(Photo by Noukka Signe)
Have you ever thought or asked a teacher one of these questions?
How can I speak English fluently?
How can I improve my spoken English?
How can I speak better English?
These are the most common questions I am asked! In this article, you’ll learn some simple changes you can make to your life to help you improve your English.
Move to an English-Speaking Country.
This is the easiest and the fastest way to learn English. If you are serious about learning a language, take any opportunity you can to spend time in an English-speaking country (for a long period of time, not just one or two weeks). Living with, working with, and speaking to native speakers all day every day will improve your English very quickly.
For many people, this is not possible. So, what you need to do is …
Make English a part of your life.
If you can’t go to an English-speaking country, you need to create an English-speaking environment & lifestyle as much as possible!
- When you get up in the morning, listen to an English radio station, watch an English TV channel, or read an English newspaper
- On your way to work, listen to English music, English podcasts, or English radio stations (in your car or on your phone)
- Speak English to everyone and everything: your family, children, friends, co-workers (if possible), pets, plants…
- After work, watch English TV shows and movies (it’s OK to watch with English subtitles if you need to!)
Whatever you do during the day, do it in English!
- Write something in English! Even if you only write one sentence a day, this will help you focus and THINK in English. Write it in a diary. Start your own blog. Use Twitter, Facebook or MyEC. Just start!
- Do you like to cook? Use English cookbooks.
- Do you like clothes and fashion? Read English fashion magazines.
- Do you like to know what’s going on in your country? Look for English newspapers and magazines that talk about local or national issues in your part of the world.
- Use an English day planner or calendar (or set your phone/email calendars to ‘English’)
- Change all the settings on your phone, on your computer, on Facebook/Twitter/YouTube to English
Think of it this way: if you decide to live a healthier life, you don’t say “I’m going to live healthfully for 2 hours every day, from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.” When you decide to live healthfully, you do it all day long, every day, as much as possible. If you decide that you want to become fluent in English, you can’t say “I’m going to be fluent for 2 hours every day, from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.” It’s something that you have to do all day every day as much as possible!
Every little bit helps!
Lots of little things add up to big things. The more you listen to and read English, the more comfortable you become with it and the easier it is to remember new words. You get used to the sounds of English and you can imitate them when you speak!
In the comment section below, please share your tips for making English a part of your life!
Melanie is a TESL-certified English teacher. She lives near Toronto, Canada. Through her blog, videos, podcasts, and social media, she helps thousands of people around the world improve their English. She makes English a little less confusing and a little more fun! She also helps people understand Canadian and American culture. She believes that natural interaction with a native speaker helps people practice what they have learned and builds their confidence with English! 
{ 47 comments… read them below or add one }
I'm not god at speaking even when I speak in Japanese-my mother tongue. To say the truth, I feel difficulty in making human relationships in my daily life.
But I like reading and writing. Is there any good book written in English to improve my introverted character?
P.S. I began to read "Anne of green gables."
Hello 雅憲,
Thank you for taking the time to leave a comment! I love 'Anne of Green Gables'! In Canada, the 'Anne' series of books were made into popular TV movies.
In English, there is a genre of books called 'self-help' books – pschology books to help people with their problems. You may find some of them useful:
"How to Win Friends and Influence People" – Dale Carnegie
"The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People" – Stephen Covey
Here are some others on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.ca/gp/bestsellers/books/942404/ref=pd_zg_hrsr_b_3_3
I hope this helps!
Melanie
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Thank you for your kindness. I'll read some of these books. You can pronounce 雅憲 as "Masanori." See you!
It's nice to meet you Masanori!
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Hello Melanie, How are you?
I'm a Brazilian girl and I appreciated your advices, I try to do some things in your list, but is hard…I think the best way for I to learn English is to go to English-speaking country.
Thank you again….Have a good week Melanie!
thank u very much it'll really help.
Hi, Luana!
I agree that the best way to learn English is to go to an English-speaking country, but only if you are surrounded by native speakers and only if it is for a long period of time! It doesn't help if you go to an English-speaking country and are surrounded by non-native speakers, or if you only go for a short time.
Try to recreate an English-speaking environment at home as much as possible! Every little bit helps.
Good luck!
Melanie
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Yeah Melanie! =)
I do some of those things you said. Every day I keep on speaking english alone or with mom, relatives and some friends even they can't speak english at all. It helps a lot. =)
As you speak english more and more, it becomes something like a habbit and you start to get used to some characteristics, the spelling and the pronunciation of words in english.
Am I right Melanie?
Sometimes I guess people who pass by my house think I'm crazy because I keep speaking english out loud everyday, almost all the time and alone (hehe), but the thing is that I like english a lot. =D
Thanks a lot for sharing all these informations Melanie! =D
All the best!
Marcos
You are correct Marcos! You 'train' your brain to remember these things, just like 'muscle memory' in sports. So make sure you have the right spelling & pronunciation – you can just as easily start bad habits as good ones!
You sound like a very enthusiastic & dedicated student, Marcos!
All the best in 2012,
Melanie
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it's an importent tips and helpfull ,from you
thank's alot to you
thanks melanie your are nice and i going to put into practice these tips. i thought these advice are very clever like you.
see you and take care.
Thank you again for your kind words!
This is so important, Richard! You can make small changes to your environment that will help you make HUGE improvements in your English. Make sure you do something every day in English!
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hello melanie..
i’am an indian boy..
thank you for your tips
i’ll improve my english by these tips..
You’re welcome! Good luck to you with your English studies.
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Hi, Melanie
I am an intermediate learner of english, but sometimes when I read in front of my english teachers, they says that my pronunciation of english is as an advanced speakers. So, but I have just from January studying english, so my teachers are impressived with my performance. So, the unique problem I see with myself is learn new vocabulary and improve my listening, sometimes I can understand everyting from english conferences and sometimes I can’t. Then, I anazalized the ways I was studying english everyday and how each way increased my english on diferent ways. It’s a good tip to improve fluency, vocabulary and listening, read a lesson of english a day (but not about rules, just as a topic), and look for in the dictionary the unknown words of the topic until understand the complete topic) if it’s possible as repeat and listen as you get good understanding). So, I was reading about Canada, a lot of information and It was very intersting how Canada is, I stay impressive about your culture and It made me so exciting because I want to get an IT Job in Canada, but I’m not sure if my english level can be enough to get the opportunity right now. So, but let me tell you I expressed earlier I read around 1 hour your website and I realized that it improved my english very fast. So, this is my tip, and thank you for sharing your knowledge in english around the world. Sincerly Danny
Keep up the good work, Danny! You sound like a dedicated & enthusiastic English learner. If you keep working hard, you will be able to get an IT job in Canada!
Best of luck to you,
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Hello Teacher Melanie:
I am Richard I am from Mexico. I need learn english for my job, but I can’t speak fluency and I have problems with the listening. I wish I migthed to practice with you. I star used your advice for me.
Thanks for your time.
Richard
Hi, Richard!
I hope my website is useful to you & will help you with your English studies. Unfortunately I am not taking on any new students for private lessons/private tutoring. My schedule is full. I’m sorry.
Remember, you can also find me on Twitter & Facebook if you want to ask any questions!
All the best,
Melanie
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hello Ms Melanie thank you so much for this useful blog. well , movies movies movies .. they’re very fast and full of slangs. Any tips please ?
Hi, Abdel!
Movies aren’t necessarily full of slang words. (‘Slang’ is an uncountable noun & an adjective. There is no plural form of ‘slang.’) There are lots of idioms & phrasal verbs in English, so maybe that’s what you’re hearing when you watch movies.
Have you tried watching movies with English subtitles? This way you can read what the people are saying while they’re speaking.
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thank you admin for your reply . well ; phrasal verbs are also a great problem .how can one deal with them ?
One at at time, Abdel! Don’t overload yourself with learning phrasal verbs. Just learn them one at a time.
The Learner’s Dictionary is a great resource for helping you understand phrasal verbs:
http://www.learnersdictionary.com/
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Hey, Melanie! You’re great, thank you. I’m 13 and I’ve been spending all my time talking in English on Twitter and it definitely helped me a lot! I find my way to write in English good, but my pronunciation isn’t good at all. I’m from Brazil, and I’m gonna follow your tips. Thank you again for doing this, that’s so nice of you.
xoxo
hi teacher you are wonderfull with your advices, i guess that is what i going to do the rest of my life.
thank you so much, you are very kind, and i will speak english fluente someday.
and i from colombia
Hi Melanie! I am a bit confused and frustrated because I can express myself only in writing. When it comes about speaking I am a total mess. My accent is bad, I forget all the rules and I think all this will get me to the point where I will not be able to speak English anymore. Everybody speaks better than me, even French people. I am such a mess.
Hi, Bianca!
First, YOU ARE NOT ALONE! Many, many English learners feel the same way you do. “I can express myself only in writing.” Did you study English in school? This is very common when students learn languages in school. I am the same way in French, because in our French classes in school, the focus was on grammar and writing, and we didn’t have many opportunities to speak.
Second, “everybody speaks better than me” is NOT TRUE! You may meet people who have more confidence speaking English than you, but that does not mean that their English is better than yours. Your English is fine, you just need to become more confident speaking English.
So, what can we do to help you become more confident? Here’s an article on how you can improve your accent/pronunciation:
http://www.englishteachermelanie.com/study-tip-how-to-improve-your-english-pronunciation/
Another thing you can do is listen to and read English as possible. This will help you become more comfortable with English. You will start to ‘feel’ what is right and you won’t need to think about the ‘rules.’ You will just know them because you have heard & read the right sentences so many times. Finally, just start talking to yourself if you don’t have anyone you can speak English to!
I hope that helps you feel better!
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Hi Melanie and Bianca,
I hope you are fine.
I’m Cynthia and I live in France near Paris. I just want to say Bianca that I’m agree with Melanie you are not alone, I have the same difficulties. Last year, I made a presentation in my classroom in english and it was awfull and bad. I said so much “Euhhhh” and my classmate didn’t understand anything. It was the shame of my life, (lol). Since this experience I feel badreally , If you want we can comunicate by mail and after by phone only in english ? What do you think about it ?
It’s the first time that I give my opinion on a website.
I writte here because I think that the advices of Melanie are true and I want to congratulate her. Really, thank you Melanie, I ‘ll follow your advices and I hope that my english level improve.
Hi, Cynthia!
What a nice comment! Thank you for taking the time to write something here.
Think of it this way: You will never make such an awful presentation again! Your English will only get better from now on! Was it a problem with your English, or were you just nervous about giving a presentation in general?
I hope that it makes you feel better to know that there are many, many English learners who feel the same way you do!
All the best to you with your English studies,
Melanie
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Dear meline how are u my qn is about english i am very poor in english writing as well as in speaking so how can i improve my writing and speaking skills with in short period of time because i am going to take ILET test on the next manth so write your advise . Have a niece wknd
Hi, Romodan!
The first thing you can do to improve your writing skills is to not use shorthand when writing on the internet. Take the time to write your sentences properly & with proper punctuation. You didn’t even spell my name correctly, even though my name is all over this website, nor did you spell the name of the test correctly. I am not being rude or mean, just honest, because you will not get a high score on the IELTS if you write as carelessly as you did in your comment. I have rewritten your comment for you:
“Dear Melanie,
How are you? My question is about English. I am very poor in English writing as well as in speaking. How can I improve my writing and speaking skills within short period of time? I am going to take the IELTS in the next month. What is your advice? Have a nice weekend.”
Here are some online resources for the IELTS:
http://www.ielts.org/
http://www.englishryan.com/
http://www.youtube.com/EnglishRyan
http://www.engvid.com/english-exams/ielts/
http://www.macmillanenglish.com/Course.aspx?id=28192
http://www.ielts-blog.com/
Good luck to you,
Melanie
I have a really important question. Well, I’ve been studying the book called “AMERICAN ACCENT TRAINING” by Ann Cook for sometime. I know the IPA symbols and how to mimic them. Nevertherless, my problem is that this book contains some symbols which I have never seen them before. I dont know whether this belongs to another type of IPA or not. I’ll appreciate your opinion about this subject since I think this book is awesome, but Im not able to understand those symbols. Also I’d like to find more information about them for me to mimic.
For example: if I google the word “chocolate” on http://www.macmillandictionary.com, I’ll find this: /ˈtʃɑklət/(what I’m used to seeing) vs [chäkl't] (what this book by Ann cook says).
In this book: (I know they’re linking words) The dogs eat the bones. [the däg zeet the bounz], They shouldn’t’ ve eaten them. they sh’dn•nəveetn’m, I’ll use the other one. [æl yuz thee(y)əther w'n], or Betty bought a bit of better butter [Beddy bä də bihda bedder budder] (note: thats only the beginning since there are long paragraphs.
It’s worth saying that I just found a dictionary a online (merriam-webster) which seems to work with the same symbols that Ann cook uses. For example If I google the same word, I get this \ˈchä-k(ə-)lət, ˈchȯ-\. the only difference is that its syllables are separated. So where could I find a resource to know more about this (mouth or tongue position). THANKS IN ADVANCE : )
Hi, Donny!
1. I don’t recommend using the book ‘American Accent Training’ for precisely the reason you have mentioned: She does not use the IPA, but instead uses her own symbols, as does the Merriam-Webster dictionary you found.
2. You shouldn’t just ‘google’ words. You should use dictionaries specifically for people learning English. The definitions are much easier to understand, and the pronunciation transcriptions use the IPA.
http://www.macmillandictionary.com
http://www.learnersdictionary.com
http://www.dictionary.cambridge.com
Here are my tips on how to improve your pronunciation:
http://www.englishteachermelanie.com/study-tip-how-to-improve-your-english-pronunciation/
Good luck to you,
Melanie
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/chocolate, Btw this is the dictiornary I just mentioned.
Hello teacher Melanie I am Bolivian I try to find some help for my listening because I am going to give the TOEFL test in May. I am studying so hard for it, please help me
Hi, Juan!
In my article on preparing to take to TOEFL, I have an extensive list of listening resources:
http://www.englishteachermelanie.com/ten-tips-for-the-toefl-ibt/
Good luck to you!
hy Melanie , I am from Indonesian . i want practis my speaking but hard to find out anyone to speak , have you an information the web what provide chatting or speak via skype for people? thanks for you kidness
Thank you for such a awesome posting !
Actually, I have been applying a method which is much familiar to the method shown above. So my English is now much more better than the period of learning the English classes at night with Vietnamese teachers. But the biggest problem of mine is that I can’t speak English fluently, especially when facing with foreingners. And I have read a plenty of blogs which carefully mentioned of how to get more confident and fluent in speaking English , they advised me to speak as much as possible to get more fluent, and I applied what extactly they did advise me. But I found that not too efficient :(, i mean how can we understand a sentence from a show on TV randomly while sometime we get stuck by suddenly hearing a word that we have never exprerienced before , this is really a big trouble that all English learners are now wondering, and I hope that you master Melanie will help us find out the best way to solve that problem.
Good-bye, and the best of luck to you !
Cuong Hoang , from Hanoi, Vietnam .
Hello Cuong Hoang,
You are not alone! Most English learners feel the same way you do.
Think about how you learned your native language. How did you learn new words & sentence structure? You listened, and you read. After you listened and read a lot, you spoke. That’s how you need to approach fluency in English. I know that many English teachers say to speak more in order to improve your speaking, but what they really mean is that speaking more will improve your confidence. Words don’t magically come out of your mouth in the right order. This is why I tell people to make English a part of their lives: The more you hear and read English, the easier it is to speak. You will begin to feel what is right & what is wrong.
All the best to you, and good luck with your English studies,
Melanie
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I can’t speak English fluently.most of the times im unable to interact with my teachers,I just don’t get any words so that I can express them and I don’t feel confident at all.
hi Dear
My English writing is good than speaking, I can respond by writing very well but when it comes to speak I lost my words
so please what I can do?
I am not good in English for speaking , writing,etc
I read news paper daily.
but I can’t develop my english.
so give me good idea for learn english with short period of time.
HELLO MELLANIE
First of all , I’m very prod to add my comment on your wonderful page .
Rely I appreciate your advises a lot . I’m geography high school teacher,as well as doing my doctoral search about nature_resources . So I have decided to improve my English language – even it’s our third language speaking in MOROCCO – because on the one hand it’s useful for getting a new academic results , to discover a new scientific results , on the other hand it is a worldwide overseas language , it was my a lone key for making business and social relationship last month when I was in Italy and HOLLAND for a short trip .
Every one read these lines must know that ENGLISH or any other language DESERVE TO WORK HARD BUT WITH AN OPTIMIST SOUL.
IM WAITING YOUR COMMENTS ABOUT MY ENGLISH WRITING . EVERY COMMENT WILL BE VERY APPRECIATED .
SAFARI ABDOU FROM MOROCCO
Hi Melanie,
Thanks for sharing :)
Im working in an almost english speaking country but IM still not fluent.:( maybe it’s because Ive been hearing chinese english accent.
Also some of my colleagues laugh at me whenever I stutter or cannot express myself in english.:(
Hi Melanie,
How are you doing this day, Am riyaz working in Finance dept. but you know dear i always face problem when i write letters silly mistake and complete the letter with this how can develop my writing skills as well as fluent in english.
please need some tips
Thanks
Riyaz
hello, melani,..
i always try to make friends who speak english but i cant, i cant speak english fluently i can undestand and write . i have been in united states since 3 years
and im still afraid to speak to people
its really hard to me make presentations , speak to people because maybe they gonna make fun of me.. and i also when i try to have a job
the interview is always going bad
is horible cuz sometimes i cant speak fluently
i want you to help me to make this happen and make my lifer easier. thanks
Hi, Yesenia,
You are not alone! I hear from many people living in English-speaking countries who feel they can’t speak English fluently.
I don’t think there is a problem with your English. I think that you just need to improve your confidence.
“maybe they gonna make fun of me”
Has anyone ever made fun of the way you speak English? Or is this just a fear in your head?
Do you live near a major city or town? Most cities in America have programs to help people speak English. Is there a library in your town/city? Ask at the library if they can recommend any teacher or English classes. (My local library has an English conversation group for people to practice their English.) Go to the website of your town or city and see if they have any English courses. Go to a high school or college in your town/city and ask if they have any English courses. You need to find a teacher who will help you prepare for job interviews & everyday life in America. Go to Google and search “English courses for newcomers in.
When you take English lessons in a group or with a private tutor, you will become more confident speaking English. When you feel more confident, it will be easier to improve your English.
Good luck to you!
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