Hi, guys! Welcome to Series English!
My name is Antonia Romaker
and today we are going to talk about speaking skills.
A lot of my subscribers have been asking me
to create such a video and so we are here.
Today I'm going to give you six tips
on how to improve your speaking skills.
And let's get into it!
The first tip is going to be a little bit unexpected.
I'm sure of that.
Do not rush into it.
Well if you are at the very beginning of the process
I mean of studying a foreign language:
English, Russian, German, it doesn't matter which one -
do not rush into speaking,
because you are not familiar with some basic structures yet,
I mean grammatical structures,
and you do not know much vocabulary and so on.
So creating some short dialogues, answering some questions
is fine, but do not force yourself
to create long informative sentences.
Because you are not ready yet, you do not know much.
And you do not know how the language works yet.
That's why if you are in liberty to take things slow,
then do not rush into it, just take it slow.
Of course it depends on the purpose of studying a foreign language.
If you need to speak on the spot, right away, as soon as possible,
then of course you just have to do it.
But as I have already pointed out,
if you are in liberty to take things slow,
then do, take it slow, do not rush into it.
Take it slow.
As for me personally,
I had been studying English for two years
and only after that I had an opportunity to practise it,
to speak English.
And I was surprised, I was shocked,
because I had no problems what so ever!
It felt so natural and so easy.
Well, as long as I knew all the basic structures,
all the basic grammar and I knew how sentences are created,
I had no problems what so ever.
Of course I'm not saying that you should wait for two years.
No, of course not.
But do not rush into it, OK?
Secondly relax and do not be afraid of making mistakes.
Even native speakers make mistakes, it's fine.
If you are afraid that someone might consider you dull or stupid,
you might keep silent forever.
Do not worry,
Foreigners understand that you are not a native speaker
and you need time and you might make a couple of mistakes.
Especially at the beginning of the process
you might make quite many mistakes.
But then, when you keep practicing and you keep studying
grammar, vocabulary, it will get better,
you will improve your speech.
Don't worry, just try to relax.
As long as you are able to communicate with other people,
if you are able to speak to other people,
and you fulfill the main function, the main purpose of communicating,
that is to be understood and to understand other people,
then it all adds up, it all works, don't worry.
Thirdly use your body language.
Let's remember about animals,
they communicate somehow, they don't speak foreign languages.
Secondly earlier people used to communicate mostly with
their facial expressions and emotions and gestures and so on.
So try to use your body as well,
it helps a lot to be understood.
I'm going to give you an interesting example.
Five years ago or so when I worked as an interpreter
there was a foreign technician who arrived at the firm
and he explained different things to the workers,
one of whom was completely unable to speak English.
He didn't speak any English.
However he tried very hard to communicate with the foreigner.
He used gestures, he drew pictures, paintings, he painted,
he jumped and smiled and laughed and used his hands and arms and legs,
and his body a lot.
And the most surprising thing was that
the foreigner understood him quite often.
And it was so fascinating to observe these two communicating
because sometimes I even couldn't fit it,
I mean I couldn't squeeze a single word in.
I was an interpreter, I was supposed to help,
but sometimes I didn't have to.
So use your body language:
your emotions, facial expressions,
gestures, it will help.
Fourthly write a diary, write messages,
write Facebook entries, use HelloTalk application,
Interpals web-site and so on.
So try to write in English as much as possible,
because writing is some kind of an imitation.
So writing imitates speaking to some extent.
Because you are supposed to formulate your ideas,
to write sentences, create sentences yourself.
And in this case you are practically speaking but slowly.
When you write you have time to think, to think everything through,
to write the sentence correctly, you can take your time.
And it is good at first, when you are not ready to speak yet,
you might write.
So try using different applications and web resources
to write in English as much as possible.
Writing a diary is also a good idea,
when you just tell about your life in English.
Don't be lazy - start writing now.
And then little by little you'll feel ready to speak,
and it will be much easier for you to start speaking.
You'll be prepared.
Five use your own language devices.
What does it mean?
Use the grammar you know, use the words you know.
If you find yourself in a situation
that you want to tell a story and you do not know this particular word,
parachute or investigation and so on,
try to paraphrase,
try to explain this word using some simpler words.
It might help, you will be still able to make yourself understood,
and that is the most essential thing here,
that is the purpose of communication.
Let's say you can't remember the word 'a mushroom'
or you do not know it at all.
You might try to explain it in a very simple dull way.
When you say: 'So when you go to the forest, you pick berries
and you might also pick something else in the forest.
You know, this thing with a cap.
You can fry them, you can boil them, you can make a soup out of them and so on.'
So try to explain the word, using different ways.
Paraphrase, use your own language devices.
Even if you do not know many words and many constructions
you can still communicate,
if you know the basic rules, the basic vocabulary.
And six ask you interlocutor to speak slower,
louder, simpler, in a simpler way I mean, and so on.
Do not hesitate to ask the person you are speaking with
to slow down, to speak up and so on.
Usually people, foreigners are open to communication,
they are open to compromises.
So ask the person you are speaking with
not to overcomplicate his speech,
to use simpler constructions and so on.
Usually people already understand
that they are dealing not with a native speaker
and they are trying to speak slower or simpler.
But you might even ask these people to stop
and explain it in another way.
Can you paraphrase it?
Can you explain it in another way?
That is do not only make yourself understood,
but make sure to understand the person you are speaking with.
Because otherwise the communication will break.
OK those were six tips I wanted to share with you today.
I hope that they will help you improve you speaking skills.
Do not be afraid of speaking.
Start communicating with people, meet new people,
it is a lot of fun and extremely enjoyable.
So I hope that you liked this video,
if you did, please press the button, like it, share it.
Subscribe to my YouTube channel if you want to continue studying English with me.
And I hope to see you soon! Happy English and Russian practice! Bye-bye!
If you have any questions about other techniques, other tips,
other pieces of advice, of how to speak, to listen,
to write and so on, feel free to write to me
and I might create another class! See you! Bye!