How To Practice Speaking A Language On Your Own (Without Mistakes)

Learning a language takes a long time and a large portion of this will be done alone.  People automatically assume that because you are on your own that you cannot practice speaking.

This skill is often ignored and it’s wrongly assumed that you need to have a partner or someone to correct you.

The truth is that if you are resourceful enough you can practice speaking your new language totally by yourself.

The biggest response I get form saying this is “but what if I make a mistake, what if I am just practicing it the wrong way?” 

This is obviously a real concern and practicing speaking on your own is definitely the hardest skill to practice but if you are careful you can make sure you avoid mistakes and actually get some really good practice in.

Overcome The Fear Of Speaking A Language On Your Own

There are two fears when it comes to practicing speaking.

The first one is the fear of actually just speaking out loud. This shouldn’t be a thing, but we all suffer from it. You are practicing by yourself so you can be totally alone when you do this. No one is going to hear you, apart from yourself.

So, what is there to be afraid of?

If you are worried someone might her you, just whisper or try and go somewhere you will be alone, then you will be fine.

Just start talking, even in your own language to start with. You will very quickly get over the weirdness of talking out loud to yourself.

Secondly, there is the fear of making mistakes when speaking to yourself. If you follow the rest of the points below, you should not have this problem, or at least reduce the risk of mistakes massively.

So there is nothing to fear. You have no excuses, start practicing your speaking!    

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

Use Shadowing To Practice Speaking A Language On Your Own

Shadowing is the process of copying what you hear. You just have to find some audio of the language you’re learning and just copy exactly what you hear.

You can use any audio or video from anywhere. Just press play and listen to what is being said. Listen to only a sentence or maybe only a few words at a time.  Keep it simple.

Then stop the audio and repeat what you’ve just heard. Say it out loud.  

Then play it again and say it again.

Just copy it over and over again. Once you have said it a few times, start trying to say it at the exact same time as the audio.

You need to have the same pace and intonation as the audio. You need to become in sync with what you are hearing so you are like its shadow, following its every movement.  

You should be able to tell if you are copying it exactly since it is playing at the same time, but if you are not sure, just record yourself and listen back.

Your phone or computer will have an audio recorder you can use. I know its cringe to listen to yourself, but you have to do it. Assess how you’ve done and correct accordingly.  You can always delete your audio straight after you’re done with your session.   

If you are doing this properly you can’t really go wrong. You are replicating audio that is correct, so you should also end up speaking correctly by using this system.

However, you are obviously limited to only saying what is being said on the audio, but it is still a great method to get some alone practice.

It can really help you get the right sounds out of your mouth, especially in the beginning of your learning journey.

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

Talk To Yourself To Practice Speaking A Language On Your Own

This is as simple as it sounds, just start talking to yourself as if you are talking to someone else.

Ask yourself questions and then answer them. Tell yourself what you are doing or what you are thinking. If it makes it easier, pretend you have an invisible friend and then simply chat to them. Play both sides of the conversation and just have fun with it.

Obviously talking to yourself like this a bit harder and the chances of making mistakes are a lot higher so you need to be sensible with how you do this.

How Can You Be Sure That What You Are Saying Is Correct, When you Practice Speaking A Language On Your Own?

Keep it simple and go slow.

Be aware of the things you don’t know how to say. Try and avoid these words. If you do want to try and say something you are not sure about, immediately check what you’ve said and do not carry on until you are fully aware if you got it right or not.

Telling you to avoid saying things sounds like this type of exercise might be a waste of time, but it’s not. You can still massively benefit a lot from practicing material you already know.

You are strengthening your existing knowledge and you are still giving your vocal chords and mouth the practice they need to get better at making the sounds.

Practicing with things you already know just removes the risk of getting it wrong. It’s better to be cautious like this than just blindly assume you are doing things right.

If you do want to try new things, be sure you are taking your time and checking what you are saying. Check your notes, listen to the words on Google translate.  Do everything you can to make sure you are saying the right thing. This is slow and time consuming, but it’s better to take your time and do it right.

You have to remember that this is practice. It’s okay to go over the basics and its okay to say the same sentences 3000 times in a row. Getting comfortable with the basics is so important so don’t think that any of this is a waste of time.

Obviously it feels better to be pushing yourself to say new things, but you can get to these words later. Master what you already know and it will make advancing a lot easier in the long run. Slow and steady wins the race.

(You can read more about – What Are The Common Mistakes You Will Make When Speaking In A New Language?)

Make It More Challenging

You can make these conversations with yourself more challenging, while also keeping it fairly risk free by taking a basic sentence and changing its slightly.

Maybe you are saying “I want an apple” why not change it to “I want an orange” or “I want an apple and an orange. You want an apple”

These are not exactly massive changes to what you are saying, but this can just be enough to get your braining thinking which is very beneficial. This should also keep it interesting enough that you are not bored by just saying the same things over and over again.

You will be very surprised at how much you can actually say by just changing a few simple sentences about. This is why I feel it is very important to master your basic knowledge. A small bit of language can take you very far if you know how to use it properly.

What To Talk About When You Practice Speaking A Language On Your Own?

Start with just saying basic words. You will be surprised at how you will struggle with some simple words.

When learning French I couldn’t say “aujourd’hui” which is the word for “today” I can read it, spell it and recognise it instantly. I know this word really well inside my head, but when I was trying to say it out loud my mouth just got all confused.  I couldn’t say it right; it was like a tongue twister.

I just had to repeat it over and over again until I could pronounce it right.  It’s not glamorous and I wasn’t learning anything new, but I was certainly practicing and getting better at French.

Sometimes you just need to do this, so do not be worried about keeping it very simple at the beginning.

Once you master simple words you can then move on to simple sentences and variations of these.

Try and talk to yourself about what you are doing or what is around you. Ask simple questions. It really does not need to be complicated.

Ask what the time is so you can get practice saying the numbers.  Spell your name out so you can say the letters.

All these little things help.

As you progress you can start to have discussions with yourself. You can try and describe how you feel or what you think about certain things.

There is no rush with this, just keep it simple and do not push yourself to far out of your comfort zone so that you know you are not making any mistakes.

Checking For Mistakes When You Are Practicing Speaking A Language On Your Own

If you are unsure about anything, always check it.

Look at your notes, dictionaries, Google Translate, basically anything that you can use to check if you got it right.

You have to be disciplined with this. No one else is checking for you.

This is why it is important to take your time and not push yourself too far. I know the temptation is there, but it is better to try and avoid mistakes if at all possible by keeping it simple.  

You can also record yourself and listen back to just see how you sound. Although you might not be able to tell if you did something wrong, it can help you identify anything that doesn’t sound quite right and you can get a feel for how you actually sound and work on any areas you are not really happy with.

Use Language Exchange Apps

Practicing on your own is fine, you will get good at speaking,  but eventually you will need to step it up and start talking to real people.

Language exchange apps are where this is possible and you can showcase what you’ve been practicing on your own. All those hours talking to yourself will really pay off now.

As you are talking to another human you can also push the boundaries a little more.

You can now actually use both talking to yourself and talking to a partner together to get better faster. You can practice newer and more difficult things, if you get them wrong you will be corrected by your language partner straight away. You should have no fear about making mistakes as you can always have them corrected

Once they correct you, you can go away and practice these things on your own to prefect them. You can treat the talking to yourself like it is your homework for your next session with your language exchange partner.

Once you start doing this you will really see the progress in your speaking sky rocket.

(You can read more about – Frequently Asked Questions About – Speaking In Your New Language)

Conclusion

Practicing speaking on your own is not ideal; it’s always going to better speaking with someone else. However, this does not mean it is a waste of time. You can get some super beneficial practice in and can really master the basics by yourself.

Putting in this work by yourself will make your interactions with other people so much better. You will already be at decent level when you go to speak to a real person.

Just take your time and keep it simple, any practice you do will be a massive help in the long run, so don’t skip talking by yourself.

(You can read more about – Resources To Help With Your Speaking In A New Language)