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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jul 2009
    Posts
    266

    Getting better at speaking English

    Hi,

    i know this probably isn't the best place to ask this but i spend most of my time here on WHT so i feel like this is my "online home".


    I am self-taught and i have been writing and reading English for past 4-5 years, but i didn't have much opportunity to speak it. Only did it few times while playing online games. I noticed that i get shy when i need to speak English, or better to say i get afraid of making a mistake, and because of that i sometimes pronounce even worse then i could, or make pauses like "a" "um" and stuff like that. I just need to learn to relax and not worry as much.

    I was looking online and found: speaking24.com it's a nice website but there are no (or very little) native English speakers. I am sure that i would do much better if i was to speak with native English speakers then with someone from India or China who's skills are similar to mine or maybe even worse.

    Does anyone know where i could find someone (or some website like speaking24) who is native English speaker and would like to chit-chat from time to time on Skype or some other voice chat?
    Last edited by zvjezdan; 10-03-2011 at 04:44 AM.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jan 2004
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    South East U.K.
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    1,303
    If you have Google+ we could 'hang out' now & again. What's your native language?

  3. #3
    You can go out tonight and maybe you'll find someone...

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jul 2002
    Location
    Toronto
    Posts
    3,797
    Born and raised in a British colony, English is an "auxiliary" language which I have been using since like 1 (yes, one year old). And as an ESL teacher myself with a PGCE, my take is to LISTEN more. Of course you will need to practice speaking, but building your receptive skills (of listening and reading) is not only essential but also effort-efficient (think "cost-efficient) to eventually elevating your productive skills (of speaking and writing).

    Being one-to-one coached by a couple of so-called native speakers is not exactly the best idea, esp. when they are not qualified teachers themselves, and do not know how to identity your mistakes not to say correcting them. Your best bet would be watching television, whether it's drama, comedy, CNN/BBC, or esp. reality and talk shows. You will feel more comfortable speaking in as few as 3 - 6 months (if you watch say at least an hour or two on a daily basis). Bon voyage in the journey of learning.
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  5. #5
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    Whilst I'd agree that it's best to speak to a qualified English teacher, I don't agree that as a native English person I don't know how to identify mistakes & correct them. As far as watching television goes, good luck on finding 'correct' English there, especially on 'reality' TV shows.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jun 2011
    Location
    Kerala,India
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    621
    English is my second language, and my grammar wasn't good in the start. I have been able to improve my English after listening to the BBC news.
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  7. #7

    Cool

    English is also my second language (Chinese is my mother tongue). I believe what the OP is going through is very common. That is, our written English is good, but our spoken English is horrible.

    Beside watching TV and listening to radio, you can also try recording your own speech and listening it yourself. At this Internet age, we can fully utilize what we have access to. One good idea is:

    1. Go to YouTube or any news website with videos.
    2. Choose some videos.
    3. Repeat and record what they say.
    4. Listen to your own speech.
    5. Compare and improve.

    I think you will be able to choose good videos to learn from... like news anchors and probably Obama speeches instead of rappers, right?

  8. #8
    VanKel, I think TV shows are more enjoyable for learning

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Aug 2002
    Location
    Bharat
    Posts
    4,808
    Listen to good reputed news channels, observe their pronunciation,

    Read loudly newspaper/books and try to speak the same way,

    Record your speech, listen to it and try to improve.

    Don't get shy of speaking in English (or in any language that you want to learn) in public or one to one conversation.

    And enjoy "The Most Hilarious English Speaking Class"

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1Ku3bHUPUE
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  10. #10
    Join Date
    Jun 2002
    Location
    Waco, TX
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    5,623
    Quote Originally Posted by VanKel View Post
    English is also my second language (Chinese is my mother tongue). I believe what the OP is going through is very common. That is, our written English is good, but our spoken English is horrible.

    Beside watching TV and listening to radio, you can also try recording your own speech and listening it yourself. At this Internet age, we can fully utilize what we have access to. One good idea is:

    1. Go to YouTube or any news website with videos.
    2. Choose some videos.
    3. Repeat and record what they say.
    4. Listen to your own speech.
    5. Compare and improve.

    I think you will be able to choose good videos to learn from... like news anchors and probably Obama speeches instead of rappers, right?
    I have been to China, and will return in 2012, I enjoyed it a lot, and it was interesting because most of the school children are learning english, but they never have someone to talk to except their own, and they prefer their native chinese. (plus speaking to someone on your level of english is not so fun) So when walking down the street between noon and 2pm the students are on break or returning to class and they would stop you and want to talk. This was the outgoing ones, the others looked like they wanted to speak but were so shy, they could not. This was children as young as '3rd grade' and up to college age, very few adults knew english but most of the children did.

    Sometimes if I could not explain to the taxi driver my destination, a child would come to me and help

    My only issue is some of them thought I was russian and a handful came to me wanting to practice russian Which is interesting since I know a little of it as well, that I picked up from a child

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Jul 2009
    Posts
    266
    Wow i really didn't think i will get so many replays.

    Quote Originally Posted by RandomLittleHost View Post
    If you have Google+ we could 'hang out' now & again. What's your native language?
    It's Serbian. I was out of town and came back this morning. When i get some rest i will PM you.

    Quote Originally Posted by avi7 View Post
    You can go out tonight and maybe you'll find someone...

    Sure if i was living in some "western" country.


    Quote Originally Posted by nameslave View Post
    Born and raised in a British colony, English is an "auxiliary" language which I have been using since like 1 (yes, one year old). And as an ESL teacher myself with a PGCE, my take is to LISTEN more. Of course you will need to practice speaking, but building your receptive skills (of listening and reading) is not only essential but also effort-efficient (think "cost-efficient) to eventually elevating your productive skills (of speaking and writing).

    Being one-to-one coached by a couple of so-called native speakers is not exactly the best idea, esp. when they are not qualified teachers themselves, and do not know how to identity your mistakes not to say correcting them. Your best bet would be watching television, whether it's drama, comedy, CNN/BBC, or esp. reality and talk shows. You will feel more comfortable speaking in as few as 3 - 6 months (if you watch say at least an hour or two on a daily basis). Bon voyage in the journey of learning.


    I am not looking for native English speaker in order to get coached. I just think that it will help me to get better. Because i will try even harder to pronounce better.


    Quote Originally Posted by VanKel View Post
    English is also my second language (Chinese is my mother tongue). I believe what the OP is going through is very common. That is, our written English is good, but our spoken English is horrible.

    Beside watching TV and listening to radio, you can also try recording your own speech and listening it yourself. At this Internet age, we can fully utilize what we have access to. One good idea is:

    1. Go to YouTube or any news website with videos.
    2. Choose some videos.
    3. Repeat and record what they say.
    4. Listen to your own speech.
    5. Compare and improve.

    I think you will be able to choose good videos to learn from... like news anchors and probably Obama speeches instead of rappers, right?

    How about Obama rap? :p http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlOIy6QEbes

    j/k

    Well when i talk to myself, it's not that bad. In fact, it sounds really good to me. Problem is when i try to speak with someone else and as i said in my first post i think it's all about practice and getting some more courage.

    Quote Originally Posted by Vinayak_Sharma View Post
    Listen to good reputed news channels, observe their pronunciation,

    Read loudly newspaper/books and try to speak the same way,

    Record your speech, listen to it and try to improve.

    Don't get shy of speaking in English (or in any language that you want to learn) in public or one to one conversation.

    And enjoy "The Most Hilarious English Speaking Class"

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1Ku3bHUPUE
    I will try reading out loud.

    Thank you for that video, it is funny but at least hes English is fluent
    If i could get fluent with my current English knowledge i would be more then happy.

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Aug 2002
    Location
    Bharat
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    4,808
    Quote Originally Posted by zvjezdan View Post
    Thank you for that video, it is funny but at least hes English is fluent
    If i could get fluent with my current English knowledge i would be more then happy.
    That video is from a movie, so it's just acting.

    Fluency comes with practice. May be it's hesitation to speak in front of others, so don't hesitate and converse with others in English as much as you can.
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  13. #13
    I also want to learn english

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