Self-reliaｎce iｎ Practisiｎg Oral Eｎglish

常常有人說，說英語真是“蜀道難”。他們抱怨張不開口，說不出話，心里很著急。其實，你可以“自力更生”練口語——

In China， speaking English is a difficult problem for many Chinese learners， who are anxious to speak well， but always afraid and shy to speak in public.

How to improve our oral English?

Here’re the pieces of my suggestion.

Step 1—Reading Aloud

Read aloud your oral texts (dialogues or good lines from a play) when you think it convenient for you to do so， and you must hear you’re reading aloud， seeking for a progressive fluence. Thus， not only are you more familiar with your English language but also you’re having a sense of the reality of the language in sound.

Step 2—Reciting Aloud

When you can read aloud fluently， you ought to start to recite aloud. Recite aloud some easy but useful passages you like. This is the process of learning the language in sound and keeping it in mind. What you’ve learnt by heart is like what is stored in the computer. Thus， you get the language sense and form the habit of the language.

Step 3—Retelling and Rewriting

Now you enter the period of retelling and rewriting. Retell a text， a small story or a short passage， and then write it down in your own words. This is the period you use what you’ve learnt by heart. In this period you will feel it easy to speak or write in English. And so you’re increasing your confidence and interest in the English language learning.

After these hard steps， your ability of speaking English will have been improved a lot. Persevere and surely you will make better progress all the time!

In fact， practising oral English is learning to speak English in self-reliance. Some persons would think that practising oral English has to rely on others’ help. Really it is not so. Such scenes are seen as a partner can’t say a few words， let alone to speak in the English Corner. Why?Shyness is a reason， but the real reason is the lackness of your English language. So you must follow the 3 steps above and make a self-asking-and-answering in every period. For example， when you’ve learnt the sentence pattern “What’s this?”， you ask yourself and answer: This is a book on the desk with a chair/a pen in the pencil-box/... You ask yourself “What are you doing?”. You answer “I’m speaking English./I’m practising oral English. /I’m listening to the radio. /I’m writing these new words...” To do it better， you can briefly describe the TV programmes as you watch them. This is the primary oral translation. Never mind saying more or less. Retell to yourself what you have seen if you have time (e.g. on the way home/to school， or when waiting for the bus， or even in the washing-room...) When you’re alone， you speak loudly. If you’re in public places， you speak in a lower voice. Weeks later， you are brave enough to have dialogues with others. Then you are able to be active in the dialogues. Finally， you are at your ease on the way to speaking English well.

編輯/梁宇清