Master your english speaking skills

LEARN VOWEL AND CONSONANT SOUNDS IN ENGLISH.. The Phonemic chart is a list of the different vowel and consonant sounds in English.. Learning how to make these sounds and then using them

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You have been struggling with learning English for five years, or even ten years However, you can’t even speak English to foreigners when you bump into them in street Why?

That might be because the method you use is wrong, or the amount of time you spend on studying is not enough It is certainly true that speaking is the one of the most important skills you need to improve while learning a language Here are ways you can make use of to push your English speaking skills to a new high level

1 LEARN VOWEL AND CONSONANT SOUNDS IN ENGLISH

The Phonemic chart is a list of the different vowel and consonant sounds in English Learning how to make these sounds and then using them to pronounce words correctly will really help you speak English clearly

This is a great resource from the British Council:

http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/phonemic-chart

2 LEARN AND IDENTIFY SCHWA

- Schwa is the name for the most common sound in English It is a weak, unstressed sound and it occurs in many words It is often the sound in grammar words such as articles and prepositions Getting the schwa sound correct is a good way of making your pronunciation more accurate and natural The phonemic symbol for this sound is /ə/

Ex: To survive the cold weather you have to make thorough preparations

For further information: https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/teaching-schwa

Master Your English Speaking Skills

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3 LEARN ABOUT WORD STRESS

When words have more than one syllable, we stress one or more of them Stress might be in the first/ second/ third or fourth syllable varying in each word

We can use dictionary to figure out where the stress lie, and then practice pronouncing the words with more attention to the stress

4 LEARN ABOUT SENTENCE STRESS

- Sentence stress refers to the word or words we stress in a phrase of a sentence When we stress a word, we help the listener understand what is important If we stress the wrong word or don’t stress the key word, the listener may get confused or not realise what is important in the sentence

- Sentence Stress Rules: The basic rules of sentence stress are:

1 content words (main verbs, nouns, adjectives, adverbs, negative auxiliaries) are stressed

2 structure words (pronouns, prepositions, articles, conjunctions, auxiliary verbs) are unstressed

3 the time between stressed words is always the same

Here is one example that we can try on:

Helen: Have you seen that new film with Tom Cruise?

John: No, but I saw the last one he was in It was terrible!

5 LEARN ABOUT COMMON INTONATION PATTERNS

Intonation (when the pitch of the voice goes up and down) is complex in English but it is very important as it expresses the feeling or emotion of the speaker

You can practice with this guy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPcBJfBTlNo

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6 CHOOSE AN ACCENT YOU LIKE AND IMITATE IT

Accent is a way of pronouncing the words of a language that shows which country, area or social class a person comes from Different countries have different accents when their citizens speak English You should try the one you like best and stick to it whenever you speak English

Let’s watch a very interesting video clips about English accents:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VAWt0OJ65Bc

7 USE CONTRACTIONS MORE

Contractions make your speech more efficient because they save time and energy Say ‘should not’ and then say ‘shouldn’t’: which is easier to say?

Try this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvaXnJqrdcg

8 LEARN ABOUT LINKING SOUNDS

In connected speech, words are usually linked together smoothly without a break between them Normally, a consonant sound at the end of a word is linked to a vowel sound at the beginning of the next word

Here you can find further information: https://www.englishclub.com/pronunciation/linking-3.htm

9 LEARN SHORT AUTOMATIC RESPONSES

Many of our responses are automatic (Right, OK, no problem, alright, fine thanks, just a minute, you’re welcome, fine by me, let’s do it!, yup, no way! you’re joking, right?, Do I have to? etc.) Collect these short automatic responses and start using them

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10 LEARN EXCLAMATION WORDS AND FILLERS

Watch this video or study this list of 100 common exclamations here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gz-pfiO6lyA

http://www.dailywritingtips.com/100-mostly-small-but-expressive-interjections/

11 REPLACE REGULAR VERBS WITH PHRASAL VERBS

A phrasal verb is a combination of a verb and preposition, a verb and an adverb, or a verb with both

an adverb and a preposition

A phrasal verb has a meaning which is different from the original verb That's what makes them fun, but confusing You may need to try to guess the meaning from the context, or, failing that, look it up

in a dictionary

A website offering a wide variety of phrase verbs:

http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/phrasals.htm

Example:

run across = find by chance

 I ran across my old roommate at the college reunion

12 LEARN ABOUT COLLOCATIONS

A collocation is a group of two or more words that generally go together These groups sound natural

to native speakers of English, whereas other combinations just sound unnatural

A very useful website for consulting collocation: http://www.ozdic.com/

For example:

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I’m catching the fast train (NOT quick train)

Shall we have some fast food? (NOT quick food)

I’m going for a quick shower (NOT fast shower)

Let’s have a quick meal before we go to the theatre (NOT fast meal)

13 IDENTIFY FIXED AND SEMI-FIXED PHRASES AND PRACTISE THEM

Fixed phrases usually contain between 3 and 7 words and include items like:

Ex: to be honest, in a moment, on the other hand

A website having more than a thousand of phrases:

http://broadskyblog.blogspot.com.es/2012/11/over-1000-of-most-common-fixed.html

14 PRACTISE TONGUE TWISTERS

Tongue twisters are phrases designed to improve your pronunciation of particular sounds

Try these phrases:

The big bug bit the little beetle

She sells sea shells

I saw Susie sitting in a shoe shine shop

How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?

15 RECORD YOURSELF SPEAKING ENGLISH

- Listen to a recording of a fluent English speaker (a short audio file)

- Record yourself repeating what they said

- Compare the difference and try again

Humans are natural mimics so you will find yourself getting better and better This is a remarkably effective way – RECORD YOURSELF

A useful tool for recording: https://soundcloud.com/

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16 READ ALOUD, ESPECIALLY DIALOGUE

Reading aloud is not the same as speaking naturally Practise for 5 or 10 minutes a day and you will begin to notice which sounds are difficult for you to produce Find transcripts of natural dialogues, and practise acting them with a friend, you will also learn common phrases which we use when speaking as well

A useful tool: http://www.teacherjoe.us/NYBJ.html

Let’s try: Oh, I didn't know that! Well, let's go inside and take a look Hey, look at all the cool stuff here! Hmmm Maybe I should buy an MP3 player while I'm here Or maybe a new mobile phone

17 SING ALONG TO ENGLISH SONGS

The lyrics to pop songs are often conversational so you can learn lots of common expressions by listening to them

Some beautiful songs you can sing along:

http://www.esolcourses.com/topics/learn-english-with-songs.html

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Now, here’s your CALL TO ACTION

1 Learn Vowels and Consonant sounds in English

2 Learn and Identify Schwa

3 Learn about word stress

4 Learn about sentence stress

5 Learn about common intonation patterns

6 Choose an accent you like and imitate it

7 Use contractions more

8 Learn about linking sounds

9 Learn short automatic responses

10 Learn exclamation words and fillers

11 Replace regular words with phrase verbs

12 Learn about collocations

13 Identify fixed and semi-fixed phrases and practice them

14 Practice tongue twisters

15 Record yourself speaking English

16 Read aloud, especially dialogues

17 Sing along to English songs