10 Things to do to improve your spoken

8/7/2019 10 Things to do to improve your spoken

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10 Things to do to improve your spoken English

So you want to improve your spoken English. Its ve ry important because you have a very important interview to clear before you get your Dream Job. You are

confident that you will clear all the rounds, if only you had the confidence to speak in English. You are committed to work for it but you dont know where to start, how

to start.

Sounds familiar!! I bet this has happened to most of us at some point of time. I remember times when I used to think that English was the biggest barrier for my

career growth. Not any more, I worked hard and now I am at a comfort level with my English and even teach people how to overcome this challenge.

Today I am going to share what I did to improve my English. You can follow the same steps and beat the fear for Angrezi, now the world language.

10 Things that I think are important to improve your spoken English:

1. Read some kind of English material everyday. e. g. you may read a good magazine like India Today, Front Line. You may even start with quality editorials from

Newspapers like The Hindu and The Tribune.

2. Listen, carefully, to English movies or speakers. Take note of the words/terms used. You might use them someday. It would be better if you have a booklet where

you could list down the words along with their meaning and usage. Make sure you go back and read these words over and over till you start using them effectively.

3. We know English but our tongue doesnt, so try to read aloud. It would be best if you have a corresponding cassettes. You should read aloud alongside the

recordings.

4. Watch English movies with English subtitles on. This has many advantages. You will be able to compare the written words to the correct pronunciations. You will

get a feel of how real English sentences are formed when speaking.

5. Listen to English songs. This will help you a lot. If u cant understand the accent, take the lyrics which you can get by searching at google (your best teacher

online).

6. Note down the phrases you get from different English sources, mug up them and use them.

7. One of the most common mistakes that English learners make is, they think in their mother tongue. When they want to say something in English, they think in their

mother tongue, translate it to English and then say it in English. If you want to speak in English fluently you will have to learn to think in English.

8. To help you with your English, you could get your self a English learning kit OR English learning software life Cafe English.

9. Talk to yourself. You may feel shy, using English, when among your friends, however you should talk to yourself loudly in English to know how well you are doing.

10. The last but the most important thing. Stop thinking that you cannot speak English, YOU CAN, believe me.


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10 tips to improve the way you speak EnglishMany deserving candidates lose out on job opportunities because of their vernacular accent.

Can I 'neutralise' my accent?

Yes, you can. All you need to do is train yourself to speak English as comfortably and perfectly as you

speak your mother tongue.

How do you train yourself? By inculcating certain practices in your daily lifestyle. These will get you closer

to sounding like a native English speaker and equip you with a global accent -- and you will speak not

American or British English, but correct English.

This is the first step to learn any other accent, be it American or British or Australian.

Lisa Mojsin, head trainer, director and founder of the Accurate English Training Company in Los Angeles,

offers these tips to help 'neutralise' your accent or rather do away with the local twang, as you speak.

i. Observe the mouth movements of those who speak English well and try to imitate them.

When you are watching television, observe the mouth movements of the speakers. Repeat what they are

saying, while imitating the intonation and rhythm of their speech.

ii. Until you learn the correct intonation and rhythm of English, slow your speech down.

If you speak too quickly, and with the wrong intonation and rhythm, native speakers will have a hard time

understanding you.

Don't worry about your listener getting impatient with your slow speech -- it is more important that

everything you say be understood.

iii. Listen to the 'music' of English.

Do not use the 'music' of your native language when you speak English. Each language has its own way

of 'singing'.

iv. Use the dictionary.

Try and familiarise yourself with the phonetic symbols of your dictionary. Look up the correct

pronunciation of words that are hard for you to say.

v. Make a list of frequently used words that you find difficult to pronounce and ask someone who

speaks the language well to pronounce them for you.

Record these words, listen to them and practice saying them. Listen and read at the same time.

vi. Buy books on tape.


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Record yourself reading some sections of the book. Compare the sound of your English with that of the

person reading the book on the tape.

vii. Pronounce the ending of each word.

Pay special attention to 'S' and 'ED' endings. This will help you strengthen the mouth muscles that you

use when you speak English.

viii. Read aloud in English for 15-20 minutes every day.

Research has shown it takes about three months of daily practice to develop strong mouth muscles for

speaking a new language.

ix. Record your own voice and listen for pronunciation mistakes.

Many people hate to hear the sound of their voice and avoid listening to themselves speak. However, this

is a very important exercise because doing it will help you become conscious of the mistakes you aremaking.

x. Be patient.

You can change the way you speak but i t won't happen overnight. People often expect instant results and

give up too soon. You can change the way you sound if you are willing to put some effort into it.

Quick tips

Various versions of the English language exist. Begin by identifying the category you fall into and start by

improving the clarity of your speech.

~ Focus on removing the mother tongue influence and the 'Indianisms' that creep into your English

conversations.

~ Watch the English news on television channels like Star World, CNN, BBC and English movies on Star

Movies and HBO.

~ Listen to and sing English songs. We'd recommend Westlife, Robbie Williams [ Images ], Abba, Skeeter

Davis and Connie Francis among others.

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10 Things to do to improve your spoken