If you are serious about learning a language, your ultimate goal should be to interact comfortably with native speakers. At an early stage you will want to try out what you have learned in order to build up your confidence and fluency.
But conversation and speaking skills develop gradually and cannot be rushed. Don’t be in a hurry or put pressure on yourself. Don’t worry about how you sound, just focus on communicating.
You will often feel that you are struggling, when in fact you are communicating quite successfully. The key to successful conversation is to try to relax and enjoy the experience.
Focus on the meaning you are trying to communicate, not on how well you are doing. Don’t think that your grammar and pronunciation are being judged, just try to get your meaning across.
Your listeners want to understand you.
When you are successful in communicating, give yourself a pat on the back. Use the phrases you know and build your conversation around these phrases. You should try to print weekly lists of new words and phrases from your learning and deliberately try to use them.
You will find that you can use your newly learned phrases as convenient components and build your conversation around them.
Using them in conversation will also help you confirm that you really know how to use them.
Your ability to express yourself will improve as you continue your intensive listening, reading, vocabulary learning, pronunciation and writing activities.
In addition to practicing conversational skills,i mmerse yourself in the culture of the language you’re learning, including understanding the customs, traditions, and social norms of the country where the language is spoken. You’ll gain a deeper understanding of the language and its users, which will enhance your communication skills.
Don’t limit yourself to formal conversations either. Engage in casual chats with online friends, family, or even strangers. This will expose you to different dialects and colloquial expressions, broadening your language skills. Our language courses include full access to real-time conversations with native-speaking tutors, specifically for this reason.
Lastly, remember that everyone learns at their own pace. It’s okay if you don’t understand everything right away. Keep practicing, stay patient, and most importantly, keep enjoying the process. With time and consistent effort, you’ll see significant progress in your language learning journey.
