Learning English? Find Out Why Speaking Practice is Important When Learning the English Language

- Hi, Bob, the Canadian here.

If you recall, I am doing a series of English lessons

called The Why Series.

In part one, two and three,

I looked at why reading, writing,

and listening practice are important

when you are learning the English language.

This is part four.

In this English lesson,

I'm going to talk about why conversations are important.

Why speaking practice, why having English conversations

with an English speaking partner are cool, awesome,

and so important when you're learning the English language.

(smooth music)

Well, hey, welcome to part four of The Why Series

where we're going to talk a little bit

about why English conversations are so important

when you're learning the English language.

Before we get started though,

if this is your first time here,

don't forget to click that red subscribe button there

and give me a thumbs up at some point

during this English lesson

if it helps you just learn a little bit more English.

So why should you have English conversations?

The first reason why I think it's important

to have regular English conversations

is because it can set up your week.

It can create a routine for you

around which you can build a whole bunch of other things.

Here's what I mean by that.

Usually if you are going to have an English conversation

with another person, usually you set a time

and it's usually the same time and the same day every week.

What that does is it creates a rhythm.

It creates a routine around which

all of the rest of your English studying can happen.

For me, as a French learner,

I meet with a French speaking partner every single Tuesday

at the same time.

Because I meet with them regularly,

it's like the corner post,

it's like the main event in my week

when it comes to learning that language.

I think the same could be true for you.

So the first and coolest part

about having an English speaking partner is that

it sets up a routine and it helps you stick to a routine

when you're learning English.

The second cool thing about English conversation practice

is that it can boost your confidence.

When you are finished having a 30 minute

or one hour English conversation with someone,

you feel really good about yourself.

In some ways, an English conversation

is a lot like playing a sport.

If you think about it, everything else you do

is like practicing for that sport.

But the English conversation

is like playing an actual game in that sport.

So for me, I know that because I'm a French learner.

Whenever I finish having a French conversation with someone,

I just have this rush of positive emotions

and I think the same could be true for you.

Have an English conversation with someone

and just look and think about how you feel when it's over.

It's just an amazing feeling and it boosts your confidence

and makes you feel really good about yourself.

The third thing that's just really awesome

about English conversation practice is that

it gives you feedback from someone who speaks English.

You don't get this with reading or writing necessarily.

I mean, you can write something and send it to someone

and get it back from them.

You certainly don't get it

when you are doing listening practice.

But when you are having an English conversation,

there is someone who speaks English right there with you.

They can make corrections immediately.

They can help you with your pronunciation immediately.

So the third cool thing

and awesome thing about an English conversation

is that there is a person right there

who can give you immediate feedback

on the things that you are saying.

The fourth thing that's kind of cool

and awesome about English speaking practice is that

it's something you can brag about, but in a good way.

It's something you can be proud of.

When you have an English speaking conversation with someone,

it's fun to tell your friends later that week

that you had an English conversation

or that you are meeting with someone regularly

to have English conversations.

Even more importantly,

it looks really good on a job application.

If you finish 50 or 100 hours

of English conversation practice with someone

and if you are applying for a job,

if you are able to put down on the job application

that you have spent that many hours

having real English conversations with someone,

that is impressive

and it will probably help you get the job.

The fifth thing about English conversation practice is that

it is practice that you do when you're under stress

and when you are nervous.

And I think that's actually a good thing.

When you have nervous energy when you do something,

when you are a little bit stressed when you do something,

all of your feelings and emotions

are heightened when you do it

and you might remember things more.

When you have and English conversation with someone

and you have nervous energy

and you're a little bit stressed and worried about it,

it makes it it's an exciting event during your week.

And that excitement will probably help you remember

a lot more of the words and phrases that you use

or that you learned during that conversation.

So I think this is a really cool aspect

of English conversation.

You don't get nervous energy when reading a book

or when listening to a song in English,

but certainly when you are meeting with someone

and you are having an English conversation,

it's exciting and awesome,

and you're a little bit nervous and stressed,

and all of that can actually help you remember a lot.

The sixth thing that's kind of neat

about English conversation is that

it sort of helps you organize the rest of your week.

And it motivates you to do more reading,

writing, and listening.

This is similar to the first thing I said

that it helps you set a routine.

But I want to stress the fact that

when you know you're going

to be having an English conversation,

you are or likely to work harder the rest of the week.

You're more likely to do more reading

and more writing and more listening practice in English

because you want to be able

to tell your English speaking partner

about your accomplishments.

You'll want to be able to tell them

that you read three more chapters

in the book that you're reading in English.

You'll want to be able to tell them

that you watch two more episodes of a television show

that you are watching in English.

And you'll probably just want to say

that you listen to a ton of music

since the last time that you have taught.

So just another cool thing.

The sixth thing is when you know

that you're having a regular English conversation

maybe each week,

it really helps you be motivated to study a lot

and to work hard on the other aspects

of learning the English language.

The seventh thing that's just really awesome

and cool about English conversation

is that it will connect you to the English speaking world.

When you have a conversation once a week

with an English speaking person,

they will probably be someone who is very familiar

with the English speaking world.

They will connect you to that world.

They will tell you about the latest cool song,

the top selling book that's out right now.

They will tell you about

the most recent movie that they've seen.

They will have this nice connection

to the English speaking world.

In addition, because they have that connection,

they can answer some of your questions.

When you're learning a language like English,

there's a whole bunch of weird and crazy things

that you read or hear

and you just don't quite know what they mean.

So when you are connected to the English speaking world

with an English speaking partner, they can help you.

They can tell you the answers to those questions you have

about this crazy language we call English.

Anyways, I'm Bob the Canadian.

Thank you so much for watching this lesson.

Share it with a friend

if you know someone who is learning English,

and thank you so much for being here.

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Give me a thumbs up.

And if you have a little bit more time,

why don't you stick around and watch another English lesson.