5 Surprising Ways to Speak English Fluently

Everyone says practice makes perfect.

Yes, but what if you're practicing the wrong way? Haha. So, let me show you

wrong way? Haha. So, let me show you five surprising but powerful ways to

become a fluent English speaker.

[Music] Hello, it's Keith from the Keith Speaking Academy and the English and the what and the YouTube channel English

speaking success. Here to help you

speaking success. Here to help you become a more confident speaker of English like me. Uh so listen, today I'm going to show you five awesome ways to

become a fluent speaker of English. Now,

some of these may surprise you, but I think they will delight you. And look

out for number five because it's something that I think most students don't do, but it works like magic. So,

look out for that. Also, if you want the PDF of all of these tips, you can just click on the link in the description.

You can download that for free. I do

just ask for your email, and that's just to help me send you more tips and resources that can help you with your English. Um, I I do spend time on my

English. Um, I I do spend time on my emails. They are quality emails. And

emails. They are quality emails. And

listen, you can unsubscribe at any time if you want. So, it's a win-win. Okay,

with that, let's begin with number one.

It's a good place to start, right?

Number one. Yes.

Okay. Number one is read more. Wait,

what? Read more to speak more fluently.

Yes, read more. And by reading I mean read things like news articles, magazines, um novels,

graded readers, even cookbooks.

Because the thing is when you're reading, well, there are two ways of reading. Read for fluency or read to

reading. Read for fluency or read to build vocabulary. I want you to read for

build vocabulary. I want you to read for fluency more.

Reading for fluency is where you're you're reading something, but you're not looking up the words. You're maybe

guessing the words, but you just keep on reading, right? You're not building

reading, right? You're not building vocabulary, just reading for fluency.

Why is this important? Because what

happens is when you're reading, it's a bit of a internal dialogue with the book. When you read,

book. When you read, you're speaking without speaking the words. You're saying the words in your

words. You're saying the words in your head and you're starting to think in English. It's the first step towards

English. It's the first step towards thinking in English as you read. And if

you read more, you're allowing yourself the chance to think more in English.

And if you're thinking in English, then when you're speaking, you're going to be more fluent.

Think about it. If you're thinking in English, you're not translating.

Translating slows you down. Thinking in

English helps you become more fluent.

And reading for fluency is the first step to thinking more in English. So

read more.

Got it? Great. Number two.

Right. Number two, speak more to yourself.

Why has he got a toothbrush? I'll I'll

come back to that. So, the thing is a lot of students think I need to speak to a teacher or a native speaker to give me feedback to correct me. Actually, no.

Actually, you don't need to be speaking to other people all the time. you can

speak more to yourself to get the practice. Fluency is about producing

practice. Fluency is about producing language. Okay? Um not just learning it,

language. Okay? Um not just learning it, about producing it. I mean, if you're a teacher, think of um Swain's output hypothesis.

Speaking is going to help you with your fluency. So, in many ways, it's better

fluency. So, in many ways, it's better to speak to yourself because you haven't got the pressure of speaking to somebody else. You're not going to be afraid of

else. You're not going to be afraid of making mistakes. You'll be more relaxed.

making mistakes. You'll be more relaxed.

Think of CRA's effective filter if you're a teacher, researchbased. Um, and

that's going to help you with your fluency. So, you could, for example,

fluency. So, you could, for example, just talk to the mirror. Uh, classic

example in the mornings when you're when you're brushing your teeth, right? You

can talk to yourself. There's also a very simple threepoint framework that you can use. Um, and it is basically I

have done this. Now I'm doing this and after this I will do that. Okay, super

simple. I use it all the time when I'm trying to do this in Chinese or in French.

For example, sound effects.

Right, I've had breakfast. Now I'm

brushing my teeth. Uh after this I'll go to work. Right? Super simple three-step

to work. Right? Super simple three-step framework. Start using that right away.

framework. Start using that right away.

And the great thing about all of this is you start to build a habit and then you'll get that daily speaking practice.

Super simple. That's it. Let's move on to number three.

Okay. Number three, stop learning new vocabulary. Oh, all right. Okay. I don't

vocabulary. Oh, all right. Okay. I don't

mean completely stop learning new vocabulary, but change your focus from collecting new words to practicing what

you know, using what you've learned already. Okay. Um, fluency is not really

already. Okay. Um, fluency is not really about knowing new words. It's about

being able to use the words you've studied already. So when you're

studied already. So when you're practicing and speaking, don't be trying to use new vocabulary all the time.

Using new vocabulary is a highle game.

Just practice the words you know. It's a

different game. It's actually easier.

And just build up your fluency activating the words you've already been studying. Okay? I think we have a

studying. Okay? I think we have a tendency as human beings to collect things. We buy an online course and

things. We buy an online course and before we begin, we buy another one. We

go to the shop and we buy a book. Good

book, by the way. Put it down. Think,

"Oh, that's interesting. Yeah, I'll read that next week." Next week, I'm at the shops again. Oo, I'll buy another book.

shops again. Oo, I'll buy another book.

Great. Put it down. Haven't read them yet. Why? Because we like to collect

yet. Why? Because we like to collect things. It's exciting when you buy

things. It's exciting when you buy something and you collect it. Um, but I haven't read them. And it's the same.

You go on the the internet and Facebook, Instagram, you're collecting all these 20 idioms, PDF of a hundred IELTS words.

Great. How many of them can you use? Oh,

um, not many actually. So, stop

collecting new vocabulary and focus on practicing the ones you already have, right? How do you practice them? I mean,

right? How do you practice them? I mean,

very, very simple. For example, if you watch my live lesson on a topic, you get a PDF, repeat the words, uh, repeat the phrases, change a word, change the

tense, just practice. Use chat GBT and just say, "I'm going to have a conversation with you. I'm going to use these five words and just reply to me."

And just start practice using them. And

then you'll start to activate them later. You can think about collecting

later. You can think about collecting new vocabulary, but try and activate more the ones you have. Other things you can do is um you can mimic accents on

the TV. You can shadow podcast, video

the TV. You can shadow podcast, video clips, shorts are very good for shadowing. Um so that repetition,

shadowing. Um so that repetition, shadowing, mimicking, it's all good good practice. And that way you're focusing

practice. And that way you're focusing more on fluency and you will build your fluency.

Great. Let's move on.

Number four, practice with strangers.

Now, I don't mean just walk up to people in the street and start talking to them, although you could do that if you're in a English-speaking country. I don't

recommend it, though. Um, however, it is easier online. You can practice with

easier online. You can practice with people online. There are lots of apps

people online. There are lots of apps where you can do that or if you're on a course like the gold course, you can speak to other students on the course.

The thing is you don't have to practice with a teacher or a native speaker. You

can just practice with other people. I

know I said earlier practice with yourself. That's good. This is a

yourself. That's good. This is a compliment goes together. But practice

with strangers, with other people. And

it's great because it prepares you for the unexpected. You have to have a

the unexpected. You have to have a natural conversation where you just respond to the situation. And here's the secret, right? I think you need to

secret, right? I think you need to balance uh prepared talks and impromptu talks. So yes, you

need a balance. You need to practice where you've prepared something and you've thought about it and you've got some ideas and you're talking. But you

must also practice impromptu improvised without preparing where you just speak out because that's where you build the flexibility.

That's more difficult. But if you're doing both of those, you will become more confident and flexible as a speaker. Speaking to other students is a

speaker. Speaking to other students is a great way of doing it. There's no

pressure, but it's unpredictable, which is what you want because that builds flexibility. And with flexibility comes

flexibility. And with flexibility comes fluency. Believe it or not, right? It

fluency. Believe it or not, right? It

will help you enormously with your fluency. Right? Let's move on to the

fluency. Right? Let's move on to the last one. The one that most students

last one. The one that most students don't do but actually works like magic.

I think some of it is magic. Let's have

a look at number five.

Okay. Number five, use music to learn full chunks. Now, chunks of course is

full chunks. Now, chunks of course is just two or three words that typically go together. Uh, recently I did a live

go together. Uh, recently I did a live lesson on leisure activities and a lot of vocabulary. We just picked out

of vocabulary. We just picked out chunks, right? Leisure activity. That's

chunks, right? Leisure activity. That's

a chunk. Here are some more. Hang out.

Hang out with friends. Do yoga. Um, what

else? A lowbudget activity.

All of these are simple chunks. If you

listen to songs, then it can help you learn these chunks. And here's the real magic is that if you sing along, you can not only listen to the chunks

and learn them, but you're also going to improve your word stress, sentence stress, and rhythm as you're speaking or singing. Now, I

know you're saying, "Well, Keith, I can't sing." Well, hello. Me neither. I

can't sing." Well, hello. Me neither. I

can't sing. But it doesn't matter because sometimes in the privacy of my little room, I turn on a song and I sing along just like that. Whatever the

language French Chinese English and I sing along. Okay, I'm out of tune, but it doesn't matter. It's not about perfect pitch. It's about getting the

perfect pitch. It's about getting the chunk, getting the stress, getting the intonation, getting the rhythm. And it's

it's an amazing way of doing it. Now, in

the old days, you used to have to look for a song that was clear, easy lyrics, relevant to your topic. So, maybe you're

looking at the Beatles or Adele. And it

was quite, you had to do a bit of searching. Now, we have something

searching. Now, we have something magical called AI. You can create your own song. You can go to sununo.com,

own song. You can go to sununo.com, put in some of these chunks, and just create your own song. and then sing along in the privacy of your room if you

like. And what I'll do, I'm going to

like. And what I'll do, I'm going to show you how to do this. Now, I I don't know if this is going to work exactly as I think, but let's try on the fly. Let's

take these over here, these chunks, right? They're taken from the leisure

right? They're taken from the leisure activities topic that I want to practice, hanging out with friends, doing yoga, and playing football, and so

on. Follow me. I'm going to put these

on. Follow me. I'm going to put these into Sunno and let's see what happens.

Okay, so we've come into Sunno. Um, you

need to register an account. I already

have one. Um, and then you come into create. Okay, we're going to create a

create. Okay, we're going to create a song. Um, so yes, we're going to go into

song. Um, so yes, we're going to go into the auto tab. Actually, simple custom.

go into custom and where it's got auto.

You're going to paste the phrases and just say make a song using these phrases because you've got a limit of 200 words and it's going to create a song. You can

choose a style. Um I can say maybe Brit pop uh singer song writer depending on your you can

have two or three different styles. Put

a name here. Let's call it leisure time.

I put in already. And let's just press create.

And let's see what it comes up with.

So, in less than a minute, it'll come up with a couple of versions. Two different

versions, but with the same lyrics.

Right. So, these are the lyrics it came up with.

Interesting. And it came up with two different versions of the song. Um, let

me play the first one for you. See what

you think.

[Music] Hanging out with friends. Sing along.

Chasing sunlight till it fades away.

[Music] doing yog.

It's a bit of a slow one that right.

Let's try the second one.

[Music] That's better. Chasing sunlight fades

That's better. Chasing sunlight fades away.

Doing yog.

[Music] So you can sing along.

[Music] It's my favorite way to touch the sky.

Obviously I can't sing but great for your stress, intonation, rhythm. And you know what? It's just a

rhythm. And you know what? It's just a bit of fun as well. make it quite enjoyable. I think the secret is also in

enjoyable. I think the secret is also in the whole creative process, creating your own materials that you can then use um in any way you want. You can just

listen, you can sing along, but learning full chunks with music. Great idea. And

now it's so easy. Go and check it out.

Go and try some things yourself. Maybe

in the comments, leave some links and uh you know, if you make your own song and let us all listen together, I'll play those songs as we go out at the end of

the video. Stay with me next.

the video. Stay with me next.

So, there you've got it. Five surprising

ways that can help you become more fluent in English. I have a bonus tip for you and it's called the fake accent challenge.

And this is something I try and do sometimes is when you're repeating English or whichever language, try and imitate the accent. So try and pretend

to be American or Australian or British or Scottish, whatever it may, Scottish, whatever it may be. Um, when you listen, just try and see where the sound comes

from. Is it coming from the mouth?

from. Is it coming from the mouth?

Is it coming from the throat?

and pick up that because when you try and listen to an accent, pause and repeat, it's great for kind of muscle

practice and throat practice, sound practice if that exists. But most of all, it's just a bit of fun and it can really be a nice way of picking up

natural intonation and rhythm as well.

So have a go, the fake accent challenge.

So, I'm curious which of these tips always um surprised you the most. Let me

know down in the comments. And also, if you go away and try and make a song, leave a link in the comments below. Let

us share the song and listen to it as well. Remember, for the PDF, you can

well. Remember, for the PDF, you can download this um in the description below and start practicing or trying out some of these ways to help you become

not only a more confident speaker, but a more fluent speaker of English. If you

want to practice speaking more, come and join us on the IELTS speaking gold course. We have daily speaking practice

course. We have daily speaking practice rooms where you can practice speaking with other students. Um, for everybody else, watch the next video because

coming up is a great video all about how to think in English, right? How to

really think in English. Watch that

video. It's coming up soon. In the

meantime, let's play out with that song again about the leisure activities. And

uh, listen, thank you so much for watching. As always, it's great to spend

watching. As always, it's great to spend this time with you and I'll see you in the next video. Here we go.

[Music] Oh, remember to subscribe and turn on notifications.

[Music] I'm on the offbeat.

Sing along. Do some stretching. Let your

worries fly. It's my favorite way to touch the sky. A low budget.

The links to the songs are down below.

Go and check them out.

[Music]

I need to start reading.

Stop collecting. Start activating

my life.

Skipping for a simple ride.

In these hours I find peace inside.

Do some stretching. Thanks so much for watching. Take care everybody. See you

watching. Take care everybody. See you

next time.

A low budget activity but it's cold.

Disconnect to find a world untold.