I understand English, but I have a hard time talking to someone face to face. Do you have any suggestions on this?
My native language is also not English. By undergrad, I struggled with spoken English. However, in workplaces, it became inevitable to do without good English so these are the things I did. Watch good quality English language news channels. Watch Good movies. Most importantly talk to people. Tell your friends or family that you want to improve your language and then talk to them in this language. that will improve your spoken as well as give you confidence.
Do you stumble on something specific? Are you having a hard time finding the right words on the spot, or with verb conjugation?
It seems counter-intuitive, but I speak more fluently if I don’t try to overthink it.
I mix both verb conjugations and sometimes there are mistakes in my pronunciation.
Don’t worry if you don’t get verbs or pronounciation correct. If someone understands you, then you’re doing great!
You’ll become an expert after spending lots of time either reading, watching, or being around native speakers. And there’s no pressure or rush to do that: no one will ( or should ) judge you for speaking imperfectly.
I usually try to learn English by reading and listening. There are very few people who can speak English in my country, so I can’t practice.
Maybe a voice assistant set-up in English could be a way of practicing your english? Or maybe there’s a practice section in Duolingo that could help.
If you’re privacy-conscious you could simply disconnect it when you’re done with it.
My phone is iOS. The language is set to English and I’m trying to use English while using Siri. I used Dualingo for a while, it is also useful.
Just practice more. Find someone to talk to and engage is casual conversations. You’ll get better over time.
There are not many people in my country who can speak fluent English so it looks like im going to have a hard time
This is always my problem with other languages. I understand Hebrew and Spanish quite well, but struggle when I have to talk. When I study/practice these languages, I always focus on the stuff I’m best at bc speaking is scary, and then my speaking never improves. You need a speaking buddy who you are really good friends with and who DOESN’T MAKE YOU FEEL NERVOUS OR JUDGED. Your hard time speaking probably doesn’t come from inability, but from situational stress.
An alternative is to simply own your own english. Stop calling them grammar mistakes and start calling it grammatical diversity; there is no correct way to speak english. Every culture has their own unique way of learning english and each of them is worth sharing.
I bet that if a native english speaker wanted to mimic the grammar and intonation of your country’s english speakers, either to blend in or have smoother local communication, they’ll have a much harder time relearning english.
