It doesn't mean that you are fluent in conversational English if you're fluent in written English. One may be able to write strong and fluent essays but when you speak to him he may not be able to answer due to lack of practice which causes lack of confidence. My advice is to practice as much as possible. You don't have to practice with a foreigner, some people may be as fluent as they could be so it's not an excuse. Another thing I always tell my students to do is to record their voice while speaking. Some people laugh at me when I suggest that but they don't know how important that may be. When you record your conversation and listen to it, you give yourself a chance to listen clearly to what you have said and find out about your common and repeated mistakes. This way you are given a chance to correct yourself. To sum it all up, you just need to practice a lot and have self confidence.
How can I become fluent at conversational English though I am already fluent at written English?
To converse fluently in English, practise as much as you can.
Note, you do not have to speak with a British person in order to speak it fluently, many British people do not speak English fluently and have variations of their own dialects in the language. There are many non-British people who speak good English too. There are Saudis who were educated in Canada and have returned speaking a good quality of English superior to the poor English that can be heard elsewhere in the region.
- Practise greetings and good byes.
- Practise asking for things
- Practise asking for directions.
- Practise talking about things you like or are passionate about.
- Tape your voice and listen back to how you sound - it can be strange listening to your own voice but it also - help hear where there is room for improvements.
- Practise reading a sentence, then look away and speak without looking at the sentence.
- Listen to how speakers pause between words and sentences.
- Keep taking steps to help improve your confidence about speaking the language.
من قبل
Tareq Ibrahim , Freelance Translator , AL-Madarat AL-Ma'arefeyyah For Translation
Being able to speak English fluently , in a manner that'd put across the message that you are good at it , is a difficult yet very easy objective to realize & arrive at . First you need to know that nothing comes for free , in other words you have to earn it by knowing that your mother tongue language is not English , & , that requires you to be assiduous , studious & self taught person , in order for you to achieve your ultimate goal ( Great Spoken English ) . Second , You have to have the passion , & , the knack for it , simply because if you didn't you'd be stuck in the zone of " Thinking that you have good Spoken English , when in all actuality you're just playing the part that you pre-conceived for your self " , which , unfortunately translates into a mediocre Spoken English in particular , & , weak English as a second language in general . Good Spoken English means that you are in constant contact with the Spoken English word , day-in & day-out , in the sense that you have to have your ears tamed & made to be comfortably in tone with , & , at one with such English . This also requires you to practise your Spoken English by always exercising your tongue , & , your self , by simply uttering the words , phrases & expressions in a way that would , at least , come close to the correct way of pronunciation , if not the ultimate correct manner . To arrive at such result you have to surround your self with the the tools & elements that'd encourage you to always speak , communicate & express your self in English . These tools would include , but not limited too , having friends that are Native-Speakers , or at least , people who are that good at it . This would help immensely especially if they already know that you're trying to improve your English , especially the Spoken part of it . One way to find such environment is of course the Internet in the sense that you can always voice chat with other people , & . Google + Hangout is such a perfect medium . Also you can use the International News channels to get your self used to , & , in the zone with the Spoken English , & , here I'd suggest ( WWW.ALJAZEERA.NET/ENGLISH-WWW.BBC.COM-WWW.CNN.COM ) , to name a few . This will help you in an immeasurable way in your Spoken Academic English . You can also use the Movies , Soup operas & Reality Shows Channels , to improve , & , brush-up on your Day-To-Day Mundane English . Also , listening to English Music could be of great assistance , especially if you combined that with the Internet to look up the pertinent lyrics . Of course , you have to always keep in mind that Good Spoken English is , at the end of the day , a confluence & melange of words & vocabularies assembled & put together in a way & manner that's100 % grammatically correct . Here i suggest that one memorizes & learns by heart as much words & their Synonyms as they can , & , this would also include , but not limited to , using the Internet , & , here I'd suggest the following English Learning Websites ( WWW.THEFREEDICTIONARY.COM / WWW.REFERENCE.COM ) , to name afew . Now , & , this is very crucial , you have to always bear in mind the following whilst you're embarking , & , during your learning process : 1- Commitment & taking the Initiative is the motto & slogan that'll successfully get you any where , & ,2 - Don't you ever be shy to ask . because if you did not , you would not get anywhere , or amount to anything that's worthy of admiration , recognition & respect ( High Level Of Spoken English ) , & , 3- Always keep a pen on you , so that whenever you hear a good exciting word you immediately put it down in writing . This way you'd never forget it , especially that with jotting it down your brain is automatically associating it with a certain image that the Former would always help you to conjure it ( The Latter ) up whenever the need for it arises , especially when your English-Speaking Mode is kicked or being kicked into motion , ( This would also include the Computer-Typed Words ) , & ,4 - An Up-To-Date revised English Language Dictionary that's always within reach is a huge Asset , & , some times this could mean the difference between knowing & not knowing a certain word , especially if no Internet Connection was available at the time , or , you were on the move , or , in a situation that could not afford you the luxury to log onto the Internet , & ,5 - Last , but certainly not least , always keep in mind that if you want to do something , not only do it your self , but do it right . ( ... & That's the way it goes ) . Less