Given the educational, career and social requirements, most of us have tried to improve our English speaking skills at some point in life. Whereas everyone wants to speak English fluently and confidently, not many are able to achieve that.
Today we would like to list 5 reasons that stop us from improving our English speaking skills and later discuss how we can overcome:
- Lack of Burning Desire
All of us realise that it’s important to improve our English speaking skills and we NEED to improve however, not many of us actually WANT to improve. Due to this lack of desire from within many of us never make any real progress.
- Focus Only on Grammar
A lot of us Indians have grown up feeling that the day we know all the grammar, we will be able to speak English fluently. Truly speaking that’s what always stops us from using the language and since we don’t use English to communicate, we never actually improve in it.
- Fear of Humiliation
In India we are taught English as compulsory subject in Private as well as Government schools, hence we have already built the base in terms of vocabulary and grammar by the time we graduate from school, however, many of us feel that if we try to speak in English, people will laugh at our mistakes so we never even try.
- Perceiving English as Something Evil
I come across many people who know that they need to improve their skills to grow in their careers but still connect it with Colonial Period and British Rule. They also believe that having to learn English makes them feel like we are still ruled by British. So their internal friction keeps them from improving.
- Ignorance About How to Actually Improve
Many of us don’t really know how to get better with our English. We download some apps, watch some videos on YouTube, watch a Hollywood movie once in a while but don’t end up making any significant progress as we never set any measurable goals and timelines.
Now I would like to talk about HOW we can make some real progress in our English Speaking Skills.
- To develop interest in a language start exploring literature in the language. i. e. read a book on subject of your interest, watch a movie of the genre you like, read stories, read comic books, watch comedy, listen to music. Learning a language makes you familiar with a different way of living.
- Grammar is Important! However, the best approach to learn a language is to use it. Listening, Speaking, Reading & Writing are the four language skills. We need to practice all four everyday in order to get better in English. There are countless ways in which you can practice these skills. And as you continue doing that you will naturally learn grammar patterns and structures.
- Don’t be afraid of humiliation. In fact if someone criticises you for a mistake or shares feedback with you, it will help you get better. So, use criticism constructively!
- Understand that like any other language of the world English is a language. The only difference is that today it is spoken in a large part of the world and anywhere in the world you go you can find someone who speaks English so English opens your doors to the world. Embrace it!
- As mentioned above you need to start using a language so as to improve your skills in it. Using refers to listening, speaking, reading and writing. If you can’t figure out how to do that or don’t know how to set English learning goals for yourself, you can take professional help. There are several institutes including English Caffe which can help you in that.
Wish you all the best!