Mastering the art of speaking English fluently

Speaking English fluently yet flawlessly has always been the matter of great erudite skill the people across the world envy to master. But unfortunately this is not an easy task. For accomplishing the art of speaking English fluently we need to consistently strive hard. Mark Twain, the famous American writer, had once said, “The secret of getting ahead is getting started.” It also applies to the task of mastering the art of fluent English speaking. It is hard to deny the fact that speaking English fluently does not come naturally to a speaker whose mother tongue is not English. Let us read the following points that will substantially help non-native speakers to become fluent speakers of English -

Avoid the use of high sounding words

The use of rhetorical and rarely - used words gives beauty to language. But they fail to appeal the audience. They go unnoticed by the people. So, it is always desirable to use the vocabulary that common masses and the targeted audiences understand easily. The use of simple, short and easy words in speaking becomes easy to pronounce and that is why they make the communication attractive and fluent.

Do not speak the way you write

One must understand that the art of speaking a language is quite different from the skill of writing a language. In writing, we need to adhere to a set of rules with rigidity whereas in speaking we need not strictly follow them. However, it does never mean that English speaking does not require knowledge of grammar. In writing you must write, “Where are you going?” whereas in speaking it is sufficient to ask, “Where going?” or simply “Where?” This is the fundamental difference between the art of writing and skill of speaking a foreign language.

Do not take grammatical mistakes seriously

Hesitation for the non-native speakers of a foreign language in speaking also comes from the fear of getting caught with committing grammatical mistakes. If you fear from such failures it means you have willfully given up trying to succeed to become a fluent speaker. Be confident and go on speaking English without fearing from committing any grammatical mistakes.

Some quick-fix tips to speak English fluently

Do not forget the following tricks to become a fluent speaker of English -

(a) Cease underestimating yourself. But at the same time you must be aware of your weaknesses and practice diligently to root out them.

(b) Don’t lose confidence when you speak in front of a person, however great he or she may be.

(c) Learn different structures of sentences which would ultimately help you to speak English better and faster.

(d) Start speaking with a few simple and shorter sentences. This move would give you much - needed boost to speak smoothly.

(e) Try to visualize the things and topics that you are suppose to speak about.

(f) Listen news, watch talk shows and a host of other discourses on television.

(i) Pronunciation provides grace to your personality. That is why always try to be flawless in the pronunciation of words you speak.

(j) Practice makes a man perfect. So never quit speaking English despite failures galore.

(k)Try to learn the art of thinking and visualizing the things in English rather than in your mother tongue. This practice would help you become a fluent speaker.

(l) Read at least one newspaper in English daily. Focus on editorial and sports pages of the newspaper which will enrich your word power help know the flair of language.

(m)You must have a large vocabulary. Keep on building up word power which will greatly help you speak without faltering.

Choose the closest meaning of the words given-

1. INGENUOUS

(A) indigenous (B) naive (C) rustic

2. INNOCUOUS

(A). not dangerous (B) capable (C) cautious

3. INSIPID

(A) dull, having no flavour (B) lazy (C) boring

4. INSIDIOUS

(A). abundant (B) auspicious (C).treacherous

5. INTELLIGENTSIA

(A) intellectuals (B) indifferent (C) starvation

6. INNATE

(A) faulty (B) inborn (C) insignificant

Answers: 1.B 2. A 3. A 4. C 5. A 6.B

Choose the word most nearly opposite to the words given

1. LANGUOR

(A) Vitality. (B) pertinent (C) consistent

2. SCURRILOUS

(A) decent (B) musical (C) casual

3. SALVAGE

(A) Prodigal (B) lose (C) hard

4. HUSBANDRY

(A) harsh (B) daily (C) wastefulness

5. IGNOBLE

(A) worthy (B) tolerant (C) frantic

6. HIRSUTE

A) amiable (B) bald (C) shameful

Answers: 1.A 2. A 3. B 4. C 5. A 6.B

Let us know these phrasal verbs

Contend for- to compete with others in a competition (A good number of participants are contending for this year’s school cricket tournament.)

Crop up- to appear or happen very unexpectedly (The names of the successful candidates kept cropping up in the newspapers for a long period.)

Delude into - to deliberately mislead someone into thinking or believing something (He is a very shrewd person and so no one can delude him easily into believing that the situation will get improved very shortly.)

Delve into - to search facts or something very intensely and thoroughly (The research scholars have been delving into the life style of the people to know why the science has failed to make big advancements in the medical domain.)

Devolve upon- to become the responsibility of somebody (When the President of the country is on foreign tour, his duties devolve upon the Vice-President.)

IDIOMS

Browned off - bored, annoyed (The parents were really very browned off with the arrogant behaviour of their son.)

A broken reed- a very weak person (Prateek depended too much on the help of Sanskar, his bosom friend, but he proved to be a broken reed at last.)

To bristle with – to be full of (The entire playground was bristling with players and audiences.)

To bite (on) the bullet- to accept something unpleasant very bravely (Sometimes hard and bitter decisions become sine qua non for the discipline maintenance of a school and the principal is required to bite the bullet.)

To bite your tongue – to try your best to stop yourself to say something (A group of people, sitting beside me, were talking very loudly but I bit my tongue.)

To bite the dust - to fail, to defeated, to die (The central government’s scheme of providing laptop to the poor students bit the dust due to financial crunch.)

(The author is Principal PM Shri School Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya, Garhbanaili, District- Purnea, Bihar)