Ooooh my... I never thought I'd be asking this question.
I've been living in Canada for about 7 years, my pronounciation is at near-native level (if I know what I'm speaking about, that is) and have little difficulty with daily English.
However I still find myself struggling with, sometimes the most basic forms of English. One example is taking phone calls in English. Words don't come fast enough to my mind and I just can't seem to speak 'clean-cut' English. I stutter, and use a lot of 'Ummms', to buy time to think about the next word. I don't have the same problem with writing since I can give just about infinite time to think about the grammer, structure and the choice of words. All these have to be ready in split second when speaking and that's where I'm failing badly.
This is a part of what I spoke on the phone today.
A friend of mine... ur... is very interested in... um... coming here and take ESL programs you guys offer... ur... she is in Korea right now.
Of course, if I were to write it,
A friend of mine in Korea is very interested in coming to Canada and taking ESL course you offer.
See what I'm going through? Can you recommend any good practice? I can read books aloud with near-native pronounciation because I don't have to think about what I'm reading... but I want to speak good, without having to say 'umms' to buy time.
Any suggestions and I'd very much appreciate it.