Limited Vocabulary? You Can STILL Speak Fluently! Here's How...

Did you know that you can speak fluently  in English with a limited vocabulary?

I have many videos on my channel to help you  

expand your vocabulary because  of course, this is a priority.

But you don't need to wait to start  speaking until you learn more words.

Today you'll learn how to speak English  fluently with a limited vocabulary.

Welcome back to JForrest English.

Of course, I'm Jennifer.

Now let's get started.

First, let's define what's  speaking fluently is not.

It's not speaking perfectly without mistakes.

It's not speaking endlessly.

It's not speaking like a native.

It's not replacing everyday words with  phrasal verbs, idioms, and advanced words.

Fluency is communicating  ideas clearly and smoothly.

Fluency is the ability to manage  conversations with confidence and ease.

Now let's review some tips on how to  speak fluently with unlimited vocabulary.

Tip #1 Focus on the words you know.

I'm sure one of your goals is to expand your  vocabulary, and I'm sure every day or every  

week you watch YouTube videos like mine to  help you learn other ways to express yourself.

But what about the words you already know?

How often do you use those words?

This is like filling your closet with new  shirts every day but never wearing any of them.

This is wasted money, right?

Wouldn't it make sense to  wear the shirts you already  

own and only buy new shirts when you need them?

This same is true for your vocabulary.

Yes, expanding your vocabulary  is important, but it's equally  

important to practice and use the words you  already know but aren't regularly using.

Your vocabulary will likely double just by  

using the words you've already  learned in your daily speech.

For your action step this week, write down  10 words you already know but aren't using.

Make it your goal to practice and  use these words in your daily speech.

Tip #2 Use frameworks.

I know many students lose  their words when they speak.

They can only provide very brief answers, or they  can only offer a few words before hesitating.

Learning a simple communications framework can  

solve all of these problems and help you  communicate fluently and confidently.

Let's say you're talking to someone  and they ask you how your weekend was.

You can simply say it was great,  but that's a very short answer.

Sure, you didn't make any grammar mistakes,  but I'm sure you have more you want to say.

Maybe you think you lack the words, but  what if the problem isn't the lack of words,  

The problem is you lack a simple framework  you can use to answer any question.

One simple framework you can start  using today is the prep framework.

Did you know that the word prep is  the short form for the word prepare?

Native speakers frequently  use this in everyday speech.

For example, I have to prep  for the meeting tomorrow.

The prep framework will help you prep  Prepare for any conversation you have.

Prep stands for point, reason, expand, point.

Remember someone started a conversation  with you and said how was your weekend?

Now you can answer using the prep framework.

Your point is the main answer.

It was great.

Now you can expand on this  by providing the reason.

It was great.

We relaxed and watched a movie at home.

This is already a more fluent answer and it uses  very simple vocabulary that I'm sure you know.

Let's keep going and expand on this answer.

You can expand by providing  more information or an example.

Here you can simply state what movie you watched.

Now you can say it was great.

We relaxed and watched a movie at home.

The movie was called Arthur the King  and it was about a man who found and  

rescued a stray dog while  competing in a race abroad.

I'm sure you agree that this answer sounds a  

lot more fluent than simply  saying my weekend was great.

And notice that I'm using very simple  vocabulary that you likely already know.

The final point in our framework is point.

This is your conclusion.

It's a final statement.

To end your answer here, it makes sense to  

provide a final statement either  about the movie or the weekend.

Overall, you can say it was an  excellent movie and I recommend it.

I'm sure you would feel very fluent and very  confident if you provided this answer to a  

simple question like how was your weekend?

And remember, this uses simple B1  vocabulary you likely already know.

You can absolutely replace some common  words with more advanced words or even  

keep expanding on your answer, but  that isn't required to speak fluently.

For your action step this week, practice  answering questions using the RE framework.

You can Google random question  generator for a website that will  

give you endless questions that you  can use to practice the RE framework.

Tip #3 Handling vocabulary gaps When you have  a limited vocabulary, you are going to be in a  

situation when you don't know a specific word  or you don't know how to answer a question.

But did you know that native speakers  experience these exact situations?

My husband is very handy, which means he likes  to fix and repair things around the home.

He owns a lot of tools.

I don't know the names of  90% of the tools he owns.

When he talks about repairing something technical,  I don't understand what he's explaining.

Does that mean I'm not fluent in English?

Does that mean I should spend my weekends  learning vocabulary related to tools?

I have no interest in learning this  vocabulary because I don't need to know it.

I can effectively communicate  with my husband without knowing  

the vocabulary and without having  in depth knowledge on the topic.

Just like you can communicate with your doctor,  plumber or lawyer in your native language without  

knowing the same terminology they know or  without having the same expertise they have.

When you don't know the name  of something, describe it.

Kevin asks me to pass him the green tube  sitting on the toolbox instead of using  

the specific name for that green tube, because  he knows that I don't know what it's called.

If you're talking to a doctor, you might ask  about the machine that monitors your heart rate  

rather than saying the name of that machine.

If you're at a store, you might ask if they  sell something to protect you from the rain.

If you can't remember the word for umbrella.

If you're ordering a dessert at a  restaurant and you don't know what  

it's called, you can say the one with  a strawberry on top on the third shelf.

Native speakers do this  regularly, and you can too.

For your action step this week, once a day,  look around any room you're in and practice  

describing objects using the vocabulary you  know instead of using the name of that object.

This will also give you the chance  to practice using words you already  

know but don't frequently use, like adjectives.

Tip #4 Handling knowledge gaps.

When Kevin's not fixing things around the  house, he builds complex computer algorithms.

I have no technical knowledge in this area and  I can't discuss the topic at the level he can.

But I can have long conversations with Kevin  about his work by using simple strategies.

I ask questions instead of sharing information.

I'm honest about not understanding something  and I asked him to explain it another way.

I changed the topic when I've had enough.

You can have amazing conversations with people  by asking questions based on the conversation.

When Kevin says he made some sort of  change to the code he's working on,  

I asked him simple questions.

Was it a difficult change?

How long did it take?

Is it working now?

Why did you need to make that change?

Do you have to make any other changes?

Notice that my questions are very basic and don't  require specialized knowledge or vocabulary.

Now, Kevin frequently uses very complex  terminology to talk about his work,  

and I ask him to explain it another way or  to give me an example to help me understand.

He's happy to do this.

And remember, you can always change the  

conversation to something you  do feel confident discussing.

When I've had enough computer talk, I'll make  a final comment and then change the topic.

I might say, I'm so glad your code is working now.

That's great.

Do you want to go for a walk after  dinner for your action step this week?

Think about any conversations you  had or heard in any language and  

practice asking questions in English  based on that past conversation,  

and also practice ending the conversation and  changing topics in a polite and natural way.

As you can see, yes, you can speak fluently  in English with a limited vocabulary.

Of course, I understand you  want to expand your vocabulary,  

so make sure you watch this lesson right now.