Hello!
Facebook groups
In case you missed this last week, I recently reopened my Facebook group. This is a free group for anyone and you can join here. It’s a good place to practise your English, ask questions and meet new people.
I’m also thinking about opening another Facebook group which is just for women. Let me know if you’d be interested by replying to this email or leaving a comment at the bottom of the post.
A couple of days ago, I asked you for your speaking tips. Thank you to everyone who answered.
Speaking tips
Last week, I asked my Facebook group, “What advice would you give to a friend on how to improve their speaking skills?”
They had some brilliant suggestions. Here’s a list:
Find friends and speaking partners in the group
Read a lot of English
Listen to a lot of English (films, videos, music, podcasts, audio books)
Remember your reasons for learning and don’t give up
Set small, realistic goals
Be consistent and practise speaking every day
You can even speak when you’re alone or talk to an AI
Read out loud
Don’t worry about making mistakes
Focus on communication, not perfection
Celebrate your achievements
Write in English
Go to an English-speaking country!
Record yourself speaking
Did you notice that some people suggested reading, listening and writing? You might be wondering how they can help you with your speaking.
Reading will help you to build your vocabulary. If you know more words, you’ll be able to speak more easily. Reading out loud can help you get more confident about your pronunciation.
Listening can also help you with vocabulary. Also, it gives you a good model to follow. You can’t speak English if you don’t know what it should sound like, right? And of course, you need listening skills as well as speaking if you want to have a conversation.
Writing is a bit like speaking but in slow motion! Both speaking and writing involve thinking about what you want to say and how to say it. In both skills, you have to find the right words and grammar to express yourself.
The members of the Facebook group are good at supporting each other with advice like this. In the group, you can practise reading and writing messages. You can also find people to talk to and practise your speaking.
So if you’re interested, come and find us here.
More speaking tips
If you’d like even more speaking tips, you can find all the Substack posts I’ve written about speaking here. Topics include what to do when you can’t remember a word, what to do if you have nobody to talk to and how to sound more confident.
See you next week,
Katie
I’m Katie Salter and I teach English online. Thanks for reading my Substack post! My Substack is for anyone who is learning English.
I also have a second newsletter which is aimed at professional women who want to use English at work. If that’s you, you can sign up here.