Approximately 2 billion people use English to communicate every day. English is evolving as a universal language of the world. The importance of being proficient in English speaking and writing are far more than one can imagine. Good spoken English helps an individual in every sphere of life. Many of us like are wanderers, like to travel across the world. English can always bail us out from the situations where we hit a brick wall because of the native language of a particular country. For all the aspiring students and pupils aiming to move abroad in search of greener pastures in the field of education, good English is the prerequisite. Apart from this, even in the Business world, English is the Lingua Franca. One is expected to be adept in spoken English during the interviews for large enterprises and high-class business meetings. Good spoken English accentuates the personality of a person. It brings and aura of confidence along with itself. I am writing this article keeping in mind the people who want to improve their verbal skills and inculcate one of the bestselling quality in their profile.
If you are thinking of developing your soft skills here are the ten tricks you ought to try:-
ROL (Read out Loud)
To practice pronunciation which is one of the prerequisites of good spoken English, you should read out the newspapers and magazines to yourself, that too loud. A better option is to read out the scripts of your favourite movies or TV shows with the exact feelings and emotions involved in those dialogues (Along with the help in English speaking you can learn some important stuff as well, How you doing?).
Increase the Volume of your Katora (Bowl)
Everyone has his/her katora of knowledge. Everything a person knows, his wisdom, etc. is in that bowl. It’s useful and helpful to increase the volume of that bowl. In this case, try to read books, novels, watch English movies, TV series, listen to English songs, etc. The more you’ll fill up your katora the easier will it become to speak English.
Change your default thinking Language to English
The luxuries of the most powerful tool which happens to be your brain, should not be wasted. Think in English. It’s hard for humans to remain silent, either we are talking to someone or we are just talking to ourselves in our brain. Try to express your thoughts and views to yourself in English. All the FAQ’s you have for yourself, try to answer that in English (when in a public place, make sure you do that in your mind).
Focus is the key
Try to remain focused on the goal you have. Being good at spoken English is different from being good at writing. Try to keep it simple. Don’t focus on everything at once. Writing skills and vocabulary will come with time. But if you’ll let your focus deviate from a single thing to many things then it becomes difficult for you to achieve success.
Reality Check
Don’t feel bad about someone pointing out the mistakes you made while talking. Mistakes are an indicator that you are trying. In fact, you must have someone, a friend who should always correct you when you make any mistake while speaking. Because if there’s no one to do so you’ll imprint the mistaken and wrong thing in your mind which is not the right thing to do.
Be your Critic
Try to correct yourself. Test yourself periodically and come up with some suggestions for yourself. One of the best technique to realise this is by recording your voice while speaking English. Once it’s done, play it for yourself and try to find the faults in pronunciation or grammatical errors. Make it a point to not repeat the same mistakes again.
Instead of cramming up individual words, learn phrases
Learning new words can be easily improved if you find their usage in a sentence form. Try to learn the words in the form of sentences. Form new sentences based on the new words you’ve learned. It won’t only improve your vocab but this way you can spend considerable time on practising spoken English as well.
‘Faster the Better’ is not True
The only way to begin speaking a new language is to begin speaking badly
~ Greg Thomson
Whatever you are speaking must be apparent to the listener, that’s what matters. Most of us get fascinated by people who speak fast English. Well, it does suit native English speakers but for someone who is still learning to speak in correct intonation and rhythm speed doesn’t matter but clarity does. Speaking clearly imperative, speed can be developed with time.
Patience is a Virtue
Nothing comes easy. You have to work your way through the difficulties to achieve something worth showing to others. Same is true for English speaking. You can’t expect instant results and also, you can’t be fragile enough to get disappointed with slow improvement. You must be patient and dedicated enough to keep on going.
Attitude can make all the Difference
You don’t have to get nervous because you missed a word or mispronounced something. Your insecurity in conversing in English can prove to be a hindrance in your learning process. Always have a positive attitude and never feel shy in testing your skills periodically on a stage or in front of people. It’s okay to make a fool out of yourself sometimes; then only people will understand how much you’ve improved (the next time when you’ll try something like this).
All these tricks can help achieve your goal to improve your soft skills. But these tricks are nothing without your determination and dedication which forms the basis for any milestone you want to achieve. One thing I’d like to add here is, English speaking is not the parameter on which a person’s intellect and capabilities should be judged. Sadly, people are doing that these days. The only purpose of language is to help people converse and share their thoughts with each other. It should be kept that way only. No one should be belittled for his English speaking skills.
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