How To Improve Your Speaking

CC subtitles available in multiple languages.

Some people are afraid to speak in their target language. It needn’t happen. We can prepare for speaking. We can recognize speaking as a part of our learning process, not a performance to be judged by others.

0:00 Why are most language learners afraid to speak?
1:39 We need to be prepared to speak.
3:22 If you want to speak confidently, you need the words.
4:46 A speaking opportunity is a chance to see where the gaps are in your knowledge of your target language.
6:12 Do people who are afraid of speaking in their target language lack patience?
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#languagelearning #languages #polyglot

[Thelinguist]

How do you approach speaking in the language you are learning?

[dlb]

I hope when I am in my 70's, I am like Steve. 😊

[tabidots]

I’ve been learning Russian for about 2 years and just last week talked to a human in Russian for the first time. The wait paid off because she complimented me very generously on my pronunciation! Definitely validated the somewhat indirect and slow approach I’ve taken with this language.

[marknofsinger]

Oddly a year ago I was more willing to speak. I did some language exchanges and found them interesting but exhausting. Now I feel I’m at a stage where I’m becoming aware of how much I don’t know so I’m less willing to speak than when I knew less! I think it will pass and maybe it means I’m at some sort of turning point. Thank you for this and all your videos!

[annarboriter]

The fear of speaking is mainly connected to the manner of language instruction. Students learn quickly whether they are more likely to be rewarded for their efforts or critiqued for even their slightest errors

[mucahitpeker]

I have been learning English for 2-3 months. I read books and listen to podcasts nearly every day. Firstly, I listen to podcasts and then I look at the transcript, so I check every sentence in the podcast. I believe this approach will help me improve. Additionally, as I mentioned before, I enjoy reading books. I prefer mystery books, which, in my opinion, is a good choice for exploring the world of English fiction. However, I struggle with speaking. Talking is difficult for me, so reading and listening are easier than speaking.

[LanguageswithErman]

Why we don't speak a foreign language fluently ?

13 - Reasons


1- Fear of making mistakes.
2-Fear of being judged and criticized .
3-Perfectionism .
4-A negative situation in the past. 5-Perceiving the target language as a mathematics lesson.
6-Lack of practice .
7- Inadequate language teacher in school. 8-The word order of your native language is different from the target language.
9-Shyness, introvert person.
10- We want to speak by translating from the native language.
11-Weak vocabulary, inadequate input.
12- Not to be exposed to the target language.
13- Lack of patience .

[davidbrisbane]

I found the best way to speak a foreign language better is simply to speak it a lot with and without errors. I did this, and for the longest time I didn't improve. But one day, without realising it, I started to improve. I didn't do anything different to make this breakthrough. Also, I would add, that as my speak ability improved, my overall language acquisition and learning ability increased quite noticably.

[gamingwithpurganarchy]

After 2 years of struggling through my 1st foreign language (Portuguese br.) I've had 2 conversations now with the person whom I've been studying for. I was definitely scared to speak at first.. now I cherish it.. after the first couple minutes I began to really enjoy it and it made my day and week good.. I try not to "think" of what to say too much.. I just let whatever it is come out and if she responds.. she understands enough 😂 and I've noticed my listening comprehension has already greatly improved from the first conversation to the 2nd, and I haven't even been studying the past month. Very very little only a couple hours... For the whole month.. and yet my listening is significantly better. Speaking was the best decision I've made in my learning process. I encourage everyone, speak.. you will be nervous probably.. but you'll love it!!

[yoyo]

The fact that Steve shares his valuable knowledge for free deserves applause.

[AP-bzvf]

Bonjour Steve, la lecture à voix haute est, pour moi, une première étape pour commencer à parler une langue. Cela me prépare à mes futures conversations. Cela me permet de faire passer les mots par mes muscles, mon souffle, mon ouïe.

[voeart]

Stive, you are great person!!! Your assistance to people is invaluable. With ❤ from Russia.

[minischooloflife]

Your videos have been a major boon in my teaching/language learning journey Steve.

I currently run my own private teaching service for elementary school students where my curriculum centers around reading, writing, and public speaking. I've always had fun and found success when teaching ELA to kids, but 6 months ago, I decided to dedicate myself to learning Spanish. I had this sudden epiphany where I asked myself, "how can I expect to teach proper language skills to kids, if I haven't subjected myself to the simultaneously exciting and embarrassing process of learning a second language?"

Last week I attended the graduation ceremony for my old students. During the ceremony the principal gave a speech entirely in Spanish--and I understood every word. A year ago I wasn't even entertaining the thought of learning a 2nd language. After 6 months of daily practice through listening, reading, and speaking, I'm able to understand a speech with ease. My speaking isn't where I want it to be yet, but that doesn't matter to me because I'm just having fun engaging the language everyday.

[bhami]

I think this is your most important recent video! Re: be prepared: you mostly addressed the larger strategic issues, but there are also lots of very specific, immediate issues to think about, such as: what are the names of the people I'll be speaking with? What have they been up to today? What are their backgrounds and priorities? (These specific sorts of questions are probably worth a whole 'nother video!)

[kodyrrr]

Yeah, in my experience with Spanish (3.5 years learning) the speaking part kinda comes along as I get more familiar with the language. As of now, I am in Spain for some time and finding that my speaking is getting better because I'm needing to speak more often. Before this time in Spain, I did very little speaking because I just thought that listening and reading would be more practical. I had a wrestling coach that said one time that day to day we get better, but it is not noticeable; it's like putting one piece of paper on top of another; over 3 days, or 10 days the stack of papers do not look much different. However, after 1 year, 2 or 3 years, that stack of paper is noticeably larger and thicker. I think this analogy fits well when we think of language learning. Like wrestling, language is a skill that requires time, effort, focus and attention. :)

[isaac_owens]

Estoy aprendiendo español y después de 5 años, me siento como no estoy mejorando. Tienes muchos puntos buenos en este video, y lo intentaré aplicarlos a mi aprendiendo.

[AJMC]

I used some French at a local McDonald's with some French Canadians, a family unit from Montreal. It was a brief encounter, I spoke in french I am a little french, trying to say I speak a little french. The daughter who was about 8 corrected me, saying it's je parle un peu francais. They were generally understanding, and actually delighted an American was trying to learn their language.

[crunchmcm]

you're very underrated and talented as well, you are amazing

[junaidbaghdadi-ddeb]

Steve and Lindie both are my biggest inspirators in the world of the language learnings ❤

[StillAliveAndKicking_]

Steve is inspirational, and without doubt has so much experience to share. I recall Steven Krashen once saying that you should not rush someone to speak, instead let them speak when they feel comfortable. I am not like Steve Kaufmann, I do have social anxiety if I try to speak with strangers in a language which I know poorly. I compensate by working hard on comprehension and pronunciation, and talking out loud to exercise the language as opposed to just passive listening.