Monday, November 29, 2010

Improve Spoken English

Good English speaking skills are required in every aspect of our lives. We all know that English is the language that unifies the world, as it is the language known to maximum number of individuals around the globe. Today if we want a decent job, want to impress a girl, or desire respect in society, everything circles to our speaking skills.

Case Studies
  • Case 1
Amar was asked to present a seminar on "Communication Skills" in front of the entire class. Amar prepared for it by heart, and on the given date started to present his seminar but strangely he was unable to speak even the starting sentence. He was heavily embarrassed and the frustration was clear from his face.

  • Case 2
Vaseem is an MBA aspirant. He cleared his MBA exam, and appeared for his Group Discussion session activity. The topic given to the group was "How to Improve Spoken English".

Vaseem found the topic to be easy and knew much information about it. But still when the group discussion started, he was unable to speak a single word. Whenever he tried to speak anything, he was worried with the fact that is my English correct?, will the group laugh at me?, would I be rejected?. The embarrassment caused was too heavy for him to bear and he dropped his plans for doing MBA.

  • Case 3
Akshit was invited to his girl friend Ritu's birthday party. He went there with a costly gift to make a good impression. There Ritu introduced him to his parents in English. Her parents asked Akshit about what he does and his hobbies. Akshit started to reply in English, but found himself struggling with words. Slowly he changed to his native language and his entire conversation was a mix of native language and English. Akshit was aware that he is creating a very bad impression by mixing the languages and his inability to speak in English is very clear. This led to further frustration and shattering of his self confidence.

There are multiple scenarios like the ones discussed above that we face in our daily lives. The pinching thing is the embarrassment that we face in public due to poor communication skills. There are many students who choose ESL as compared to any other language. There is a very strong reason for choosing ESL as it is the single most global language across the world. If a person is good in English, then multiple opportunities across the world are open for him.

Good Spoken English is so important, but still very few people possess this skill. There are multiple reasons for issues with communication skills in English.

The most common issues with Speaking in English are mentioned below:-

  • Poor Vocabulary:- We need a decent vocabulary for conversation. If the vocabulary is limited, then we use the same words again and again. Also we find our self struggling with words. A good vocabulary helps the speaker to use multiple words for conveying the same message. Also it helps to understand what the other person is speaking, and we are able to respond to it properly.
  • Lack of Spoken English skills:- Oral Communication skills are one of the most desired things in the world. Building good Communication skills require persistent hard work and the right direction to proceed. This article discusses multitude of tips and techniques to improve spoken English. Choose the ones most comfortable to you, and do practice them consistently.
  • Lack of practice:- Even knowing the right path to proceed is not enough, you need to make efforts to reach your destination. Similarly having good English material and knowing how to improve communication is not enough, you have to practice it consistently.
  • Unable to stay calm:- One of the most common reasons of disaster in Oral communication is anxiety. Most of the people get over anxious when asked to speak in front of many people. The key is to remain calm, and treat it like a normal conversation. The more you believe that speaking in front of a crowd is difficult, the more difficult it will be.
  • Lack of preparation:- Many times we are not prepared on what to speak. Like when asked to give a Seminar on some topic, and we are missing the starting sentence to start with. This happens when we have not practiced or given considerable though to the topic. If we have free flowing thoughts and ideas, then conversation becomes a lot easier.
  • Unable to handle being focus of Attention:- When we are supposed to make a public speech, we are the focus of attention of many people. Just imagine how the television hosts and anchors speak effortlessly in front of the entire media. This requires a lot of courage. The key is to handle the anxiety and fear of facing many people. Just take it as a normal conversation, and all will be fine.
  • Issue of reputation getting damaged:- It happens that when we are unable to speak clearly and fluently or even make mistakes in basic sentences, then people laugh at us. This damages our reputation in our own eyes. This is one of the biggest fear which needs to be conquered. Our self respect is so high that we are unable to handle the shame of making mistakes while speaking in English.
  • Memory loss while speaking in English:- When we are over anxious in speaking, then our memory also vanishes. We forget the basic lines that we had learn by heart. This happens a lot of time to many people. Stay calm, and tell your brains that it's OK to converse normally. If you can handle your anxiety, then the effect of memory loss is very much minimized.
  • People will laugh at me:- That's what I used to think, when my communication skills were poor. Many times it happen, that my teacher asked us a question. I knew the answer but kept quiet, just fearing that I will not be able to communicate my thought properly in English and people will laugh at me. The improvement came when I decided that let the world go to hell. I am the best and I will speak my heart out. Try to imbibe this feeling in yourself, it helps to gather courage and makes you bold enough to face the world.
  • Unable to express ideas:- This is another factor which is a major block in our paths of improvement. Many times it happens that we knew what need to be said, but are unable to express it in words. This leads to further frustration, as we knew that the listener is not able to understand our words.
  • Unable to understand others:- In a communication, we need to interact equally with others. To converse properly we need to understand what the others are saying, and then respond to them. But if we have poor vocabulary, or are unable to understand what others are saying, then there is no way by which we can respond to them correctly.

The issues discussed above are the most common problems faced by individuals while speaking. The main idea is to identify your weak points and then work on them. We cannot correct a fault until we are aware of it. So just make a note of points which are crucial to you, so that you can proceed with the below tips accordingly.

There are multiple ways to Improve Spoken English. The most effective way is the one for which you are comfortable with. So make a note of key tips that you can incorporate in your daily schedule, so as to achieve the maximum improvement in your Oral Communication skills in English.

Tips to Improve Spoken English
  • Speak in English:- If you want to learn something, then you have to do it. You cannot learn a car by reading a book, you have to drive it yourself. Similarly you cannot become a master of great speaking ability in English just by reading something, you have to practice it consistently. Speak in English whenever and wherever you get a chance. Try to indulge in conversation with parents and friends in English.
  • Speak Confidently:- Confidence is something that comes by practice. Many times our weaknesses are hidden by our confidence. Try to speak with confidence in English. It conveys the idea that you are very much familiar with the topic and can converse easily on it. Small fumbling in words are usually ignored in this case by the listener. The driving factor is our confidence. It's equivalent to saying that "Believe in yourself, if you want others to believe in you".
  • Are you fluent or are you accurate?:- Fluency and accuracy are the reverse of each other. It is like driving a car, the faster you drive, the more is the chance of an accident. Similarly if you think and then speak, then you would be more accurate and avoid accidents. On the other-hand speaking fluently demands a very high free flow of ideas in your mind, and chances are high that you can fumble in between. Good fluency comes by practice. Try to be fluent while maintaining accuracy. If you feel that accuracy is getting compromised, then start speaking a bit slowly.
  • Use a dictionary:- Dictionary is your best companion, always keep one in your pocket. Whenever you encounter any new word, just make a note of it. Moreover the dictionary contains the phonemes before the meaning of the word. these phonemes are the way to pronounce the word correctly. This will help in getting the right pronunciation as well as meaning of words. It is an immense boost to your vocabulary also.
  • Choose the right words:- In communication, choice of correct words is essential. If you want to express some idea, then choosing a limited right words can convey the meaning much more effectively. Many times people use too many words and sentences to describe even a small topic. This is not a good practice. Try to speak correctly and to the point. This makes a great impression on the listener, and he can understand the information in much less words. Many sentences can often lead to confusion.
  • Don't be afraid to make mistakes:- Can a child learn to walk without falling? And if the child is afraid of falling, then can he ever learn to walk? The point is clear that you cannot learn something without making mistakes. Learn from a child, he falls so many times, but every-time he gets up and starts again. This is called true dedication. We all have it, since we all had learned to walk the same way. So where is this dedication right now? Gather your courage, don't be afraid to make mistakes. Learn from your mistakes and improve yourself.
  • Talk to yourself in English:- Talking to yourself is one of the most effective way of improving spoken English. This is one exercise that I still do today. There are many advantages of this. First you do not need any one to talk, so no issues of anyone laughing at your mistakes. Second you can practice at any time as per your comfort. I talk a lot at night, as I discuss my thoughts with myself in English. Third is that you start to think in English, this is the most important advantage of this activity. When we think in English, then we are able to communicate better since we need not translate it to our native languages every-time.
  • Make a sentence from any word you learn:- Try to make a sentence from any word that you find as new or difficult. This helps in better remembering the word. When you make a sentence, then actually your brain works to think over the meaning of that word and how it fits into a sentence. You also get accustomed to using new words into sentences.
  • Record your voice and listen again:- Now this one is an interesting tip to improve spoken English. It requires you to record your voice using any tape recorder or even a mobile, and then listen to it again. When first time I tried this activity, I was shocked, I never knew that I sound so unclear. This is like a feedback to you, so as to judge your voice yourself. It's like a closed loop system, where you give the output, take some part of it back and use that feedback to correct yourself for further output. A very effective way to analyze yourself from time to time.
  • Avoid using same words again and again:- Using same words again and again makes the listener think that you don't have a good vocabulary and that you are not good in spoken skills. Try to vary words among sentences. This helps to keep the listener involved and interested. I hope you all must be having televisions in your home. Just have a look at the news channel when they show the flashy "Breaking News". There they repeat the same news for more that an hour showing the same video clipping, but always use different words to express the opinion. This variation of words is the key factor which involves the listener.
  • Involve the listener by asking questions in between:- A communication is always two sided. If you are giving a seminar or presentation or even talking to someone, keep asking small questions to them. This ensures that they are paying attention to what you are saying, secondly this also insures that they are interested in your speech or not. The listeners are automatically involved in the communication process and the session becomes more lively.
  • Be a good listener:- If you want to be a good speaker then listening is very important. Have you ever though that why is it that all people who are deaf by birth are also dumb, though the reverse is not true. It is simply because if a person is deaf by birth, then he has not listened to any voice since he was born. Ultimately his brain did not know what sound is, and is therefore unable to speak. For speaking we must be aware of the correct sounds, phonemes and pronunciation of words. Being a good listener helps us to attain this. It has many other advantages like, it encourages the other person to converse more. It is also a sign that you are interested in what the other person is saying.
  • Don't use accent, just sound natural:- Many movies show there stars using some or the other accent. In practical life this sounds really bad. Don't spoil your voice by putting any unnecessary accent. Just try to remain natural. Natural speech and sound is the best form to communicate.
  • Speak Slowly:- Have you ever noticed that most of the politicians speak slowly, and yet they are very powerful speakers. Speaking slowly gives the listener time to understand what you have said, so he is better prepared for the coming words and can relate to them. Moreover speaking slowly gives you time to think over your own words. You get extra time to properly rephrase your sentence so as to make the best impact. The choice of words is usually much better when we speak slowly.
  • Stress on punctuations:- Punctuations can change the meaning of sentences. Many people speak sentences in a flow, and they don't even bother to stress the correct punctuations. The listener usually gets a confused or wrong information in this case. These scenarios could be avoided by giving due respect to the punctuations. Just have look at the example below:-
    •     The gangster dropped the bullet in his head.
    •     The gangster dropped, the bullet in his head.
  • Pronounce the beginning and ending of words correctly:- It is a crucial tip for English communication. If you speak the starting and ending of any word correctly, then your words will be very clear to the listener. Most of the time we speak the starting of the word correctly, but jumps over the ending part of the word. This make the pronunciation a bit tricky and the listener is unable to clearly understand our words. Just notice that how the good speakers pronounce each and every word so clearly. It is this beauty of clarity that makes them excellent orators.
  • Think in English:- This is the basic rule to converse in English. Thinking in English helps to avoid translating thoughts from native language to English and vice verse while communicating. Our thoughts must come in English just as they come in our native language. It is in fact the most important tip of all the tips mentioned. The best part is that we listen think and then speak. If the listening and speaking are in English, then thinking in native language requires translation. This slows the communication process, and forces us to fill gap words like "hmmmmm", "errrrr", etc. If the thinking process is also in English then the complete cycle is in English and in fact is very fast.
    • listen--------------->think--------------->speak
  • Read newspaper loudly:- Reading of English newspapers helps improve grammar and vocabulary, but reading them loudly helps in improving spoken English. The aim is to stretch our mouth muscles so they get used to speaking English words. Moreover our mind gets trained that yes we can speak these words with confidence.
  • Keep checking Internet for more information:- Keep checking online for more information and material on the internet. It might happen that you are able to get some good audios, or tutorials to Improve Spoken English. Most of the material online is free, so no need to pay for anything. Just practice at the leisure of your home, but be consistent.
  • How to improve vocabulary:- Vocabulary plays a vital role in any communication. A limited or small vocabulary forces the speaker to use the same words again and again. A good vocabulary helps the orator to vary the words among sentences so as to keep the listener interested. Building vocabulary is a bit hard. The way I had improved my vocabulary is discussed in detail in this article. Just check the link for more information on it. I actually used the Brute Force approach, that is to learn an entire dictionary by heart. I managed this by picking a small dictionary of around 2000 words. Regular practice and consistency helped me improve my vocabulary massively. Later a time came when my friends used to refer me for any word they encounter. They started calling me human dictionary. The respect you get after any achievement is enough to keep you motivated.
  • Join a personality development program:- PDP or personality development programs are very common in almost every city. Consider joining them if you need a class of learners and teacher's guidance. PDP courses help in grooming the overall personality including spoken skills. These programs work on confidence building, how to present yourself, oral communication, etc. So overall they provide good service for the money that you pay to them. You may check in your area for a reputed course provider.
  • Listen English Songs:- English songs are a great source of good English audios. Do listen to English songs for getting more and more accustomed to the way English words are pronounced. The more songs you listen and understand the lines, the better would be your understanding of the language. Try to get the lyrics of songs also, so that you can understand any word in case of discrepancy.
  • Sing English songs loudly:-  Singing songs is a pass time that we do occasionally. It is so natural that most of the time we don't even know that we are singing songs. We may utilize this pass time to improve our communication. Try singing English songs loudly. One activity multiple advantages. For singing you must know the song. Knowing the song implies that you are able to pronounce the words in the sentences of that song. It automatically implies a clear understanding of the song. Singling it loudly is again a brain tuning exercise by which we help our brains gain confidence in speaking English words and sentences.
  • Grammar is important:- While speaking in English, sometimes grammar can be avoided. But if you want to make a real good impression, then work on your grammar. Grammar is very important for written communication, and should be correctly used while speaking. Poor grammar depicts poor usage of the language and magnifies your weakness in the language. Get a good English grammar book. We used to study from "Wren and Martin for English Grammar". You may get anyone that suits you. Remember that no one can learn all the grammar rules by heart. Just try to gain a comfort level so that you do not face issues in normal conversations.
  • Watch English Movies:- If you like to watch movies, then you will like this tip. Get some good English DVD's with English subtitles. Play the movie along with friends or family. Keep a tab on the subtitles and how the actors pronounce them. It helps us to get the right pronunciation of words and also there usage in sentences.
  • Watch English channels on television:- English channels like Discovery, National Geographic, Star World, BBC, etc. are good sources of English conversation. Particularly I like the way the speakers communicate in the Discovery channel. There voice is very clear. They speak slowly so that we get enough time to understand, and also they use very good English to communicate. On the other hand BBC is more likely for advanced users. The speaks on BBC are very fluent in English. Television is a great source, utilize it.
  • Read a lot of English material:- Read as much you can in English. Try English magazines, novels, comics newspaper anything that draws your interest. The more we read in English, the better our grammar, vocabulary and thinking process in English becomes. The more we read, the more we think over it. Try to understand and read, don't just read for the sake of reading. The meaning of words and sentences must be clear, otherwise this exercise will be wasted.
  • Write a diary:- A very nice way to build thinking in English capability is to start writing a diary. Just start a diary and write down all the thoughts that come to your mind. The topic is not important, but you must think in English only. Initially the process will be slow, but slowly it catches speed and you will be able to think much faster in English.
  • Don't be shy to ask for help:- I heard somewhere that asking for help is a sign of strength and not weakness. A person needs courage to ask for help, and only the strong are able to ask someone for help. The weak ones are too shy to come forward. So don't be shy to ask for help. Almost everyone will come forward to help you. Our teachers, parents and friends all care for us, and they do help us whenever we ask them for.
  • Do not translate while speaking:- Translation slows the communication. We have a habit of translating everything from English to our native language. The earlier we get rid of this habit, the better it is for us. Avoid translating while speaking as this creates a very bad impression on the other person. It becomes clear to the other person that you are translating and then replying, it implies that you are not good in spoken English.
  • Watch English Programs on TV:- Television is a great source of help for Oral communication improvement. There are multiple English programs coming round the clock. I used to watch "Mind Your Language", "Friends", etc. All these programs are a great source of quality English audios and videos, and you get them for almost free(just the amount of cable fee). Utilize these resources to your advantage and try to understand what the speakers are saying, how they pronounce sentences and words.
  • Avoid bluffing sites and material:- Internet is vast and deep. You will get plenty of material online. Don't be bluffed with sites that show you conversation between two people and claim that your spoken English will be improved by this. It's as simple as telling someone who wants to learn car driving to read a car manual to learn how to drive it. You need to listen proper English for getting proper pronunciation. These bluffing sites can hamper your growth process as they misdirect the learning process. Get a hold of some good English audios and videos, enjoy them with your family.
  • Test yourself from time to time:- It's hard to test our-self, but is very essential to analyze our-self. Participate in English quizzes, Seminars, presentations whenever possible. Take these challenges and they will show you your confidence level in speaking. If you are still scared in giving a presentation in English, it means that your confidence level is low and needs to be improved. Try some exercise like borrow money from someone in English. Borrowing money requires good communication and convincing skills. Just try it with your friends or parents and see the results yourself.
  • Don't expect to see results instantaneously:- It will take some time for the improvements to show in your speech. Don't expect to become a great speaker by the end of 3rd day. It's a long process and requires continuous efforts. Many people start the improvement activity for English communication with full force, but their energy levels are gone by the end of 2nd or 3rd day. Be consistent, and allow your English to improve. A baby also takes time to grow up, you don't expect it to start going to office when it is one year old. Everything need time to improve and grow. Allow the spoken English skills to grow inside you.
  • Use Divide and rule approach:- Don't burden yourself with too heavy targets. Make realistic goals which you can achieve in some time duration. Divide the time for the sub-tasks involved in achieving your goal. The key is to make a large task appear small, by dividing it into small and easy tasks. Take one step at a time, don't try to run in the beginning.
  • Enjoy whatever you do:- Try to enjoy the learning process. If you take it as a burden, then it will be a very boring activity for you. Make it your passion, and you will automatically become a very fluent English speaker. You like to play games, then you will be a good gamer. You like to cook food, the you will be a good chef. You like to improve your spoken English, then you will definitely be a good speaker.
  • Be consistent:- I kept this tip last, because this is the baseline of Improving Spoken English skills. Try to be consistent in the learning process. We need food daily for our stomach and body. The learning process is the food for our brains. Maintain consistency to get the best results from your brain.


Choose the tips that you feel best suits your needs. Do post comments in case you want to make any suggestion or addition.

Discussed below is some material to Improve Spoken English. You may utilize this material and many more materials online to your advantage. I will be further expanding the material section to provide more relevant and meaningful content for the learners.

Material to Improve spoken English
  • Spoken English Exercises helps to gear up the students practice some exercises to improve there communication skills in English.
  • Spoken English Courses is an under-process list of curse providers in various cities and locations. If you are also a course provider, then check this link and enter your details in the comments section. I will publish the details city wise later in this blog.
All the material provided in this site is absolutely free. Moreover this blog does not allow me to post pdf files. I am working on an ebook on How to Improve Spoken English, and I plan to post it in a pdf format on one of my domains. I hope the material presented in this blog and my upcoming pdf ebook are useful in helping my readers gain higher levels of fluency and better communication skills in English.

There are many advanced areas in which you may like to foray like building strong communication skills, how to speak fluently, etc. This section is designed to cater to this need. All the advanced topics relating to communication and fluency are discussed here.

Spoken English Advanced

Thursday, November 25, 2010

Playing Scrabble Exercise for Children

Another new exercise in order to Improve Spoken English of Children is playing game of Scrabble with them. Scrabble is basically word making game. It helps in enriching your vocabulary and hence your spoken English since we all know in order to have good communication skills it is very necessary to have good vocabulary.

Anyone with enriched set of vocabulary will definitely have better spoken English power or say communication skills as compared to the ones having poor vocabulary. Having word power helps us to make sentences very easily, efficiently and confidently and also increases the fluency power.

Scrabble is actually very good game not only for children but for adults too. Its a nice time pass also and a good source of increasing word power. Children actually love this game because they are very fond of things that they can spread out and collect again at same place. Their are alphabets that they can spread out while playing the game and collect them back at one place. This thing makes scrabble very interesting to the children. 

Their are some basic guidelines which will help to indulge your child into the game of Scrabble.
  1. Take the scrabble box and open it in front of the children and let them spread it out. This makes scrabble interesting to the children before the game has started.
  2. Now start making some small words like 'BAG', 'ATE', 'BAT', 'BALL', 'PEN', 'KING', 'IN', 'OUT' etc. Make small words and keep on pronouncing each word clearly. This thing actually makes child attracted towards the game more and more.
  3. As you are making words ask your child to get you the alphabet that you actually want to make the word. This activity helps child to indulge with the game and make him more interactive in the game.
  4. Now slowly and slowly as your child gives you the alphabet ping him the alphabet again and again which he had got. Like say you have asked him "A". When he brings it tell him as "THIS IS 'A'" You can also tell him as "A- 'A' for APPLE" if your child is little older say in Junior or Senior KG.
  5. As you make a complete word repeat the word clearly and with full excitement in front of the child. Make him pronounce the word correctly while spelling out the entire word. This will not only help him to know the new word but also the correct spelling of it.
  6. While you are pronouncing the word you are making your child repeat the same, tell him its meaning also. If possible show some image that is related to the word. That makes the word more sensible to the child and makes the learning process much easier.
So, this is all about this new exercise for Spoken English improvement of children. Keep practicing with your child, so as to get the best results.

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Exercise to Borrow Money from someone

To borrow money from someone requires a high amount of courage and convincing skills. Today's spoken English exercise aims at testing your convincing skills in English.

Do this exercise whenever you want to analyze your level in Spoken English. Whenever we want to borrow money from someone, then we have to be courageous and good in Communication skill, so as to convince the lender to lend some money to us.

This requires a lot of confidence while speaking. Many people stammer while doing this exercise, and is a true test to analyze your spoken English improvement.

Try to follow the below steps while doing this exercise:-
  1. Ask someone among your friends or in your class for some money.
  2. Tell them that you have an urgent need to borrow money.
  3. Make them believe that you will return the money as soon as possible.
  4. Make sure to complete the entire conversation in English.
If you are able to convince them without stammering or without any other problem, then it implies that your spoken English has really improved. Otherwise you still need to do more homework from your side, and then try again.

Try to converse with simple English sentences like:-
  • I am in urgent need of some money.
  • Can I borrow some money from you?
  • It would be really helpful if you could lend me some money.
Try to make the conversation as lively as possible. This exercise is a very good test to test your confidence in speaking English and your convincing skills.

You may also modify the exercise by writing a letter to borrow money from someone. Writing a letter gives you enough time to collect your thoughts and also it helps to improve your grammar and letter writing skills.


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Tuesday, November 23, 2010

English Rhyme Exercise for Children

We all know that children are very fond of games and different activities and are actually very repellent to reading, learning or anything related to education. If one really wants to make their child learn something then the best way is to make their learning very entertaining and exciting say in the form of some game, activity or say exercise.

This mantra applies at every-field related to a child's learning whether it could be their studies or say speaking English. In-fact this strategy is applied by many schools to Improve Spoken English of children.

The best way to make your child learn fluent spoken English is to make him learn in form of some game or exercise. In our today's article we are going to discuss an exercise that I hope will be really effective for any child who is learning spoken English.

This game is about playing children rhymes. Children's are actually very fond of rhymes or music. They really love to listen and dance. So, one of the best exercise to make them learn Spoken English is playing with rhymes. Let me explain this exercise to you in few steps:-
  1. Buy any CD, DVD or cassette of children's rhymes. Plenty of them are available in the market. In-fact you don't even need to buy it. You can simply download many English rhymes audio or video directly from your home via internet. Plenty of sites are their who provide free downloading of children's rhymes audio and video.
  2. Once you have got a decent collection of rhymes, then at any time in the whole day play those rhymes for at least an hour with your child.
  3. Make sure your child is with you for that 1hour. Now as the rhymes are playing you recite it along with it. By doing this children really feel it too interesting. Anything done by adults in front of children always makes it too exciting for them, and they try to copy it.
  4. You can also perform some dance steps with the rhymes. This encourages child to indulge more in the exercise and they too start dancing with you, and in-fact enjoys the whole learning process.
Slowly and slowly you will realize that your child has started singing the same English rhymes that you use to make him hear daily. Give him small instructions, so as to help him learn fast and steadily. This is one of the basic exercise that is used to help your kid improve spoken English.

Saturday, November 20, 2010

Spoken English Fluency

Knowing just how to speak in English is not sufficient. This applies not only to English but to every language in which we speak. You can make your ideas and thoughts more expressive and impressive if you are fluent in the language in which you are speaking.

In-fact, by having fluency in your spoken english you can not only make your thoughts more impressive to yourself but also to your listeners and to your audience.

Fluency is one of the major factor that people lack, and due to which they hesitate to speak in front of the crowd. Lack of fluency in English while speaking creates fear and hesitation in ones mind, that starts dominating ones thoughts while delivering their speech.

It sometimes also results in stuttering problem that many of the people does face. Actually this stuttering problem creates more complex problems for communicating with fluency.

There are few very basic fluency techniques that needs to be practiced for having good and fluent english. These techniques can also be termed as "RULES FOR FLUENT SPOKEN ENGLISH". These are:-

  • Don't Study Grammar
  • Instead of learning just new words, try and learn out daily some good and new English phrases.
  • Don't just read and listen English but also start practicing what you hear.
  • Try to create an environment around you where everyone at least tries to speak in English.

DON'T STUDY GRAMMAR
Grammar is very important for English. Actually grammar is important for every language. Basically it is the building block of every mother tongue. But if we speak about fluency it is always left behind.

To be fluent in English doesn't means that you should be good at grammar also to have fluency. Grammar is the least part of english fluency. To be fluent in english, try to learn english without studying the grammar.

If one emphasizes more on grammar, then it will only slow down the process of speaking fluently and will confuse you. Having fluency in a language means speaking it naturally as one speaks his native language. It doesn't implies the implication of grammar everywhere.

The researches had proved that students learning english have good knowledge of only english grammar but native english speakers know hardly 20%of the english grammar, yet they are much good and better at fluency as compared to the students.

So, start focusing on simple English speaking, build up sentences whatever comes into mind without paying much attention to the grammar.

INSTEAD OF LEARNING JUST NEW WORDS, TRY AND LEARN OUT DAILY SOME GOOD AND NEW ENGLISH PHRASES
We usually focus on trying out new words daily in order to be good at spoken English. Yet this fact is true but again this is also very true that practicing just words is not enough to be fluent in English. It often happens that people who daily by-heart new words are still unable to speak fluent English.

This is due to the fact that while communicating in English, before delivering any sentence they frame out the entire sentence in their native language then afterward they convert it word by word in English. This is a time taking and tedious task, and also not a right method to gain fluency in English. So STOP TRANSLATING YOUR THOUGHTS.

A good solution to this problem is try and learn some phrases daily and know their meanings. Phrases are basically sentences that is group of words. By learning phrases you will learn more words at one time and also with the help of these you will gain fluency much easily. Learning 10 words daily will hardly help you to make 10-20 sentences but learning 10 phrases will help you to make 100's of sentences.

DON'T JUST READ AND LISTEN ENGLISH BUT ALSO START PRACTICING WHAT YOU HEAR
When one starts learning any language, say at school the process is always like reading, listening, speaking and then writing. Whereas the natural process is always like listening, speaking, reading and then writing. When a small baby starts learning its mother tongue its always in the same form.

It is true that reading enhances your spoken english skills but by doing just this thing you cant be fluent. Apart from reading and listening english books, magazines and news you should also practice what you hear.

Reading and listening are the first two steps towards gaining fluency in English, the next step comes about speaking. Always speak loud and clear what ever you hear and practice it. Once your mouth and brain can do this exercise without any effort then you will yourself realize that you are gaining command over spoken English fluency.

TRY TO CREATE AN ENVIRONMENT AROUND YOU WHERE EVERYONE AT LEAST TRIES TO SPEAK IN ENGLISH
Learning English lessons, words, phrases etc and etc. is not enough. You must be surprised at this statement. You must have an environment around you because environment is one of the biggest factor that have impacts on ones habits.

Suppose there is a small baby who does not know anything but slowly and slowly as he grows up he automatically learns his mother tongue. No one needs to teach him his native language. This is just due to the simple reason that people surrounding him always use to talk in his native language. He has grown up in an environment where every one speaks his language.

There are students who study in English medium school yet they are not fluent in speaking English just because they have friends who spoke in their mother tongue instead of English. You don't need to go anywhere to be fluent in English.

Just create an environment around you of English speaking peoples. Make simple rules with your friends, colleagues or your family members that when ever you will have a talk or discussion you will speak in english.


At last I would like to say that you should be surrounded up with right people. It doesn't means that all the people around you must have good and fluent English but they should have the daring to stop you if you are wrong at some point. If you have made any mistake at your conversation they should always correct you else you will have a wrong perception that you are perfectly correct.

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Thursday, November 18, 2010

Spoken English Exercises for Children

Children by their basic nature are very fast learners. They learn from everything in their surroundings. So If you want that their spoken English is excellent, then you have to work along with them.

Kids like to play all the time, so the basic approach should be to indulge them in interactive games which make them learn while playing. Studies by their basic name is the biggest repellent for kids, so lure them with planned activities that your kid will learn to do.

I will discuss some of the Spoken English Exercises for Children, but it does not end here. There could be many exercises, you have to make your kid speak in English, and that too correctely.

Play English Rhymes with your child
One very important requirement is that you yourself get involved, that will create a high level of interest in the child for doing that exercise. There are plenty of English rhymes (I still remember the Twinkle Twinkle Little Star...) kids love to sing.

Grab your kids attention by singing the rhymes yourself, this will attract the child and he will try to sing along with you. Don't force him if he does not respond, it may take some time for him to start getting used to the exercise. Make sure he enjoys it.

Play English Scrabble with your child
Scrabble is game in which the child is supposed to make words from letters. Kids like to spread things, so just spread the English letters on the ground, and start making some words yourself. Keep pronouncing the words while making them. Slowly your kid will also want to join you.

Once he is in the game, ping him for each word he makes, like what's the meaning of this word, how do you pronounce it, etc. This will ensure a verbal session for your child, and keeps him involved.

Make him read the newspaper loudly
If your kid is bit bigger, and able to read newspapers. Just show your child that you are very busy and have no time to read the newspaper, so could he read the newspaper loudly to you. This will improve his spoken English and also you can keep a tab on his pronunciation that it is correct or not.. That's why I stress so much on reading English newspapers loudly.

Keep a look on his areas of interest
Always keep your eyes and ears open to the areas your child is most interested in. This will help you devise more exercises and activities by yourself for you kids. The main aim is to make them learn spoken English while they are enjoying their playing session.

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Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Introduction to Communication skills

Our today's topic is about communication skills. Once we talk about improving spoken skills, it also implies about how is the communication skill of a person. Spoken english and communication skills are both inter related areas.

We all know the very well saying that FIRST IMPRESSION IS THE LAST IMPRESSION. This saying includes many factors but one of the very important factor that it does include is the COMMUNICATION SKILLS.

Basics of Communication Skills
By saying communication skill we mean how a person communicates with the other person , how much effective and understandable is he, and also how does he makes his ideas and thinking process understood to the crowd.

In today's world whether you are having a large scale business, a small scale business or a home based business effective communication has become the key factor in each area to make it successful. Since we all know that the era in which we are living is a competitive era so, only that person or only that business could survive who can make himself very clear and understandable to the other people in front of him. So its very necessary to communicate your idea in the best possible way. An effective and well communication makes one individual different from the other individual.

What is meant by Communication Skills?
Communication skills is the set of skills that enables a person to convey information as effectively as possible so that it is received and understood in the right way. Effective communication is all about conveying your message to other people clearly and unambiguously. Its not only about conveying the message but also about how effectively you receive and understand once message with as little distortion as possible. Doing communication in such a manner requires efforts of both the sender and the receiver.

Meaning of  Effective Communication
In-fact we say, that communication is successful only when both the persons, one delivering the message and the other receiving the message gets the same information as a result of the communication. When this happens it is a successful communication.

By having successful communication it means you have conveyed your ideas and thoughts clearly and effectively. But if one does not have a successful communication, results could be very odd or they could be disaster too.

When not successful, the thoughts and ideas that you actually wanted to send, not necessarily reflect what you think, causing a communications breakdown and creating road barriers that stand in the way of your goals – both personally and professionally.

Communication Skills Example
There has been many cases where just due to lack of communication skills people have lost the golden opportunity of their life. For eg:- A recruiting company recruiting for the post of manager, always looks up for the guy, who is not only knowledgeable, having good ideas and thoughts but also having very effective communication skills. Since without having the power of delivering the ideas there is no use of it. If you cant make one understand your thoughts then its never fruitful. So every year most of the candidates are rejected just because they lack COMMUNICATION SKILL. And this is proven by multiple surveys.

Having effective communication skill does not just mean verbal but also in written format. This inability to make them-self understand makes own individual incompetent at their workplace and stands in the way of their progression.

Approach for Communication Skills
So, before communicating one should be very clear about the ideas and thoughts that one is going to deliver, the audience who is targeted to make them understood, and the way how it is going to be perceived. Once a person lays down this architecture then there is much more possibility of having a successful communication.

That's all from Improve Spoken English for today. Stay tuned.

Cheers,
Amit.

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Sunday, November 14, 2010

Increase Fluency by Changing the Thinking Process

Have you asked yourself, that what makes a person fluent speaker? A person who is fluent in spoken English, has to interpret the words very fast. Actually the main factor involved is our thinking process. Have you ever thought, how a person can attain a high level of spoken English fluency by just changing the thinking process.

Problem with fluency

When we try to convert the English message from the speaker to our native language, and then convert back the reply from our native language to English, then in the overall process we take some time. This slows the communication, and make us use gap fillers like "hmmmmm", "ahaaaaa", etc. Also it exposes the problems in our spoken Communication to the listener, and it is really embarrassing.

Desired Result for fluency

We all want that when a person communicates with us, then we should not have any problems in communication, moreover a good level of fluency should be there. Fluency makes the conversation more stylish, and automatically creates respect for the speaker.

Solution

The solution to the above problem is to change the thinking process. We save time when we understand the message in English, and revert back the message in English without going though the translation phase. That's why I stress on thinking in English, to achieve good fluency and communication levels.

Now the best way to convert the thinking process in English is to talk to yourself. You can practice it alone. Just pick up any topic and start discussing it with yourself in English. No space of embarrassment as you are practicing it alone.

I followed the same technique to shift my thinking process from English-Hindi-Hindi-English, to English-English. Believe me it is very effective. It will take some time, but you may practice it whenever you find some spare time.

Keep talking to yourself about what is required, what needs to be done, your daily schedule, etc. all in English. After some time you will realize that the translation process has stopped and you are getting the replies in English from your mind.

Remember that if you can't think in English then you can never be a fluent speaker. So practice hard and consistently to tune your mind to the English frequency.

Cheers,
Amit.

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Group Discussion Exercise

Group Discussion is an integral part of any personalty development program. Also it is a very good exercise to improve Spoken English, and to build confidence in the speaker. It's tough if you have fear within you, but easy if you believe in yourself.

As I mentioned that the Group Discussion Exercise is practiced extensively in personalty development programs. The main reason is to stress on public speaking. So it's a way to get better in the art of communication.


Objective:-

To make the students discuss topics in English, and gain confidence in speaking. Also the exercise will be helpful in overcoming public speaking fear and develop a great personality for the individual.


Requirements:-

  • This exercise requires at least 5 and at max 7 students. More that 7 students will spoil the session, as everyone tries to take control of the session, so the weaker ones will not be able to speak. A maximum number of 7 students will allow a somewhat fair chance to everyone to express their thoughts.
  • A person who is good in English is supposed to be present nearby during the discussion.

Spoken English Exercise Rules:-
  1. Ask the  group of students to choose a topic from a list of 3 to 5 topics that you have already prepared.
  2. Once the topic is finalized, give the group 15 min to prepare, and then 20 min to discuss it among themselves.
  3. Make sure that the mentor remains silent during the discussion and just make observations for each student. He/She may interfere in case of any dispute during the discussion.
  4. Let the students complete the discussion on their selected topic, then ask each student one by one to summarize the discussion from his/her point of view.
  5. Finally inform the students about their performance, and their areas of improvement.

This is a heavy exercise and takes a lot of brain storming. You may practice it as per your comfort level, but remember that if you are good in this group discussion exercise, then you are good in communicating your thoughts, moreover the confidence levels in you are also high.


Other articles that might be of interest:-


Cheers,
Amit.

Saturday, November 13, 2010

Spoken English Exercise to Share Your Thoughts

This is a very simple Spoken English Exercise to understand, but one of the most difficult when it comes to doing it. The exercises that I am discussing, are a set of activities which I had done in my English Improvement Course, and found them very useful.

Though there could be many exercises for English improvement, but I will stress that today's exercise is very important, and must be practiced and performed on as many occasions as possible.



Objective:-

To make the students speak in public places, so as to take out the fear of public speaking/Seminars within him/her. To build confidence in the speaker to speak in public.



Requirements:-

  • This exercise can be practiced alone, but must be performed in a class.
  • A person who is good in English is supposed to be mentoring the session.


Spoken English Exercise Rules:-
  1. Assign the class a time of 15 min, and ask them to speak on any topic they are comfortable with for at least 3 min.
  2. Let the students prepare for 15 min on their topic of choice, then call them one by one.
  3. Ask the person to speak for at least 2-3 min in front of the class.
  4. Let the person complete the task and do not interrupt in between. Make sure no one laughs in the class at mistakes, since this is very demotivating and embarrassing.
  5. After the task is done, inform the student about his mistakes and areas of improvement.
  6. Repeat with all the students.

This exercise sounds simple, but believe me it's the most dangerous of all. I have seen people shiver before getting called on the stage for their turn to speak. The basic aim is to boost the confidence level of the speakers for public speaking. The key is practice and consistency.


Other articles that might be of interest:-



Cheers,
Amit.

Find the Word exercise

When I had joined a spoken English improvement course, there they made me do certain exercises. I will say that these spoken English exercises are very helpful in improving your communication skills. I am discussing one of those exercises which I feel is really beneficial for all.

Objective:-

To help the students recognize the right pronunciation of words, and help them gain speed in recognizing words.

Requirements:-

  • It's somewhat a class exercise, so more the number of students, the better it is.
  • A person who is good in English is supposed to be mentoring the session.
  • A blackboard, chalk and duster.

Exercise Rules:-
  1. Divide the number of students in two groups. Let the groups be Group A and Group B.
  2. Write some words (around 20) on the blackboard.
  3. Call one person each from both groups. Give a chalk to both of them.
  4. Now the person who is mentoring the session is supposed to read loudly any word on the blackboard, and the students are supposed to cut that word with chalk at the earliest.
  5. The first person to cut the word, gets his group one positive point.
  6. Repeat with all the students, by calling them one by one from both groups.
  7. Make sure to maintain a lively environment in the class, as this exercise is great fun to do.
  8. After all the words are finished, just total the points and announce the winner group.

I am sure you will hear a loud cheer when you announce the winner group. That's all for today from Improve Spoken English.

Other articles that might be of interest:-


Cheers,
Amit.

Friday, November 12, 2010

Tongue Twister Exercise

Spoken English Exercise Objective

The objective of this spoken English exercise is to habituate our tongues to pronounce difficult and same sounding words easily. For example the difference in sounds of "sa" and "sha" in "same" and "shame". It helps in getting our mouths properly stretched while speaking words.


Spoken English Exercise Requirement
  • Get some good tongue twisters.(You may just search Google for tongue twisters).
  • I have provided some of them below.
  • Make sure that you pronounce the twisters slowly. Once comfortable, then you may speed up.
  • Practice them for a good command on the language and pronunciation 
  • If possible, then make sure that some one good in English listens to the pronunciation. 

Some Popular Tongue Twisters for Spoken English Enhancement
  • She sells sea shells by the sea shore.
  • Purple, paper, people.
    Purple, people, paper
  • Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.
    Did Peter Piper pick a peck of pickled peppers?
    If Peter Piper Picked a peck of pickled peppers,
    Where's the peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked?
  • Benny bought a bit of butter but the butter was so bitter so she bought a better butter to make the bitter butter better. 
  • Which witch wished which wicked wish? 
  • If you understand say,"understand".
    If you don't understand say,"don't understand".
    But if you say don't understand even if you understand,How will i understand that you understands?Understand? 
You may anyhow search for more tongue twisters for practicing and improving on your spoken English.


Other articles that might be of interest:-


That's all for now folks from Improve Spoken English. Keep practicing and improving your spoken English skills.

Cheers,
Amit.

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Spoken English Courses

Welcome back to Improve Spoken English. I am working on an online directory of spoken English course providers in different areas. If you are an spoken English improvement course provider and want to attract potential spoken English learners, then you may enter your details in the comments section, or else mail me your details at beriwalamit@gmail.com. Your details will appear in the later sections of this blog.

The groups of the spoken English course will be as below:-
  • Paid Online Spoken English Course
  • Free Online Spoken English Course
  • Spoken English Course in cities.

 The details required are:-
  1. Name of the Institute/Course:
  2. City,Country:
  3. Contact Person:
  4. Mobile Number:
  5. Free Online Course/ Paid course:
  6. Extra comments if any:
  7. Website if any:
I will publish the results City wise, so that the users can choose the Spoken English Course center nearest to them.

Cheers,
Amit

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Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Spoken English Exercises 2

Welcome back to Improve Spoken English. Today's article is in continuation to my previous post on spoken english exercises. In my last article I have stressed the importance of exercising in our lives. Today I will discuss some more exercises that are beneficial to gain a command on our spoken capability.

Recite an English song along with the subtitles
For this exercise, you will need an English song with subtitles. Just pick up any song, and make sure that the wordings are clear enough for you to pronounce them. I prefer a slow song for the starters. Read the subtitles along with the English song. It will help you to improve fluency and communication ability in English.

Give a small seminar in English in front of the mirror
It is a very handy technique to test your confidence in speaking English. Just prepare on any topic, and start giving a free speech in front of the mirror. The best part is that there is no one else involved, so there is no point of humiliation. Make a habit of doing it at-least once a day for 5-10 min. It will help you gain confidence for speaking in Public in English.

Teach your younger brother or sister or friend in English
We all have to face situations when we are supposed to teach some subject to our younger ones. Take this as an opportunity to practice your spoken English skills. Remember that the best way to Improve spoken English is to talk with others in English. This will help you to communication effectively.

Play spoken English games
This is one of the best ways to engage yourself in the learning process. When you play spoken English Games, then you are more involved in the process. It is learning and playing at the same time. Try to indulge in more of building activities, as they will be beneficial in shaping your overall personality.

Other articles that might be of interest:-


That's all for today folks. Improve Spoken English will be soon be back with more intresting and learning articles.



Cheers,
Amit