Improve Your Fluency in English
It's Never Too Late!
3 Straight Steps Explained Solves Your Problem in Weeks
HOW DO I IMPROVE MY FLUENCY IN ENGLISH?
Is this question giving you sleepless nights and making you frantically search for a solution?
A SURESHOT WAY EXPLAINED IN 3 STEPS THAT YOU CAN IMPLEMENT AND SEE VISIBLE RESULTS
Have you ever experienced a situation where you are in a group discussion and are wanting to participate, but you keep silent?
It's not that you are ignorant. You have the knowledge of the Subject being discussed.
Yet you are not able to speak.
Why?
FEW REASONS CAN BE...
• You lack the ability to put your thoughts into words
• You don’t know where to start
• You can’t find words to create sentences
• You are not confident on how to frame sentences that the group will understand and appreciate your contribution
You are not alone. Everybody goes through this phase in their life. With ample practice, you can develop yourself to be a great conversationalist.
Here’s what you need to do –
Get yourself a partner. Not any partner but a learning partner. Your partner should also be enthusiastic enough to develop fluency in English. If he or she is not interested in your activity they might not take it seriously.
Together you can work miracles with the steps I am going to share with you next.
Are you ready?
Yes?
Great! Let’s begin...
3 STEPS TO A SOLUTION THAT CAN IMPROVE YOUR FLUENCY IN ENGLISH
1. PICK A CONTENT, ANY CONTENT
You and your learning partner must select a topic and the content related to that topic. Make sure the content is not too short or too long. A two to three-page content covering the topic is good enough.
Now, one of you has to take up the role of an SME or what is known as a Subject Matter Expert. The other partner will become the Interviewer.
Decide who is going to play which role. You can exchange your roles with a different topic.
Say, you choose the topic as “Facebook Marketing”. Select only one aspect of Facebook Marketing. For example, you can choose ‘How to Write Killer Facebook Ads’. Research a two to three-page content on that topic.
Finalize the content and Make two copies of it. Each one of you take one copy.
Now you are ready to take the next step.
2. PREPARE FOR YOUR ROLES
Remember not to mug up the definitions or the content. Learn to simplify it and explain it in your own words.
You can rewrite the entire content in your own words based on what you have understood. This way you will become the author of the content.
Remember, if you can’t explain the concept to a six-year-old, you have not understood the concept yourself.
The person who will play the role of the Interviewer will read the same content with a totally different purpose. As he is reading the content he will ask himself – ‘What problem is this part of the content solving?’
Then the Interviewer will write that question down in his journal that he will use to interview the subject matter expert. The questions must not be like questions asked in exams. Remember, we are learning to improve fluency in English not pass an exam. The questions must be similar to an interviewer asking relevant questions to an expert.
For example, you can phrase one question as – ‘Mr. Expert, can a person write a killer ad even if he does not know anything about writing Facebook ads?’
While preparing, ensure that you use interesting words and phrases to frame your questions and content.
You may watch few videos on YouTube to get some inspiration and tips on how to conduct an interview.
You both can decide on the number of days you will take to be completely prepared. Don’t let the days drag too long. You might lose interest or something else might crop up. Again, two to three days is good enough for you to be prepared.
Whatever number of days you choose to prepare, commit yourself to it. Schedule the date and place where you will meet for the interview to take place. Let the place not be a public place, like a Coffee Shop, where chances of you getting distracted increases.
Remember, you are training yourself to develop your fluency in English. You should choose a place where you and your partner can focus on the purpose of the activity.
Meet on the scheduled day and time. Don’t schedule anything else on that day. You don’t know how long it will take. Never try to hurry things up and finish it. You both need to give ample time to benefit from it.
Once you meet, make yourself comfortable.
Relax...
Now, you are ready to Rock n Roll.
3. START THE ROLE PLAY
Want to make your interview session more interesting?
Why not invite some of your sincere friends who can support you and give you some strong feedback. Avoid calling people who are just going to be a part of the crowd. If they can’t help you in your learning don’t invite them.
Whatever you decide, make a proper plan of it. You and your partner’s focus must be on the interview, and not on the last-minute preparations.
Whether you decide to invite your friends or not, you and your partner can plan to set up a professional seating arrangement. You both can even dress up for the occasion to give it a more professional touch. I call this getting into the zone.
Professional setup and dressing up for the occasion prepares your mind and body for the activity. It even boosts your confidence.
Once you both are ready, the Interviewer can give a short introduction of the expert and then start asking the questions one by one. Use conversational style for this activity. The interviewer can become a keen student as he asks questions, getting all excited to learn a subject.
The Subject Matter Expert can then start answering the question. His tone should also be conversational. He should speak as if he is talking to a six-year-old. This way the expert will know how to lay down the concept for the audience to understand.
Both of you should take your own time. Don’t be in a hurry to finish the show. The more you speak the better your fluency will develop.
Here are some tips that you both can follow during the interview process -
1. The Subject Matter Expert will explain the answer in his own words. He can quote if he wants to use the researched content.
2. Make the answer as detailed as you can. This way you, as a speaker, will be developing your fluency in English as well as on the subject matter. In addition, you will also be gaining tons of confidence.
3. The interviewer should also encourage the expert by improvising and asking some impromptu questions that come to his mind. This way he is preparing to think on his toes.
Once the interview session is over it’s time for evaluation or feedback. If you have your friends as guests for the session, ask them if they have any additional questions to ask. After that, you can ask them about their feedback on the entire show. You can even design a feedback form for them to fill up.
If you don’t have any guests, both the partners need to give constructive feedback about each other’s performance. Don’t just say – ‘It was good.’ Or ‘You need to improve.’ These are vague feedbacks. Underline what was good and what needs to be improved.
After this, you can pick up another topic and exchange your roles of being the Subject Matter Expert and Interviewer. Then repeat the cycle that you have followed.
IN CONCLUSION...
Make this a part of your weekly or fortnightly routine where you come together to learn how to speak fluent English. In the process, you will also be developing content on various topics as you play the role of an expert or an interviewer.
By sincerely doing this exercise you must have realized that it has twofold benefits. Firstly, you learn to develop fluency in English Speaking. Secondly, you learn about a topic and can actually become an expert in that subject. This way whenever you get an opportunity to participate in a group discussion or a casual conversation on the topic, you are ready.
This is one of the ways I practice with my students to make them fluent in having a conversation in English.
What steps do you follow to improve your fluency in English?
Do share your thoughts and ideas in the comments below.
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