, being around people who speak English will also help you pick up on pronunciation, word usage, and various little things that only context can provide.

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Listen Closely

Listening is key to understanding a whole lot of linguistic elements and knowing how to speak English fluently. For instance, emphasis and intent are easier to discern in speech than it is in reading and writing. The sentence “I never said you stole”, for instance, can mean different things based on where the emphasis lies.

“I never said you stole” - somebody else said.

“I never said you stole” - never said.

“I never said you stole” - only implied it.

“I never said you stole” - someone else stole.

“I never said you stole” - did something else.

Whether you’re interacting with others, listening to a podcast or watching a movie, pay attention to how the words are spoken, how contractions are used, why certain words that are spelt the same are pronounced differently, etc. Then try incorporating the same in your own conversations. It may feel awkward at first, but the initial discomfort will soon pass.

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Get The Pronunciation Right

This is tied closely to listening and is an important step to learning how to speak English fluently and flawlessly. There’s no magic to pronouncing words the right way. You’ll just have to get the mechanics down and practice speaking the words. If you’re having trouble with a particular word, let’s say ‘punctiliousness’, break it down and say it in parts - punk-ti-lee-us-ness - paying close attention to how your tongue, lips, teeth, and mouth move to produce the sounds.

If you’re uncertain about how a word is pronounced, simply look it up online and hear how it is spoken. English has a lot of pronunciation ‘traps’ that one can fall into and it is helpful to know about these as well. The poem ‘Dearest Creature in Creation’ is a fun little read that highlights pronunciation inconsistencies in English while testing you at the same time.

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Know Your Weaknesses

There are a lot of elements involved in learning how to speak English fluently - grammar, sentence structures, pronunciation, intent and emphasis, etc. - and mastering English speaking fluency can be even more challenging depending on your native language. With experience, you will come to know which aspects of English you find especially tough. And with practice, you will become better at them too. You will also come to appreciate your strengths and lean on them when needed.

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Learn Common Phrases And Idioms

English speakers use a variety of common phrases in everyday conversations. These include phrases like “How does that sound?”, “Oh, never mind”, “I really appreciate it”, and so on. You will come to use them again and again.

Apart from these, it is good to know a few idioms as well. These types of phrases are more refined in their figurative meaning and can only be understood if one is already familiar with the phrase.

Here are a few examples of common idioms and their meaning:

It’s a piece of cake - It’s easy.
It’s raining cats and dogs - It’s raining hard.
Hold your horses - Wait, be patient.
See eye to eye - Agree with someone
Add insult to injury - Make a situation worse
To be under the weather - Be sick
Once in a blue moon - Very rarely

Such phrases and idioms often come in handy in day-to-day conversations to make them flow better. Whether you’re commenting on something, making introductory gestures, or just trying to interject a clever remark, knowing these idioms will keep your conversations interesting and help you gain confidence in your speech.

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Don’t Be Afraid To Make Mistakes

English is a messy language, but everyone can learn to be fluent in it over time. As is the case with any other skill, be it a soft skill or a technical one, mistakes are part and parcel of the process. If a mistake is made, take note of it and practice getting it right the next time. Don’t be afraid to try out anything that helps you become more fluent. Here are a few things that you can try:

Talk to yourself in the mirror. Pick up a topic, any topic you like, and make a short impromptu speech.
Translate a story from your native language to English.
Narrate incidents from your life or describe an ongoing event to a friend.
Pick up a book and read it aloud.
Try tongue twisters.
Talk to yourself in English while you’re doing the chores.

Refrain from judging or criticizing yourself and be faithful to the process at first and you will find that these things make learning how to speak in English fluently enjoyable.

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Conclusion

Learning a language and how to speak in it is a lifelong endeavour. You can always get better with practice and continued interactions in English. With enough practice and engagement, you will naturally come to acquire the language. We hope you have fun learning and interacting in English.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. How can I practice to speak English?

To practice speaking in English, surround yourself with English speakers, have a wide vocabulary of words and phrases, start thinking in English, and don’t be afraid to make mistakes.

2. How to speak English fluently and confidently?

To become confident in your English speaking skills, learn from everyone around you. Don’t worry about having perfect grammar at first. Just make sure you get the practice in.

3. How to speak fluent English without hesitation?

Try practicing tongue twisters, talk to yourself in the mirror to practice speech, get the pronunciation correct, and you will become confident in your English-speaking abilities.