How to actually start speaking a foreign language?
Many of us try to master speaking skills every single day, but do you do it in a right way? When I say “actually” I mean not just being able to answer written questions or comprehend readings, but being able to hold an actual conversation and express your thoughts like a native speaker!
I am senior at Hankuk University of Foreign studies which is located in Seoul, South Korea and every day I see foreigners who try to master their speaking skills. As foreign students we all have experience learning at least one foreign language which is English or Korean. We all know how hard it is and we all put a lot of efforts to improve our skills! But you have probably noticed that some people learn a language for years and still cannot speak it properly, while others start actually speaking a language only after a few months of studying.
Why is that so?
The answer is that the learning process is different, thus the result is going to be different too. I have gathered a couple of things which will help you to improve your speaking! I love learning foreign languages myself and I can speak four for now, thus this article is based on my own experience and experience of many other students I know. If you want to improve your speaking, then read carefully!
The first thing you need to remember is to learn less grammar, more vocabulary. Focusing on grammar too much is the common mistake, especially in Korea. Of course, grammar is the technical structure of the language, but grammar itself is not that useful.
You are not going to be able to use grammar in a conversation without having a good vocabulary range, while vocabulary without grammar will still help you to deliver your story. Yes, you might have some mistakes, but at least people will know what you want to say. So before learning a bunch of grammar structures make sure you know enough words to use it with.
Old school teachers will say that pronunciation is not important as long as other people can understand you, but I strongly disagree with this statement. If we are already putting so many efforts in learning grammar and words, isn’t it a bit upsetting that after so much studying we still can’t sound like native speakers? Well, we can! I believe that everybody can achieve a good pronunciation no matter what are the starting abilities are. You should start correcting your pronunciation as soon as you start learning a new language, because the later you start the more you get used to a certain way of pronouncing.
You can improve your pronunciation by watching movies or tv shows in that foreign language and imitating the way and manner of the speakers. It will help to improve your listening skills as well. When I started leaning English, at first I also had some words which I couldn’t pronounce well, but this trick helped me a lot in terms of not only taking over the accent of native speakers, but also their tone and manner.
Another common mistake is caring too much about what others will think about your speaking abilities. Many times we are too afraid to demonstrate our speaking skills because we don’t want to look stupid or to be laughed at. But in fact, people do not really care about your speaking abilities and how many mistakes you do.
Simply, because non-native speakers are going through the same stage as you are and native speakers are aware that this language is not your mother tongue so it is okay for you to make mistakes. If it’s hard for you to expose yourself to many people at once, you can start talking to your reflection in the mirror first. This might make you feel extremely uncomfortable, but it is okay since it is only you. And after you become comfortable taking to yourself, you can start trying to have conversations with somebody else. No need to put yourself under the pressure. Take baby steps on the way to a big success!
Last but not least step is to praise yourself even for small achievements! Mastering a foreign language takes time, so don’t expect yourself to start speaking fluently after a couple of months of learning. This is probably not going to happen. Not because you are not smart enough or you don’t study enough, but simply because there is a lot of information to process and it will take some time. Try to learn something new everyday and practice it in front of the mirror or with your friends. Praise yourself for the smallest achievements because if you got a little better than yesterday it’s also a progress! Remember that every small progress pushes you closer to the big goal you have set for yourself!
I hope you enjoyed this article and I hope you all can achieve the speaking level you desire! Remember that only practice makes perfect!
