5 Smart Ways to Improve your English Speaking Skills

English Speaking Success
6 Mar 202123:44

Summary

TLDRIn this informative video, Keith from the Keith Speaking Academy offers five practical tips to enhance spoken English skills, specifically for ESL learners aiming to excel in the IELTS speaking test. He emphasizes learning through listening to native speakers, automating vocabulary with 'repeat and juggle' techniques, increasing fluency by mastering language chunks, gaining confidence by stepping out of one's comfort zone, and choosing tools that immerse learners in natural spoken English. The summary also highlights the importance of daily practice and persistence in improving English proficiency.

Takeaways

  • 😀 **Speak by Listening**: Learning spoken English should start with listening to native or proficient speakers, as speaking and writing are two different systems.
  • 📚 **History of Language**: Spoken language predates written language, emphasizing the importance of learning through listening rather than solely through reading.
  • 🔊 **Utilize Modern Resources**: Access to native speaker audio and video content is abundant, and should be leveraged to improve spoken English.
  • 🔄 **Automate Vocabulary**: Repeating and juggling with vocabulary helps to automate its use, making it more natural and less effortful in speech.
  • 🎲 **Repeat and Juggle Method**: Actively repeating phrases and altering them to practice different words or tenses can enhance fluency.
  • 📈 **Increase Fluency with Chunks**: Learning language in chunks or collocations speeds up fluency by reducing the cognitive load during conversation.
  • 🤝 **Push Your Comfort Zone**: To gain confidence, intentionally engage in activities that make you uncomfortable, such as speaking with strangers or recording your voice.
  • 🛠️ **Choose the Right Tools**: Select tools that allow immersion in natural spoken English, not just those designed for language learners.
  • 🌐 **Immerse in Real English**: Engage with a variety of English content, including news, interviews, and TED talks, to experience the natural rhythm and usage of the language.
  • 📱 **Use Apps for Learning**: Tools like the Woodpecker Learning app can provide access to a wide range of audio and video content to facilitate language learning.
  • 🔄 **Daily Practice**: Consistent daily practice is essential for improving overall English proficiency and should be combined with the tips provided for best results.

Q & A

  • What is the main purpose of the video?

    -The main purpose of the video is to provide five tips to help improve spoken English and assist viewers in getting unstuck from their current English proficiency level.

  • Who is Keith and what does he do?

    -Keith is the person running the Keith Speaking Academy, which helps individuals speak better English, give better answers, and achieve higher scores on the IELTS speaking test.

  • What is the first tip Keith suggests for learning spoken English?

    -The first tip Keith suggests is to learn speaking by listening, emphasizing the importance of natural spoken English over learning from books.

  • Why does Keith believe that learning by listening is more effective than learning from books?

    -Keith believes that learning by listening is more effective because it helps learners acquire natural spoken English, pronunciation, and context, which are essential for real-life communication.

  • What is the historical context Keith mentions to support the idea of learning by listening?

    -Keith mentions that humans have been speaking for over 10,000 years, but writing was only developed around 4,000 to 5,000 years ago, suggesting that speaking came first and writing was created to capture speech.

  • What does Keith mean by 'automate your vocabulary'?

    -To 'automate your vocabulary' means to make the use of vocabulary automatic, or without conscious thought, through the method of repeating and juggling words or phrases.

  • What is the 'repeat and juggle' technique Keith introduces for vocabulary learning?

    -The 'repeat and juggle' technique involves listening to a word or phrase, repeating it, and then changing it in some way, such as substituting a word or altering the tense, to practice using the vocabulary more fluently.

  • What is the purpose of focusing on 'chunks' when trying to increase fluency in English?

    -Focusing on 'chunks' helps to increase fluency by allowing learners to use pieces of language that naturally go together without having to think about each individual word, thus speeding up speech and making it more natural.

  • How does Keith suggest gaining confidence in speaking English?

    -Keith suggests gaining confidence by pushing one's comfort zone, engaging in activities that may feel uncomfortable at first, such as recording one's voice, finding speaking partners, or joining classes.

  • What is the importance of immersing oneself in natural spoken English according to Keith?

    -Immersing oneself in natural spoken English is important because it exposes learners to the language as it is used by native speakers in real-life situations, which can be different from the controlled environment of a classroom.

  • What tool does Keith recommend for immersing in both ESL and real-world English?

    -Keith recommends the Woodpecker Learning app, which provides access to a wide range of ESL materials as well as real-world English content, allowing learners to immerse themselves in natural English language.

  • What is the final advice Keith gives to the viewers about practicing English?

    -Keith's final advice is to practice English day by day with patience and persistence, emphasizing that consistent practice is key to improving one's overall level of English.

Outlines

00:00

📚 Introduction to Improving Spoken English

Keith, from the Keith Speaking Academy, introduces his five tips to enhance spoken English skills, particularly for ESL students preparing for the IELTS speaking test. He acknowledges the common issue of feeling stuck at a certain level and suggests that the problem often lies in the overall proficiency in spoken English rather than a lack of exam technique. Keith emphasizes the importance of aligning one's spoken English with their internal language, using the metaphor of a Ferrari versus a car crash to illustrate the disparity between thought and speech. The tips to be covered include learning to speak by listening, automating vocabulary, increasing fluency, gaining confidence, and choosing the right tools for learning.

05:03

🎧 Learning to Speak by Listening

The first tip focuses on the importance of learning spoken English through listening, as opposed to traditional methods that rely on reading and books. Keith argues that speaking and writing are distinct systems, with speaking being the original form of language. He suggests that the historical lack of access to native speakers has led to an over-reliance on books, but modern technology provides ample opportunities for learners to listen to native speakers through various media. The benefits of learning by listening include acquiring natural pronunciation, context, and an understanding of language usage. Keith encourages learners to take advantage of these resources to improve their spoken English.

10:05

📚 Automating Vocabulary Through Repeat and Juggle

Keith's second tip involves automating vocabulary to make it more accessible during conversation. He introduces the method of 'repeat and juggle,' which involves listening to a piece of language, repeating it, and then altering it in some way to practice flexibility with the vocabulary. This could mean changing a word within a phrase or altering the tense of a verb. The goal is to make the use of vocabulary automatic, similar to how one might drive on autopilot. Keith also mentions an app called Woodpecker, which facilitates this learning process by providing access to a wide range of audio and video materials for practice.

15:11

🗣️ Increasing Fluency with Language Chunks

The third tip is about increasing fluency by focusing on language chunks—groups of words that commonly appear together, such as collocations and idiomatic expressions. By learning these chunks, speakers can construct sentences more quickly and naturally without having to assemble each word individually. Keith recommends using resources like ozdic.com to find collocations and suggests that learning chunks is akin to building a house with pre-assembled layers of bricks, making the construction process faster and more accurate.

20:14

🚀 Gaining Confidence by Pushing the Comfort Zone

Keith's fourth tip addresses the importance of gaining confidence in spoken English by pushing one's comfort zone. He suggests that learners should engage in activities that make them feel uncomfortable, such as recording their voice, finding speaking partners on social media, or joining local classes. These practices will help learners become accustomed to the nervousness and potential mistakes that come with real-world communication and the IELTS speaking test environment. By doing so, they will build the confidence needed to perform well under pressure.

🌐 Choosing the Right Tools for Immersion

The final tip is about selecting the appropriate tools to immerse oneself in natural spoken English. Keith advises against relying solely on course books and teachers, as they may create an artificial learning environment. Instead, he encourages learners to engage with the real world by listening to and watching a variety of English-language content, such as news broadcasts, interviews, TED talks, and films. He also highlights the Woodpecker Learning app as a useful tool that provides access to both educational and real-world English materials, allowing learners to practice with the support of subtitles when needed.

Mindmap

Keywords

💡IELTS speaking test

The IELTS speaking test is a component of the International English Language Testing System, which assesses a non-native English speaker's proficiency in spoken English. In the video's context, it represents a goal for English learners to improve their speaking skills to achieve a higher score. The script mentions that the tips provided are aimed at helping viewers to 'get well unstuck' and do 'really well on the ESL speaking test'.

💡Ferrari

In the script, 'Ferrari' is used metaphorically to describe the high quality of ideas one might have in their head when thinking in English. The comparison to a 'car crash' when speaking illustrates the disparity between the fluency of thought and the actual spoken expression. This analogy is used to emphasize the need for improving spoken English skills.

💡Automate

To 'automate' in the context of language learning refers to the process of making the use of vocabulary or grammar structures instinctive and effortless, similar to driving on autopilot. The script suggests that by repeating and juggling vocabulary (changing words or tenses in a phrase), learners can automate their language use, making it more natural and fluent.

💡Chunks

Chunks, in linguistic terms, are groups of words that commonly appear together and function as single units of meaning. The script emphasizes the importance of learning chunks to increase fluency. For example, 'heavy rain' is a chunk that should be learned as a whole rather than separately as 'heavy' and 'rain'. This approach speeds up language acquisition and makes speaking more natural.

💡Collocations

Collocations are words that are often used together in a language, even though they might not make logical sense when viewed individually. In the script, 'heavy rain' is given as an example of a collocation. Learning these combinations helps in achieving a more natural and fluent use of the language.

💡Idiomatic expressions

Idiomatic expressions are phrases whose meaning cannot be deduced from the individual words. The script uses 'kick the bucket' as an example, which means 'to die'. These expressions are an important part of achieving fluency and understanding native-like speech.

💡Filler

A 'filler' in the context of language is a word or phrase used to provide a pause or to transition between thoughts while speaking. The script mentions 'on top of that' as an example of a filler. Using such fillers can make speech sound more natural and give the speaker time to gather their thoughts.

💡Ozdic.com

Ozdic.com is mentioned in the script as a resource for learning collocations. It is an example of a tool that can help English learners expand their vocabulary and understand how words commonly pair in the language, thus improving their spoken English.

💡Comfort zone

The 'comfort zone' refers to a state of comfort or ease within one's environment or activities. The script encourages learners to 'push their comfort zone' by engaging in activities that may initially cause discomfort, such as speaking with native speakers or recording one's voice, to build confidence in using English.

💡Immerse

To 'immerse' in the context of language learning means to surround oneself with the language to the extent that it becomes a part of daily life. The script advises learners to immerse themselves in natural spoken English by using tools like the Woodpecker Learning app, which provides access to a wide range of audio and video content.

💡Woodpecker Learning app

The Woodpecker Learning app is highlighted in the script as a tool for language learning that provides access to a vast array of audio and video content, including both educational material and real-world English usage. It is presented as a means to practice listening, repeating, and juggling, as well as to immerse oneself in natural English.

Highlights

Introduction to five daily tips for improving spoken English and overcoming stagnation.

The importance of learning spoken English through listening rather than reading.

The historical context of spoken language predating written language by thousands of years.

The benefits of learning by listening, including natural pronunciation and context understanding.

The availability of native speaker content through modern platforms like Netflix and YouTube.

Automating vocabulary through the method of 'repeat and juggle'.

The explanation of 'juggle' as changing words or tenses in a phrase to practice fluency.

Introduction of the Woodpecker app for practicing listening, repeating, and juggling.

The concept of 'chunks' in language learning for increased fluency.

Using collocations and idiomatic expressions as language chunks to improve speaking.

The recommendation to push one's comfort zone to gain confidence in speaking English.

The suggestion to practice speaking with others to become accustomed to real-world interactions.

The necessity of choosing the right tools for English learning, including immersion in natural spoken English.

The distinction between the artificial learning environment and the real-world use of English.

Recommendation to use a variety of resources like news broadcasts, TED talks, and films for immersion.

The balance offered by the Woodpecker Learning app between ESL content and real-world English.

Encouragement for daily practice and persistence in improving English speaking skills.

Transcripts

play00:00

- Hello, listen, do you feel like, you know,  you're not making progress with your spoken  

play00:07

English like your stuck? Well, today I'm gonna  help you. I'm going to give you five tips,  

play00:15

right? Five simple things you can do every day  that will help improve your spoken English and  

play00:24

help you get well unstuck. So you can do really  well on the ESL speaking test. Are you ready? Then  

play00:32

come with me. Hello again, so my name is Keith and  I run the Keith Speaking Academy here to help you  

play00:50

speak better English, give better answers and  get a higher score on the IELTS speaking test.  

play00:56

So maybe right. You've taken the IELTS test  several times, but you're stuck at the same level,  

play01:05

maybe a Band six or a 6.5. There may be several  reasons for this. And today I'm going to look  

play01:12

at the most common problem for being stuck,  right? And actually, it's not that you need  

play01:19

more technique, exam technique or tips. It's  just that your overall level of spoken English  

play01:26

is too low. So the English in your head might be  great. But when you speak, it's just not the same.  

play01:36

As a student, one said to me, he said, you know,  when I'm I've got ideas in English, the English in  

play01:42

my head it's like driving a Ferrari. It's great.  But then when I speak, it's like a car crash.  

play01:52

Which is a great image, I  think for many, many students.  

play01:56

So today I'm going to address that  and help you improve your spoken  

play02:00

English with these five tips. I'm going to  look at the following, how to learn, speaking  

play02:07

how to automate your vocabulary, how to  increase fluency how to gain confidence  

play02:14

and how to make sure you're choosing the right  tools to help you, right? Okey-dokey, let's begin.  

play02:27

So, first of all, how to learn speaking  or how to learn how to speak the most  

play02:33

important tip here I think is to learn speaking  by listening. Unfortunately, many students  

play02:42

around the world learn speaking with books, by  looking at words by reading and reading aloud.  

play02:51

Why? Well, probably because their teachers told  them and the reason their teachers told them is  

play02:56

because they learned that at school too. And  I think one reason is in the past there was no  

play03:03

access to the native speaker voice,  right? But the world has changed and  

play03:09

unfortunately education has not changed  but it needs to. Why is this important?  

play03:15

Because the speaking and writing are two different  systems, right? A bit of history to explain.  

play03:26

I like history, we have been speaking right  for over 10,000 years we have only been writing  

play03:36

for maybe four or 5,000 years, right? We began  writing with the Egyptians and the Sumerians  

play03:43

with their cuneiforms in about 3000 BC. Speaking  came first. Writing was a way to capture what we  

play03:55

say. And grammar is a way to capture what  we speak. And it does a pretty good job,  

play04:02

but it's not perfect. And yet still so many people  choose the books to help them learn to speak.  

play04:10

It's the other way round, right? We should start  with the speaking and the listening and the books  

play04:17

come later. It's a bit like, right? Imagine like  Messi, the football player comes knocking on your  

play04:24

door with his football. And he says, "Hey, Keith  would you like to come and play football with me?"  

play04:32

And you go, "No actually, I'm just going to  stay at home and read this book about football."  

play04:41

What? Why would you choose to read about it when  you can be doing it? Right, learning really well.  

play04:50

I mean, the book can be useful maybe later  but start with the doing right start with  

play04:56

the listening and the speaking. And the writing  comes later learning by listening. If I haven't  

play05:03

convinced you let me finish with convincing you  learning by listening has the following benefits,  

play05:09

right? First of all, you learn natural spoken  English. You know that the language is spoken,  

play05:15

not written. You learn pronunciation, you  get the context. So you know how to learn,  

play05:22

how to use the language when you're speaking,  it's a no brainer. You must begin by listening,  

play05:30

right? And I said earlier, right? The world  has changed. We can now. We are surrounded by  

play05:38

native speaker texts or proficient  speaker audio texts, videos, Netflix,  

play05:45

YouTube. You can get it anywhere. Keith Speaking  Academy, if you've heard of that. There are audios  

play05:53

all over the world at the click of a button. So  start using it. Learn your speaking by listening.  

play06:08

Okay, number two. How to automate vocabulary.  I love that word automate. Great word, Keith.  

play06:16

Yes. What does automate mean? It's a good  question. And I'm glad you asked to automate  

play06:23

something is to make it automatic. Like  without thinking, do you know the phrase  

play06:30

autopilot to do something on autopilot?  Sometimes I'm driving on autopilot. It just means  

play06:38

I'm driving without thinking at the same time.  So you may know actually I have a fluency course  

play06:46

and the strong focus of the fluency course is to  automate grammar. So we look at maybe 16 different  

play06:53

grammatical items and through practice automate  them. So you're using them without thinking.  

play07:00

Now you can do the same with vocabulary. Automate  your vocabulary. How'd you do it? Very simple tip,  

play07:07

tried and tested method, repeat and juggle. Right?  Repeat and juggle. What do I mean by that? Well,  

play07:17

first of all, you find something to listen to,  right? Remember what I said in tip number one,  

play07:23

learn, speaking through listening. You listen  to something and you repeat a word or a phrase,  

play07:29

maybe a collocation, right? So you're listening  to something, for example an audio tape.  

play07:35

And it says, I love Paris and you go  stop. I love Paris and you repeat,  

play07:42

right? That's the repeat easy peasy. The juggle  is that you then change a word. What is juggle?  

play07:54

Good question. Let me show you juggle, right?  Oranges, like the magician. This is juggling.  

play08:06

Now why do I call it juggling? I  don't. Why do I call it juggling?  

play08:11

Because you take a word and you change  it. Right, so in our example, I love  

play08:17

Paris. I changed the word Paris. I love  Hanoi. I love New Delhi. I love Manchester,  

play08:28

right? Easy, now you can juggle by changing  the word or you can change the tense.  

play08:38

I love Paris. I loved Paris. I will love Paris.  I used to love Paris. I'm sure I would love Paris  

play08:50

if I could go there, right? So you're juggling  the tense. Very, very simple, listen, repeat  

play08:59

and juggle. And that formula starts to get  you automatically using and hd wiring, the  

play09:07

vocabulary making it active and more automated.  Now actually, as I said, education has changed,  

play09:16

right? We are now surrounded by audio and video.  There's lots of it. And there's lots of really  

play09:21

good tools you can use. I came across one the  other day that I thought was really really good.  

play09:28

And I'm going to show you very briefly, how it  works gives you access to lots of audio and video  

play09:32

and helps you do this repeating and juggling.  Let me show you. So let me show you this app,  

play09:38

right? I've downloaded it off the Apple store.  I'm on my tablet over here. This is it. Over here,  

play09:44

Woodpecker. And once you go in there, let me  go inside the screen and show you how it works.  

play09:51

So we've got the whole bunch of YouTube videos. If  you've got Netflix, you can go in and sign in and  

play09:58

access your Netflix videos. You can go on the  web browser and also get some websites here.  

play10:04

And there is a built-in dictionary. I think  now let's imagine in YouTube if you want to  

play10:12

select by topic, you can. So if you're interested  in, I don't know, in books you can find all the  

play10:19

videos which are related to books. You can  also choose by the channel if you prefer  

play10:25

or choose by the teacher. So all of your famous  English teachers are on here. So let's go into,  

play10:33

let's see how we can actually use the  repeat and juggling technique in a video.  

play10:37

If we go into this video here, right? You  can see, you can watch the video. Great.

play10:43

- [Narrator] When people ask me what I do

play10:44

- The tape scripts all the way through  

play10:46

the video is here with timestamps.  So I can click on any timestamp

play10:51

- [Man] He was very popular in its time and.

play10:54

- Pause and I can repeat that, right?  He was very popular in his time.  

play10:58

I can check the meaning of a word by pressing on  it. It tells me the meaning of popular well liked.

play11:04

- [Lady] Popular.

play11:05

- Dictionary voice. But if I press  the timestamp, it'll just repeat.

play11:11

- [Man] He was very popular in his time.

play11:14

- He was very popular. He was  very popular. Press the timestamp.

play11:18

- [Man] He was very popular in  his time. He was very popular.  

play11:22

Great and now I can juggle. I can change  the end. He was very popular 10 years ago,  

play11:27

he was very popular two years ago, he  was very popular a year ago. And so on.

play11:32

- [Man] He was very popular in his time.

play11:35

- Total flexibility to be, to move around  and be repeating and juggling. Absolutely  

play11:41

brilliant. Great, so that's it. Tip number  two. Listen, repeat and juggle. Let's move on.  

play11:55

Right, number three. How to increase your fluency  when speaking? So the tip here is focus on chunks.  

play12:04

So what are chunks? You ask. Chunks or pieces of  language typically two words together, or maybe  

play12:13

three or four words that go together normally. So  your chunks may be, for example collocations like  

play12:21

heavy rain, right? We don't say big rain. We say  heavy rain. These words go together. Like friends,  

play12:28

they stick together. Chunks could be idiomatic  expressions like kick the bucket, right? Meaning  

play12:36

to die. He kicked the bucket, kick the bucket.  It could be a filler like on top of that, right?  

play12:44

When we say on top of that, you don't want to be  thinking is it in top, on top, on top of this, on  

play12:53

top of that you don't want to be thinking you want  a ready-made chunk on top of that. So you learn  

play13:01

the chunk without thinking about all the words and  this, as you can imagine speeds up your fluency.  

play13:10

I mean, take collocations. Let's take the word  shopping, for example, right? When you learn the  

play13:16

word shopping you should also learn some common  collocations, right? You can go to a website like  

play13:24

ozdic.com, brilliant website giving you instant  collocations. And you'll find things like, well  

play13:31

weekly shopping, online shopping, late night  shopping a shopping spree or shopping hours,  

play13:40

right? These are chunks of language that if you  learn them you can use them much more flexibly.  

play13:46

You don't have to think, right. Somebody says,  you know, what did you do at the weekend?  

play13:52

Or I did my shopping, you know for Monday  to Saturday, you know the shopping for  

play13:59

the week. Oh, you mean your weekly  shopping? Yes, I did my weekly shopping.  

play14:06

If you learn the collocation it just helps you  become much more fluent. It's very simple when  

play14:13

you think about it, right? When you learn words,  one word you have to think about putting them  

play14:20

together. When you learn chunks you don't have to  think about putting the words together. You just  

play14:27

think about putting the chunks together, imagine  this, right. Imagine a builder, building a house.  

play14:35

And he's using bricks. And he puts the bricks one  by one. He puts the bricks on top of each other.  

play14:43

That's quite slow and takes time to build a house.  But now imagine somebody has a new invention and  

play14:50

gives him four or five bricks in a layer glued  together. And all he has to do is put the layers  

play14:57

of bricks on top of each other. It's much faster.  And what's more, the house is gonna be better  

play15:04

because it'll be more accurately aligned. It's  more accurate. And it's the same with language,  

play15:11

right? Using these layers or chunks, more  accurate, it's faster. It's faster. You become  

play15:18

more fluent. So when you're learning vocabulary  think and learn and use chunks Let's move on.  

play15:32

Right tip number four, right? How to gain  confidence? While here my tip for you is push your  

play15:42

comfort zone. Your comfort zone are, is the area  of doing things where you feel comfortable. So  

play15:52

maybe you learn English by watching a film. You're  comfortable. You read a book you're comfortable  

play15:58

but then somebody says, well, listen  why don't you record your voice? Oh no,  

play16:04

I'm not very comfortable. No, no, no. Oh, why  don't you get a speaking partner on Facebook?  

play16:10

Oh no, no, no, no, no. I'm not comfortable  with that. Why don't you go join the classes  

play16:16

down the road? Oh no, no, no, no, no, no, no.  I'm not comfortable with that. And so you're,  

play16:22

there's almost a fear if you like of breaking  your comfort zone. But when you use English  

play16:29

in the world you are going to have to interact  with other people speak to strangers, be nervous,  

play16:37

make mistakes have other people sometimes laugh  at your mistakes. It's going to happen. So get  

play16:44

used to it and believe it or not. When you do the  IELTS speaking test, you do it with a real person.  

play16:53

Yes, the examiners are real people and  you will have to get used to being nervous  

play17:00

get used to making mistakes in front of them. Get  used to those feelings of being uncomfortable.  

play17:09

How do you get used to it? Push  your comfort zone do these things  

play17:13

that make you uncomfortable, right? And  I think one of the best things you can do  

play17:19

really is practice with other people. Yes, you  can practice speaking on your own. That's great.  

play17:24

But to take your confidence up to the next level  you should practice with other people. You know,  

play17:31

I'm a big fan of platforms like italki and  Cambly or Facebook for finding, you know,  

play17:37

speaking partners. But by doing that you're  gonna be practicing with other people. Yes,  

play17:43

you will feel uncomfortable. But the great news is  you will get used to feeling uncomfortable. You'll  

play17:50

get used to feeling nervous. You'll get used to  making mistakes in front of other people. And then  

play17:58

by pushing your comfort zone you'll be in a  much stronger position and have more confidence  

play18:04

to face the aisles and examiner on test  date. So go out and push your comfort zone.  

play18:12

Good talking of tools. Let's move on to the  next tip number five. It's all about tools.  

play18:24

Right, tip number five. All about choosing  the right tools, right? My suggestion here,  

play18:30

tip number five is immerse yourself in natural  spoken English. It's all well and good,  

play18:39

right? Having a course book having a teacher and  practicing with English, which is for students  

play18:46

but it's really important you don't forget the  real world and that you also engage and immerse  

play18:52

yourself in natural spoken English, which is not  for students which is used by not normal people.  

play19:00

By native speakers or proficient level speakers  of English. Why is this important? Well, because  

play19:08

teachers are great, right? But teachers and  course books normally limit the language,  

play19:14

they expose you to. They speak slowly. They  correct you. They're polite. They encourage  

play19:21

you. It's kind of an artificial bubble where you  can build up your confidence and that's great.  

play19:29

But also the real world is a bit different,  

play19:32

right? People are not so polite. They may not  correct you. They speak quickly. They expect you  

play19:38

to understand there is no mercy in the ESL out  speaking tests, you must answer straight away.  

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So there's pressure, right? So I think having of  course have the teacher the course and the book.  

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That's great, but also make sure you're immersing  yourself in spoken English. And this connects with  

play19:59

a lot of things I said earlier, right? About  listening, learning, speaking by listening  

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about using different tools. So nowadays there is  so much opportunity and I'm sure you know, through  

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videos and podcasts that you can find on the  internet on your television or through your radio  

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if you still have a radio. Call me old fashioned,  if you will. But there's lots of opportunity  

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to be listening and watching. I think it's  great to be looking at news broadcasts.  

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Current affair shows, chat shows interviews  with people. Great, natural English,  

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TED talks can be great. Obviously films are good.  I mean, bear in mind, films are scripted. So that  

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semi natural but still a great source  to immerse yourself in English. And also  

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there's the tool that I mentioned earlier, right?  Which I think has a great balance because it's  

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the Woodpecker Learning app. It gives you not  only access to ESL stuff so stuff for students,  

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but also the real world stuff. You get access I  think to hundreds of thousands of videos that you  

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can choose from on the app and be watching them  all in one place, lots of, lots of them have got  

play21:23

subtitles, right? So that gives you the support  if you want the written support. But it's a  

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great opportunity to submerge yourself or immerse  yourself in the natural English language. Go and  

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check it out. I'll put a link in the notes below.  You can go and download it. It's out on Google and  

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Apple. Go and have a look and let me know. Here  you go. Let me know in the comments below what  

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you're watching on the app now to help improve  your English, go and check it out. It's free.  

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Of course, lovely. Let's move on. So listen, those  are my five tips to help you improve your English  

play22:06

speaking skills. So we've looked at how to learn  speaking by listening how to automate vocabulary,  

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repeat and juggle how to increase fluency with  those chunks how to gain confidence by pushing  

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your comfort zone and how to use the right  tools and immerse yourself in English. Great  

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and I think, I mean, remember these are tips  but it needs day to day practice be patient,  

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but be persistent. Keep practicing day  after day. That's what it's really all  

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about because we're talking about increasing  your overall level of English. It takes time,  

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but it's fun. It's great. And I hope with these  tips, it will help you maybe move from being  

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a struggling IELTS student to being a successful  IELTS speaker. Now that would be nice.  

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Wouldn't it? Great, that's it. Please do  subscribe. Remember to turn on notifications  

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on YouTube so you can find out about my  upcoming videos. Do leave me a comment below.  

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Let me know what you're watching or listening  to to help improve your English today.  

play23:23

Brilliant, as always it's been fun and a  pleasure. Take care, my friend. Bye bye now.

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