Quick Tips to get to Language Fluency Faster
Are you too focused on grammar rules, written exercises, and those little details that you’ve neglected a crucial element of fluency: speech? Lack of speech practice leads to a lack of comprehension whilst communicating with native speakers, often making one uncomfortable during “real conversations”.
Whatever stage of learning a language you’re at, there are things you can do to sound more fluent, we’ve rounded up some of these below:
- Prep ready-made responses and phrases
Want to sound more fluent? Prep some phrases that you’re likely to use in everyday conversation and real-life situations. These could be conversation starters, basic reactions, answers to common questions, or ways to finish a conversation. So write them down in advance, and practise saying them – a lot. Soon enough you’ll start speaking them naturally and will sound more fluent as a result.
- Focus on intonation
Intonation is how a language goes up and down when you speak it. Intonation is very important in communication as it gives information beyond just the basic meaning of the words. It can express the speaker’s attitude or feeling about something, as well as give grammatical information (such as distinguishing between a statement and a question). Changing the pitch in your voice – making it higher or lower – allows you to show surprise.
- Think & talk to yourself in the language
Your fluency will improve drastically once you start thinking in your target language. You’ll find it difficult at first, but after some time you’ll learn how to switch between speaking/thinking in your first language and the language you’re keen to learn.By talking to yourself in front of the mirror each day in your target language, you’ll learn to pronounce every letter, plus how and when to use different expressions.