[General] How to speak spontaneously

[grapefruit]

Originally Posted by Ruba Saeed

hi
I'm pleased that my advice worked with you, Keep it up. I think talking to yourself can be a great help to express yourself. for the new words, I dont give a great care for them, however, I try to pronounce them correctly and understand the whole meaning. It is very hard to copy every word you meet to mind because you will forget it sooner or later unless you use them constantly in daily life.

Hi Ruba,

That's a good point you made. I agree. Unless you use the new words or phrases constantly, you'd soon forget them. That's exactly what my problems are.
Sadly, I'm begining to lose my mother tongue as well.

Thanks for your quote.

[beczibeth03]

According to me the main thing in improving english language would only be if you practice it more and more. I mean just talk in english every time. dont worry abt your mistakes. its only from mistakes that you learn. And do not lack confidence, just have the right amount of it. Nothin less mothin more. Another thing what you could do is try n read as much as possible .This wouls also really help.

Lead Life With Style

[BobK]

Originally Posted by beczibeth03

According to me the main thing in improving english language would only be if you practice it more and more. ...

In my experience, people who say 'According to me' are often speaking on behalf of someone else; and Newbies who post the addresses of commercial web-sites aren't always the most reliable advisers.

But the link is to a free classifieds site, and the recommendation might be innocent, so I'm leaving it for now - another moderator might not though.

Just be aware that you can learn to speak spontaneously without spending anything more than time and effort.

b

[Offroad]

Originally Posted by Ouisch

Your brain needs time to "digest" the foreign phrase, translate it into your native language, and then you need to mentally compose your answer in the foreign language.

With all respect...

I believe we don't need that. To be honest, we should not do that. If English is your second language, let it be. Forget your mother-tongue. Think in English. I can't imagine how much effort is involved in this process of translation, maybe enough to learn a third language.

It might be of great help if you spend more time listening than reading, or worse, trying to speak like a native.

Be patient, first things first.

Listen to real English (input) in order to start speaking (output) effortlessly.

It should be fun.

[Offroad]

Read this article:

How do you think in English?
You have to train yourself to think in English. It’s like a football player who practices everyday. That practice is what makes him able to perform well in the game. During practice the football player will pass the ball to his teammates over and over again. During a game, he won’t have to think about passing the ball, he will just do it.

In order to train yourself to think in English, you will have to start practicing like the football player. The first step is to think of individual words that you use daily. Simple everyday words like book or shoe or tree. After you have learned to think of several words, you want to start thinking in sentences. Train your brain by listening to oral English. After you understand a lesson or program then play it back and repeat. Listen and repeat, listen and repeat. The more you listen the more you learn. Listen first and make sure you fully understand what you’re hearing. Next, repeat what you hear. This will train your brain to think in English. After you reach that level, start having conversations with yourself in English.
To start thinking in English you need to start simply. First, think of some words in English that you use everyday. For instance think of the word ‘book’. Whenever you see a ‘book’ you should not think of the word in your native language. Instead you should see the ‘book’ and think ‘book’. The more you practice, the easier it will be to think of book in English and not translate it in your head. Don’t worry about forgetting your native language, it will never happen. What will happen is whenever you talk about a book in English you will have the mental picture of the book and not have to think of the word ‘book’. Just like the football player you practice and practice and soon you won’t have to think about it, you’ll just do it. You’ve trained your mind to see a ‘book’ as the word ‘book’. Practice everyday and soon you’ll be thinking of different words in English.
After you’ve added several words to your vocabulary move on to this next step. Start thinking in sentences or ideas. This will take some more practice but is well worth it. The first step in this process is to improve your comprehension or listening skills. Why? Most of us learned our native language by listening to others talk. We then repeated what we heard. This process of listening and repeating is the most effective way to learn a language. As your comprehension improves, so does your speaking ability. Listen first, then repeat when you understand what you’ve heard. If you practice listening to English you’ll be more relaxed when you are in a conversation. If you practice like the football player, you won’t have to think about it when you are speaking English.
Another way to start thinking in English is to say what you think in English. For instance if you think, “I forgot to do my homework last night” then say that aloud in English. If you think “I’m going to the store.” Say it aloud in English. Whatever you think, speak in English. You might want to be alone when you practice this to avoid strange looks. Better yet have your roommates help you with your conversation. If you practice this way enough you’ll be ready for the next step. Self-talk.
Have conversations with yourself. Whatever you think in your native language, think it in English. For instance, “This is a great day, I’m going to go to the park today. I’m hungry, I’ll make something to eat.” These are the same conversations you have with yourself everyday in your native language. Turn those conversations into English and before you know it you’ll be thinking in English without thinking about it.

How to Think in English | World English Club

[nedira]

Hi, I faced this particular problem when I was in my first year in the university and I remember that it was a kind of nightmare to me.I was unable to speak fluently and I have to addmit that my English was very bad.But I did not give up becouse I was sure that the speaking skill is as important as any other language skills especially for language teachers.I decided to improve my speaking skill by myself since teachers were of no help to me(with all my respect to them).The first thing I did is that I begun to read alot.I became an avid reader(most of the time I was reading aloud ).In addition, I watched English speaking channels and paid attention to their way of speaking and tried to imitate them.I also decided to participate in classroom interviews during the oral expression calss without caring about my mistakes.Another thing that I did which seem a bit strange is talking to myself in English.Furthermore, I listened to English songs and learnt them by heart.when I was in my second university everyone noticed a great change in me and the way I spoke English.From then on, I was considerd to be the most Fluent student in the univesity.Even teachers addmitted that during my oral presentations and told me that speak spontaniously and with a good accent.I hope that these tips will help anyone who wants to be a good English speaker.