Practice Makes Perfect: Improving Your English Speaking Skills
Practice Makes Perfect
We are pretty sure you’ve heard some reiteration of the saying “practice makes perfect”. It’s a very true statement, the outcome you receive from attempting to accomplish something will depend on how much effort you put in. Some outcomes are not that great and some can be very rewarding. VanWest College would like to help you practice improving your English speaking skills with a few simple tips.
Tip 1: Relax and put on your favorite show
That’s right our first tip is to watch your favorite shows. If you chose to do this we encourage you to turn on the English subtitles so you can read along. Whether it is a translation of a foreign show or a direct transcribing of an English show we are sure you will still learn a lot about the English language. This one tip hones many language learning skills. You will be able to practice your reading and listening as you watch scenes that involve dialogue. If you watch English shows with subtitles on you are most likely to improve your vocabulary and pronunciation skills.
Tip 2: Establish an English only rule
This tip might sound a little intense but trust us it isn’t. What we mean is find a friend who is learning English with you or knows you’re improving your English skills and establish an English only time. It can be one hour a day where you and your friend must interact only in English. You can have coffee just to discuss or do an activity that forces you to speak only English to each other. After that hour you can exchange notes and improvements that you can apply next time.
Tip 3: Interact with your environment
Our last tip, for now, is more for students currently studying in Canada or anyone who lives in areas that English is commonly spoken as well. Interact with your environment! Planning to eat out? Go to English-speaking restaurants so you are able to practice speaking with the servers. Instead of preordering at the cafe, line up and give your order in English to the cashier. Going shopping? Accept the help the workers are offering or inquire about their products even if you don’t intend on purchasing (just make sure you aren’t wasting their time haha).
Well, we hope you found these tips useful and are able to apply them to your practice or study routines. VanWest College is hoping to continue providing you with tips that help improve your English skills in the future. What was the best tip you ever received that helped you improve your English? Let us know!
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For more information about our General English program click here.
To learn more about other VanWest College ESL programs click here.
To contact us about anything else click here.
