HowtoImproveSpokenEnglish

鄭瑜

【Abstract】Undoubtedly，English has become more and more important in our daily lives，and how to communicate with others in English fluently has aroused general concern.Picking up a second language is always not that easy.Ironically，the truth is that many Chinese realize it is a big problem to speak English fluently although they can easily get a high score in some English written exams.Spoken English is so important that I mainly introduce some effective methods to practice and improve it in this essay .

【Key words】spoken English； pronunciation； media resources； imitation； mother tongue

I.Introduction

Actually speaking English fluently is much more important than passing some written tests.Its really a pity that many English learners still dont get to know the truth.The more they care about the marks in English tests，the less progress they will make in spoken English.In this article，I want to share my opinions on spoken English with you.

II.Useful tips and suggestions

The first step is to learn phrases instead of words.Some English learners have found that they cannot express their own opinions in a simple sentence even if they have learned English for several years or remembered hundreds of thousands of words.However，learning useful and practical English phrases by heart can help us express ourselves in complete sentences to a great extent.It doesnt mean that learning words is useless，it just emphasizes the importance of English phrases，especially when you need to describe one thing specifically or in details.So from now on，try to remember as many phrases as possible instead of single words.

The second tip is that we shouldnt study grammar rules too much.If you just want to take an English test such as CET or TEM，grammar is absolutely very important，but if your goal is to communicate with others，grammar is really not that important.The truth is that most Chinese students spend much more time on grammar than those native speakers，and even better than them.This is really not necessary.You cannot even speak a word if you care too much about grammar rules when you chat with others.The right thing you should do is to try to express what you want and ignore some strange grammar rules.

The third suggestion is that we should make the best use of media resources to improve our ability.With the development of science and technology，we have many English materials available.We can watch English movies，TV clips，episodes，reality shows and listen to English songs whenever and wherever.It doesnt matter if we dont understand what they are talking about or singing.What really matters is that we can improve our spoken English to a great degree by imitating the pronunciation and intonation of those actors and singers.Listen frequently and imagine how to achieve that sound by using a specific part of the mouth or throat.Finally we can speak idiomatic and pure English by listening more and watching more.If you really want to improve spoken English，stop playing video games and to skim through a great amount of English-related information.

In addition，practice makes perfect.The purpose of learning a foreign language is to be able to use it.We should be totally immersed in English，completely surrounded by it.The most important thing is to change our mode of thinking，not Chinese，but English.You will hit the limit of how much you can take in quite quickly if you persevere unremittingly.If possible，find a partner，or speak to yourself as much as possible.Always try including some content you are deeply interested in to build up your self confidence.Next time you will find it is easy to pluck up your courage to speak with others.Dont afraid of making mistakes.Remember that English is not your mother tongue，so you have every reason to make mistakes.The more mistakes you make ，the more progress you will make.

III.Conclusion

Generally speaking，with the rapid development of society and international exchanges ，English has become more and more important as a communicative tool.It is urgent to pay attention to the importance of spoken English and the common mistakes people will make.There is no short cut if we want to improve our spoken English，but we will succeed as long as we persevere.

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