For many students and second-language speakers, conversational English can be extremely frustrating or difficult. Most conversations are unplanned and spontaneous, then the added pressure of limited and speaking to a native English speaker can cause be nightmare for some. In my opinion, it is best to know why most struggle with conversational English.

 

Potential reasons can be due to lack of practice, confidence, not using the appropriate slang words, idioms, or improper grammar structures. In my experience, most learners are not prepared for conversational English because they have learned formal and proper grammar in school or university, usually from a textbook. This is not a bad thing but in reality, you have to go beyond the textbook and speak to real people. My advice is for all levels and can be applied by anyone, let's explore how to improve your conversational English!

The majority of English native speakers will be empathic and understand that English is your second language. I stress the importance of speaking slowly, however, find a balance between natural and calm. This will help with the thought process which gives you an extra second or two to pronounce words and express your thoughts. Speaking slowly will help give you confidence and you can speed up when you improve.

 

Learn to listen to details in the conversation while keeping calm. This appears to be obvious but it is commonly not practised when in the moment. By listening attentively, some key information could help you keep the conversation going and add quality also. Don't be scare to confirm your understanding and this shows you are listening. Sometimes, it is worse to be completely silent! If you did not understand then ask them to repeat politely.

 

Speak with people more often or better a professional English teacher. By practising you will improve and learn the patterns of speech. When you speak with the average people, they will not correct your speech nor pronunciation. However, you will improve your fluency and accuracy which is very crucial. I highly recommend that you talk to people that you have interests in common. If you have the opportunity to have structured classes then you will improve much more because an English teacher will analyse your weaknesses and guide you through any problematic grammar or contexts of vocabulary.

Ask more questions especially small talk questions. it is important to have a two-way conversation and some people either native or not can be difficult to talk to because they do not ask questions. Keep the questions simple and clear; try to ask for their opinion or do you know questions because it shows involvement and it is courteous. At some point, conversations come to a natural end but to avoid an awkward end, learn and practise some sentences to excuse yourself.

 

Improving your vocabulary is essential to all English skills generally. You can achieve this by reading any text every day. By expanding your vocabulary will give you more options in the conversation as well as being clear. If you read articles from other subjects then you will be prepared. Sometimes, it is not possible to know every word in the dictionary but if you see a new word then use an online dictionary to find out the definition. Another way of improving your vocabulary in use is listening to the radio and this can be done via the Internet while you are commuting or working (depending your job). Also, this will help with the short patterns of speech and you will learn more conversational phrases which is not in a textbook or article.

 

I hope you enjoyed my column and I am interested to know if you agree! Alternatively, you can write in the comments about your experience. Thank you for reading and have a look at my profile too!