5 Simple Steps to Improve Your Fluency

Do you ever feel nervous when you speak English?

Or when you're just about to start speaking,  

you suddenly panic and forget everything  you know, as soon as you open your mouth.

Hello everyone!

Anna here from englishlikeanative.co.uk.

Now today, I'm going to share with you five  top tips to help you to improve your fluency  

and increase your speaking confidence  and to help you build your vocabulary.

Hang on to the end of the lesson,  

where I will review the expressions  that arise during our session.

Now as always, I've created a free PDF for you to  download that includes all the tips and Vocabulary  

Plus a special ELAN challenge just click on the  link provided and register for your download.

Let's go. Tip number 1.

Switch it up. Switch your  pleasure activities into English.

We all love to relax after a hard day's work  with a good book or a Netflix series. Well,  

why not squeezing an English  lesson at the same time.

One of the easiest ways to improve your level of  English is exposure to the language. By changing  

the language setting on your latest series  or enabling English subtitles for your best  

loved YouTuber. You increase  your exposure with just a click.

Want to take it a step further? Why  not reread your all-time favorite  

book in English. Rereading,  or rewatching material can  

make it easier to follow and pick up new  vocabulary. You already know the story.

And it's always useful to have a notepad with you  

to make notes of new words and phrases you  like this may seem like a little thing, but  

the small changes can lead to  big results. Just give it a try.

Top tip number 2. Sing your heart out!

Become a kitchen karaoke superstar  singing is great for fluency.  

It helps us to understand how words work  together in a sentence. Depending on the  

song you can practice many different parts of  speech or repetitive dance song can help affect  

pronunciation and a wordy song can widen  your vocabulary and improve speaking rhythm.

Not only that, singing loudly releases  endorphins and in turn gives you  

confidence so learn the correct lyrics to your  favorite English songs and turn up the volume.

“Oh think that I found myself a cheer leader...” 

I need to learn those words.

Tip number 3!

Be the hostess with the mostest.

Do you enjoy spending time  with friends and family? Well,  

next time you get together? Why not  do it in English? Organizing fun  

English only events at home can be a great way  to practice fluency in a natural way. It could  

be a sophisticated dinner party, “oh please  pass the salt”, a competitive games night.

“It's a plane, it's a... it's a bird” Or even a cosy movie marathon with  

English films. Of course. This is a great way to  include your friends in the learning process too.

Tip number 4. Work it out. Nowadays.  Many of us want to keep our bodies  

fit and healthy on a daily basis. And it's  a great opportunity to incorporate English.

English workout videos are fantastic  for imperative practice, or do you  

prefer running or going to the gym? Well,  this is the perfect time to tune in to an  

English radio station or podcast. Most  stations are now digital and everyone  

can listen worldwide. So, exercise your  body and brain next time you work out.

Top tip number 5. Go on record. A great way  to improve your fluency skills is to record  

yourself speaking in English, it could be  a voice message sent to a friend or even  

talking to yourself out loud during your daily  routine. I often encourage the members of my  

conversation club to use voice notes  in our telegram group. That way they  

are continuing to practice speaking  in between our conversation classes.

Now listening back to your own voice can  help you identify problem areas either  

with grammar or pronunciation.

Being the listener as well as the speaker will  greatly improve your communication skills.  

And if you'd like more information  about my conversation Club and go  

to englishlikeanative.co.uk or click  on the link in the description below.

Now let's take a closer look at some of  the key expressions from today's lesson. 

“Switch it up” is a phrasal verb it means  to change something for the better or just  

to be different. We usually say this when  we are bored of our usual routine and need  

a change. I'm bored of salad. Let's  switch it up and order Chinese.

“Sing your heart out” is an expression that  simply means to sing with lots of passion.

“Oh no, not I, I will survive”

“The hostess with the mostest”, this  phrase simply refers to someone who  

is wonderful at organizing a  good party or dinner party.

If you call someone the “hostess with the mostest”  

then you're giving them a  compliment on a job well done.

“Wow, amazing food, wine and musical  entertainment. She was the hostess with the most”.

“To work out” is also a phrasal verb.

It can have two meanings.

1. to exercise, usually the type of  exercises with weights or aerobic movement.

“I’m working out.” “You’ve got to work it out.”

The second meaning is to solve a problem.

“We need to work out how  much everyone owes for food.”

“To go on record”, we use this expression  when we say something publicly or officially  

when we report a crime we go on record. Fun fact. Record is a holograph in its noun form,  

we pronounce it /ˈrekɔːd/, /ˈrekɔːd/. However,  in its verb form, we pronounce it /rɪˈkɔːd/,  

/rɪˈkɔːd/.

Stay tuned for more homographs in the future.

Now it's about time we practice some  

speaking so come and speak with me.  In this well-prepared roleplay lesson.

I recommend that you record yourself and  then later listen back. I'll see you there.