Often; out of the 4 skills of language learning: listening, speaking, reading & writing speaking is often neglected. This is because we often need another person to practice with to practice speaking.
There are multiple questions to answer to figure out at what stage of the language learning journey you should practice speaking and how.
What speaking exercises can I do as a beginner?:
As a beginner; lengthy conversations about a range of topics are hard to do. So, practising simply speaking to people in that target language may be difficult.
I do recommend a speaking-from-day-one approach. However, this can take many forms.
Often a way you can approach this is to study dialogues between two people and to “shadow” or try to repeat the sentences or words after the native speaker’s voice. This can be an effective way to test out the waters of speaking without finding a partner to practise with.
As you move forward in the beginner phases of language learning and find you know a few hundred words you can try speaking to others in that language.
An easy way to do this is to send voice messages to people in language exchange apps such as Tandem or HelloTalk. In this, you do not need to have a real-life conversation to practice speaking. By sending voice messages you are practising speaking yet have more flexibility because you’re able to send messages whenever you’re free.
What speaking exercises can I do as an intermediate-level learner?:
As an intermediate-level learner, you’re in a great position to learn through speaking with conversation partners. At this level, you will be able to have a range of discussions on a range of different topics.
This is because your range of vocabulary is very great compared to the beginner level yet there are things you can do to enhance your conversations with your language partners.
There are two methods to find conversation practice one is to hire a tutor and two is to find a language exchange partner.
At the intermediate level shadowing can be still a great way to practice your speaking skills such as using content on TV shows or YouTube.
Often to speak well we have to speak often, to speak often we don’t always have to have a partner to speak with. Speaking with ourselves, recording our voices and shadowing are all great ways to speak often.
What speaking exercises can do as an advanced-level learner?:
At the advanced level, you will able to have more sophisticated conversations on a range of different topics. At this level, the advice I can give is to keep practising! As the saying goes practice makes perfect.
To push forward through the advanced level you will want to talk about topics that are more challenging to use a range of vocabulary that you’re not used to. This could include topics such as science, technology, politics & climate change amongst other topics as well.
Finding a language tutor vs language exchange partner:
This is relatively easy these days as there are a lot of online platforms where you can find a language tutor for relatively cheap. In this example, you will pay for their time and knowledge, meaning they will often help correct your grammar and pronunciation.
Finding a language exchange partner can be relatively hit or miss depending on the person and perhaps depending on the language. For example, if your native language is a relatively lesser-known language then it may be harder to match with people compared to say if your mother tongue was English.
Also, another problem is that language exchange partners can come and go a lot depending on whether they stick with the language learning process.
Also with language exchange, you’re exchanging your languages so if you have limited time it may be worthwhile to just pay for a language tutor. However, the rewarding aspect of language exchange is making new friends and forming new connections.
Conclusion:
Overall, there are many different ways to practice your speaking skills in learning a new language. However, this depends on your language level and whether you wish to go through the route of language exchange or pay a language tutor for conversation practice.
What is your opinion? What’s your preferred way of practising your speaking skills? Let me know below:
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