How To Speak English Better | 10 Great Tips

46,556 views ・ 2018-06-26

Eat Sleep Dream English


Please double-click on the English subtitles below to play the video.

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Today I'm going to teach you how to speak English better with ten super practical tips.
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This is one you don't want to miss guys. So let's get going.
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Hey guys and welcome to Eat Sleep Dream English. If you haven't met me before my name is Tom
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and I teach fresh modern British English so that you can take your English to the next
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level and achieve your life goals, whatever they may be. Now today we're looking at ten
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super useful tips that are going to help you to improve your spoken English. Now these
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tips are practical guys. These are things that you can do today to improve your English.
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I'm not going to give you like 'oh practise more' 'be more confident' none of that stuff!
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This is practical stuff. Stuff that you can really do to make a difference. Alright so
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let's get going with number one. Ok, the first tip is to start learning collocations. When
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we start learning English or start learning a new language we learn individual words.
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You learn the word rain and you know what rain is but we rarely ever just say the word
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rain in a sentence it will often go with other words. We call these collocations. A collocation
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is when words go together frequently. They are seen together frequently, it's like a
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pattern. So for example with rain, you learn the word rain but then learn the collocations.
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So for example what adjectives go with rain? Well, I can think of a few. Heavy rain, that
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means a lot of rain. Another word for that is torrential rain. Ok, so they both mean
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a lot of rain. What's the opposite, light rain. So a little bit of rain. So as you can
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see you are getting collocations, you are building up little chunks of language that
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are going to help you when it comes to speaking English. Because you are going to know these
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units to put into your sentences. So instead of learning one word try and build up units
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of language that we call collocations. Number two, think about when and where you are going
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to use your English and then study the language that you need for that situation. So for example
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I did a video about going to a hotel and using English to help you in a hotel. Now if you
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are ever going to travel with English that is a great place to start because you are
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going to stay in a hotel. So learning phrases like 'what time is check out?' is going to
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be super useful for you in that situation. That's the sentence that I would use in that
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situation. So if you learn that phrases, you are using the same phrases that a native English
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speaker would use. So think about the context in which you are going to use your English
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and learn the specific vocabulary or phrases for that situation. Now related to that is,
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in that situation try and predict what you might be asked or what phrases you might need
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to use. So let's stay with the hotel context now I didd a video all about useful hotel
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English which I'll link right above. In that video I looked at five phrases that a receptionist
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might ask you or five questions that a receptionist might ask you. Now what you can do is anticipate
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those questions and be prepared with your own phrases. So for example they might ask
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you 'Can I help you with anything?' Now if they ask you this question, you will need
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a phrase to make a request. So 'I was wondering if you could...' and then the thing so 'I
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was wondering if you could tell me the nearest ATM'? or 'Please could you tell me the nearest
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ATM?' So anticipating what they are going to ask you and what phrases you are going
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to need in that situation and then preparing for it. Number four is super practical. Use
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vague language to help you in situations when you don't know the English word. So if you
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are trying to explain to someone a word you could throw in stuff or thing or something.
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So for example 'What's that thing you use to travel around London?' Oh it's an Oyster
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card, yes that's the one. So you didn't know the word Oyster card, you use the word thing
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to replace it. So you know the word thing. Thing could be anything, it could be an oyster
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card, a book, a light whatever. It doesn't matter. If you don't know the noun you can
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use the word thing or stuff. OR if you are trying to describe it, it's a kind of card
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you use to travel around London, what is it? Oh it's an Oyster card, ok. so it's a kind
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of or a sort of. So using these vague bits of language can help you when you don't know
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actual words. Perfect for that situation when you just can't remember the word or you don't
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know the word. So related to that tip is to use your own language in a situation where
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you don't know a word and you are trying to describe it to someone. So for example you
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might say 'In my language we say una manzana, it's a kind of fruit. it's green, it's kind
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of red.' They might know the word in your language so if you are really struggling say
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the thing in your language, possibly the person might know what you are talking about. Now
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for those of you that have been watching Eat Sleep Dream English for a long time, you'll
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know how much I love semi-fixed expressions. Semi-fixed expressions are expressions that
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are semi-fixed. That means that part of it is fixed and cannot be changed and part of
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it can be changed and is very flexible and you can put different ideas in there depending
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on the situation. So one of my favourite phrases to reject an invitation politely 'I'd love
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to but...' and then the thing, maybe I'm busy or I have plans. That is a perfect semi-fixed
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expression. You've got the wonderful phrase there I'd love to but and then you can change
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the ending depending on the situation. So already you have half the sentence fixed in
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your brain. You know I'd love to but because it's the same every time. I'd love to but
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I'm busy. I'd love to but I've got plans. I'd love to but I'm washing my hair. Whatever
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the thing is. You just change that second part of the sentence and you've got a beautiful
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English sentence. So learning semi-fixed expressions can really help you to get more fluent and
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to create sentences more easily. One way to really focus on your pronunciation and therefore
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your speaking is to notice natural speech patterns and in particular intonation. So
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when you are watching a British TV show or you are listening to an interview or you are
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watching the news or whatever it might be listen in for exactly how they say the sentence
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and maybe try and repeat it yourself. Try and replicate it. It's called the mirroring
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technique, when you listen to someone and you try and do exactly the same thing. You
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try to repeat exactly what they say and more importantly how they say it. So for example
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'I'm absolutely knackered'. Ok, try and repeat that. Alright try again 'I'm absolutely knackered.'
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So are you noticing that stress on the absolutely. I'm absolutely knackered. That means I'm really
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tired, basically. So if you are mirroring someone's speech, if you are listening closely
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to how they say it and then repeating it and trying to get it exactly the same that will
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really improve your intonation and sounding more natural in your own speech. So maybe
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pick a TV series that you like. Really notice how they say phrases and sentences and then
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try and repeat them. Staying with pronunciation, it's really important for you to get your
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mouth used to making sounds in English. Now I know a lot of sounds are different from
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your language so your mouth and the muscles in your mouth aren't used to making those
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shapes and therefore those sounds. So practise is super important. Take the word 'comfortable'.
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Ok, there are a few sounds going on there. Comfortable. Now you've got to watch what
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your mouth is doing 'comfortable'. Get your mouth use to making that shape, ok? Now that's
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really important, you've got to practise, you've got to, it's like going to the gym
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and training your body. You are not going to get the body you want just by lifting one
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weight once. You've got to do it over and over again and you've got to repeat it over
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and over again. It's just the same with the mouth. Get these muscles use to making the
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shapes that you want to make the sounds that you want. So practice is so key and being
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aware of what your mouth is doing and maybe looking in the mirror as you are making these
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sounds or saying these words and seeing what's going on in your mouth, ok? Super important.
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Practice and repetition are so important. Ok, and the last two kind of go together.
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First of all I want you to take a sentence and break it up into speech units. Now a speech
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unit is a couple of words or a phrase that we would say in one and then we would pause
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and then maybe say the next part and then pause and say the next part. And that helps
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you to say the sentence clearly and fluently. So let's take this sentence 'I'd love to live
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abroad but I don't want to leave my family' Ok, so break that down into speech units that
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you can say together so 'I'd love to live abroad but I don't want to leave my family'.
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So you can see there we are breaking it up. I'd love to live abroad but I don't want to
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leave my family.' So you break the sentence up into how we would say it, chop it up and
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then practise and then build it up in terms of speed so start slowly 'I'd love to live
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abroad but I don't want to leave my family.' Ok, so speech units super important. Taking
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a sentence and breaking it up into how we would say it not just how it's written. Ok
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and that flows into the last one number ten, which is use a voice recorder to record your
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voice saying these sentences and listening back and comparing how you think you said
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it to how you actually said it, ok? So recording on your phone, your phone has a voice recorder,
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use that to record yourself. If you are lucky enough to have someone that can speak English
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really well maybe it's an English speaking friend or someone that has learned it at a
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high level then maybe they could listen to it and give you some tips on how to improve
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it. Maybe one part you need to say slightly differently, but yeah record your voice. Wow,
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ok that was ten practical tips. What did you think guys? Did you find those useful? Let
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me know in the comments below, which one did you find most useful and which one are you
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going to try and use today in your English? Obviously if you have any other tips for improving
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your spoken English then let me know in the comments below, share your ideas with the
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rest of the Eat Sleep Dream English community. Guys before you go anywhere remember to get
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on to Instagram and follow my Instagram account and my Instagram stories and of course I'm
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on Facebook as well. You know of course by now that I've got new videos every Tuesday
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and every Friday helping you take your English to the next level. Thank you so much for hanging
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out with me guys, I hope you found that one useful. I felt like we dug into some really
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interesting stuff there. So yeah let me know. Hit me with big thumbs up and of course subscribe.
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Alright guys, thank you so much, this is Tom, the chief dreamer, saying goodbye.
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