There are many ways to improve your spoken English skills, including fluency, pronunciation, speed variation, intonation, stress, rhythm, pitch range, pausing, phrasing, vocabulary, anxiety, and translation. To become proficient in all these areas, one need not take spoken English course and use the following tips to improve the language skills:
Build up a Vocabulary
If you are planning to apply for an IELTS Academic or try to learn English, then building vocabulary can prove very useful. It will allow you to replace words in sentences and use the correct words, synonyms, and antonyms. At the same time, verbally speaking new words or adding them to your daily English communication would make you more confident, fluent, and stress-free. New words can be learned by hearing songs, watching videos, and listening to podcasts in English.
Brush Up Pronunciation
Pronunciation is a vital part of spoken English because speaking correctly would not break a conversation, but saying something incorrectly may become problematic as the other person might not understand the message. Also, pronouncing a word incorrectly implies that you have good language knowledge and word usage. An easy way to improve pronunciation is to read the symbols or instructions given in the phrase bracket of a dictionary. You can even use tongue twisters to improve your fluency and pronunciation at the same time.
Linking, Contractions, Stress, and Rhythm
The four most critical aspects of spoken Engish in American, British, Australian, and Canadian English is linking, contractions, stress, and rhythm. Linking implies adding words to a sentence that makes it sound better.
Contractions mean using words in their shortest forms. For example, I & am as I’m, he & will as he’ll, they & have as they’ve, and do & not as don’t. Similarly, the stress in spoken English implies stressing syllables of a word, and rhythm is the overall result of linking, stress, and contractions.
Imitating
Duplicating the work of a speaker is often referred to as imitating. Some refer to it as mimicry. Many struggling actors practice this art to make a break in the industry and improve their speaking skills and expressions. One can even enhance vocabulary, learn about linking, contractions, syllable stress, pronunciation, and rhythm through this art. So, choose one of your favourite English movie monologues or a video in which a person is speaking at length. It could also be your favourite politician, TV host, celebrity, etc.
Try to learn the sentences spoken in the video and record your narration after learning. Compare the speaker’s sentence flow and spoken English aspects with your narrative and notice your strengths and weaknesses. Keep practising until you think that you become as proficient as the speaker in the video.
Read Out Loud
The most common practice of improving spoken English skills is reading aloud from a newspaper, book, magazine, blog, etc. A daily five to ten-minute routine would help to exercise the vocal muscles. You can notice the difference by recording your aloud speeches. Learn common phrases and make use of them while reading out your transcripts. You can even sing songs and speak dialogues in English. The persistent practice would inculcate new phrases, vocabulary, and sentence structures to your mind.
Participate in Events
There are numerous essay speaking, word pronunciation, and other spoken English events happening globally. You can write your favourite speech or learn English words along with their right pronunciation to participate in such activities. It would help you become more confident and enable you to speak out your thoughts in a structured mannerism. At the same time, you would be cautious of using wrong words or even research words to avoid verbal mistakes.
Moreover, if the event has a Q & A session, you can answer them with ease. Furthermore, you will gain more knowledge of the topic and field while preparing for the topic. While preparing for vocabulary events, you can learn about synonyms, antonyms, and most apt words in a sentence. You will also improve your syllable stress, fluency, linking, contractions, rhythm, and pronunciation.
Besides the above tips, you can also go to language cafes, chat with Siri, and use English speaking course app to check various aspects of spoken English.