How can I improve my English speaking skills by myself?
From watching English television shows to practicing with Duolingo, here are 9 answers to the question, “How can I improve my English speaking skills by myself?”
- Watch English Television Shows & Movies in Free Time
- Learn Grammar Rules and Structures
- Practice Your Speaking Through Reading (out Loud)
- Listen to Good Music | While Reading the Lyrics Hack
- Visit a Language Cafe!
- Immersion
- Record and Listen to Yourself
- Use An App Like Hellotalk Or Tandem
- Practice With Duolingo
Watch English Television Shows & Movies in Free Time
There are many online resources to help improve your English skills, but I find watching television shows or movies in English incredibly potent. TV and film help non-native English speakers grasp more nuance, slang, and cultural information about English than more formal resources.
The common goal for speaking English, or any language, is to become proficient at speaking or writing it with native speakers. While formal lessons are essential for grasping the general structure of English grammar and vocabulary, understanding culture and nuance is more advanced and will greatly deepen your ability to speak with and understand English speakers.
There is a spectrum of slang or informal language even common within the business world to learn if you want to take your education to the next level. Watching English TV and films is a passive, cultural practice that one can enjoy in their downtime to supplement their formal education.
Guna Kakulapati, Co-Founder & CEO, CureSkin
Learn Grammar Rules and Structures
Studying grammar rules and structures is the best way to improve your English speaking skills.
It’s a foundation that gives you the confidence to speak when you know your grammar is correct. You don’t need anybody else to study; you can do it all on your own.
The best way to go about this is to use online resources, such as websites or apps, which will guide you through the process of learning how to speak properly.
You can also read grammar books, which will give you a more in-depth understanding of what goes into making proper sentences. To practice structure, try writing out some sentences and then reading them aloud; this will help you internalize the rules so that they become second nature for you.
Shaun Connell, Founder, Writing Tips Institute
Practice Your Speaking Through Reading (out Loud)
Believe it or not, the best way to improve your English-speaking skills by yourself is not by speaking English, per se. It’s by reading English out loud. By doing so as often as you possibly can, you let your whole speech apparatus practice the muscle memory necessary for pronouncing words correctly. By reading English out loud, you’ll hear yourself noticeably improve. You can even film yourself speaking English (video form is not necessary) and look at your lips moving in a different way with just a few months of practice. This will seriously expand your use of English and vocabulary and, most of all – help you improve your English speaking skills with no one else around.
Dejan Kvrgic, Founder, ProContent Services
Listen to Good Music | While Reading the Lyrics Hack
Listening to music and reading lyrics are great ways to improve your English speaking skills. When you listen to music, pay attention to the words and how they are pronounced. Try to sing along with the song, and mimic the singer’s pronunciation.
A significant language learning hack! If you don’t know all of the words, look them up and try to memorize them. Reading lyrics is also a great way to improve your pronunciation. As you read, say the words out loud and pay attention to how they sound. Practice saying it out loud until you get it right.
Jimmy Minhas, Founder & CEO, GerdLi
Visit a Language Cafe!
Public speaking can be an amazing way to boost your confidence and fluency in spoken English. However, you can choose language cafés if public speaking makes you nervous, as it does for many people. For those looking to practice and trade languages, those cafes foster a welcoming and unwinding environment. Language cafes can be found at nearby institutions or through Meetup groups in your city. You can also seek the help of your peers to find one if you are an international student, traveler, or immigrant in an English-speaking country.
Samuel Charmetant, Founder, Artmajeur
Immersion
Immersion in a language is one of the best ways to supplement your effort to learn. Try reading books in the language, watching media and listening to audio based in the language. This can help you not to just understand words but also important and more nuanced elements of a language. Immersion can act as a real time demonstration of tone, tempo and other language subtleties that standard learning practices may miss. The best part is that you can do this from the comfort of your own home and at any pace you please. This allows you to interweave self study into your efforts at your leisure, making the process of studying more organic and less stressful. While Immersion on it’s own won’t teach you English on it’s own, its an amazing way to supplement your lessons. it makes for a potent study aid to your learning efforts.
Neel Shah, Founder, EZ Newswire
Record and Listen to Yourself
One of the easiest ways to improve is to listen to yourself. Hence, I highly suggest recording yourself to be able to listen to your weaknesses. You can count the number of unnecessary pauses, uhmms, and other mannerisms. This way, you have an internal check and are very much aware of the things you need to correct. Once you become self-aware, you can correct your mistakes, and thereby, be a better speaker.
Jeff Moore, CEO, Everyday Power
Use An App Like Hellotalk Or Tandem
One great way to improve your English speaking on your own is to use an app to talk to native speakers. HelloTalk and Tandem are two excellent choices to do this from the comfort of your own home. First you register for an account, then you introduce yourself, your native language, and your hobbies. The app will use this information to find you matches. This will help you find people who speak English and want to practice your native language, or any other language you may be fluent in; mutually beneficial engagement. All you have to do is press a few buttons and start speaking.
Dakota McDaniels, Chief Product Officer, Pluto
Practice With Duolingo
As someone who volunteers with immigrants, I know how hard it can be to make some of the sounds in English that aren’t always present in other languages, like r/l and b/v. While I firmly believe that finding a native English speaker to practice with is the best option, a good alternative is Duolingo. It’s free and provides feedback for both written and spoken English.
Beverly Gearreald, Product and Operations Lead, Transizion
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