Struggling To Speak English? Here's my Honest Advice!

Last week I asked my community what area of  their English they're struggling with the most.

Now, before I reveal the answer,  what do you think they said?

Did you say speaking skills?

Well, you're right, 61% said they're  struggling with their speaking skills the most.

This was not a surprise to me at all because  I hear this from my students every single day.

Now.

In another poll, I asked my students why  they're struggling with their speaking skills.

The number one reason at 42% was a lack  of vocabulary, 36% said it's feeling shy,  

nervous, and scared, 11% said incorrect  pronunciation, and 10% said a lack of grammar.

And many students added their own  comments and said it's a lack of practice.

So if it's all right with you,  I'd like to give you some advice.

My honest advice, my brutally honest  advice about why you're struggling  

with your speaking skills and how to fix that.

First, let's talk about a lack of vocabulary  because this was the number one choice at 42%.

Now, on the one hand, I agree with  this statement because if you don't  

have the words, you're not able to form sentences.

You can't open your mouth and share  ideas because that takes words.

So I do agree with this.

But on the other hand, I think you have  

a lot of vocabulary and you just  don't realize how much you have.

For example, think of how many  words I'm using in this video.

If you can understand these words, even if  you only understand 50% and you count how  

many words I used in this video, you would be  quite surprised by how much you actually know.

Or just open up the first page of a  textbook or a children's story in a  

language that you don't know and see how  unfamiliar it looks to you compared to  

anything you would look at in English, and  how many words you actually know in English.

The reality is that most native  speakers are daily speech is  

formed by a small number of words, maybe  1 to 2000 words in an average daily use.

So if you learned three to six  new words per day in one year,  

you would have the vocabulary that you  needed to have basic conversations.

Now more realistically, you probably  need about 20,000 or 35,000 words to  

fully communicate your ideas  on a wide variety of topics.

But think of how many you already know.

So if you divide that by two, the  number of words you already know,  

you only need to know about 25 new words per  day for one year to reach that full vocabulary.

Another part of the problem,  if I'm being brutally honest,  

and perhaps I'm even part of this  problem, is that teachers like myself,  

we release these videos saying you must know  these 10C1 expressions to speak confidently.

But the reality is, if I'm being  brutally honest, that's just not true.

Sure, you can absolutely add  these words to your vocabulary.

All the words that we claim  are must know, need to know.

Learn these now.

But it isn't actually true.

You don't actually need to know these words.

They're useful to know, but are they must know?

If I'm being brutally honest, most likely not.

And another problem, probably why  you think it's a lack of vocabulary,  

is you're too focused on forming more  advanced sentences, C1 sentences.

Now I make these lessons for you on C1  vocabulary because you need them for your IELTS.

You need them for a job interview.

You need them if you're writing an academic  paper or you're giving a formal presentation.

But in your day-to-day speech, the reality is, if  I'm being brutally honest, you don't need them.

I don't use the word utilize in my daily speech.

I might use the word utilize  three to five times a year a year,  

whereas I use the word use every single day.

I probably use it 20 times in this video.

O On the one hand, although I agree that it's  absolutely important to expand your vocabulary,  

I also feel like you probably have enough  vocabulary right now to start forming sentences  

and to start speaking, and you can just add  on more words as you go every single day.

Now, a tip for you is to actually not learn words,  

to learn entire phrases, because we  don't communicate with individual words.

You need to know how to use that  word in an entire sentence, a phrase.

So focus on learning phrases that you can learn.

One phrase and you can instantly  use it in your vocabulary,  

in your speech and you'll already  feel more confident communicating.

Now let's talk about feeling shy, nervous,  or scared because 36% of students said this.

In my honest opinion, I feel like this is  probably the biggest barrier because mainly  

because this isn't an area that's  focused on in language learning.

The focus is on learning vocabulary, learning  grammar, learning correct pronunciation.

But it's not about managing your  emotions, understanding your mindset,  

understanding what it's like to speak in  public, and providing strategies to fix that.

My brutally honest advice to you is that it's  totally normal to feel shy, nervous, and scared.

Those feelings most likely aren't  going to go away in the near future.

They're going to be with you, and you need  to learn how to open your mouth and speak.

Even with that feeling in your stomach, even  with that nervousness, you can't let that  

feeling in you, in your body or in your mind,  You can't let that prevent you from speaking.

You need to take action now and the  more you practice, the more you speak,  

the smaller and smaller that feeling will  become, but it will likely still be with you.

If I'm being brutally honest, even after  you've been practicing your speaking for  

months or years, I still get  that feeling of nervousness.

Even when I sit down to record a YouTube  video and there is no one around me,  

I'm not even in public, I still feel nervous.

And I think that's a good thing because it shows  that I care about making a quality video for you.

I care about your feedback and  your reaction to this video.

So just know that it is totally normal  to have that feeling and honestly,  

the best way to fight that  feeling is just by practicing.

Practice, practice, practice now, and  that feeling will get less and less.

Let's talk about a lack of grammar because  

10% of students say it's the  reason why they're struggling.

The thing you need to remember  is that when you're speaking,  

when you're speaking in the real world,  you are no longer a language learner.

In a classroom environment,  you are a language learner.

If you open your mouth to speak, the teacher will  

stop you in the middle of speaking  to tell you about a grammar mistake.

This makes you focus on your grammar a lot,  which I understand is important when you are  

in a classroom environment because you're  there to improve these specific areas.

But the problem arises when that same student goes  

out into the real world and still focuses  on their grammar when they're speaking.

When you're speaking in the real world, you  need to focus on the ideas you're sharing.

You can make a grammar mistake.

That's OK.

Native speakers make mistakes.

If you were to watch this video very  critically and look at every single sentence,  

I'm sure you would find grammar mistakes  because I'm speaking without notes.

I'm opening my mouth and speaking, and it's  just normal for human beings to make mistakes.

Native speakers make mistakes  and you can make mistakes too.

Now of course, you do want to work on  improving these areas, reducing those mistakes.

But again, you can't let that prevent you.

You have to start speaking  with the skills you have now.

And the best way to really know what  areas of your English, your grammar,  

your sentence structure you need  to improve is to record yourself.

And just like I suggested, if you watch every  part of this video, you would find mistakes.

So you can do the same thing for yourself.

You can record yourself telling yourself about  your daily routine and you can watch that video  

and you can listen line for line and try to  understand what mistakes you commonly make.

Choose one the mistake that keeps coming up.

Maybe you forget to add that as on ** ***  it verb conjugations in the present simple.

And this it is your area to improve for  the entire week or how long it takes you.

So get out there, start speaking.

Just know that native speakers  aren't listening for your mistakes.

Your English teacher absolutely is.

But in the real world, native speakers are not.

Now let's talk about incorrect pronunciation  

because 11% of students said this was  the reason why they're struggling.

This is an important one and I find is often  neglected both by teachers and by students.

So when you learn, let's say 10 phrasal verbs,  but if you don't learn how to pronounce them  

correctly in different sentence structures,  different verb tenses, then when you go to  

speak and use that phrasal verb, if the person  replies back and says, sorry, what did you say?

I didn't catch that.

Can you repeat that?

Well, then honestly, you didn't  communicate successfully.

And it will really feel like you're struggling if  

the person you're talking  to doesn't understand you.

So this is an important area and  one that you should spend time on.

And again, if you're already  recording yourself for speaking,  

practice one to focus on what areas  of your grammar you need to improve.

Well then just add on 1/3 and  listen for your pronunciation.

This could be very difficult  for you because you might not  

know if you're pronouncing a sound incorrectly.

So the best thing you can do is  listen to audio dictionaries or  

listen to a native speaker actually  say a specific word or phrasal verb  

and then doing shadowing practice  so repeating after that speaker.

That will help you improve that area of your,  

your speech that you need to,  to learn correct pronunciation.

So this is something that you do need  to focus on, but you'll get feedback.

How do you know if you need to  improve this area of your English?

Because people will say two things to you.

They'll say, can you repeat that?

I didn't understand you, something like that.

So, you know, if you get that a lot, you  know, this is an area you need to improve.

Another way you'll know is if you're talking  and the person says, oh, where are you from?

If your accent is so recognizable that  they know you're not a native speaker.

So they either ask you where you're from  or they say, I bet you're from Mexico,  

I bet you're from France because  they hear such a distinct accent  

that they know you're speaking English with  a Mexican accent or with a French accent.

So if you hear those two things, it might be a  sign that you need to improve your pronunciation.

If you don't hear those two things, then  maybe your pronunciation is great as it is.

Now remember I said in the comments section a  lot of students said it's a lack of practice?

Definitely.

If I'm being brutally honest  with you, this is true.

And this is where I hear a lot of excuses.

Do you know what the most common  excuses are for a lack of practice?

Well, I live in a non-english speaking country.

I don't have anyone to speak to.

I don't have time.

These are the three most common excuses.

I'm sure you know some other  excuses that you've either  

said yourself or you've heard other students say.

Well, just recognize them for what they are.

They are excuses.

And how do I know this?

Because there are so many students  who do improve their speaking skills,  

who learn to speak confidently in non-english  speaking countries without a study partner,  

without speaking to anyone else.

So if students are doing this all the time,  then it's absolutely possible for you as well.

So maybe the first thing you need to do  is just recognize that they are excuses.

They're not the truth.

Because if you feel in your mind that it is true  that you can't improve your English speaking  

skills alone, then you won't even try because  you've already determined that it's not possible.

So for right now, I want you to accept that  yes, I can improve my English speaking skills  

alone and then commit to practicing speaking,  opening your mouth and speaking in front of a  

mirror or by recording yourself and doing  this every single day for two minutes.

That is absolutely something you can achieve.

Now let's talk about a lack of time.

This is an excuse I hear from  students, but the reality is,  

if I'm being brutally honest,  we all have 24 hours a day.

Much of that time we spend sleeping.

But regardless, we all have  the same waking hours per day.

Is not a lack of time.

Is that right?

Now, improving your speaking  skills isn't a priority for you,  

and there's nothing wrong with that.

If you want to prioritize spending time with  your family over improving your speaking skills,  

that is absolutely fine and that's your decision.

But don't pretend like you don't have time.

Just say right now it isn't a priority.

I want to focus on being the best mother  I can be, being the best father I can be,  

or I want to focus on learning how to play  guitar, or I want to focus on spending  

more time with my cats, something I  definitely prioritize, but that's OK.

But just be honest with yourself.

Don't sit here and say I'm struggling to  find the time because the time exists.

You're just not allocating the  time because it's not a priority.

And there's nothing wrong with that.

But if you are listening to this and you think to  yourself, but it is a priority, I need to improve  

my English speaking skills so I can send my kids  to a good school or so I can get a better job.

Well, then you need to reflect  on that and you need to adjust  

your schedule to to allocate the  time to your speaking skills.

If it truly is a priority now because  42% of you said that you're struggling  

with your speaking skills because  of a lack of vocabulary, well,  

then you should watch this lesson right now  where I share 300 words that you need to know.

Now, do you really need to know these words?

Well, maybe, maybe not.

But I still think you should  definitely watch it right now.