HOW TO IMPROVE ENGLISH COMMUNICATION SKILLS
Find native English speakers
In certain areas it’s the hardest thing to do, but it’s the best use of your time. Talking to actual native speakers is the most effective way to improve your English skills, speaking or otherwise. So whether you have to Skype them, call them, or beg them to speak to you, do so. Your progress will be faster this way than any other.
Listen to the music of English
No, not English music, the music of English - its lilt, its prosody, the sing-songy-ness of it. The intonation. Even if you speak perfect English technically, if you speak it like a robot you’re not speaking it the way it’s meant to be spoken.
Slow down
Above all, if you want to be understood, slow down. The more clearly you speak, the better chance your listener has of understanding you. It’s tempting to get nervous and want to speed up to get it all over with, but you can’t do that! Clarity is key - for some native English speakers, too!
Record yourself
Though we hear ourselves all the time, we really don’t know quite what we sound like. So record yourself! What are the weak and strong points you hear in your speech? And then you can concentrate on what you need to work on.
Speak English at home
This is the biggest, easiest mistake to make. You go about your day, you’re on the job working partly in English, you go to your English class, and then you go home and revert back to your native tongue. While you may be making slow improvements, you’ll never get past that dreaded lingual plateau. Make a point to speak it at home, too. Have only English at the dinner table. Stick to English TV at home. Make it as 24/7 as possible.
Listening to the music of English means Listening to English music.
A. True
B. False
HOW TO IMPROVE ENGLISH COMMUNICATION SKILLS
Find native English speakers
In certain areas it’s the hardest thing to do, but it’s the best use of your time. Talking to actual native speakers is the most effective way to improve your English skills, speaking or otherwise. So whether you have to Skype them, call them, or beg them to speak to you, do so. Your progress will be faster this way than any other.
Listen to the music of English
No, not English music, the music of English - its lilt, its prosody, the sing-songy-ness of it. The intonation. Even if you speak perfect English technically, if you speak it like a robot you’re not speaking it the way it’s meant to be spoken.
Slow down
Above all, if you want to be understood, slow down. The more clearly you speak, the better chance your listener has of understanding you. It’s tempting to get nervous and want to speed up to get it all over with, but you can’t do that! Clarity is key - for some native English speakers, too!
Record yourself
Though we hear ourselves all the time, we really don’t know quite what we sound like. So record yourself! What are the weak and strong points you hear in your speech? And then you can concentrate on what you need to work on.
Speak English at home
This is the biggest, easiest mistake to make. You go about your day, you’re on the job working partly in English, you go to your English class, and then you go home and revert back to your native tongue. While you may be making slow improvements, you’ll never get past that dreaded lingual plateau. Make a point to speak it at home, too. Have only English at the dinner table. Stick to English TV at home. Make it as 24/7 as possible.
Talking to actual native speakers is the least effective way to improve your English skills
A. True
B. False
HOW TO IMPROVE ENGLISH COMMUNICATION SKILLS
Find native English speakers
In certain areas it’s the hardest thing to do, but it’s the best use of your time. Talking to actual native speakers is the most effective way to improve your English skills, speaking or otherwise. So whether you have to Skype them, call them, or beg them to speak to you, do so. Your progress will be faster this way than any other.
Listen to the music of English
No, not English music, the music of English - its lilt, its prosody, the sing-songy-ness of it. The intonation. Even if you speak perfect English technically, if you speak it like a robot you’re not speaking it the way it’s meant to be spoken.
Slow down
Above all, if you want to be understood, slow down. The more clearly you speak, the better chance your listener has of understanding you. It’s tempting to get nervous and want to speed up to get it all over with, but you can’t do that! Clarity is key - for some native English speakers, too!
Record yourself
Though we hear ourselves all the time, we really don’t know quite what we sound like. So record yourself! What are the weak and strong points you hear in your speech? And then you can concentrate on what you need to work on.
Speak English at home
This is the biggest, easiest mistake to make. You go about your day, you’re on the job working partly in English, you go to your English class, and then you go home and revert back to your native tongue. While you may be making slow improvements, you’ll never get past that dreaded lingual plateau. Make a point to speak it at home, too. Have only English at the dinner table. Stick to English TV at home. Make it as 24/7 as possible.
Speaking English as much as possible is very good for improving English communication skills.
A. True
B. False
HOW TO IMPROVE ENGLISH COMMUNICATION SKILLS
Find native English speakers
In certain areas it’s the hardest thing to do, but it’s the best use of your time. Talking to actual native speakers is the most effective way to improve your English skills, speaking or otherwise. So whether you have to Skype them, call them, or beg them to speak to you, do so. Your progress will be faster this way than any other.
Listen to the music of English
No, not English music, the music of English - its lilt, its prosody, the sing-songy-ness of it. The intonation. Even if you speak perfect English technically, if you speak it like a robot you’re not speaking it the way it’s meant to be spoken.
Slow down
Above all, if you want to be understood, slow down. The more clearly you speak, the better chance your listener has of understanding you. It’s tempting to get nervous and want to speed up to get it all over with, but you can’t do that! Clarity is key - for some native English speakers, too!
Record yourself
Though we hear ourselves all the time, we really don’t know quite what we sound like. So record yourself! What are the weak and strong points you hear in your speech? And then you can concentrate on what you need to work on.
Speak English at home
This is the biggest, easiest mistake to make. You go about your day, you’re on the job working partly in English, you go to your English class, and then you go home and revert back to your native tongue. While you may be making slow improvements, you’ll never get past that dreaded lingual plateau. Make a point to speak it at home, too. Have only English at the dinner table. Stick to English TV at home. Make it as 24/7 as possible.
The more clearly you speak the better chance your listener has of understanding you.
A. True
B. False
HOW TO IMPROVE ENGLISH COMMUNICATION SKILLS
Find native English speakers
In certain areas it’s the hardest thing to do, but it’s the best use of your time. Talking to actual native speakers is the most effective way to improve your English skills, speaking or otherwise. So whether you have to Skype them, call them, or beg them to speak to you, do so. Your progress will be faster this way than any other.
Listen to the music of English
No, not English music, the music of English - its lilt, its prosody, the sing-songy-ness of it. The intonation. Even if you speak perfect English technically, if you speak it like a robot you’re not speaking it the way it’s meant to be spoken.
Slow down
Above all, if you want to be understood, slow down. The more clearly you speak, the better chance your listener has of understanding you. It’s tempting to get nervous and want to speed up to get it all over with, but you can’t do that! Clarity is key - for some native English speakers, too!
Record yourself
Though we hear ourselves all the time, we really don’t know quite what we sound like. So record yourself! What are the weak and strong points you hear in your speech? And then you can concentrate on what you need to work on.
Speak English at home
This is the biggest, easiest mistake to make. You go about your day, you’re on the job working partly in English, you go to your English class, and then you go home and revert back to your native tongue. While you may be making slow improvements, you’ll never get past that dreaded lingual plateau. Make a point to speak it at home, too. Have only English at the dinner table. Stick to English TV at home. Make it as 24/7 as possible.
Recording yourself is a good way to discover your weak and strong points.
A. True
B. False
I suggest that you (work) _________________ harder on your pronunciation.
Choose the underlined word or phrase (A, B, C or D) that needs correcting.
When he came, I watched a football match on TV.
A When
B came
C watched
D match on TV
Complete the passage below. Fill in each gap with ONE word.
If you don’t know __________ a word means, try to guess the meaning, or look __________ the word in your dictionary. All foreign speakers have an __________, but that doesn’t matter. To make your pronunciation __________, listen to English speakers and try to imitate them. Don’t worry if you __________ mistakes or don’t try to correct a mistake – that’s normal! It’s often useful to translate words __________ one language to the other, but it’s best when you can start to think in the new language.
Question 5:
Complete the passage below. Fill in each gap with ONE word.
If you don’t know __________ a word means, try to guess the meaning, or look __________ the word in your dictionary. All foreign speakers have an __________, but that doesn’t matter. To make your pronunciation __________, listen to English speakers and try to imitate them. Don’t worry if you __________ mistakes or don’t try to correct a mistake – that’s normal! It’s often useful to translate words __________ one language to the other, but it’s best when you can start to think in the new language.
Question 2: