How can I speak English eloquently?

[Fredenglish]

Hello there,

What are the best ways to speak eloquently even with total strangers without stumbling upon one's words, and to eliminate word-finding pauses?

Thank you,

 

[tedmc]

Re: How to speak English eloquently

I think not all native speakers speak eloquently. It is a skill which is developed through a long period of training and is an inherent talent in some people. It also has to do with people's character, whether they are the extroverted type who like talking to people or the reserved type who speak less.
It is even harder for non-native speakers to speak eloquently when they are not exposed to good English-speaking environment. Being able to speak a second language correctly is quite an achievement by itself. Being able to speak fluently is the next step up for those who have mastered the language.

 

[Rover_KE]

Re: How to speak English eloquently

Ted's answer is a good one.

Your question is not specific to English, Fred. It may as well have been 'How can I speak [any language] eloquently?'

 

[emsr2d2]

I have changed the thread title so that it forms a grammatically correct question. We don't start questions with "How to".

 

[TheParser]

NOT A TEACHER

Hello, Fredenglish:

In my opinion, it might be more accurate to say that you wish to speak English fluently.

That is to say, you want to speak English without having to mentally translate from your first language to English.

It means that you have a reasonably large enough vocabulary to express your ideas in a natural way without hesitation.

I have "good" news for you: very few native speakers speak eloquently. That adverb implies that your words are able to reach the hearts of your listeners because of the words you use, the grammar you use, and the feeling that you put into expressing yourself.

Being eloquent, in my opinion, is a talent that few people in any language have.

Ordinary people (such as I) may occasionally be eloquent on a few special and very emotional occasions. But the most that we can usually hope for is to be fluent.


(If you ever have a chance, read some of the speeches or books of Winston Churchill, the British leader. You will then better understand what true "eloquence" is.)


Best wishes

 

[Spiral]

Hello there,

What are the best ways to speak eloquently even with total strangers without stumbling upon one's words, and to eliminate word-finding pauses?

Thank you,

Much of this has to do with your confidence. How confident are you around others? Are you confident in your knowledge of your topic?

I'm a native speaker, but I'd be totally lost if you asked me to talk about nuclear energy. Ask me about my recipe for fudge, though, and I can talk confidently. It's something I enjoy and something I know.

~~~~~~~~~~~

My degree is in Spanish, but I write and read it much better than I converse in it. The only way to overcome that, at least in my experience, is practice. One of my Spanish-speaking ESL adults told me that speaking English was hard because he had to go through all these steps in his head:
1. Hear you in your language.
2. Mentally translate what I just heard to my own language.
3. Think of a response in my own language.
4. Translate my response to your language.

That's what I have to do when I talk with a Spanish speaker. Even so, I make mistakes with verb tenses. Fortunately, most of the people I talk to are patient with me. At least one Spanish speaker has told me she appreciated it when I tried to use her language to converse with her, because I was trying to make the conversation easier for her.