How To Practice Speaking A Foreign Language

Practicing your speaking is very important when you are learning a new language. It can often be seen as the area that most people dislike as it can be pretty difficult and stressful.

While this can be true at times, it doesn’t always need to be like this. You should enjoy speaking and I will go through some ways you can practice your speaking, which will hopefully help you improve while also being enjoyable. 

Practice Speaking With A Tutor

Tutors are often seen as just someone you pay to teach you the language, but they can actually be used for conversation practice too. When you hire a tutor you can arrange what you want to do together, there are no set rules.

It might seem a bit sad to pay someone to speak to you, but it’s much more than this. You are paying for an expert in the language to help you practice your language in a safe environment. They are going to guide you and correct you and make sure the time is spent wisely and positively.

It is a bit more than a simple conversation and can definitely be worth the cost.

Find A Language Exchange Partner To Speak To

One of the most fun ways to practice your speaking skills is to talk to natives. The best way to do this is to start making friends on language exchange apps.

These are totally informal and you can chat about anything. These usually start though messages, but once you get to know each other you can send voice notes or have calls.

I’ve met some great friends doing this, but more importantly been able to practice my speaking.  You can ask your new friend to give you some feedback on your speech, but remember they are not teachers; they are just fellow language learners who happen to be native in the language you are trying to learn.

This really is a great way to practice and is going to be the best way to communicate with real life natives without having to go to their country.

It can seem a little scary at first, but remember they know how you feel and will be equally as nervous when you ask them to speak your language.

 (read more about – Overcoming The Fear Of Speaking A Foreign Language)

Speak To Yourself

Speaking to yourself is awkward and weird, but it can be a very helpful way to practice your speaking.

It is also probably the way you can get the most amount of speaking practice. Talking to a tutor or language exchange partner will take up both your time and someone else’s; speaking to your self is something you can do all day long. 

You can talk to yourself as you go about your day, both out loud and insider your head. Even if it’s only single words, or small phrases, it all helps and you can really do it at any time of the day.

I often just narrate what I’m doing to myself. I just pretend there is someone watching me and I tell them everything I am doing or I am about to do. “I’m going to finish this task then get a cup of tea”.  It’s strange at first, but it gets normal after a while.

The only thing you need to do is make sure you are keeping yourself on track and not developing bad habits. It’s better to go slow with this and practice what you already know, rather than trying to rush ahead and say things you are not 100% sure about.

So long as you are careful you will end up making progress, rather than forming bad habits.

(You can read more about – How To Practice Speaking A Language On Your Own (Without Mistakes))

Read Out Loud

Reading out loud is great practice for getting your mouth muscles used to the language.  When you are reading, you are not really speaking, well you are, but you are not.

You do not need to use your brain when reading, you just need to read. You are not actually creating any language on your own and you are not engaging your mind, but this is okay as you are more focusing on how to move your mouth properly.

Getting the right pronunciation can be difficult and reading out loud allows you to focus on this without getting distracted with what you should say next.

Going through the motions of getting your mouth to produce the right sounds can take a while and reading out loud is just a great exercise to help with this and it will directly help you speak better when you actually produce the language on your own.

It really is something you should be doing, especially in the early days, it is great practice.

(You can read more about – What Are The Most Common Challenges When Speaking In A Second Language?)

Speaking Shadowing

Shadowing is like speaking out loud, but instead of reading, you are copying audio. You just need to watch a video or listen to some audio and copy exactly what you hear.

You can do this after the speaker has finished, or do it over the top of them. Either way you just need to copy what you are hearing.

Like reading this does not train you mind, but is again going to train you mouth. Shadowing has the extra benefit of allowing you to practice speaking at the right speed and with the right intonation.

You are basically practicing speaking like a native, without being at that level of knowledge. This can seem like it’s pointless at times, but it will help you when you produce the language yourself, you will feel more comfortable producing the sounds and this type of practice can make a difference.  

(You can read more about – Is Shadowing Useful For Language Learning?)

Record Yourself Speaking

Recording yourself isn’t really practice, but it is a very good way to check and see how you are doing.

All you need to do is record yourself speaking and listen to it back. I know it’s uncomfortable to hear the sound of your own voice, you but you need to do it.

You will very quickly get a clear indicator of where you skills are and what needs worked on. It is also very good for making sure you are not forming bad habits.

If you are talking by yourself then you really need to be recording yourself to make sure you are staying on track. 

(You can read more about – Overcoming The Fear Of Speaking A Foreign Language)

Go To A Country That Speaks The Language

Okay so this is kind of extreme, but it works. If you have the opportunity to go to a country that speaks the language you are learning then you are going to get a lot of chances to practice speaking.

You could either go for a holiday, or be really extreme and move there, either way just being in the country is going to expose you to a lot of the language and you are going to have to speak to just get through your daily activities, which means a lot of opportunity to practice.

This is maybe not the best approach for everyone since it does require time and money, but it can be very beneficial as it’s really going to push your language skills and really increase your motivation levels too.

If you can do this, I highly recommend it.

(You can read more about – What Are The Benefits Of Practising Your Speaking Skills In A Second Language?)

Don’t Neglect The Other Areas Of The Language

You need to remember that to practice properly you need to focus on all the areas of the language.

This means you can’t forget about writing, reading and listening. They are of course not speaking, but they will still help with your speaking in the long run, everything you study is interlinked and they all help each other. 

Focus on all areas of the language equally and you will make progress.

(You can read more about – Is Speaking The Best Way To Learn A Language?)