This is How You Can Improve Your English Conversation Speed!

by | Study Strategies

Hey there everyone!

Today I wanted to share with you a strategy that I teach my students when they ask me how they can improve their English conversation skills, learn English with friends, and/or speak English like a native.

I always tell them that the most important thing they have to do is have a lot of speaking practice. By speaking English they will naturally improve.

If the students are practicing English through speaking and they want some strategies to improve their response time I often share with them this strategy. I hope that it will help you speak faster and improve your English pronunciation as well.

This strategy is very simple to do and it will really help for students who need more English basics as well as those who are learning advanced English:

  1. Get a stop watch or use an app on your phone.

  2. Make a list of 10 English questions (I will give you a list to start with).

  3. Start the stop watch and read the first question.

  4. Answer the question as fast as you can in sentence form.

Example:              “What’s the weather going to be like this weekend?”

Answer:               “I’m not sure, but I think it will be sunny on Saturday and cloudy on Sunday.”

“What do you want to do this weekend?”

Answer:               “I should do laundry on Saturday and on Sunday I want to go to a café with my friends.”

  1. Go down the list and answer each question.
  2. At the end of the list, stop the stop watch and record your time.
    1. 2 Minutes and 27 Seconds
  3. Repeat the exercise, but read the questions out of order.
    1. You can use a highlighter to mark each question.
    2. You can write the questions on vocabulary cards and shuffle them

Try to answer the questions using complete sentences, with clear pronunciation, using new vocabulary, and try to answer faster each time.

When you are confident with these questions, try using a different set of questions.

 

BONUS METHOD!!!!

A different way to do this training is to do it the opposite way. Instead of trying to speak quickly.

Try answering the questions as long as you can.

Example:             “What’s the weather going to be like this weekend?”

Answer:               “I haven’t checked the weather yet. I hope it will be sunny because I want to do the laundry and I want to go to a café with my friends. If it is sunny, we can have coffee and cake outside.”

This is a great strategy because it will teach you how to have longer conversations and that will give you more opportunities to practice new vocabulary and expressions.

I hope these strategies will help you with your speaking practice and to improve your English conversation. Also, if you learn English with friends, be sure to share these strategies and have your friend read the question and control the timer.

I look forward to your English Success!

 

-Adam

Sample Questions to Get You Started!

Beginner / Basic Questions

  1. What is your hobby?
  2. What do you want to eat for dinner?
  3. Who is your favorite singer?
  4. What’s your favorite dessert?
  5. What was/is your favorite subject in school?
  6. What do you like to do in winter?
  7. What do you like to do on rainy days?
  8. How often do you eat out?
  9. Who do you eat lunch with?
  10. Why are you studying English?

Intermediate Questions

  1. Which country do you want to visit?
  2. Do you like to watch sports and/or play sports?
  3. Do you have any pets? If not, what would you like?
  4. Which do you like to go to zoos or aquariums? Why?
  5. How do you study English?
  6. When do you usually go to bed and get up?
  7. Do you shop online? What do you like to buy? Or Why not?
  8. What will you be doing in 10-years?
  9. Who was your favorite teacher and why?
  10. Do you have any bad habits?

Advanced Questions

  1. When did you see your best friend last and what did you do?
  2. If you could plan the perfect vacation, where would you go and what would you do?
  3. Do you think video games are good or bad? Why?
  4. Which company makes the best shoes? Why do you think so?
  5. Do you eat any organic foods? Why or Why not?
  6. How can we fix our environmental issues?
  7. Do you think your country’s leader is doing a good job?
  8. Do you think people should read more books?
  9. What job did you want to do when you were younger?
  10. Do you think self-driving cars are safe?