“How can I improve my spoken English, sir? Is there any hope for me? Or will I keep groping in the dark without any success?”
One of my ex-students was sharing his heartache with me over the phone.
He was disappointed. And rightly so.
He had cleared two rounds of a job interview with a reputed company but failed in the last round, and couldn’t secure his dream position. All because of poor English speaking skills.
Now what could be more frustrating for a deserving candidate?
But let me tell you: He was not the first and he surely wasn’t the last aspiring young man to get rejected in a job interview because of weak spoken English. I know many students fail to land their dream jobs because of the same reason.
Now whether you like it or not, in today’s job market, you must have at least a reasonable fluency in spoken English.
In this article, I’ll be sharing 7 tips to help you improve spoken English.
Let’s begin with the first one.
1. Take Improving Your English Speaking Skills As an Opportunity
Do you see English as a problem?
If you do then you’ll face difficulty in mastering spoken English. So, instead of taking it as a problem, take it as a challenge, or better yet, as an opportunity.
You see, learning English is similar to learning any other subject. For instance, subjects you study in your college. When you enrolled in the college, you had a basic idea about the subjects, right? But then you did the work, went into the details and today you understand your subjects reasonably well.
Take the same approach with English.
I encourage you to take improving your spoken English not as an obstacle but as an opportunity to expand your knowledge and your career. A positive mental attitude always helps.
2. Embrace Your Local Dialect
Here’s the thing:
Your mother tongue is the basis of your communication skills. You spoke your first words in your mother tongue and not in English (unless, of course, you were born in an English-speaking family).
So no matter how famous or wealthy or successful you get in life—you shall always remain the same who you are at the core.
And here’s the catch:
If you don’t own your mother tongue, (or god forbid) are ashamed of it, then learning English would be hypocritical.
Think about it: what’s the use of learning English if you’re not proud of your local dialect?
My point?
Take pride in who you are, and from there, start building English fluency. And remember, joining a spoken English institute is one of the best ways to do exactly that. But hold on…
Don’t join a Spoken English Institute. Not Yet.
Now, since you are at the primary learning stage, it’s no use joining an institute.
As of now, a better option would be to take private English tuition and self-study. I’ll tell you why.
At this stage what you actually need is one-on-one attention and support. And that is generally unavailable in an institute because of the sheer number of students.
There’s a hell of a difference between learning in a class of 35 and learning one-on-one—with you as the only student. So find a good teacher and get some individual classes to familiarize yourself with the language, first.
And then, when you feel comfortable (maybe after 2-3 months), go ahead and join an institute.
3. Enrol in a Decent Spoken English Institute
When it comes to speaking English confidently, nothing can beat the organized setting of an English institute.
Here’s why:
When you speak English (howsoever broken or “wrong”) in front of a classroom full of people, you feel good about yourself. And that boosts your confidence to speak a little better every day.
And oh, by the way, did I tell you that you already know how to speak in English?
Confusing?
Let me explain.
You do understand English (at least a bit), and the only thing you need is a little help—a tiny bit of support to overcome the hesitation—that lump in your throat, those drops of sweat on your forehead, and that dry mouth.
Guess what? That’s exactly why you should join an institute. Here’s my recommendation (if you’re in Delhi):
New Delhi YMCA offers an English-speaking course titled “General and Professional English.” (The YMCA building is behind Gurudwara Bangla Sahib, Near Patel Chowk Metro Station).
This English course is one of the best out there. I know because I did that way back in 1996.
But remember: an institute can help only if you help yourself. In other words, if you take an active part in the classroom and not remain a mute spectator.
Can Joining a Spoken English Institute Help You?
In 1996, I was pursuing a three-year computer programming course at NIIT, and as part of the curriculum, the students were supposed to deliver a presentation. So my ability to score better marks in the presentation was entirely dependent upon my speaking with confidence in front of my classmates. One of my classmates researched and found out about the YMCA. Since it was a question of scoring better grades, I could not afford to not join the institute. So I did.
On my first day at the institute:
The classroom was jam-packed (there were 57 students, to be specific).
Our teacher, a sweet lady, Mrs M. Lal introduced us to the basics and then to break the ice, asked us to speak up about anything: It could be a trip to a weekly market, a book, a visit to a museum, summer vacation plans, a movie or whatever. The only condition was to speak in English.
And guess what?
The classroom went dead silent. Nobody uttered a word. The boys and girls who were babbling until 15 minutes ago (before the class started) went mute as if somebody had cut off their tongues. Seeing them dumbfounded, I rose, though I had no clue what would I speak. My palms were sweaty, my heart was pounding, and my mouth was dry like anything, but I somehow managed to speak 4-5 lines. From that day onward, I spoke as much as I could every day.
The point is that when you join an institute, you owe it to yourself (and your parents) to speak and practice spoken English as much as you can. After all, that’s why you’ve joined the institute in the first place—to speak.
The best part is that the more you speak, the better your spoken English will get.
4. Activate Your “Vishudda Chakra”
Chakras.
We have 7 of them.
Chakras are the contact points between your physical body and you, and each Chakra governs a particular area of your body. The Chakra governing your speaking capabilities is located in your throat. It’s called the Vishuddha Chakra.
The more balanced your Vishuddha Charka, the better your speaking skills. Here’s how you activate this Chakra:
Choose a place where you can spend 5 minutes alone, undisturbed.
Close your eyes, take three deep breaths, and relax.
Now, visualize a soft “sky-blue-colored” ball in your throat (if visualizing doesn’t feel natural to you, then thinking about it will also work). Now imagine that imaginary ball moving around in circles and massaging your throat.
Do this for five minutes daily. This practice shall help improve your ability to express yourself clearly and confidently.
5. Don’t Translate English into Your Mother Tongue
Most students (especially from rural backgrounds) fail to improve their speaking skills because they translate English into their mother tongues.
The reason is that every language is different—the way English works is not how Hindi or any other Indian language works. Let me clarify this.
How did you learn Hindi? For example, when somebody said “Kutta,” did you translate it to some other language to understand its meaning?
No, right?
When someone refers to a Kutta, you know that a Kutta is a Kutta. Likewise, when someone talks about a dog, he means a dog, and you must not translate the word dog to “Kutta.” Don’t say dog means Kutta.
Dog means dog.
I know it’s natural to translate English words into your mother tongue because that feels easier. But that’s an unproductive habit and will only create trouble for you.
My suggestion?
Train yourself to think and speak in English.
In other words, get into the habit of thinking, speaking, and understanding English words as they are. Don’t translate them into your mother tongue. And whenever you get stuck, go back to the basics of improving speaking skills, which are:
Listening, and Speaking.
Let’s understand them one by one.
Listening
Your mother was the first person to speak to you. Maybe that’s why the local dialects are referred to as “mother tongue.” 🙂
But she wasn’t the only one. You listened to both your parents speaking to you. And you also listened to the immediate family members and relatives trying to connect with you with their voices. It got you curious and you thought, “How come they can speak and I cannot? Let me also try.” So you tried imitating them. First, you spoke some broken syllables, then after some time some unclear words, then after some more time some awkward sentences, and so on.
The more you listened to others speaking and the more you tried to speak like them, the better your speaking skills got.
Listening is the first step toward speaking. Unless you become a good listener, you can never become a good speaker. It’s how languages are learned—any language. And English is no exception. If you want to sharpen your English speaking skills, you must listen to other people speaking in English. Now, when it comes to listening to a language, listen to native speakers of that language. In our case, native English speakers.
For example:
Watch English movies.
Listen to English songs.
Try English podcasts.
Enjoy English audiobooks.
Or maybe listen to English radio stations.
You get the idea.
“But I don’t understand English that well and you’re asking me to watch English movies and listen to songs in English. How will it help me?” You ask.
Well, let me remind you that you could not understand many words in your mother tongue when you were little, but over time, your understanding improved. So take learning English the same way, as if you’re still a child trying to learn a new language.
My point is:
Understanding dialogue in a movie is not important. The important thing is to train your mind to get familiar with the language (even if nothing makes sense to you).
(Don’t enable subtitles because then you’d be reading the dialogue instead of listening.)
Still unconvinced? Let me give you a real-life example as to why listening is so important to improve your spoken English.
Why Listening is Important to Master English
I have been watching a YouTube channel.
The channel belongs to a Haryanvi guy who makes funny videos. And within days, I unconsciously started speaking just like that guy—the choice of words, the tone, the expressions—I copied almost everything.
Now, am I surprised? No. Because I am aware that that’s how the human brain works—it loves imitation.
Have you ever noticed how you start copying your peers, friends, or family members’ speaking styles without even realizing it? The more you listen to a particular language or style of speaking, the faster you imitate it (without realizing that you’re doing it).
You can use your brain’s tendency to “imitate” to help you improve your English skills. So start listening to as much English as you can.
6. Don’t Read English Newspapers Hoping to Improve Your Spoken English
Reading English newspapers to sharpen spoken English skills is a silly idea.
And yet, the first piece of advice you get is:
“Oh, you want to improve your spoken English? Start reading English newspapers.”
Nonsense.
Notice how even an illiterate person speaks well enough Hindi. How does he do that? Remember “listening”—the way human beings learn to speak? That’s exactly how he did that. While growing up, he listened to other people speaking Hindi. And by the way, he didn’t read Hindi newspapers (an illiterate person cannot read, that’s why it’s called “illiterate”).
So am I saying you shouldn’t read English newspapers?
No, that’s not what I am saying. My point is…
Newspapers Use Written Style English, Not the Spoken One
And we don’t speak the way we write, do we?
Do you talk to your friends like this:
“Good morning, my dear friend. It gives me immense pleasure to invite you to dinner?”
Or do you speak like this:
“Hey, how are you? Why don’t you come over to my place tonight? Let’s eat together.”
Notice the difference? That’s the difference between spoken English and written English.
I know many students read English newspapers, hoping it’ll improve their spoken English.
The bad news?
Their spoken English will never improve because they are trying to develop speaking skills by reading, which cannot happen. So remember a simple rule:
If you want to improve your written English, read.
And if you want to improve your spoken English, listen.
Speaking
Now, it’s time for you to speak.
“But I don’t know how to speak English,” you say.
You will.
All you have to do is find a partner. And when you do, start talking with him in English. In the beginning, don’t fear speaking wrong or broken English.
Right or wrong. Broken or unbroken. Clear or unclear. Speak as much as you can. The idea is to make your tongue, mouth, and vocal cords familiar with English.
What if you can’t find a partner? No problem, you can improve spoken English alone as well. All you have to do is find a mirror. Stand in front of it and speak. Ask questions to your reflection in the mirror as a partner would and then try to answer those questions. (Imagine you’re playing a “double role” in a Hollywood movie). That’ll also help you.
Oh yes, one more thing:
Most of us feel uncomfortable listening to our own voices. Perhaps that’s the reason you feel awkward when you try to form sentences in English while speaking. Now, nobody likes being uncomfortable (because it feels uncomfortable being “uncomfortable”), you talk in English for a while and after a couple of seconds fall back to your mother tongue. But don’t lose heart. You can overcome this challenge. Here’s how:
Record 2-3 small paragraphs from a book or newspaper on your mobile phone, and then listen to the audio daily at least once.
Repeat the process until you get comfortable with the sound of your own voice.
7. Decide If You Really Want to Improve Your English Speaking Skills
I know many students “pretend” to improve their English.
They work hard consciously but unconsciously sabotage their efforts by being a lazy ass. In other words, they fool themselves. They know that reasonably good English skills are a must to succeed in today’s competitive world. But it demands them to work their asses off which they don’t like.
So if you’re going to improve your spoken English, be clear about that.
And if you don’t want to, be clear about that too.
Don’t Blame Luck, God, or Your Neighbor
“No power in the world can stop me from improving my spoken English.” I’ve heard many people say this.
I fucking hate it (to be honest with you).
Why would anybody be interested in stopping you? Who do you think you are—a superhero, trying to defy gravity to flaunt the flag—bearing your name in golden ink—on some faraway planet called “Englishopiateredia”—and the people on earth trying to pull you back?
Don’t be silly. Remember that only you are responsible for where you are at the moment and where you will (or will not be) in the future. No “powers” are trying to stop you. No sir, we’re not interested in stopping you. We’re way too busy watching our own goddamn asses.
But Nobody Speaks English In My Family, Not Even My Dog
My younger brother had a friend who could speak anything but English. I met the guy a couple of times, and he appeared average. Nothing extraordinary.
Then one day, my brother told me that that guy was serving in the British army.
What?
A boy who couldn’t utter a word in English now serves in the British army?
How did he do that?
Practice.
Why am I telling you this? To highlight the importance of regular practice. With practice, anything is possible.
So don’t put yourself down if nobody speaks English in your family. You can be the first.
Practice. A lot.
You Can Improve Your Spoken English. But Remember: Life Doesn’t End At a Language
A friend of mine runs an institute in rural Delhi.
There I met a girl desperate to improve her spoken English as if her life depended on it.
Her confidence was so low that her voice was trembling while she spoke to me. She described how, despite her best efforts, she wasn’t able to improve her spoken English.
I listened to her, and then, told her a Sutra: To hell with English!
Seriously. If you aren’t getting the knack for English, then screw it. Why should you lose sleep over a language that’s not even yours?
Remember: feeling good in your skin is way more important than learning a language.
Even if you can not speak English, you’ll live—millions do.