Being fluent in English is something that we all wish to be. However, learning English as a second language is not exactly the kind of thing that would make you fluent in English. From our research, we gathered that there are several reasons why non-native English speakers have difficulty with fluency. This article delves in to explore those reasons and provide you with one simple trick to be fluent in English. Let’s get started!
Why is Fluency a Problem?
Why English learners have problems with their English and struggle to become fluent Speakers:
Traditional language learning methods only give English learners part of the fluency puzzle. It is never the “whole thing”. Here are the reasons why:
# Lessons teach them grammar rules, but not how to use grammar without thinking when they speak.
# Students learn English through their own language, so they’re trained to hesitate and translate in their heads during conversations.
# They learn to read and write formal English from textbooks, but get very little training listening to and speaking casual, conversational, spoken English.
What Fluency Actually Means?
Fluency is nothing more than a collection of habits, like using grammar without thinking, or pronouncing words correctly. So, all you need to do to develop the same habits native speakers have is to learn the same way native speakers learn.
When you learn English like native speakers, you master grammar automatically without grammar tables and boring drills through visual examples and stories.
Building fluency like a native speaker means you also learn slang, idioms, phrasal verbs and other conversational, spoken English expressions, in addition to what’s appropriate for writing.
Learning English the native way means you learn to speak fluent English naturally, actually practising with native English speakers and building speaking confidence in the real world.
When you learn this way, it’s easy, fun, fast and doesn’t feel like studying at all, just like how you learned your own native language.
Also Read : Daily Use of English Sentences in Conversations: Spoken English Sentences for Everyday
1 Trick to be Fluent in English
Contrary to what you may think, being fluent in English requires one simple trick and that is: stop translating in your head and start thinking in English. Learners whose second language is English, automatically acquire the habit to translate everything into English from their mother-tongue, before speaking or writing. This acts as a hindrance to one’s original language flow. To start thinking in English you can try the following tips:
Readout Loud
A fantastic speaking activity you can do from the comfort of your own home ALONE is to read out loud! Whenever you read anything in English, read out loud; it could be a book, an article or a social media post.
When you read out loud you’re using your mouth muscles to produce English sounds. When you speak in your own language you use different mouth muscles to when you speak in English so this is why it’s important to practice. This activity is very easy and will make a difference to your speaking.
Speak About What You are Doing
When you do things around your home like cleaning, making dinner, doing gardening, try to speak about them.
For example:
“I’m making lunch for my family”, “I’m cutting the vegetables’ ‘, “I’m pouring the water into the pan”, “I’m putting it on the table”. By doing this you are reusing vocabulary, pronouncing words and connecting your ideas together.” I’m making lunch for my family”, “I’m cutting the vegetables”, “I’m pouring the water into the pan”, “I’m putting it on the table”….by doing this you are reusing vocabulary, pronouncing words and connecting your ideas together.
Talk About Past or Future Events
Another similar activity to the one above is; talk about past events or future events.
For example;
What did you do this weekend? or what are you going to do? This is a great way to practice using and practising different grammar structures.
Describe Images
A great activity is to describe images. This is a superb way to start using different descriptive vocabulary.
All you need to do is; when you see an image; speak about it and describe in detail what you can see, if there are people in the picture, what are they doing? You can also speculate using modal verbs. This activity is used in many different English examinations as it really does test your speaking skills.
Why is Fluency Important?
Fluency is vital because it serves as a link between word recognition and understanding. It gives students the opportunity to concentrate on what the text is conveying. They can draw connections between what they’re reading and their own prior knowledge. As a result, individuals are able to focus on comprehension.
Non-fluent readers, however, must spend more time deciphering, leaving less time to absorb the text. They will always have to read the same material numerous times in order to comprehend it due to reading errors.
Furthermore, non-fluent readers rarely read with expressiveness. English fluency is crucial for several reasons. The first is that reading is not pleasant without it. Even if a book isn’t assigned for a course, fluent readers will pick that up and study it on their own.
Fluent reading, on the other hand, leads to increased writing success, improved vocabulary, and a deeper understanding of what is being studied.
Conclusion
The key to improving speaking without classes is, take as many opportunities as you can to speak in English. In the process, learn and use more advanced English vocabulary.
The idea is not to ignore them but to make an effort to record and use them. Doing this will certainly help you acquire much more vocabulary than you would in an English class. Your job is to use them and remember them.
Need a hand with your fluency improvement? Check out The Fluent Life now!
Also Read : What Are Homophones and Homographs And Why You Should Know Them
