One simple way to improve your confidence in English is to have real conversations and express how you feel. But some learners miss out on having real interaction by worrying about grammar and vocabulary and making ‘mistakes’. Is this you?
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Confidence. How can you improve your spoken English if you just stick to ‘studying’ the grammar and vocabulary and not express how you feel?
Sometimes during my time in Prague I’ve ask students about an issue in the media but they reply “I don’t know” or “I’m not interested in this topic” or (my personal favourite) “I don’t like politics.” I understand to some extent that this is cultural – in this country at least it was only 20 or so years ago when there was a communist government and people were afraid to give their opinions.
But imagine you go on a date with someone. Perhaps you met online or at a party. What kind of conversation will you have if you’re afraid to give your opinion? Or what kind of conversation will you have if your potential boy or girlfriend wife says “I don’t know” the whole evening?
You’ll be bored out of your mind!
Communicating with more confidence involves sharing ideas, thoughts, asking your friend what they think and responding to how they reply.
You can only achieve this by doing it.
So I really encourage you to think more about how you develop your conversations and less about those ‘mistakes’ you’re afraid of making.
Interactive communication in Cambridge Exams
One thing I find helpful in encouraging learners to say more about how they feel about a particular topic is to mention that this is tested in the main English exams, which quite often they are preparing for.
For example, in the Cambridge FCE exam, you are expected to give your opinion on a variety of familiar topics, such as travel, sport, family, the environment, and so on.
The higher the level, the more you are expected to justify your opinions, give reasons for your opinions, and respond to what others say. As well, the higher the level, the more you’re expected to speak about unfamiliar or abstract topics.
Read the newspaper!
Why not check out your favourite news site, preferably in English, and ask yourself:
- What are the top 3 news stories of today or this week?
- How do I feel about these stories?
- Would I be able to summarise a story that interests me and give my opinion on it within 1-2 minutes?
I say this because reading the newspaper helps with understanding what the main issues of the day are, and gives you a richer bank of knowledge to draw upon when you speak with others. Just like with reading literature and documentaries.
Broaden your mind
If you only worry about the grammar and vocabulary, you’ll miss out on the chance to develop as a person. Giving your opinion and exchanging your thoughts and ideas helps build confidence. It also helps build healthy relationships.
So next time your English teacher asks you about today’s news or about something that’s happening in your city or country, express how you feel. If you don’t have an opinion, ask others for more information about it and then say what you think.
You can even make up your opinion in an English lesson!
Beyond this, what’s the point of learning all these cool phrases for giving your opinion (eg in my opinion; as far as I’m concerned) if you can’t complete the sentence with your own thoughts?
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David Sweetnam
English Teacher and Trainer
Engage s.r.o.
david [at] GetIntoEnglish [dot] com
{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
Hello David,
I know my own Achilles’ heel. When it comes to natural disaster, politics and civil war (Middle East for instance) I feel lost. In fact, I know what I have to do, read more about these articles as you above-mentioned.
Ciao.
Hi Marcelo
There’s so much going on in the world right now. Of course I understand that in some countries you might need to use some caution before you give your opinion.
The Czech Republic however is quite a liberal country, and I guess Brazil is also (I haven’t been there yet so I can’t say). So I definitely encourage learners here to read up on the top issues of the day – it can add so much to a class when people discuss real things.
Beyond this, reading the newspaper gives you exposure to vocabulary that isn’t in the coursebooks, + you can also see how people present an argument in English (ie how they structure their paragraphs, build an argument, use linking words etc). This in itself is helpful especially for when you take an exam like the Cambridge CPE or IELTS.
David
Yes David, your guess is right, Brazilians are open minded and the country by itself is pretty liberal. I know that I have to expose myself to these real English vocabulary and real context of learning where the English language is used so that I can learn English effectively, but I have to say that sometimes it seems to be very hard and almost impossible to achieve some fluency in English without going out of your country
There is another problem that I have to deal with constantly, and do you know what is it? Is my false expectation and anxiety to be fluent in no time or in other words, overnight! Since I know it’s not possible, I keep studying hard to achieve my goals and never, but never give up, because the day is yet to come!
Sorry for any and all grammar mistakes! Now I’m going to hit the book again
Hey Marcelo
Do you use any vocabulary books to help you study + remember things, or do you prefer to go through the newspapers + magazines?
Today I bought a book called “All Clear” (Heinle) which looks great for self-study, full of phrases we use in conversation. Of course I can’t really judge it til I use it, but I have a good first impression.
David
Hello David,
Sorry for the delay in replying your question.
I would say a mix of both. I have some grammar books, such as the Essential, Intermediate and Advanced Grammar in Use, and the Intermediate and Advanced Macmillan English Grammar. The only one I follow through is the Essential Grammar in Use, I’m about to finish this book. But in a nutshell, don’t follow any grammar book from the beginning to the end, a lesson or something like that; the only exception is the Essential Grammar. I just use them to search for any doubt that I may have, could it be my fault? Sometimes I think that it’s a pity I have not attended to a regular school, it may be sound weird, but it seems that is a lack of something in my English, that’s why sometimes I’m a total loss. Thanks for the tip; I’ll look for this book “All Clear”.
Hi Marcelo
Well, if you already have some books on your shelf at home, it might not be good for me to recommend even more books. I used ‘All Clear’ this week + found that even though there are some great phrases in there for conversation, the level is lower than what it says on the cover.
One of my students likes this book for vocabulary: Word Skills.
Of course the best thing is to interact in the language with friends, and expose yourself to authentic materials (eg your favourite newspaper or magazine in English). In terms of ‘studying English’ you only need one coursebook + workbook. For example, I quite like the ‘Outcomes’ series as it’s based on English conversation, with lots of natural phrases + collocations.
So it seems you already have enough books, but if you did get one more, I’d make it ‘one’ and not another ten (we’ve all done this, you should see my Czech shelf at home!).
Have a good day
David
I love books, but I admit that I need to learn how to use them effectively
I have not found this book yet, please David, who is the author? You put Heinle between brackets, is he/she the author?
Thanks.
Actually Heinle is the publisher. I wonder though if this book might not be as challenging for you. If you can, check out a sample online.
Another option is this book, which just arrived in Prague + might be available in your neck of the woods. I haven’t used it yet but I really like the look of it, + wish there was something similar in Czech:
Using collocations for spoken English
If you got just one book like this, it’d keep you going for some time
David
Hi David,
Thanks, I found the All Clear book last Sunday, I also found the samples of these books, I thought very interesting because the English used in these books are real English, I mean, spoken English on a daily basis.
Your tips were really awesome, thanks for sharing.
Bye.
Hi Marcelo
Thanks a lot for your enthusiastic comments. If there’s anything you think I could write about here please feel free to suggest something!
David