How to learn english well, especially the oral english?

China
August 6, 2012 10:20pm CST
I'm a chinese college student majored in english. Now in our country and even in the whole world, english has played a very important role in many fields.But there is always a big problem for our chinese english-leaner to speak a fluent and beautiful english. Although we're good at writing and examination, we're weak in speaking,in particular,the daily communication.There're ao many words we don't know and have no idea to express our opinions. So,i turn to you for advice.hope i can improve my oral english and communicate with foreigners more fluently in the future.
1 person likes this
17 responses
@ratyz5 (7808)
• Philippines
7 Aug 12
With all skills that one can learn, learning how to speak English takes a good amount of time. Similar to how you are very well grounded with how you speak your native language, you should get the chance to speak English as much as possible as well. Have it in your daily routine with out any miss perhaps. It might be frustrating to mispronounce words every now and then but it's part of learning. In my opinion, I would advise you to get yourself a lot of learning material that doesn't necessarily have to be bought. Like, you can check online videos that have English speakers so that you can listen to how they say particular words and it would be best if the video had subtitles. Watch videos that have common scenes or typical situations that you can also find similar to what you do in your routine so that it won't be difficult to associate new words learned. Also, try listening to English music. Depending on how you can recognize words, you can listen to moderate, fast or even rap music if you like. The best that I can think of would be to actually have someone to practice with. Someone who really has a fair amount of knowledge with the language, how it words are pronounced, intonations and all those other things. That person doesn't necessarily need to be a native speaker of English, just someone who has a good idea with the language.
@ratyz5 (7808)
• Philippines
8 Aug 12
I was able to teach a few people who wanted to learn the language before. They were mostly Koreans and I got to tutor them one on one and some of them I got to teach online. So yeah, I do have some experience in teaching English. I got to figure out some ways on helping my students learn to speak English as I worked as their tutor and online teacher. How I learned English was a bit different though. I often got the chance to watch some movies at home with my family and most of the movies I got to watch were all American films or in English. I get to act out different lines that got stuck in my mind. Then at school, there was this classmate of mine who also had this same enthusiasm as I did on speaking English, even though it wasn't our native language. We would just joke around, yet our conversations were sound and not just making ourselves sound English (^_^") Thanks to him I guess for making my grade school years have more English than the usual classes that we would have from our teachers. By the way, thank you so much for the best reponse ('_^ )
• China
9 Aug 12
You deserve it. And i can feel you love your job. You must enjoy a lot during the process of teaching. You're also a person full of passion. That's great to talk with you.
1 person likes this
• China
8 Aug 12
Thank you and i think you're very experienced in english learning. I'll try my best to practice. And thanks again.
1 person likes this
@MissPiggy (1748)
• Indonesia
7 Aug 12
Some people have given you good suggestions. They are right, to be fluent in any kinds of languages, you have to practice them almost every day. It's frustrating, sometimes it will make you tired, but if you have the intention, there will be no difficulties. Even in my country, English teachers don't speak English fluently. Some of them even avoid to speak English. That's a great shame actually. So I think it also depends on the speaker and learner first. Do you know what I did when I was younger? It can be said that I learned English by myself at first (I have fell in love with English since I was 5). I listened to English songs, tried to memorize the lyrics, and tried to sing like the singers. Well, not the style, but the way they "pronounce" the songs. And then I watched movies. I also tried to pronounce and speak the words like the actors and actresses. I took notes of every new words and I looked up at the dictionary and wrote all the meanings of each word. So I have my own dictionary. I thought I was crazy, but then when I was in University, my friend showed me that he made his own dictionary of new words he never knew to help him. I said that was amazing as I also did the same. Lol. I didn't have friends to practice my English back then as none of my family member speak the language, and that time (when I was young) English wasn't really popular. But I did it well. So I believe that you can also do it well. I think the key is how you want to be fluent first. Don't mind other people because if you wait for your friends, they won't always be of a help. So help yourself. Have the intention. Fall in love with English. Then I am sure you'll manage it very well. Good luck.
• China
7 Aug 12
Thank you a lot! It gives me many good and useful suggestions and i prepare to practice as you said. I totally agree with you on english learning. Because the reason i choose english as my major, first it's out of my pure and strong love on english. I like european culture and their movies and songs. i think they're compeletly different from ours in their way to express their feelings. So i'm touched and find it amazing. From that moment, i decide to learn english well. Because i enjoy every moment during the process of learning. Wish our both good luck in future and realize our dream.
@MissPiggy (1748)
• Indonesia
7 Aug 12
Thank you. Glad you already love the language, I'm sure you'll do it great!
@roshigo58 (4859)
• Pune, India
28 Aug 12
Hi, I am not very fluent in English but I can speak English. English is an international language and everyone should have the knowledge of it. Many people have the problem in English speaking. They can write efficiently. There is no problem to them in writing in English but they hesitate in speaking. my wife also has same problem. When we try to speak with others in English we can gain confidence. We should always think in English.
• China
28 Aug 12
That's true! English, as an international language, plays an important role in every field. And it would take long before speaking an influent english. So the key point is always practice. Practice makes perfect. Wish you can make great progress in this aspect and find some better way to handle this issue.
• China
8 Aug 12
Chinese schools pay more attention on writing and reading.Otherwise they ignore learning spoken English.As a result,Its hard for chinese students to talk in English fluently.Especially when they communicate with foreigners,they completely have no idea what to say and fail to express in English . My advice as below : In the first place, we can watch American TV show,for instance,i would like to watch "friends". It helps a lot in spoken English.You can gain usuful vocabularies from their dairy coversation.On the other hand ,you can learn the culture of American,which act on the English study. Second,communicate with foreigners in English is the most effective way to improve it.With persistance on practising,you will make progress.
• China
8 Aug 12
That's great. It seems you can understand our situation compeletely. For most chinese students, the biggest obstacle standing in our way of language learning is we lack the environment to practice. And i'm very happy to join in mylot and benefit a lot from it.
• United States
7 Aug 12
I certainly think you're off to a great start! For English being your second language, you write (or type) quite well. As far as improving your oral English skills, I would give you the recommendation of the simple, yet effective method of practice. While practice does not necessarily make perfect, it does make you better, and I think there is no substitute for real conversations. I would try my best to find a person that you can speak to every day (or at least quite often). Preferably, you could find a person who would politely correct you or offer suggestions on how to say something more effectively when you make a mistake. You can talk about everyday things, and hopefully improve your English skills as well. As far as the other ways of communicating, I think myLot is a great place to practice. In the short time I've been here, I've seen many people who are practicing their English skills on this website and others who have said that they have improved their English dramatically over the years simply by being a member of the site. The best part is that you can make a little bit of money on the side from here, too. Good luck with learning!
• China
7 Aug 12
Thanks for your suggestion. I think it's really useful and helpful. I hope after a period of practice, my oral english would make great progress. Thank you again.
@nadi333 (101)
• India
9 Aug 12
Hi Catherine Its good that you are interested in improving your oral english. long back even I have tried alot to do and from my experience I can tell you that if you start watching pure english cartoons or shows were we can listen fluent english we can over come our english problem for sure. I'm asking you to watch english cartoon movies and shows as through such shows we can not only learn fluent english speaking but also we can learn some new english words as well as we can get knowlegede of the expressions and situations where and how we can use such english. hope this idea may help you out. take care and have a nice day !
• China
9 Aug 12
Thanks you for your advice. I also feel the same way in english. I will study hard and try my best.
@maezee (41988)
• United States
8 Aug 12
I guess the only thing I have to suggest is practice makes perfect. English is my first language so I can't say I 100% know what you are going through, but I can imagine it would be difficult enough trying to learn a second language. I think the only thing you can do is find someone to practice with, and practice practice practice!
@camomile07 (1420)
• Germany
8 Aug 12
Practice is very important. Look for someone you can try to practice several times a weak. If you have a possibility to wacht TV in English, English spoken films, try to watch them and try to think in that language. Reading books and writing also helps. Another exercise could be that you stand in front of a mirror and speak in English to your self.
• India
7 Aug 12
If you really want to learn english....try to speak always in english. With your family and also friends. Its the only way to improve it.
@flapiz (23152)
• United Kingdom
8 Aug 12
They key is listening and talking. You could watch a lot of English films and then try speaking the language. Have a learning partner who would be willing to converse with you in English. It could be a classmate, a friend, or a family member.
@Manasha (2819)
• Pondicherry, India
9 Aug 12
first of all congrats on your thought to start learning the second language. You have to converse with others to cope with the fluency and if not everything goes wrong.Only , regular practice makes you better as you have to learn a new language. You have to live with the language thoughts.
@McCreeper (777)
• United States
7 Aug 12
Much like learning Chinese, to be fluent you just have to speak the language more. Though you may not be good with the language right now, practice makes perfect. Try to find bilingual speakers if possible.That also works.
• China
7 Aug 12
thanks a lot!
@Shavkat (140119)
• Philippines
27 Aug 12
You can do this through online tutorial. You can have conversations through talking to them, I do some part time jobs like this. In some instances, it is also better to learn the language in making friends to native speakers.
@Julie520 (38)
• Shenzhen, China
15 Aug 13
Hi Girl,I think you English is good.The words is beauty.I'm also learn to your.
@chiyosan (30183)
• Philippines
7 Aug 12
you will best learn English if you speak the language. With constant practice, and if you hear and speak it all the time, you would be able to learn it quickly and be very good at it already. ;)
@mimiang (3760)
• Philippines
7 Aug 12
Read newspaper, watch people who speak the language on how they say it, then, practice speaking.
@asdomencil (4265)
• Philippines
7 Aug 12
You are right that even you are fluent in writting english, sometimes there are still difficulties when it comes to oral communication. Here are some of my suggestions to improve speaking comprehension in english. Try to watch english movies together with the subtitles. In this way, you can easily know how to pronounce the words correctly. Another is by listening to an audio book while reading the actual book (ebook is acceptable). also thru this method, you will learn how to read the words and how it was properly pronounced. Reading aloud english articles together with your friend that are fluent in english speaking can also help. In this way, you can have their suggestions to you.