Is English fluency essential to us? If so, how will it help us in our career? How do we improve our English communication skills?
These are the questions that we get to hear from quite a few people. When we move to the questions, yes, communication skills are very important for us. Some think that speaking in English only helps us for job interviews, that’s a big no.
Even after we secure a job, we tend to meet many people from various parts of the world in our office and the only language we all have in common to communicate with each other is English. When we speak fluently, we tend to look confident. That confidence is what everyone looks at in us.
So, to improve our communication skills, I mainly suggest reading English newspapers every day. That way we get to know the daily current affairs and also learn new words. While reading newspapers, when you find an unknown word, immediately check for the meaning in the dictionary and try to use that word while talking to someone in your day. By doing so, you can never forget the meaning of the word that you learned.
Reading novels also helps us improve our grammar. I want to suggest beginners start by reading Indian authors initially and then move on to foreign authors. There are various novels in the market like A Suitable Boy, The Inheritance of Loss, The Blue Umbrella, etc.
Listen to audiobooks. If you think that the narration is going too fast, adjust the narration speed according to your convenience. Audiobooks are very helpful to improve pronunciation. It is one of the most entertaining mechanisms to learn English.
Start watching English movies. You may not understand what they are speaking as soon as you start binging on them. So always look out for subtitles. For sure, they will help you. Start singing English songs, sing your heart out. Learn English songs and sing along with them to improve your fluency.
You might find this funny, but trust me it works. Play a game; think that you are a show presenter or a newscaster. Now start reading aloud in English by randomly taking some topic, assuming that there is a huge crowd in front of you without worrying about your accent. This way, you can build your confidence.
This is it. In my perspective, these are a few ways to improve your English speaking. We all have to remember that whenever we try to speak in English, we should never feel inferior and should not be worried about our accent or our grammatical mistakes. Mistakes are common and most importantly, we learn from our mistakes. So, chill.
I used to feel inferior while talking to a few north Indians. I used to feel that their wordings or pronunciation was different from mine. After a while, I realised I have to change my mindset. I worked on it. Although it took a little time, I have overcome it.