Hello. My name is Joseph Chen. I will be replacing Eric Bohn as your new columnist. For our first topic, I would like to tackle the number one question that I received from students when I was teaching at an English Conversation school.
“What could I do to improve my English conversational skills?”
To this question, I would always recommend the person to “speak English.” Many people have studied English diligently but have failed to become good English speakers. Their comprehension level may be proficient and they may have a great command of English grammar. But they are unable to carry a decent conversation in English. Why? I believe the most common reason is because the person has failed to use spoken English in their daily lives.
Practice makes perfect. This concept also applies to speaking English. In other words, we need to practice speaking English to improve our ability to speak English. There may not be a chance to speak English with a native speaker everyday but there is a good way to practice at home. You can practice by first listening to English on TV, radio, or CD and then repeat or “shadow” what the speaker is saying. The difference between repeating and “shadowing” is that when you shadow, you are speaking at the same time as the speaker on the CD or video. Repeating and shadowing enables you to practice speaking at the same speed and intonation as the native speaker. Thus, this exercise will help you become more natural when you speak English. I recommend people to do this for at least 30 minutes a day. However, if you don’t have much time to spare for studying, but you are serious about improving your English, it would be a good idea to do this exercise for a minimum of 10 minutes a day. After practicing, try your English out on a native speaker. Don’t worry about making mistakes. Just speak!