English communication or speaking is a part of the IELTS exam; however, nowadays, it is essential to speak fluent English because it is a native and second language in many states of India. Also, candidates planning to work abroad need to be fluent in it to converse and understand people from other countries. Therefore, often people search for “how to improve your English communication skills?”
There are many ways to improve communication skills. Some of them are as follows:
Finding a Partner to Converse in English
Finding the right English-speaking partner can be very useful for people trying to improve their English speaking skills. They can find such people at volunteer organizations, online chat groups, and even do the same with a friend. But one has to remember to find a partner who is fluent in the language and can point out errors.
Therefore, friends might not be an apt choice because they might disregard your mistakes while conversing with them, which you are trying to notice and improve. So, the most suitable choice would be to hire an online tutor with whom you can converse and explain the meaning of your conversation. By doing so, you will not only improve your speaking skills but also add more words to your vocabulary.
Improve Your Listening Skills
Whether you hire a tutor, converse with a friend, or make use of online tools to improve your English speaking skills, it is necessary to listen and learn. Therefore, become an active listener and pay heed to their pronunciation, question and answer formation as well as explanations. The practice of active listening will help you to improve your English speaking skills because you will learn to provide answers of adequate length without using fillers. At the same time, active listening will benefit your long-term career and life goals.
Record Your Conversations
Although it is not a good practice to record conversation of other people, it is a very good practice to record and listen to your conversations. At the same time, if you are learning to speak English properly from an online tutor or videos, then there is no harm no foul in recording conversation related to learning. But as mentioned, recording only helps if you review it after the learning session is over.
Looking at your conversations will provide an understanding over pronunciation, hesitation, and lack of confidence. It is easy to cope over each of these aspects by learning tips and tricks like tongue twisters, repetitive pronunciation, and adding more words to your vocabulary. At the same time, it will provide you clarity over word misunderstandings.
Immerse Yourself in the English Language
One of the essential ways to improve communication skills is to immerse yourself into the language every chance you get. Therefore, instead of watching native language movies and TV shows, you should watch series and films made in English. Also make note of the distinctions in pronunciation in British and US English. At the same time, you can switch on the English subtitles of certain movies so that you can learn about sentence formations or structures. Regular practice of such efforts will improve your listening and speaking skills. Another method would be to enact a monologue from a movie or show to test your speaking skills. You can even learn about correct pronunciation from online courses and tutors.
Read Out Loud
If you are still wondering “how to improve your English communication skills?”, then perhaps the practice of reading out loud can assist you with the same. You can read from a digital reader or from a book. But you will encounter certain issues here; however, there are many certain solutions for the same too. Primarily, you will not know whether you are correctly pronouncing a word or not. Therefore, the best way to learn the same is to switch on a text-to-speech reader, listen carefully, and pronounce the same.
The second option, as mentioned earlier, is to read out loud to a listener, particularly a tutor. Practicing reading aloud to an experienced field tutor can improve your vocabulary skills and pronunciation. It will also make you more confident because of the new knowledge you attain and provide you an edge over others if you are preparing for competitive exam like IELTS.
Prepare at an Academic Level
Although, you might be preparing for day-to-day office or work conversation, it is still a better practice to be ready for an academic level such as for an IELTS exam. As you improve your vocabulary, make use of new words, and converse with higher-level people in your organization, you will move upwards.
At times, you might come across opportunities to work abroad, which might require clearing the IELTS exam for recruitment. If you are already ready at their level, you can give the exam and move to your new office in no time. Unfortunately, if you fail to clear the exam, then there is a high probability that you might get recruited until you clear the exam in your next attempt. By then, the company may recruit some other candidate. Even if the opportunity does not arise you will still have a greater chance of being promoted within your organization because of your high level of communication skills. The same is true for students applying to English-medium universities or colleges abroad.
Take Part in Public Speaking Events
There are many meetups and gatherings related to English story readers and writers happening around the city. At the same time, there are also groups that conduct the same activity. You can always join such groups, meetups and public speaking events to gain confidence in speaking English fluently. The practice helps to make new friends who are trying to improve their speaking skills. You can converse with such people in English even after the meeting or event has lapsed. The activity will help to find new English-speaking partners and incorporate it as a habit in your daily lives.
Conclusively, you can make use of the methods mentioned above and you will get the answer for How to Improve Your English Communication Skills.
