5 Tips To Become a Confident English Speaker Ask Alisha
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Oh, new camera.
Hi, everybody.
Welcome back to Ask Alisha, the weekly series
where you ask me questions and I answer them,
maybe.
First question.
First question comes from Winston.
Hi, Winston.
Winston says, “I don’t understand English.
I want to learn but I don’t know how to start.
I’m a newbie.”
Right.
Lots of questions like this.
So, really there are a lot of different ways
that you can start studying a language.
Of course, we have lots of videos on our YouTube
channel and we have a whole website to try
to help people who are studying English.
You can check us out at EnglishClass101.com.
You can find like apps, you can find worksheets,
podcasts to listen to.
So, that can be a nice way to start.
We have some videos for beginners also.
So, if you’re just starting, you can check
some of the beginner level videos we have
on the channel.
For example, “English in 3 Minutes,” that’s
a good set of videos you can watch to learn
some basic phrases, I think.
So, that might be a nice place for you to
start.
But, let’s look at some other ideas for beginners,
specifically.
One, join an English class in your city.
Two, get an English textbook and study at
home.
Three, make a language exchange with an English
speaker.
Four, study vocabulary with apps.
Try out those.
Those are a few ideas.
Of course, you can always use our videos on
the channel, as well.
So, I hope that helps a little bit.
Thanks for the question.
Next question.
Next question comes from Carmel.
Carmel says, “Do you have any ideas on how
to improve speaking skills in English?”
Yeah, well, to improve your speaking, you
have to practice speaking.
Here are a couple of ideas that you can use
to help you improve your speaking.
These are ideas for just ways to practice,
chances to practice.
Number one, get a partner you can practice
speaking English with.
This can be in your city or in your community.
So, find a partner to practice speaking English
with.
This can be a language exchange partner, for
example.
Two, if you can’t find anyone in your town
or in your city to practice speaking English
with, you can try to find a partner online.
Three, try recording yourself speaking.
You can use your phone to do this if you like.
Just record your voice saying something, and
then, listen to it again.
You might not realize it but it’s actually
really helpful to hear your own voice like
outside of your body.
Actually, we have something on the website.
You can check at EnglishClass101.com, there’s
a voice recorder function so you can record
your voice and then compare your voice to
the sound of a native speaker’s voice and
try to practice until your voice matches the
sound of their voice.
So, that could be another idea.
Number four, try repeating the things the
characters in English TV and English movies
say.
So, if you’re watching TV, if you’re watching
a video online, if you’re listening to music,
something in English, try to repeat the thing
you hear.
So, not only listening, listening, listening
but try to practice saying the things the
characters or the artists are saying too.
Number five, kind of a strange suggestion
maybe, but try talking to yourself in English.
Actually, I do this a lot.
I’m studying Japanese and I talked to myself
in Japanese from time to time.
So, that helps me a little bit but helps me
get comfortable just saying words, some phrases,
too.
So, maybe that’s helpful for you.
Those are five ideas or what you can do to
improve your speaking skills.
Thanks for the question, Carmel.
Next question is from Mohammed Fikri.
Mohammed says, “I want a plan to speak English
fluently.”
Um, okay, well, it this is sort of a difficult
request because every person is different
and every person has different goals.
As we’ve talked about in previous videos,
in this series as well, one of the things
you can do to create a plan for your studies
is think about your goal first.
So, that means, what do you want to do in
English.
If you say, “I want to learn English,”
think about why, why do you want to learn
English?
If you think like, “I want to learn English
so I can give a business presentation in English,”
or, “I want to learn English so that I can
travel comfortably and speak English during
my travels.”
So, depending on your goal, your plan for
study will be different.
So, first think about your goal and then act
accordingly.
So, there’s no one perfect plan for everybody
because each person is different.
You could join a class.
A class has a syllabus, there’s a textbook,
perhaps, or there’s some plan of study for
that class.
So, you could try joining a class in your
city or in your town to study English.
If you don’t have something like that or if
it’s expensive to take lessons in your city,
you could try an online course or you could
try using an app.
There are a lot of different things you can
try.
Of course, we have lots of resources on our
website, you can check that out.
But, there are many different established
courses you can join to study English.
I think really the most important first step
to making a plan for your studies is to first
make a goal for yourself.
This can be a really small goal, actually,
and I think making many different small goals
is a good idea so you can understand when
you’re improving.
So, if your goal is just, “I want to speak
English,” that’s not a very clear goal.
So, say like, “I want to learn 100 vocabulary
words in one month,” for example.
It’s easy to measure that goal.
So, think about your goal, think about what
you really want to do and then make your plan
from there.
Next question comes from Johnny.
Hi, Johnny.
Johnny says, “Can I practice listening to
English using YouTube videos for example.”
Oh, totally, I think.
I use YouTube videos and music and movies
and TV and just listening to friends’ conversations
to practice Japanese.
So, I think, yeah, using media is a great
way to work on your listening skills.
Just be careful or maybe be aware, there are
two kinds of listening.
There’s active listening and passive listening.
So, passive listening is when, for example,
you’re playing a video or you’re playing music
or you’re playing a movie while you are doing
something else.
So, for example, you’re cooking or you’re
exercising or you’re cleaning your house.
So, the focus, your focus is on a different
activity.
You’re not listening fully, completely to
the English material.
That’s passive, that’s quite passive.
So, it’s just in the background, kind of.
Active listening, however, if you’re focusing
on the thing you’re listening to.
So, maybe right now, maybe some of you now
are actively listening to the things I’m saying.
You’re focusing on the vocabulary words, the
rhythm of the speech, the idioms I’m using,
the grammar I’m using.
Actively trying to understand, actively picking
up what’s new and what’s something that I
already know.
Given that there are two types of listening,
it’s important to remember, we should practice
active listening, as well.
It can’t only be passive listening, we should
also practice active listening.
If you use YouTube videos, if you watch our
videos, like you, for example, make sure to
practice your active listening skills in addition
to just having that kind of passive listening
experience.
But, yeah, using media is a fantastic way
because then, you can pick up the things that
people say naturally instead of only using
my typical textbook patterns, for example.
So, absolutely, YouTube is a great resource,
there are lots of people speaking in English.
There are lots of personalities, too, so it’s
a really great way to use media to improve
your listening and your language skills.
So, sure.
Thanks for the question.
Next question.
Next question comes from Ibrahim.
I hope I said that right.
Ibrahim says, “Do you think it’s easier
to understand the British accent or the American
accent?
Because I think the American accent is really
hard to understand.”
Hmm, well this really just depends on your
experience.
I’m American, I’m from the US, I’m from the
west coast of the US so naturally, for me,
in my experience, west coast American English
is the easiest for me to understand.
In your case, if you think American accents
are difficult to understand, that’s fine.
So, maybe, you have more experience with British
English speakers.
There are many different kinds of accents
even in America, even in the US, there are
many different accents.
There are so many different ways of speaking.
There’s American English, British English,
maybe we could say, Canadian English, Australian
English, Scottish English, Irish English,
there are many different accents, many different
ways of speaking.
And, there are the accents that non-native
speakers of English use, as well.
So, there are so many different ways of speaking
that we need to think about.
Easy just means the one you have the most
experience with.
That’s all.
Those are all the questions that I want to
answer for this week.
Thank you so much for sending your great questions,
as always.
If you want to send a question, please send
it at EnglishClass101.com/ask-alisha.
Also, if you liked this video, please make
sure to give it a thumbs up and subscribe
to the channel if you haven’t already.
You can also check us out at EnglishClass101.com
for some other good study resources.
Thanks very much for watching this episode
of Ask Alisha and I will see you again next week.
Bye.
It’s getting hot in here so I’m going to turn
off the camera.