Top 10 Ways to Improve your Spoken English at Home
When learning to speak English, not everyone has the time to fully immerse themselves in a language class or program. However, there are simple, effective, and fun ways to improve your spoken English at home. Here 10 different ways to practice your English skills while not having to leave the comfort of your house or apartment.
Practice With A Partner
It is common knowledge that you cannot become fluent in a language unless you practice speaking it aloud. This can be difficult if you do not have any friends that speak English. The good news is that technology like Skype, Facetime, and telephones offer a way for you to speak with someone from almost anywhere. You can improve your spoken English by just skyping someone and having an everyday conversation.
If you do not have an English-speaking partner, you can find one through Spoken English Practice, where you can speak and practice with a native English speaker! Click below to sign up for a trial lesson.
Watch Television or Videos
Many popular Television shows are recorded in English. Watching these shows is a great way to listen to English and pick up on common words and phrases. The amount of English TV shows is endless. Cartoons are a good place to start. Many children’s cartoon use simple language, and teach the audience new words and vocabulary. Watching them will help you improve your Spoken English at home while you are also relaxing and being entertained.
Read Books Aloud
Books are full of countless words, phrases, and idioms. Reading books can help expand your vocabulary and introduce you to different sayings. Narrative fiction books usually rely on dialogue- when the characters speak to one another. Dialogue can give you a sense of how people speak English aloud. Reading dialogue orally will help you practice your pronunciation, inflection, and fluency. Even if there is no dialogue, reading aloud is a useful way to improve your Spoken English at home.
Record Yourself
There is a saying in English: “Practice makes perfect.” This means that practicing something over and over again will allow you to perfect that skill. However, sometimes it is hard to know if you are actually improving if you have no one to correct you. Luckily, recording yourself and listening to yourself speak is a useful way to know if you are on the right track. It will allow you to hear any mistakes or inconsistencies when you practice spoken English. You can record yourself using YouTube, a video camera, a smart phone, and much more!
Practice Tongue Twisters
Another way to improve your spoken English at home is practicing tongue twisters. Tongue twisters use words and sounds that are similar, making them difficult to pronounce. Saying them aloud to yourself or your friends will help you practice certain sounds as well as your pronunciation skills. They can be tricky at first, but, as you practice and repeat them, you will improve and so will your English.
Listen To Music in English
Many people listen to songs for enjoyment, relaxation, and concentration. Songs can also help you practice English! Listening to your favorite English song on repeat will introduce you to different words, sayings, and phrases that you may have never heard before. Singing along to songs can also improve your pronunciation and inflection. Most popular songs will have lyric videos or lyric sheets posted online. To help your improve your spoken English at home, follow along to the lyrics while listening, or practice reading them aloud.
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Play Video Games
Many video games on popular consoles like Xbox or Play Station use voice acting. With a global economy, games are being sold all over the world and come in multiple languages. You can set many games to have voice acting and subtitles in English. As you play through the game, you will hear the characters’ conversations and read what they are saying. This will expose you to how English should sound and the different ways in which people speak. Playing a video game in English can let you go on a virtual adventure while also improving your spoken English at home.
Practice Some Grammar
As mentioned earlier, speaking aloud is considered the best way to learn a language. However, grammar is important to how English is spoken. Going over some grammar in your spare time will allow you to understand how English functions as a language. Being able to use words properly and form sentences correctly will improve your spoken English and your fluency. Study some grammar and then apply it to the other activities mentioned here to help take your English to the next level.
Play Word-Related Board Games
Learning English can be enjoyable if you use the right method. There are a lot of games that make learning English entertaining and challenging. Some of these games include Scrabble, Boggle, and Mad Gab. Many board games require multiplayers, which is a good thing for English learners. Playing these games with require conversational skills: play them with your friends or family to learn new words, and improve your spoken English at home.
Play Smart Phone Games
If board games aren’t for you, there is a tremendous amount of word-related games that can be downloaded as apps. There are different versions of the word games mentioned above, but also many other games that involve words and English skills. A very popular game is Words With Friends, where you and another player compete to make words. The list of word games is endless. Play some of them with friends or family to improve your English while also being entertained.
These activities can all be done at home without stepping a foot outside. They are all engaging, effective, and inexpensive. Many can be done on your own, but if you want a native English speaker to do these activities with you, don’t forget to check out Spoken English Practice!