How to Improve Spoken English

Improve Spoken English

2010-11-29T17:22:00.000-08:00

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 Games are great source to enjoy the learning process while playing games.

Spoken English Exercises helps to gear up the students practice some exercises to improve there communication skills in English.

Spoken English Exercises for Children are simple activities designed for small kids. These activities are very simple and kids usually enjoy doing them.

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

What are Communication skills

Need for effective communication

Tips to enhance fluency

Playing Scrabble Exercise for Children

2010-11-25T06:45:00.000-08:00

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.

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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.

Exercise to Borrow Money from someone

2010-11-24T06:25:00.000-08:00

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:-

Ask someone among your friends or in your class for some money.
Tell them that you have an urgent need to borrow money.
Make them believe that you will return the money as soon as possible.
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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Improve Spoken English

English Rhyme Exercise for Children

2010-11-23T07:43:00.000-08:00

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:-

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.
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.
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.
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.

Spoken English Fluency

2010-11-20T01:47:00.000-08:00

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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Spoken English Exercises for Children

2010-11-18T12:01:00.000-08:00

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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Introduction to Communication skills

2010-11-17T08:25:00.000-08:00

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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Increase Fluency by Changing the Thinking Process

2010-11-14T05:57:00.000-08:00

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

2010-11-14T01:55:00.000-08:00

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:-

Ask the group of students to choose a topic from a list of 3 to 5 topics that you have already prepared.
Once the topic is finalized, give the group 15 min to prepare, and then 20 min to discuss it among themselves.
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.
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.
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.

Spoken English Exercise to Share Your Thoughts

2010-11-13T17:59:00.000-08:00

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:-

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.
Let the students prepare for 15 min on their topic of choice, then call them one by one.
Ask the person to speak for at least 2-3 min in front of the class.
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.
After the task is done, inform the student about his mistakes and areas of improvement.
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

2010-11-13T11:51:00.000-08:00

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:-

Divide the number of students in two groups. Let the groups be Group A and Group B.
Write some words (around 20) on the blackboard.
Call one person each from both groups. Give a chalk to both of them.
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.
The first person to cut the word, gets his group one positive point.
Repeat with all the students, by calling them one by one from both groups.
Make sure to maintain a lively environment in the class, as this exercise is great fun to do.
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.

Tongue Twister Exercise

2010-11-12T06:41:00.000-08:00

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.

Spoken English Courses

2010-11-11T07:51:00.000-08:00

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:-

Name of the Institute/Course:
City,Country:
Contact Person:
Mobile Number:
Free Online Course/ Paid course:
Extra comments if any:
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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Spoken English Exercises 2

2010-11-09T14:41:00.000-08:00

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

Spoken English Exercises

2010-10-29T14:21:00.000-07:00

Have you ever realized the importance of exercising in our life. It keeps our body fit and keep us mentally alert and sound. Spoken English is no exception. If you want to improve your muscles you exercise them, similarly you want to improve your communication skills, then you have to exercise them. And the best part is that it's absolutely free. That's the advantage we have of being online. So do practice these free Spoken English Exercises whenever you get a chance.

Now that we are clear with the need for exercising, we will discuss some of the most important exercises that help a person improve his or her communication ability. Though below I have discussed a plethora of information to improve Communication ability in English, I plan to add some Spoken English Exercises pdf files later to my main site.

So lets get started...

Mouth muscle stretching

For speaking anything, you have to open your mouth. One very common issue which I realized in communications of people is that, they do not open their mouth properly while speaking. This results in the words getting mixed up and also adds some sort of accent to their voice.

Both of the above symptoms are bad from a listener point of view. So if you also have the same issue, then exercise your mouth muscles. Stretch them daily few times, say words like "CHEESE" loudly. Such words make your mouth stretch and make sure that you pronounce it clearly.

To be aware about the right pronunciation, make sure that you listen quality english. This tunes your mind, and when you speak some word incorrectly, then your mind hits back as "hey what are you saying man... It just doesn't sound right. Better correct it next time".

Read one English newspaper loudly

Yes, you read it correctly. Believe me, I tried this way on myself and the results are too good. This exercise requires patience, but is fun. I used to read one entire newspaper (every single line) loudly every day. I used to escape to my house terrace, where no one disturbs me, or laughs at me. Once in solitude, I used to take out my Times Of India newspaper, and used to read it loudly.

There are multiple benefits of this exercise. The main is that your mind starts believing that you can speak good English. That's the main kick that enables a person to communicate effectively. Your confidence starts growing. It also causes mouth muscle stretching, as you are supposed to pronounce the words correctly.

So one activity, multiple benefits. Spare at least 1 hour of your time for this activity. Your life schedule might be too busy, but it costs to improve yourself, and the cost is your time and effort.

Phone a friend

Simplest exercise to improve spoken English. Just pick up your cell phone and call one of your good friends. But there is one condition, that friend must be good in communication skills. Converse with him in English.

You get your estimate only when you test it with others. So try to converse in English with him, there will be failures, embarrassment, but remember that a fighter never gives up.

Record your voice and listen again

Do not underestimate this exercise, we come to know about our shortcomings in spoken English only when we listen to it. While speaking we are concentrating on the words and thoughts, so we are unable to pay much attention to the clarity of our own voices.

The best way is to record your voice and listen again. Judge your voice by yourself, and analyze your weak points. If required then ask someone good in English to review the recordings done by you, it will help to get a second opinion. Practice this exercise as often as possible to check your improvement in communication skills.

Watch English Program on Television

Do watch any program, news, movie in English. Use your television for this exercise. It's learning with fun. Make a habit to watch at least 1 hr of English audio and Video daily.

After you had finished watching English Program on Television, then just comprehend the show that you just saw to yourself or a friend. This will help in verifying your understanding of the language. This exercise is very important and will help you improve a lot.

All the above exercises which I have mentioned above are self tested on myself. There was a time, when I was unable to speak a single sentence clearly. The embarrassment was too much to handle. This embarrassment was the main driving factor, that I tried various ways. My passion to improve kept me going. And today even my colleagues are proud of my communication capabilities.

I have made a place for myself in the society, and I believe that anyone can improve his or her communication skill. The basic requirement is the passion to improve. That's all for now friends. Improve Spoken English will be back soon.

You might like these spoken English exercises too:-

Cheers
Amit

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Tips to Enhance Fluency

2010-08-19T09:50:00.000-07:00

Fluency in spoken English is essential if you want to make a great impression on the listener. I am not talking about good impression but great impression. Seriously a fluent speaker always makes his or her mark. As a matter of fact I have met more fluent girls or ladies then boys or men. I do wonder that why is it that the girls are so good in spoken English as compared to men? I believe the main reason behind that is the pitch of the feminine sound is very sharp, so they sound very clear while speaking as compared to men who have a more of masculine voice.

Though the basic difference in the pitch of voices of man and woman, both have the capability to attain fluency. It's just a matter of hard work and desire for perfection. If you have the insect of perfection inside you, then no one stop you from becoming a very fluent speaker.

Fluency in spoken English comes at a price of very hard work and consistent practice, but once achieved makes a very strong mark on the listener. Some of the tips that are helpful in enhancing fluency are discussed below:-

Don't think that you will fail
One of the most basic fear in the mind of the speaker while speaking is that he or she will not be able to say or pronounce the words clearly. This leads to stumbling, and use of same words again and again. Avoid this. Make sure that you have a firm belief in yourself that you are a perfect speaker, and then speak. You will realize the free flow of ideas in your mind. This helps in removal of fear from inside and boosts the confidence while speaking.

The ideas must flow freely in your mind
Remember that while speaking your native language, you need not think about what need to be said. This is because the ideas and thoughts comes freely into your mind. Speaking English is no exception. Once the ideas start flowing freely in English in your mind, then you can communicate them with effortless ease. This ease is required to communicate your thought freely to the listener. The free flow of ideas in English comes slowly with consistent practice. That's the main reason that I stress on thinking in English. This helps in changing your thought process from your native language to English.

Work consistently
Attaining fluency is matter of very hard work and consistent work. You cannot just attain a good level in fluency and then stop, but you need to consistently make efforts for perfection. The feeling of perfection comes from the look in the listeners eyes. You can tell easily by looking at the listeners face or eyes that he is impressed with your fluency or not. Don't be demotivated if the listener ignores you or gives an uninterested look, but take it as a feedback and work even more harder.

Identify your weak points
The best man who knows about all your defects is you yourself. Admit to your shortcomings and areas of improvement. Then only you would be able to work on the areas that require improvement. Identify the loopholes in your speech, the words that you try to speak on almost every occasion, your stumbling in words while speaking or even thinking. Make note of your shortcomings and work accordingly to overcome them.

There are many more ways to improve spoken english fluency, most of them I have covered in my earlier posts and would be discussing about the rest in my later posts. the key point is to never loose hope. Remember that you have got only one life, and it is not for regret or humiliation, but achievement and glory. Don't waste it, worrying about your shortcomings but work harder to overcome them.

I am done for the day, Improve spoken English will soon be back with yet another informative article, till then keep working hard.

Related Posts:-

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Need for Effective Communication

2010-08-18T11:36:00.000-07:00

Effective Communication is matter of perfecting at an art. It's a part of our daily lives, and we all know that an effective communication can solve many of our problems. I am saying so because most of the times we are unable to express ourselves properly.

A problem could be easily solved if approached with right attitude and good communication skills. I will discuss some of the most common and worrying scenarios that we face in our day to day lives.

Job interview
A student may be good in his or her studies, but at the time of job interview if the answers are not properly conveyed to the examiner, then the knowledge is useless. It's a very common example that almost every student faces.

Moreover if the student is aware that he is not good in spoken Communication, then he starts losing confidence. This results in stumbling and inability to express the correct answer in front of the interviewer.

So we see that after making all the efforts to master his or her subjects, a student can still fail to get a job. What a kill of all the efforts made in mastering the subjects? If some efforts were consistently made to improve the art of communication, then the situation could have been much better.

Managing a Team
Once you are a part of any organization, and are supposed to manage a team, then the role of effective communication becomes even more critical. A good leader should have good communication skills. How a person can manage and lead a team without properly communicating the plans and future actions for them.

This is a very common scenario faced in many organizations, and that is the main reason that many companies stress on spoken English skills while hiring a candidate. Once you are in charge of a team, then it is mandatory that your team should respect you, and respect comes only if you are properly authorizing the team members and playing a good leader and communicating effectively with them about their problems and issues.

An issue of respect
If a person is not able to speak his thoughts and ideas properly, then he starts losing respect among friends. No one would like to be friends with a person who is weak and can't even express himself properly.

Losing friends invoke the feeling of frustration and humiliation in the subconscious. This is very harmful as it can lead to temporary or permanent damage on the self confidence.

If a person is good in communication, he can feel the world moving at his will. It is very easy to communicate and get the things done. The world becomes a much better place to live at. All this comes at a price of mastering the art of spoken communication.

Personal Relationships
Everything starts at home. And home is the place where a person likes to be admired and respected. The respect could be from all the family members like hubby, wife, children, and parents.

There are times when personal relationships suffer due to some miscommunication or mismatching of thoughts. A good communication skill is essential in handling such scenarios. A wrong word or sentence can blow a relationship, while the choice of correct words combined with the right attitude and good Communication tactics can move the wind according to your way.

If a person is unhappy at home, then the same gets reflected in every part of his life including social and official. So don't let these issues get in your way. Give some time from your every day schedule for self improvement.

I hope this was inspiring enough to gear you up for mastering the art of effective spoken Communication. I will soon be back with yet another article on how to improve spoken English.

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Improve Pronunciation with howzsay

2010-08-17T12:27:00.000-07:00

Improving Spoken English requires listening quality English. Today's article is for helping you to get the correct pronunciation of any English word you want.

Many times while reading or talking we wonder about the correct pronunciation of the words. A perfect grip on the pronunciation of words can be achieved by listening to the correct way in which words are spoken.

I came across a site called howjsay.

This site has a unique feature that allows you to enter any word, and it will pronounce it for you. Moreover in case if you don't know the spelling of that word, then you can click the browse button, and it will display all the words available arranged in Alphabetical order. You may click on any alphabet and the site will show all the words available for that alphabet.

I personally liked this site, as it helped to get a clear hold on pronunciation, and you may practice all alone with it.

I hope that the resource provided would be beneficial to my readers to improve their spoken English and pronunciation.

Bullshiting about Communication

2010-08-15T08:45:00.000-07:00

Hello and welcome back to Improve spoken English. I was away from blogging for past few months as I need to complete some personal assignments and official work. Today's article is about those sites which claim to improve your spoken English by reading conversations between two or more people.

Recently I have noticed many sites posting conversation at various occasions. They claim that it will help to improve spoken English. The ocassions are elaborated as:-

Conversation at School
How to ask for permission
How to talk at the hospital
How to ask for help
Conversation with a friend
etc....

What a pure bullshit is this. How can person improve his spoken English by reading the conversations. They keep on posting conversation after conversation just to increase the articles count.

This approach is totally misleading as a conversation is basically between two or more persons (except soliloquy), so the response provided by a person depends upon the statements and questions spoken by other persons. How a written conversation be enacted exactly in real life except in a theater?

A better approach would be to go for English magazines and novels whish will help at least to improve your grammar.

The approach must be to motivate a person to work on ways to improve spoken English, like:-

Play English games
Listen English Songs
Working on how a person speaks
Mouth muscles control and lip movement
Approach for more and more spoken content
etc......

I hope that this article would be beneficial to my readers to stick to the right approach for getting the best out of themselves. Remember there are no shortcuts to success, so do work hard and win your reward.

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Improve Spoken English

Love the way you speak English

2009-11-08T03:04:00.000-08:00

If you want to improve something, then learn to love it. If you love doing something, then by default you enjoy it. Spoken English is no exception form this feature. Love the way you speak English, it may be good or bad. Appreciate your communication skills, this is vital for a solid confidence while speaking. This applies to any task you may pick. If you like to talk a lot, then you will be talking most of the time. If you love to play games, then you would be playing a lot of games. Similarly if you love to speak in English, then you will be speaking most of the time in English. This is the most important way to improve spoken English.

There are many advantages of using this technique. It has a very long lasting effect on our fluency and English speaking confidence. Some of the key features of appreciating and loving your spoken English are:-

You enjoy speaking in English

If you love to speak in English, then you will enjoy your communication with others. The power of speech is one of the greatest powers in the world. So it is wise to build a solid communication capability in yourself. The power you will feel, when you realize that the other person is listening to you attentively, and indeed waiting for more words to come out of your moth is incredible. It is a very solid boost to your confidence.

Your confidence for spoken English improves
We all know how to speak in English, but the crucial factor is the fluency, correct grammar and confidence. The part of grammar has to be build by reading good literature, English novels, watching English movies, English Channels, etc. But the part of fluency requires an inherent confidence, which tells you that you cannot make a mistake while speaking. This confidence is very vital, as it is the one which helps all of us in doing any task we pick up. A solid confidence is required to speak in front of many people in English. Work for it to achieve it.

Overconfidence is a killer, avoid it

Sometimes we may get overconfident, that our English is now perfect and we do not need to improve. This feeling will hamper any further growth, that might be there. Strive for perfection, but never think that you are perfect. Because once you think that you are perfect in spoken English, then your desire and effort to improve it further will go missing. A person should always strive to become the best, so just keep making your efforts for improving your Communication skills. You will automatically attain a level that you will realize to be good enough to sustain proudly in society.

That's all for today folks, always love and appreciate whatever you do.You will really enjoy learning spoken English, and moreover this technique is more of a confidence builder. So go ahead and speak confidently, because you love to do it.

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Mind your Language

2009-10-27T07:47:00.000-07:00

I would like to stress about a television show which I discussed in my previous post for watching English programs on Television. The name of the show is Mind Your Language. It is an excellent comedy show, which shows the humorous part of English. The show which is directed by Stuart Allen is a must watch for all the English learners. In-fact I myself was shown videos of this show when I had joined a Communication Skills improvement course. Then I cam to know that the videos of this show are actually used in professional ESL classes.

There has been many remakes of the show in various countries like Zaban Sambhal Ke in India and Pakistan, Second Chance! in Nigeria, etc. The show Zaban Sambhal Ke which was shown in India has Pankaj Kapoor as the professor. Anyhow the program Mind your Language is a great show in itself.

The main part of the program are students from various countries around the world coming together to a school in London for learning English. All the students are adults and they have their own accents. It is very funny to watch as all the students misinterpret the words spoken by Mr. Brown who is the professor of the class. I loved the way Mr. Broken speak. His spoken English is just marvelous. I myself try to impersonate him many times while speaking. Though it had a British accent, I will suggest that all of us should try of neutral accent. Neutral accent is the best because it is easily understood in any part of the world.

The show was composed of four series which were aired between 1977 to 1986. Though the repeat telecast is still done on few English channels. That's why I stress on viewing English channels for improving fluency and Communication skills.

All I would suggest that try to get videos of this show from the internet and enjoy the learning process. I will myself in my coming posts try to embed some videos of this show so to facilitate the learning process of English. Go ahead and check the way Mr. Brown speaks and you will get really quality English.

That's all for today, Improve spoken English will soon be back.

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Watch English Programs on Television

2009-10-26T13:02:00.000-07:00

We can improve our spoken English with the help of television programs. Television is a very good source of entertainment and knowledge. Their are many programs and soaps which are running round the clock for our entertainment and information. One of the most important fact with the television is that it is accessible to most of us. With the cable services we are able to view many channels.

These channels are in various languages. We need to pick the channels which are in English. These English channels can be very effective in improving our spoken English. Apart from news channels and information channels, there are many entertainment channels which are enjoyed by most of us.

The topic that I want to stress today is that if we sincerely wish to improve our Communication skills, then we need to watch these channel programs. Shows like Friends, Mind your Language, etc. which are aired on Zee Cafe in India are very good sources for English learners. But it is sad that only very few of us see these channels. We need to divert our interests to these programs for getting a strong nick of a fluent and error free English. The show called Friends which is aired on Zee Cafe, is a comedy show based on a group of friends. Watch it to enjoy it.

Moreover the show called Mind Your Language is a very hilarious show aired on Zee Cafe. The theme of the show is a group of students coming from various parts of the world to a single class for learning to communicate in English. The most hilarious part is the misinterpretations by the candidates of the words spoken by the professor.

This show is a real good one and the videos of this show are actually used in ESL classes. Though the show is very good, you need to be a keen observer of the way the professor speaks. His spoken English is just impeccable. You cannot find a single fault in the way in which he communicates with his students. Try to impersonate his style of speaking.

Apart from these shows there are many more programs which are aired on various channels like C.I.A., Baywatch, Sex and the City, etc. Most of these shows are aired on Zee Cafe and Star World Channels in India. For other countries they need to check out the shows according to their services providers. I would suggest that it is time we change our interests and start watching these channels and shows for improving our spoken English.

I have stressed it many times earlier also that for speaking quality English we need to hear quality English. Because that is the only way to tell our brains about the correct way to speak. So do watch these shows and try to mimic some dialogues which you like. Do think about the show after you watch it, and make sure you think in English.

That's all for today. Improve Spoken English will soon be back with another effective way to unleash the power of your fluency in communication skills.

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English Song with Lyrics-3

2009-10-20T13:27:00.000-07:00

In continuation with our English songs to Improve Spoken English, today we have come up with another song to unleash the power of Communication. The song chosen today is from the band called Blue, and the name of the song is "One Love". The English song is chosen because the clarity of the words is very high.

I would suggest you to hear the song for sometimes, and then try to sing along the lyrics of the song. This will help you massively with your English pronunciation. The aim of the English songs is to give you an spoken English exercise, where you can enjoy the learning process. Anyhow this will cause you to speak in English.

Check out the English song below:-

The lyrics of the song are displayed in the video.

Lovely song. I loved it, so will you. The need is just to get hold of few lines, and then sing along the song to gain confidence with your English pronounciation and fluency. The more you sing, the more your mouth muscles will get used to speaking English and that too in the correct way. You will get a feel of various accents as you will hear many songs. So just keep on practicing. I am done for today. Improve Spoken English will soon be back with another way to improve Communications Skills.

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Listen English Songs

Record your voice in English and Listen again

2009-10-19T03:18:00.000-07:00

We need to access our voice quality in order to judge ourselves. We constantly get English sources in this world like English songs, videos, books, movies, etc. We hear quality English, and so we know what is good English. But we need to understand the quality of English we speak ourselves. The best way for this is to record our own voice using a mobile phone or a recorder and then listening again. It helps to highlight our weak points. The first time I tried this way to improve my spoken English, I realized that my spoken English is not very good. I understand my weak sections and that was very beneficial in overcoming my faults.

For conquering this art, we need to be aware of the mistakes that we are making. Recording of sound can be done alone easily. Listen to your recorded voice again and again. Try to pick long paragraphs to speak. It might be some thought that you speak in English or you can also read from somewhere. But I will suggest that try to speak without reading from anywhere. It is essential because when we read from some resource or book, the we intentionally try to speak slowly and sounds better. But when we express our own thoughts then we came to know about our actual defects in spoken English.

There are many points which make this way of Improving Spoken English invaluable. Some of them are highlighted below:-

We came to know about our actual spoken English levels

When we hear our recorded voice in English, we can access our actual spoken English levels. Like for my case I used to speak very fast, and I never realized that. But when I hear my recorded voice for the first time, then I was shocked to listen to it. I never realized that I was so unclear in speaking English. From that day onwards I practiced on for speaking slowly in English. This is just a personal example, there might be some other issues with your spoken English which could be highlighted once you listen to your record voice.

We can decide the correct way to proceed according to the results of the recorded voice

As I discussed in the previous point, once I realized that I used to speak very fast, I worked to rectify this mistake. Same applies to all of us. Once we hear our recorded voice, we get aware of our mistakes. Then we can decide that what could be the best possible action to rectify this error. It is more of a continuous process as detailed below:-

We record our voice
Listen to it
Came to know about our mistakes
Work to rectify that mistake
Record our voice again
Listen to it again
Again check for mistakes
Work to rectify remaining mistakes
Record again......

This is a continuous process and is to be continued until the desired level of Communication skills and proficiency in fluency is not attained. Try this technique as often as possible to get the best results for your spoken English.

No dependency and hesitation

Again I would like to emphasize that we do not need any one else for this spoken English exercise, we can do it all alone. And I would prefer that it is done alone. This will help in getting the most out of us. The need is to totally relax and then start. In company of someone, a person cannot be totally relaxed. So overall there is no dependency on anyone to do this spoken English exercise and moreover as there is no one else involved, there is no hesitation in doing it.

Is a very effective technique

The technique is indeed a very powerful one to improve the level of Communication Skills. Once you try it, then you will come to know by yourself that this is one of the best ways to Improve Spoken English. Try this at home to realize the power and effectiveness of it.

I hope the article was useful to all. I am done for the day friends. Improve Spoken English will soon be back.

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English Song with Lyrics-2

2009-10-18T07:07:00.000-07:00

Hello and welcome back to Improve Spoken English. Today I am going to present a yet another effective English song to improve your Communications Skills. The song is from the movie Dhoom, and the singer is Tata Young. The words pronounced in the song are very clear, though there are some Hindi words like Dhoom machale. Apart from that everything is sung in English. The lyrics are given after the song, try to listen to the song some times. And once you are comfortable with the track, then try to sing along the song.

It is very beneficial for your pronunciation to sing along the song. So first get a bit hold of the lines, and then try to sing along. This will boost your confidence for English speaking, and also improve the fluency. I have chosen this song, because I found the words to be very clear. Though I was looking for an audio, I managed to get a video.

Check out the English song below:-

The lyrics of the song are displayed in the video

Hope you enjoyed the song, but the main point is to speak in english, so make sure you sing along the song for good pronunciation. Listen to the song many times, and then practice singing along the lines using the lyrics. It will definitely boost your self confidence for good communication skills and fluency. This is a nice learning way, when you enjoy the learning process. That's all for today friends. Improve spoken English will soon be back with another way to unleash your communication skills and fluency in English. See you till then.

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Listen English Songs

English Song with Lyrics-1

2009-10-17T14:21:00.000-07:00

Today, I am going to present an awesome song by Britney Spears to improve your Spoken English. The song is a real good one. But the most important part are the lyrics of the English song. Try to read the lyrics along with the song, it will help in in better pronunciation.

The lyrics are very helpful to understand what is being sung, and the song provides the information for its pronunciation. The more you listen to it, the more you will start to remember the song. So there would be many occasions that you will sing the song or some part of it in your mind. So that is good as you would be thinking in English.

Check out the English song below:-

The lyrics of the song are displayed in the video.

I loved this song I tell you. I hope you enjoyed the song along with the lyrics. Its a great learning experience to hear quality English and sing in English along with them. When you sing, then in fact you are speaking in English. That fulfills the basic requirement of Improving Spoken English. Songs have always been a very nice way of relaxation, but this time they would be a boost to our fluency and Communication skills also.

That's all for the day folks. Enjoy the English song and enhance the power of your Communication with this great audio. Improve Spoken English will soon be back with yet another effective solution for a fluent and error free Communication.

Don't miss these:-

Listen English Songs

Think in English

2009-10-17T08:52:00.000-07:00

The thoughts of person can drive him to his destination. When a person think, then he is indirectly talking to himself. That is good and important, because while talking to yourself, you can even discuss your extreme thoughts. So there is no lack of topics to discuss, and you can practice easily without being dependent on anyone.

This will also give a very positive boost to the fact that you will slowly stop translating while speaking in English. The key is practice and the hard work that is put into it. For attaining proper command on Communication Skills and fluency, you need to think in English. This will benefit you in many ways. Just think of a child how he learns his mother tongue. It is just by listening to others, and continuously practicing to say what they said. A child is a fighter in terms of spirits. He has got a very strong approach for learning things. Apply the same strategy in your life. Even you have done it as a child, so why not today.

There are many advantages of thinking in English, some of them are highlighted below:-

No dependency on anyone for speaking in English
As when you think in English, it is just your thoughts and you alone. So there is no dependency on anyone. In fact it also helps in the removal of hesitation and building of good self confidence. It is vital as often we think that the other person will laugh at hearing our English, so indirectly it hampers your ability to speak in English in public.

Can practice speaking English all the time
The most important time that I feel that I talk to myself or you can say that think in English is at the night. When I go to bed, I just think about the all the issues that occurred today, and the points to be taken care of tomorrow. I discuss myself in English all time. It becomes a habit, that there is no need for translation left, and the thought slowly and steadily start to overflow in English itself. There is no dependency on time, you can practice at any hour of the day or night. Thinking is a normal process and everyone does it. So why not utilize it to improve our Communication Skills.

Makes a person in a habit to think
The more you think in English, the more your habit to think in English will improve. Practice is the keyword, as often we try to think again in our mother tongue. Be alert with your thoughts, and guide them properly for a healthy English building procedure. This will benefit you very much in the long run. A good speaker is usually a good thinker, so do work on your thoughts. As the outcome of a planned event is usually better then an unplanned one. So while planning something, plan it using English language as a medium for your thoughts.

No need for translation while speaking in English
We translate from our mother tongue to English, when we can't think the meaning of the sentence or words in English. Our thoughts are in our native language and to communicate we need to translate. So the impact is on our spoken English. It creates a very bad impact on the listener when we try to translate and then speak. The key to stop this habit is to think in English. So do practice this way of improving spoken English to the fullest.

This article is one of the most important ways to Improve Spoken English. I should not be counted as a technique but as a basic requirement to improve Communication skills and fluency. No one can ever have a good spoken English, if he or she can't think in English. That's it for today friends. Improve Spoken English will soon be back.

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Stop Translating while speaking English

2009-10-14T09:26:00.000-07:00

The main issue that I have noticed from many spoken English learners is that before speaking in English, they try to translate it from their native language to English. This is fatal, as it will slow the speaker while he or she is speaking. The main point behind this is that speaker is supposed to think in English. It is a continuous activity and translating can hinder the process of fluency and Communication building skills.

There are many potential disadvantages of translating while speaking in English, some of them are illustrated below:-

Slows the English speech

The basic drawback of translating while speaking, is that the speaker thinks every time in his native language. Initially I also used to translate everything from Hindi to English. But soon I realize that, this will take me nowhere. There were occasions when I was supposed to come on stage and speak some words in English. The experience was horrible. These and factors like these provoked me to break all barriers and conquer the power of communication in English. I have given many presentations and speeches after that, and believe me the feeling that comes when you realize that your listeners are totally engrossed in your speech is unparalleled. So think in English, and speak in English, but don't translate it from your native language.

Gaps are filled by filler words, which makes a bad impression

When we try to translate from our native language to English, the speech is slowed down. So we try to fill the gaps with words like hmmmm..., er...., etc. Many people use same words again and again like "That's it", "OK", "I mean", etc. All these filler and repeated words makes a very bad impression on the listener. The basic impression that a listener gets is that the speaker is not well educated in spoken English. So do not let this happen to you. Make the right decisions now, to make a bright future.

Hinders the learning process of spoken English

Translating while speaking has an extra disadvantage that it hinders your path for learning how to speak clear and fluent English. because when you are translating, then in that case you are thinking in your native language. So though you are speaking in English but still the process gets very complicated, as detailed below:-

The speaker says a question in English about something.
You hear it, and then translate it to your native language to understand the meaning of it.
You prepare the answer to that question in your native language.
Then you translate it to English to speak it.

The whole process takes time, and the efforts required by you to think the answer in English and reply back goes missing. Soon you are comfortable with this methodology and stop making extra efforts to improve your spoken English.

Makes a person loose confidence

When you try to translate the words, you tend to get comfortable with the scenarios. And so it might be that you stop making extra efforts which were otherwise been there from your side. Still while speaking a person knows by himself that he is speaking good or bad English. So after some time you will realize that you are not able to improve your spoken English and may loose confidence and hope for improvement. Avoid translating to get a better command of the English language. Use a dictionary whenever and wherever required, but make sure that you slowly and steadily stop translating.

I am done for today. Hope that this article was helpful. Do leave a comment if you liked the article. How to Improve Spoken English will soon be back.

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Improve spoken English with a diary

2009-10-14T07:55:00.000-07:00

Writing a diary is a good pastime for many, but it could be used as a potential tool to improve your communication skills also. What you know is what you write. It might be a personal incident or some review about something, it could be anything you wish to write. The main advantage is that while you write, you will have to pay special attention to your Grammar. We all know the importance of English Grammar for good spoken English.

So while you write a diary in English, you are also practicing your English grammar basics. Whatever you write in your diary, make sure that you read it again. Our third sense always tells us, that there is something wrong with a sentence. So when you will read your diary again, you will know where you are facing difficulties in framing a sentence, and where you are weak in your grammar. If you could get your diary reviewed by someone good in English or by an English teacher, then it would be very beneficial for your learning process.

There are many advantages of writing a diary in English. Some of them are discussed below:-

Helps improve your English Grammar

When you write something in a diary, you first speak in English in your mind. So overall it is helping you to think in English. The main advantage of writing a diary in English is that it helps you to improve your English grammar tremendously. We often read things and think that we have understood it, but when it comes to writing those same things on a paper, it is at these times that we get blank. It often happens in exams that we study too much and think that we are comfortable with the subject, but when it comes to writing on the answer sheet, we often struggle for the starting word. Same applies to English grammar also. Do write as often as possible, as it is a very powerful tool to improve your spoken English and personality overall.

Improves your English Writing habit

The more you write in English, the more you will gain the habit of writing. This is often helpful in exams, where we are supposed to fill long answer sheets. In such cases the writing speed matters a lot. By using this technique, you will improve your grammar and also get in a habit of writing English. It even has an impact on your handwriting. Do not try to write too fast, think over the topic that you want to discuss in your diary, gather some good English words from your vocabulary, and then start.

A good source of information

As you would be writing continuously in your English Diary, slowly it will become a good source of information for you. That's good because it might be that you are making some notes for a subject, and in your exam time, those notes will come very useful to you. The effort is never wasted if put in the right direction, so don't waste time and get started. There might be other scenarios apart from exams, like you can make a collection of English poems, or some English jokes etc. The list could be expanded as per your comfort, the main aim after all is to improve the communication skills and get fluency along with accuracy.

Helps to remember old times

It's a wonderful experience to read your diary after a long time. You remember your old times, like ah.. that day this thing has happened. Memories are a good source of self relaxation, so make sure to keep your good memories in your English Diary, sad memories can bring discomfort if read at any time. Always try to write something positive. It will boost your overall confidence and personality. Think positive to be positive.

I hope I was able to make my point clear. Do leave a comment in case you liked the article. I am done for the day, Improve Spoken English will soon be back with yet another interesting article to improve your Communication skills and fluency.

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Play Topic game to Improve Spoken English

2009-10-13T08:04:00.000-07:00

Improve spoken English has come up with an innovative game for improving your communication skills and fluency. The importance of playing English games cannot be denied for improving spoken English. The game discussed today is a topic game. It could be played with any number of candidates, but has to be more then one. If played in presence of a teacher, then it could yield the best results. The larger the number of participants the better the game would be.

The rules of this game are very simple and are detailed below. You may modify the rules as per your convenience.

Rule 1 for Topic Game
The number of students has to be more then one. Try to get maximum number of friends, to get the best output. The language of the game is purely English, so please no native languages.

Rule 2 for Topic Game
Each participant is supposed to think of a topic. It might be some review of a product, a personal experience or some funny incidents. Each candidate is supposed to speak on that topic for at least 2 to 3 minutes. If a teacher or a person good in English is also present, then it is very beneficial.

Rule 3 for Topic Game
Each candidate will be allotted a number, may be row wise, and he or she will speak on his or her turn. There are no questions allowed in between, as it may break the momentum of the speaker. The other candidates are supposed to be supportive and not make fun in case of a mistake in speaking English.

Rule 4 for Topic Game
The motive for the candidates whose turn has come, is to keep the listeners involved, and maintain their interest while they speak.

Rule 5 for the Topic Game
In case some other language apart from English is spoken by someone, then he or she would be supposed to do some eccentric tasks, like dance on a song, or sing a song for all in English.

You are free to modify the rules as per the number of students available and as per your comfort, but the language spoken throughout the game has to be purely English. This task is surely going to help all the students gain confidence and is a very good game for personality development. The main advantage is the shedding of fears, that is inherent to most of us for public speaking.

Go ahead and enjoy the game, this will surely be bonus to your communication skills and overall personality. That's all for today, Improve Spoken English will soon be back.

You might be interested in these too:-
Vocabulary Game for Improving Spoken English

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Reading for Improving spoken English

2009-10-13T05:19:00.000-07:00

There is a famous saying that, the thing we take in decides what we give out. Similarly for giving out quality spoken English, we need to take in quality English. It might be in the form of audio or video or written. We are supposed to look out for all the possible means to improve our spoken English. Reading good English is a very good way to improve spoken English.

Try and do lots of reading, so much that you stop translating it to your native language and start thinking in English.

There are many advantages of reading to Improve spoken English. Some of them are mentioned below:-

You get in a habit of reading quality English
This point is very important, as having a habit of reading English is essential to improve your spoken English. If you can't read English properly then how can you speak it. This practice is also helpful when studying books. I remember that in my school days, I was crazy for English novels written by Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys. I have done lots of reading for authors like Shakespeare, Charles Dickens, Emily Bronte etc. This has been very advantages to me, as when I was gearing to improve my spoken English, my reading habit for English came very handy to me.

You spoken English automatically improves
As you read lots of good English, you slowly start thinking in English. This is important as you will stop translating the English words in your native language. This will be further helpful in gaining fluency in the language. The point to note here is that it is very bad to translate the English words in your local language, because in this process you become very slow in speaking English and fill the gap with words like hmmmmm.., er...., etc. This filler words when used in spoken English proves that you are not very confident of what you are saying and makes a very bad impression.

You awareness about the world increases
Reading always provides knowledge, so it is a very good option if you are preparing for some MBA exam, because in this way your awareness will also improve. Reading does not mean that you just read the lines without understanding them, it implies that you read the lines along with understanding what is written. I remember a small joke which I read some time back. Here it is:-

Jane:- Hi Arnold, you seem to be reading too much.
Arnold:- Yes.
Jane:- But by the way, what are you reading?
Arnold:- I don't know, I am concentrating on reading right now.

The point to understand here is that, it is useless to read without understanding what you have read. Though it will help you with your English pronunciation, if you read loudly. But still you are wasting a golden opportunity to understand those lines.

It is a good pass time
Reading is good fun, it is very good pass time if you enjoy it. I know many of my friends who are avid readers of either newspapers or novels. Use this powerful technique to enhance your spoken English capabilities. This way you will be able to drag the maximum out of it.

Sources of good English reading material could be:-

Reading English Newspapers
Reading English Magazines
Reading English Novels
Reading English Books
Reading English Poems
Reading English Comics

I am done for today, I hope that I was able to make my point clear. Do read English a lot if you seriously want to improve your spoken English capabilities.

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Vocabulary Game for Improving Spoken English

2009-10-12T12:37:00.000-07:00

Today I will be discussing an effective game to build your vocabulary and enhance your spoken English capability. The game is a Vocabulary game, and it requires more then one person. Usually depending upon the number of persons available, two groups can be formed. The game is a simple one and it tests your knowledge of vocabulary, and also emphasizes on spoken English. This game is one of the way to improve your vocabulary and spoken English capabilities.

The rules of the game are simple and are detailed below.

Rule 1 for the Vocabulary Game

Everyone will speak in English throughout the game. This is the most important rule as the main motive is to improve Spoken English.

Rule 2 for the Vocabulary Game

First group will come up with a word, that they think is a difficult one to know. The second group is supposed to tell its meaning. If the meaning is correct, then 10 points will be awarded to that group. If the meaning is wrong or if they are not able to answer the meaning of that word, then 10 points will be subtracted from that group.

After that the second group will come up with a word from their knowledge of vocabulary, and the first group will be supposed to answer its meaning. The point allocation rules are again the same as applied to the first group.

Rule 3 for the Vocabulary Game

This game could be played till the time both the group wishes, in the end the final total of the points will be made and the winner team will be declared. Again I would like to emphasize that throughout the game only English has to be spoken. There could be an extra rule that on speaking any other language apart from English, 10 points will be deducted from that team. It's a nice way to force both the teams to speak in English.

The main advantage of this Vocabulary game for improving spoken English is that while one team is coming up with one word, thereby testing their vocabulary, the other team has to come up with the meaning of that word. It implies that the other team has to know that word already, moreover they have to answer in English about the meaning of that word.

This helps in overall benefit to both the teams in terms of Vocabulary knowledge and improvement in Spoken English. Try this game at home or whenever you have time and friends together, it will surely be a good pass time, and in the process your English will also improve. Do post a comment if you liked this article or have any queries to ask.

I am done for today, Improve Spoken English will soon be back.

You might be interested in these too:-
Play Topic game to Improve Spoken English

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Improve Spoken English with English Channels

2009-10-12T08:49:00.000-07:00

Most of us have access to television at home. Only few realize that it is a very powerful mechanism for improving spoken English. We love to hear songs and watch movies but the need of the hour is to change our requirements a bit. Switch to English Channels like BBC, CNN, Discovery, Animal Planet, HBO, Star Movies, Channel V, ESPN etc.

The main advantage is that apart from Entertainment, they are very good sources of spoken English. We get to hear good Communication skills, hear fluency in English and are entertained at the same time. Channels like BBC and CNN have very refined speakers. They speak very clear English as they are news channels. Have a careful look over their mouth expressions, and you will learn how to move your mouth muscles while speaking particular words.

As you can see from the above list of English Channels, that they cover every domain like News, Information, sports, songs, movies etc. So it depends upon your interest to choose which one. Just make sure that you enjoy the process. Listening English Songs, and Watching English Movies are very helpful. But the maximum advantage is from the English channels like BBC and CNN, since the level and quality of English spoken in these channels is very refined.

There are many advantages of using this way to improve spoken English. Some of them are discussed below:-

Awareness Increases
As the news channels like BBC and CNN are globe channels, they provide information all across the world, so while they help you to improve your spoken English capability, they also provide information about the world. Moreover channels like Discovery, and Animal Planet are sources of very good information. The information we get is very interesting and increases our personality overall. If you are gearing up for some MBA exam, then they will prove to be very helpful. I will suggest that this is one of the best use of television that could be done.

Get Quality English
As the speakers are mostly English speaking nationals, you get very high quality English. This is important as you would be learning English from very authentic sources. Just make sure that you are consistent, as the more you work consistently, the more you will enjoy the learning process,

A very good source of Entertainment with learning
These English Channels are a very good source of Entertainment apart from knowledge. Channels like HBO and ESPN are the life line of many movies and sports lovers. It's very good to have a passion for these things, but in the mean time your spoken English will automatically improve. The more you hear good English, the more you will try to speak like them. And also your English grammar will also improve, as you will know the proper positioning of your nouns and verbs.

Could be a potential mode of relaxation and learning spoken English
Enjoying your favorite channel is the best mode of relaxation possible. Just cuddle up in your bed, with the remote in your hands and enjoying with Sachin Tendulkar hitting a six. The main point is the English Commentary that is going on in the background, we never realize that but that is the thing which is helping us improve our spoken English capabilities. So enjoy your learning path and make your mark on this world. Remember practice is the key, so keep practicing for a fluent and error free English.

That's it for today, Improve Spoken English will soon be back with yet another dynamic way to improve the power of Communication skills.

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Importance of English Grammar

2009-10-11T04:32:00.000-07:00

We know that the strength of a tree lies in its roots. Similarly the strength of any spoken language lies in its grammar. So if you seriously want to improve your spoken English, then you have to work on your grammar. Getting a good hold on grammar is required so that you can speak correct English. I have seen many speakers who speak incorrect grammar while speaking in English.

Having a perfect grammar is very hard, but the English grammar used for daily life can be easily attained by going back to your school books for grammar. Have a tight grip over your Nouns, Pronouns, Verbs, Adjectives, Adverbs and Prepositions.

The English Grammar school books that we thought of as very boring are the best resource for English Grammar available. The topics there are explained in a very descriptive and basic way, so as to help even a child gain confidence in English. Once you have chosen ESL, then be sure that you have made the right choice.

There are many other ways also to build up your grammar like speak in English to a teacher, watching English Movies to get the correct grammar usage, etc., you need not be a master for it, but the basic skill set is required. Grammar is something which goes within you and the output is quality English. It defines the basic rules for the English language and must be adhered to.

The way you express yourself during communications gives off hints as to your knowledge and education. The use of correct grammar at all the occasions will cause people to perceive you as a good English knowing person. On the contrary if incorrect usage of English grammar is done, then the impression formed on others is a very poor one and they might take you to be poorly educated. This explains why we need to go the depths of English and that is grammar itself.

All you need to get started is a good English grammar book and some time to spare everyday for reading and practicing it. The more you get used to working on your grammar, the more your English will automatically improve. This is similar to the fact that if a tree is dying, then the probable reason is the lack of water reaching the roots. So there is no advantage in watering the leaves, but the person has to water the roots. Similarly you need to provide food for the basic requirement of English.

Learning grammar can be boring initially, but once you gain momentum and start learning new rules, it will start to become fun. Remember that the more you learn the more confident you will become.

That's it for today folks, Improve Spoken English will soon soon be back.

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Why ESL?

2009-10-11T01:25:00.000-07:00

It is always good to learn a second language. Choosing English as second language is a very good choice if it is not your first language. In-fact being a bilingual has its inherent qualities like you can communicate in different parts of the world where these languages are spoken. You can even get good business from them, if you are aware of their local language. There is small story that goes like:-

A family of mice were surprised by a big black cat. The father Mouse jumped and and said, "Bow-wow!" and the cat ran away. "What was that, Father?" asked Baby Mouse. "Well, son, that's why it's important to learn a second language."

So we see that learning a new language can save your day. Choosing English as a second language has the best advantage as it is spoken in maximum parts of the globe. If your spoken English is good or even if you know English, then you get business from there, can travel to those countries, etc.

Some of the advantages of English as second language ESL are:-

Improves your personality as you become a bilingual

As you learn English apart from your mother tongue, you become a bilingual. That is you can speak more than one language. It creates a very good impression, and improves your personality and self confidence overall. There is never a drawback of learning something new. Learning to speak English is one of the best investment that could be done.

Can travel to places where English is spoken

As there are many countries in the world where English is spoken. So you can travel to these countries and speak in English and easily survive there, as you are comfortable with English. I know what pain it is when you don't know the local language. Once I have been to Paris, and I don't know French. Belive me it is very hard to survive in such conditions. But Gods grace is that I know English, so I was able to communicate in English with the locals. You see that, English has saved my day.

Get good Business form the English speaking countries

There are scenarios when you are trying to do business whose mother tounge is English, or it might be that their mother tongue is something else, but they know English. In such cases you have two options:-

To learn their local language to get business and communicate.
To learn English and get business and communicate.

I prefer the second solution, as for the first solution will limit you to that country, but English is global and is spoken around the globe. So learning English will help you get business around the globe.

There is third option also that you hire a translator, but that is a costly affair.

Improvement of chances for getting a job

The most important point of picking ESL is that the chances of your getting a job are increased many folds. Every company wants its employees to be able to communicate with the other country guys. The companies send their employees to other countries for knowledge transfer and other activities like on-site support. In such scenarios, the first preference is for the employees who are good in English and can sustain there.

I hope I have made my point clear. Choose English as a second Language if it is not your first language, learn to speak quality English and you will open a plethora of opportunities for yourself and others.

That's it for now guys, Improve Spoken English will soon be back.

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Improve English with English Movies with Sub titles

2009-10-10T05:07:00.000-07:00

For becoming a good English orator, you need to hear good quality English. There are many sources which are available from which you may get good English, like English movies, Listen English songs, a friend who is good in spoken English etc. But you need to find a way which is most interesting to you, since in this way you can keep yourself involved. This enhances your learning process, and provides a platform for speedy spoken English learning.

One of the best way for improving your spoken English is to watch English movies. Make sure that you get the movies with sub titles. This will help you to understand what is being said and in which way. The main benefit is that you get the knowledge of the correct pronunciation, mood, and phrases by this. This is a powerful tool to speed up the learning process, as it keeps you involved too. Some key factors for this technique are:-

You get quality English

English movies are mostly from America or United Kingdom, so the performers in these movies are mostly English speaking nationals. Though there is some difference in the way English is spoken in the two countries, but still you get quality English. Don't worry about the accent, it will neutralize once you get through the basic requirement for learning how to improve Spoken English.

Awareness about the different accents

As most of the English speakers have some or the other accent of speaking. When you watch English movies you get to know all about the accents which the speaker use for their communication. This is important, as neutral accent is the most preferred English in most the Business and Industries. But while speaking to friends or relatives the accent could be there. It might be that you like to pick up an accent while speaking, but this may be harmful for your professional life. It is finally your call.

Know how to speak in English in a particular mood

The actors in these English movies depicts various moods while speaking. It might be that the condition is a hilarious one, and the actors speak in a particular way. There might be another condition when the situation is a grim one, and the performers are in a very sorrow full mood, and the dialogues are in that tone. So the English movies are a very effective tool to get quality English, and the knowledge of how to speak in English depending upon the mood in which you are.

Read the sub titles along with the English movie

The sub titles are very helpful in understanding what is being said. If you are a novice in regard to English movies, then it is very difficult to understand what is being said in these movies. So it is a very good idea, to get English movies with sub titles. So when the dialogue is spoken in English, the sub titles are displayed below. So you can just read it as the communication proceeds in the movie. It helps to remove dependency on any anyone else to understand what is being said.

You enjoy the learning process

Movies are fun to watch. If the plot of the English movie is good, then you will definitely enjoy it, and in the process your spoken English will also improve. So it's always a good idea to get good English movies, as they are the value for their money. Avoid bad movies as they can spoil your language.

Knowledge of common English idioms and phrases

Most of the English movies have some English phrases or idioms as dialogue, the best part is that you come to know how to use that particular Idiom or phrase and in which context. This enhances your vocal impression multifold. Use of good idioms and phrases are a part of every good speech, so pick up some great phrases and use them in your daily communication.

I am done for today, Improve Spoken English will soon be back with yet another interesting article.

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Improve your spoken English with slow speech

2009-10-10T00:17:00.000-07:00

Speaking slowly has many virtues as regard to improvement of Spoken English. When you speak slowly, you gain time to recollect your thoughts, and also sound clear. The impression that a slow speaker makes in imminent, and that is the main reason that most of the good speakers and vocalist around the globe speak slowly.

There are many advantages for this way to improve your spoken English, and is one of the main answers to the question on how to improve spoken English. Some of the advantages are listed below.

You get time to recollect your thoughts
The main advantage of speaking slowly is that, you get ample time to recollect your thoughts. This will help in clear speech. You will not fumble with the words and make an impression of a good vocalist. Have a look around you for all the good speakers, all of them have one property in common, and that is that they speak slowly.

I have seen many politicians on the television giving long speeches. But the long speech is a matter of slow speaking. Practice it in your daily life, and surely this will make a mark in your fluency and spoken skills. Speak in English has always been the key for good communication , but has to be combined with slow speech.

The listener gets time to understand what you have said
When you speak slowly, the listener gets ample time to understand what you have said. This will help in clear transfer of thoughts. This is the main motive behind it. If you speak fast, then the person who is listening to you have to struggle to keep pace with you. This makes a very bad impression, and the person might think that you are not able to transfer your thoughts by your communication. This is one of the key factors faced by interviewees in the interview, when they try to speak too fast.

The pronunciation gets clear
This technique has another main advantage that when you speak slowly, your pronunciation automatically gets clearer. You get proper time to speak each and every word clearly, and so the impact on pronunciation is also there. Don't be shy in trying this technique as it is one of the most important ways to improve your spoken English.

The mouth muscles gets extra time for speaking the words
The more you speak slowly, the more your mouth muscles gets extra time to gear up for the new words. This will help them in getting accustomed to the new words of English, and help for a great communication. The role of mouth muscles is that they need to properly exercised to the way you speak. It's a simple process like any another body muscle. You do body building, then why not speech building.

Speak with the least number of words
There are times when you desperately want to make an impression. Like when appearing for an interview for some MBA college, or may be some group discussion. In such cases think-full speaking really helps. It is not required that you speak for a ling duration, but you need to speak smartly. Use the least number of words to communicate your thoughts. This will cause the listener to think on what you have spoken, and will definitely impress him or her.

That's it for today friends. Improve Spoken English is consistently working on new articles so as to help all its readers to improve their spoken English capability, and will be soon back with yet another innovative article on improving of spoken English communication.

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For better Communication, talk to yourself

2009-10-09T10:01:00.000-07:00

The essence of learning to improve spoken English lies in speaking in English. May it be with a friend, or to yourself. Talking to yourself is called soliloquy. It is a good way to shed your fears, and practice English so as to improve your Communication. The importance lies in the fact that while you speak to yourself, you are not dependent on anyone, and since no one else apart from you is involved, so it helps in removal of hesitation in speaking.

Advantages of Speaking to Yourself for improving Communication Skills

There are many advantages of speaking to yourself for getting fluency and improving communication Skills. Some of them are listed below.

Removal of hesitation

The best part of speaking to yourself is that there is no one else involved. So there is no fear that any one will laugh on listening to your English. This is a great advantage, as this will build self confidence very soon in you. The more you gain confidence, the more your hesitation will shed off. The main impact of this is that, you will be able to speak easily in front of others.

No dependency

You can always speak in English anytime. You do not need any of your friends for that, and so it can be practiced as per your level of comfort. It happens that some people like to talk in the night, when no one else is available. In such cases the dependency factor comes into picture. It might be that you do not have anything to talk to yourself, in such cases just grab an English Newspaper and start reading it loudly. This will help you mouth muscles to get used to the English words pronunciation. That's why I have stressed earlier on the use of English Newspaper for improving Spoken English.

You can practice as per your comfort

You can practice speaking in English in the day, afternoon or at midnight. You just need to be alone at that time, and you are all set to it. Take small breaks from your schedule or fix your free time for this job. You will soon realize building of fluency in your Communication Skills.

You gain confidence at a fast rate

Since the more you practice, the more you gain confidence that you are comfortable with your English. This will help immensely in building your confidence for spoken English. You will get used to many words, and you will be using them often in you spoken Communication.

Every thing in this world has their own disadvantages, but you can counterfeit them with proper measures.

Disadvantages of Speaking to yourself for improving Communication Skills

You may get overconfident

The learning process by speaking to yourself is very powerful, even I have done it many times, and still do it. It is great fun as the level of confidence just shoots up. But you must be cautious for not getting overconfident. In that case, you will stop practicing this technique, and will soon loose rhythm.

You still need to test your spoken English skills with others

The method of speaking to yourself in English, goes hand in hand with other ways for improving English. This is required to continuously monitor your progress and improvement. You will come to know about your mistakes which were made earlier, and how to rectify them.

That's it for today friends. Improve Spoken English will soon be back with a new way to unleash the power of you communication.

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Listen English Songs

2009-10-07T09:03:00.000-07:00

Songs are very good way to relax yourself. But they could also be useful in improving your spoken English. Improve Spoken English is going to present the use of English Songs for improving your communication skills. Songs are fun when listened to, so they make a very good learning companion. Get a collection of good and slow English songs, and if possible get their lyrics also. This is all you need to get started for this English exercise.

Get Slow English Tracks

Slow English tracks are very easy to understand, and sing along. The importance of getting slow tracks is that, the words pronounced in these songs are very clear. So it helps in understanding the way the words in English are pronounced. Not to mention that you will definitely come across new English words in these songs, so they will help in improving your vocabulary also.

Get the Lyrics of the English Song

Make sure that you get the lyrics of the song you are listening to. It will help you to understand which words are pronounced in which way. This is important as normally there are many words in songs which we do not understand, and leave them as it is. This will hamper your growth in vocabulary. If the lyrics are not available, in that case you can move ahead with that song. Anyhow it will help you in your pronunciation and communication skills.

Sing along the song in English

Every language has some accent, so to get a feel of that, you need to sing along the song. Soon you will realize that, as you sing you realize the mistakes you make in pronunciation. For this part the lyrics of the English song are very helpful. You just read the lyrics along with the song. It is pure fun to do, and you will in the process attain good fluency in English Communication. As you sing along the song you will realize that practically you are fulfilling the basic requirement for English improvement, and the is speak in English, and that too in a proper way.

The process of English improvement should be consistent, and breaks should not be there, as it will make you loose interest and continuity. That's it for today friends, Improve Spoken English will soon be back.

Don't miss these:-

English Song with Lyrics-1
English Song with Lyrics-2
English Song with Lyrics-3

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Join a Personality Development Program (PDP)

2009-10-04T13:58:00.000-07:00

Often it happens that the personal motivation is not enough to improve your spoken English capability. the person might be putting his or her best efforts, but as a matter of fact, no one can carry on practicing alone. Everyone needs a friend or a group of friends to communicate and discuss in English. So today I am going to discuss a very effective way to tackle this subtle issue, we have PDP to the rescue.

Personalty Development Program or PDP in short are courses which work on improving your overall personality. It includes everything that is a part of a person's personality, like

Speaking in English
Use of proper accent
The way to communicate properly
Removal of hesitation
The way to present and express yourself appropriately.

These Courses could be taken in almost any city. Infact many students take these courses before gearing up for interviews for jobs.

I would like to emphasize that, though these courses are very helpful, but still the efforts are required from the individual, or else your money spent on these courses will go waste.

The main advantage of these courses are:-

Presence of a good teacher who can guide you properly.
A group of students to which you can communicate.
A feeling of competition that builds up automatically as the course proceeds. This helps in putting more efforts and enjoying the learning process.
Use of proper techniques by these PDP course propviders which help in faster and effective learning.
Removal of hesitation, as the students who join the course are usually of the same level. So there is no hesitation in communicating in English.
The person gains confidence, and enjoys the learning path with the use of English quizzes and English games.
Mock rounds, in which the person is supposed to stand up and speak in English on some topic for a particular amount of time.
A final evaluation, which is helpful in knowing the level of improvement attained.
Group Discussions, in which the persons are given a topic, and they are supposed to discuss on it.
Improvement of vocabulary by constant communicating with the teacher and the students.
Etc.

The only drawback of this is that:-

You have to spend money for it, as these courses are usually not free.

The list of advantages of PDP for improving spoken English and personality are immense. The only requirement is the patience and hard work to get that feeling of confidence.

I am done for today. Will be back soon with another informative article on improving spoken English.

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How to improve vocabulary

2009-09-20T06:02:00.000-07:00

Improving vocabulary is not a cake walk. It requires very high efforts from the individual. Today Improve Spoken English is coming up with a very important article on on how to improve your vocabulary. I have done it myself when I was preparing for MBA. Today my friends are amazed by seeing the power of my vocabulary. It happens many times that they say some word, and instantly I say the meaning of that word. It impresses a lot.

I will start from the beginning, from the very starting my vocab was very weak. In-fact i don't knew the meaning of very simple words also. My friends used to laugh at me, but I was not concerned. The things changed, when I decided to prepare for MBA (Masters of Business Administration). I decided to go for the CAT (Common Aptitude Test) for IIM's (Indian Institute of Management). When I started to give mock tests for CAT, I realized that I was good in Maths and Data Interpretation, but every-time, I used to score very low in my vocabulary and English Section.

So I decided to give it a pull shot. I tried many short cuts on various sites, but all of them used to define some words only. I wanted an exhaustive and decent way to improve. When I was fed up with all the short cuts, I finally realized that "there are no shortcuts to success". So I picked up a dictionary. The dictionary was a decent one, with about 3000-4000 words. And I started to cram every page.

My room partner used to laugh at me by seeing that I am learning every page and every word. But to his and my surprise it started to work. I broke my work in 26 modules, one module for each alphabet. Then I started from alphabets which have less number of words, so as to gain confidence as soon as possible. Infact I started from the alphabet "x", which has the least number of words. After learning this, i moved to "z", then all the words starting from "y", and then so on.

I never used to overburden myself. My daily routine consists of learning at least 20 new words, and the most important thing was to give a revision to the words I learned earlier. I asked my room partner, to take that dictionary, and ask the words in random manner from a particular alphabet. To our great amazement, I always used to score with more then 95% of the words as correct.

The most important part is to revise the words which you learned earlier, or slowly the words will dissapear from your memory. Slowly I covered almost every alphabet. The maximum difficulty I faced was with the alphabet which has the most number of words. But still I managed to cover it anyhow.

The time consumed by me for this complete Vocabulary improvement process was about 6-8 months. But my vocabulary became rock solid. If you have a smaller time span, then you can start from a smaller dictionary with less number of words.

All the day I used to keep thinking about the words, even in the night while going to sleep, it used to happen that some word come in my memory and I am not clear about it's meaning. Instantly I used to get up and check the dictionary or else I would not have been able to sleep. Take this process as a very serious and regular one. Do not break your learning process or it can hamper your growth.

I remember that while giving the XAT (XLRI Aptitude test), there were three sections, one for vocabulary with 50 words, the second for mathematics with 5 questions (each question has 10 sub questions), the third section was for general knowledge.

I started from the general knowledge section, in which I knew the answer for 38 questions. Th rest I just guessed. Then I moved to the vocabulary section. There were 50 questions, and I knew the meaning of 49 words from those 50 words. It took me hardly 10 min, to complete that section. The maths section was very very hard, and I was not able to solve more that 1 question (with 10 sub-parts).

Finally I knew that I will not be able to make into XLRI because of my bad performance in the Mathematics section. The main point is that the confidence I achieved regarding my vocabulary was immense.
Even today I rate my self as very good in my vocabulary. All of my friends always keep asking me, about how was I able to achieve this level of excellence in vocabulary.

I would like to summarize my learning for all of you, for a reference.

Use a good dictionary, normally the one used for GRE is good enough.
Make a habit of learning 20 new words everyday.
Do not over burden yourself, as it might lead to frustration
Always revise the words which you have learned earlier.
Ask a friend or family member to ask words from that dictionary, and confirm the meaning spoken by you. This will help in analyzing yourself.
If possible, take mock tests for vocabulary.
Be consistent, and do not let breaks come in your consistency.

I hope that this article will be beneficial to all of my readers, as this is my personal experience, I bet that if you do it, then you also can attain these limits in vocabulary.

That's it for today friends. Do post a comment to share your opinion about this article.

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Play English Games for Spoken English Improvement

2009-09-20T04:28:00.000-07:00

Language improvement is easy, if we enjoy doing it. In-fact everything is easy in this world, if we love to do it. So for improving your spoken English you need to enjoy the learning process. There are number of resources available online, which makes your learning process easy.

The best way to do it, is by using English games. Check out online for a plethora of material for English improvement. The net provides a plethora of information about various activities and ways to Improve spoken English. But you need to find the one that appeals and draws your attention. That is important so as to keep you intact with the learning process.

Try English games like spoken Hangman, Vocabulary games, quizzes, buzzer rounds etc. at home to fasten up for progress. Once you have opted for ESL, then be sure of the fact that you have made a very good decision. I will be working on to incorporate as many games as possible in this blog, so as to help my readers get the most out of it.

Apart from these, there are many spoken English articles, which could be very useful. The audio courses available on the net are helpful to make your self accustomed to the way the English is spoken. Apart from that the games which the site provide are very very useful.

English games are the best way to enjoy the process of English learning. You can play alone, or any of your friends can accompany you in these games. Games like grammar quizzes, Hangman, etc. makes to strive for more. And you compete to know more and more. It is a nice way to improve your spoken vocal capability. Not to mention that it enhances your vocabulary also.

Internet is wide, and unlimited, search for resources, but stick to those which you like and are able to understand. Because that will help you to gain confidence. Sometimes too many resources also can hamper your progress of English learning, as you could be confused regarding which to choose. But narrowing your search to a few genuine and authentic English teaching sites, can boost your performance in an amazing way.

I am done for today, will be soon with yet another article on How to Improve Spoken English.

You might like these games too:-

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Enhance spoken English with Wikipedia Spoken Project

2009-09-18T14:24:00.000-07:00

Hi all of you waiting for your spoken English to be a cake walk. Today I am going to share a very useful link, and that is from a very authentic site, that is Wikipedia. Wikipedia has come up with a great project to improve the spoken English of everyone.

The link for this great project is Wikipedia:Spoken articles. This link contains spoken audios of various words and their meanings. The best part is that the user can scan for any word in their list, and they will give a vocal explanation of that word or phrase. The article in reading is also there, but on a separate page.

It is a very good way for improving your spoken English, as you come to hear good English by very authentic sources. Moreover you get to know the meaning of that word or phrase also. The current development on spoken articles contains audios on the following categories:-

Art, architecture, and archaeology
Biology and medicine
Business
Chemistry
Culture and society
Education
Economics
Food and drink
Geography and places
Geology, geophysics, and mineralogy
History
Internet
Language and linguistics
Law and crime
Literature
Mathematics
Media
Music
Philosophy
Physics and astronomy
Politics and government
Psychology
Recreation and leisure
Religion and beliefs
Royalty, nobility and chivalry
Sport and games
Technology
Transport
War
Wikipedia-related
See also

Though the categories of articles is going to increase over time, with more and more audios added to each category. You would love to spend some quality time hearing these audios, and practicing their pronunciation.

Remember that if you want to improve your pronunciation, then you have to listen to quality audios, and quality English. This is a brain tuning exercise, which records what we hear. And when we speak those words, our brain guides us about the correct pronunciation.

It is an exhaustive collection of audios, and you will have more then enough audios to practice communication skills improvement by hearing audios. If you want to know more about this Wikipedia Spoken project, then check the link for it. It involves with speaking the articles present on Wikipedia loudly. So you can easily hear how to correctly pronounce words, and talk normally in conversations.

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Read English Dailies Loudly

2009-09-17T15:38:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone, Improve Spoken English has come up with yet an effective article to improve your spoken English. Today I am going to discuss the most important method that I used to improve my spoken English and communication skills. Yes it is with the help of self practice and reading English news papers loudly.

Reading loudly of English dailies or English magazines or might be an English novel really helps. It can be practiced in your free time, and there is no hesitation in practicing alone and in solitude. It is very effective because the more you speak in English, the more you get used to the English pronunciation and words. Keep a dictionary along with you while reading news papers. While reading the news papers keep a pen or pencil along with you. If you feel that any word is new, then just underline it, but don't stop reading loudly.

Once you have practiced reading news papers loudly for a sufficient time, then you can give a view to all the words that you have underlined. Open your dictionary and check out the meanings. Try speaking the words loudly and their meaning many times. This will help you to get accustomed to the new words. This process will enhance your vocabulary, reading capability and your English communication all at the same time. That's the main reason that in my previous article I have emphasized on the use of dictionary.

The time spent for reading loudly the English dailies or magazines depends upon the spare time you have. But still a minimum time of 1 hr should be dedicated to it daily. The maximum time limit depends upon the individual level of comfort with the English language.

This does not end here, you also need to practice the word you learned in your daily communication. Talk to friends, and try to use the new words you have learned. It will help you to memorize the words and get used to them for normal conversation.

Speaking loudly clears your throat, and makes your vocal cord used to speaking the particular words more easily. A clear throat is a must for clear and effective communication. The advantages are immense, you gain self confidence and you feel good.

Feel good factor is a must for any learning, if you are not happy with your progress, then automatically you will try harder to achieve your goal. This might lead to frustration at times. But remember that "he who never gives up, wins the race". So have a "never say die" approach. Be a fighter, if you wish to conquer the English Language. Victory goes in the hands of the person who tries for it.

Practice is the key, do not follow the routine of practicing for a few days then taking a break for next few days, and then come back. This will hamper your progress of English Language Communication learning. Make a consistent routine, practice at least for an hour a day, and talk as much in English as possible.

I myself followed the routine for at least 2 months, before gaining ample confidence. Make mistakes, because you learn from them. No one can be perfect in English, so don't bother about become a perfect English vocalist. But you still need to strive for perfection, because that is the way to improve yourself continuously. It is a continuous process and breaks in this continuity can hamper your growth.

A good English Communicator deserves respect, and if there are few peoples talking, and you make some comments in decent English, then it makes a very good impression. It can be very helpful at times. Suppose that you have an urgent business requirement and you need to woo your client at any cost. In these circumstance, a good English communication can do wonders for you.

Speak up to your friends about the English words which you have learned, and discuss the meanings of them. The more you make a habit of this, the better for you. No one give you a medicine that OK take this, and now you are a good English speaker. A person has to make efforts from his side, to achieve what he or she wants.

Play English games, like in which every person is supposed to stand up and give a speech in English on any topic for 2 to 3 minutes. It helps to wash hesitation away, and is a very good time pass also. This way you enjoy the learning process, and achieve your desired goal very soon.

I am done for today, posting of comments is required from your side, so that we can be in touch. Keep checking Improve Spoken English for more ways to improve your English communication.

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Use a Dictionary

2009-09-17T08:44:00.000-07:00

Improve Spoken English is back with another very effective way to improve the power of your communication. Thesaurus or a dictionary is the best friend of a person willing to get accustomed to a language. It is not only for beginners, but professionals also. The dictionary is the best tool to improve your vocabulary.

While communicating in English, often there are words with which we are not familiar. Remember to make a note of such words, and check the dictionary for that. If the dictionary is a good one, then it will contain the way to pronounce it correctly. In a dictionary, after every word, there is some syllables mentioned in bracket, and after that the meaning is given. Give a good look on these phonetic syllables, as they are your guide to pronounce any word in English language correctly. Moreover you come to know the meaning of the word also.

The more you keep checking dictionary, the more your phonetic capability and the understanding of the meaning of the word will increase. Next time it might be that you are the one who use that word while speaking in English. You will slowly realize that the power of your vocabulary is increasing and you are gaining self confidence.

When you consult a thesaurus, then try to read that word aloud many times, this will help in your ears getting used to the sound of that word. A very effective technique for getting used to the word. In a dictionary there are thousands and thousands of word. You need not go for every word. Normally in spoken English, we don't use the entire dictionary. It is just a set of words which are usually used in daily communication.

The more you speak in English, the more you will realize that there are few words which we use most of the time. We add on more words to our vocabulary by communicating more and more. It is a good practice and answers the basic question of how to improve spoken English.

Using of a dictionary is very helpful, and for learners of English Language, it is a must to keep a small pocket dictionary along with them. You never know when it might be useful, so it is better to carry along with you. Anytime you are stuck with any word, then just open your thesaurus and check the meaning and pronunciation with the accent of that word. It is very helpful and you never have to hesitate in doing so.

Asking the meaning from the person you are talking to, is also an option. But sometimes it is embarrassing, so why to depend on someone else. Just keep a pocket dictionary and you are all set.

If you have some friends who are also willing to learn English as second language, then it is very good for all of you. You can form groups and speak among yourself only. Make some word meaning games, and ask the meaning of some word to the other group and let the answer come. It is a very effective way to improve you vocabulary, as this will increase your enthusiasm to learn, and also shed all the hesitation that you have in speaking English.

Try and explore new words which you have heard somewhere, look for the meaning and discuss over that word. We often let the things go and don't concern ourselves in getting the meaning of it, but this is not the way to improve. Stick to the words, and be adamant to know the meaning and usage of that word.

I have made my point clear, do post a comment in case you liked the article, or if you have any issues. Improve Spoken English will soon be coming with a new way to unleash the power of communication.

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English as Second language ESL

2009-09-16T14:28:00.000-07:00

Kudos for choosing ESL (English as a second language). Improve Spoken English is going to take the topic of ESL today. Most of us are not Britishers or Americans, and we don't have English as our first or primary language. I am an Indian, and my mother tongue is Hindi. Learning English has been a wonderful experience in itself. You know, that good English communication skill can create wonders for you.

Take the example of the most basic requirement of a person, and that is a job. If not every, then most of the job requires the employee to be fluent in English. I have seen many advertisements in newspapers about various job profiles, and almost everywhere I have seen the requirement for good communication skills.

Take the example of a receptionist at an office, he or she has to interact with many people and clients. A good knowledge of English can get you that job. You may be a much skilled person and can apply for a much better job, but still the requirement of good spoken English is always present.

Have you ever thought that why is English required everywhere. The simple reason is that the Britishers have ruled almost the entire world. We all know that the mother tongue of Britishers is English. So wherever they have gone, they have induced English into their culture. The best part is that, now most of the world speaks English. So if you are good in speaking English, then you could be a global person. And in fact you can communicate in almost any part of the world.

Recently I was checking the influence of languages of different languages in different parts of the world. I came to know that English is the most spoken language in the world. The second ranking goes to the French Language. So if you are aware of English, then you can make a great difference to your career.

As we all know one or two languages, choosing English as an ESL or English as second Language is the right choice to make. Go to a BPO, and all they require is good English Communication skill. Go to a marketing job, and they want good spoken English capability to interact with the clients. Go to a HR job, and you again need English. It is omnipresent an you cannot escape it. Gone are the days when speaking in English was a status symbol. Today it is a necessity. So do speak in English whenever you have the opportunity.

The merits of choosing English as a second language are immense. It's your career, and you need to decide to steer in which direction. English is just a means of communication, if you have an additional skill set, then no one can stop you from making a great career. Moreover many jobs nowadays require the person to be just a good English vocal, as it creates a very decent impression on the customers.

It's business everywhere and why would a company choose you, when you cannot deliver them good business. For delivering good business, you need to communicate with as many clients as possible, and this again implies good spoken English.

I suggest to all of my readers, that ESL is the right choice, work on it, master it and conquer it. Improve your spoken English for a better future. The opportunities are immense, but it goes to the person with the capability to communicate. It might be that you are good in your skill set, but what if you can't communicate to the interviewer about your skill set. Remember that almost all the interviews are in English. A right decision today of ESL can solve many problems tomorrow.

That's it for today, give a thought to what I wrote today. It can change the world around. Do post a comment, if you liked the article or if you have any issues or queries. Improve Spoken English is always there to answer them.

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How to Improve Spoken English

2009-09-16T13:26:00.000-07:00

There has been many cases, when it is seen that people say that, if you buy their book, then you will learn to speak fluent English. This thing is of great concern, and so Improve Spoken English has come up with this article to shed all the myths behind this theory. No book can teach you how to speak in English.

Believe me, all those people who say that they can improve your English if you buy their book, then don't go for them. Improving spoken English is a matter of practice and right guidance. How can you learn to speak good English by reading something. You need to hear the way the words are pronounced, know where to stop, and where to continue while speaking. All this comes via practice and listening to good English.

For improving your communication skills, you should be first of all be comfortable with grammar. Grammar is what we studied in our starting school days, and used to hate it as a very boring subject, but this grammar is the one which is essential for getting a good hold of what you speak. Abstain from getting causal and filthy words, as they can spoil your grammar.

If you are comfortable with it, then you are all set to rock and roll with your spoken English skills, and if not then you are eligible for improving it. So for all those who are weak in grammar, I will suggest, that go and grab a school days grammar book. Give it a revision. don't worry to memorize everything. No one can memorize everything in grammar. Just get a good hold of it. That should be enough for the basic preparation.

Speak in English with your friends and relatives. Try to communicate as much as possible with your teachers and professors in English. This will help you in gaining self confidence. Break all barriers which hold you from doing so. Make good company, and speak with them in English.

If possible join an English course, this is often helpful, as the teacher and professor drives you for good communication skills. Moreover you get to have good company in form of your classmates, with whom you can converse freely. Normally the skill level of the batch-mates is the same, so no feeling of shame is there, and the learning process is very fast. These institutes often have test of spoken English, and are very effective in knowing your progress and drawbacks.

Oral communication is the best way to improve your spoken English, but their are other ways also. The second best effective way is to practice English pronunciation. This can be done in solitude, and is therefore very effective. You have no one to be ashamed of, and you can speak to yourself. This way is good and effective. You gain self confidence and self esteem, and also you are comfortable with the pronunciation of typical English words.

Reading English also often helps, as you get accustomed with various different English words, and your grammar gets improved. Get a decent English book to start reading. A novel in English is also helpful, but many times novels have many slang words, which might have a bad impact on your grammar. But any how I will suggest to go for it. In this world there is nothing free, and if you are learning something, then you have to accept the drawbacks of it also.

The more you practice, the more you will feel that your communication of spoken English is improving. Remember that nothing is perfect, so keep practicing to keep you updated and always prepared. Go for English songs, English movies, etc. Don't limit yourself, try everything that comes in your hand. Keep a positive frame of mind, and just break all barriers.

That's it for now guys. Keep checking Improve Spoken English for more ways to improve the power of your communication.

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Speak in English

2009-09-16T12:18:00.000-07:00

Yes, you read the topic correct. For improving your spoken English and communication skills, you need to speak in English. This is the first and most basic rule for English improvement. That is why Improve Spoken English has decided to come up with this article.

The more you speak in English, the more you make errors. And the more you make errors, the more you learn. There is a famous saying in English that "he who has never made a mistake, can never learn" . So don't be shy to make mistakes. At most the listener will laugh at you. But think that, he is indirectly hinting about your error in spoken English. You also laugh with him, but realize that you made a mistake, and you should correct it the next time.

No one is belittled, if someone laughs on him. Don;t ever take it as an ego issue. Learn to make mistakes, and learn to learn from those mistakes.

Try to communicate with different users who are good and fluent in English, this will help you in getting the right pronunciation of most of the words. It's like a child learning process. The child learns a language from his or her parents and relatives. It starts by saying pa pa or ma ma. But slowly and gradually it picks up more words in its vocabulary. If a 1 year old child can do it, then why can't you.

We all know that this is one of the basic requirements to improve our spoken English, but still we shy off from it. Bet me, this will always haunt you, until you face it. We must learn to face our fears and not to run away from them. If you run away from the issue, then also the issue of improving your spoken English is still persistent, but if you face it, then slowly you learn it and gradually conquer it.

Be a conquer and never be afraid to speak in English in open. that's the best way to shed off your fears, and to gain new self confidence, that now the other person has to fear about his or her English, and not you.

I hope that this article will definitely boost your self confidence and willingness to speak in English. If you still have issues, then do post a comment, I will try my best to resolve them. Do post a comment if you liked the article, because that id the only way, we can be in touch. Keep checking Improve spoken English for more updates.

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Welcome to Improve Spoken English

2009-09-16T11:59:00.000-07:00

Hello and welcome to Improve Spoken English. This is my first article on this topic, so I will start by introducing myself. I am a programmer by profession. My hobbies include dancing, music, cultural arts and activities.

When I was in my college years, I had to struggle a lot with my spoken English. I used to write very good English, but when it comes to speaking English, I used to get dumb. After college, when I started to appear for interviews, I realized that though I was technically very strong, but still was unable to communicate my thoughts to the Interviewer.

This feeling overpowered me, and I decided to improve my spoken English. today I am working in an MNC, with a cool package. My English is superb, and I am proud of the way I improved it.

In this blog, I will discuss various ways of improving spoken English. I hope that this blog will help many aspirants, who are lost and have lost hope. It would be my best effort to come out with all the methods that I tried to improve my spoken English, and even come up with new ideas for improving the communication power.

Keep checking this blog, for more updates on how to improve spoken English.