Tips & Strategies to improve your English

Why trying to speak perfect English isn’t a good idea if you want to speak fluently

 

Getting stuck happens

Have you ever had to give a presentation or an oral exam and all you could think of was “I need to concentrate …this time it’s got to be perfect? And because of those thoughts you got more and more nervous and then you got stuck in the middle of your presentation or exam?

Something similar can happen when an intermediate-level English language learner concentrates too much on speaking English perfectly.

In some extreme cases non-native speakers are so embarrassed to speak English in public that they literally refuse to speak to other people, even on totally relaxed social occasions.

Result: their colleagues or friends from abroad might think they are too shy to mingle or even that they might be rather unfriendly and probably quite rude too!

This would be a typical case of…”interpersonal misunderstanding” and the funny thing is that you wouldn’t even need to say a single word to cause it!

How to avoid a communication breakdown

And when you do try to speak but you’re still too worried about making mistakes, your fluency will suffer quite a lot.

You will probably end up speaking too slowly and take long pauses or maybe get stuck in the middle of a sentence to find the right words.

Result: communication breakdown!

Your listeners will get either too stressed or too bored to try and understand you. They will get distracted and eventually stop listening. Not the greatest result, considering you want to learn to speak English well to communicate better!

These situations happen because you’re too worried about perfection. You’re concerned about having an accent or making sure your grammar is always correct and that you are using the right words, all the time.

This mental stress can have quite a negative impact on your communication skills!

A necessary change of perspective

In this case my advice is: why not try to change your mindset?

Communication involves more than one person, and if people are genuinely interested in what you want to say, they will be able to understand you even if you make mistakes.

When you speak more freely, you communicate better and being fluent means being able to speak comfortably and confidently even when you make mistakes.

Even native English speakers often make grammar mistakes and sometimes  use the wrong words! And when they do, they don’t stop, they just keep on talking!

So, why not try to focus on delivering your message as clearly and simply as possible?  After all, isn’t this the main reason why we communicate?

Go with the flow!

If you make mistakes just keep on going, don’t stop talking! If you can’t find the right expression, find other (simpler) words to say it!

Of course, both fluency and accuracy are important to become proficient speakers, and ideally one should work on both aspects at the same time. However, you should focus on whichever will help you make more progress at the level of English you are currently at.

If you are an intermediate English speaker and you see yourself in the above-described situations, I’d like to encourage you to prioritize fluency over precision while you speak.

Once you’ve reached a comfortable level of fluency, you could then also start focusing more on accuracy and fixing any mistakes that might be distracting from your message, as well as using more appropriate expressions.

Finally, here are my top tips for today:

• If you are an intermediate English speaker and you haven’t reached a comfortable level of confidence yet, try to focus more on fluency than precision when you speak.
• Stop worrying about making mistakes
• When you make mistakes just keep talking
• If you can’t find the expressions, find other ways to say it
• When you reach a certain level of confidence, you can then begin to focus more on accuracy.

To conclude, speak freely and just go with the flow!

It’s your turn now!

Have you ever let your need for precision get in the way of your more important goal of fluency? Have you always prioritized fluency? When does precision matter to you?