5 rules to speak English quickly

This article on how to speak English quickly was prepared by Preply, a foreign language tutor selection company.
You can learn to speak English, and you don't have to learn complex grammatical constructions and tons of words. Don't believe me?



Here are 5 rules you need to know to speak English.
1. Do not spend too much time studying English grammar
This rule may sound strange to many students who are studying English, but it is one of the most important rules. If you want to pass exams, then learning grammar is, of course, necessary. However, if you just want to be fluent in English, try to learn the language without delving into grammar.

Learning grammar will only slow you down and confuse you. You will think about the rules when forming sentences instead of speaking naturally like native speakers.

Remember that only a small proportion of native English speakers know more than 20% of all grammar rules. However, they are fluent in English and can read, speak, listen, and communicate effectively.
It's safe to say that many ESL students know more grammar rules than native speakers.

So you need to decide what is more important to you: learn all the grammar rules or learn to speak English fluently?

2. Learn a language with phrases
Many students learn new words by trying to put them together to create the correct sentence.
It's amazing how many words a person can know without being able to create a correct sentence in English. The reason is that such people did not learn the language in phrases.

When children learn a language, they memorize either words in pairs or whole phrases. Take an example from them and also learn English with phrases.

Just because you know 1000 English words doesn't mean you can speak English correctly. But if you know a phrase in English, you can make hundreds of correct sentences. And if you learn 100 phrases, you will be surprised at how many correct sentences you can say.

Finally, when you have mastered just 1000 phrases, you will be almost fluent in English.
So don't waste precious time learning a lot of different English words. Use this time to learn phrases and you will reach fluency faster.

Don't translate from your native language into English!

If you want to build a correct English sentence, do not translate words from your native language. The word order can be completely different. Instead, learn whole phrases and sentences, then you don't have to think about how to translate a particular word during a conversation. It should be automatic.

Another problem with translation is that you will be trying to incorporate grammar rules that you have already learned. Again - don't do it! You will only confuse yourself even more.

3. It is not enough just to read and listen - you need to reproduce what you hear
Reading, listening and speaking are the most important aspects of any language.
The same goes for English. However, for teaching spoken language, the only requirement is fluency, that is, the ability to speak freely without thinking.
Returning to how children learn the language - it's normal that they first learn to speak, and then read and write. This is the natural order of language acquisition - listening, speaking, reading, and then writing.

Isn't it strange that schools around the world are taught to first read in English, write, then listen to speech and only then speak?

Many people can read and understand the language by ear because that's all they practice. But in order to speak English, you must practice speaking.
Speak out loud the material you are listening to. Practice speaking this way and you will be able to speak English faster.

4. Immerse yourself in English
The ability to speak a foreign language has nothing to do with how smart you are. Anyone can learn to speak any language. This is a well-known fact. Every person can speak at least one language, regardless of whether he is smart or not.

This is achieved by immersion in the language environment. In your country, you hear and speak your own language all the time.

Have you noticed that many people who speak English well have attended an English-speaking school. They can speak English not because they attended an advanced English language school, but because they had the conditions of a permanent English-speaking environment.

There are also some people who study abroad and yet they speak poorly. This is because they have found friends from their own country and practice little English.

You don't need to travel anywhere to speak English. You just need to surround yourself with this language. Agree with your friends that you will communicate with them in English, or visit conversation clubs where you can only communicate in a foreign language.

5. Study the right material
The general phrase that practice is the guarantee of perfection is far from the truth. Practice only supports what you practice constantly. If you memorize unnecessary material, you are not making progress towards your goal. Therefore, it is important that you only study the material that is used the most.

Another caveat is that many students study news. However, this English is more formal and is not used in everyday life.

Learning English with a friend who is not a native speaker has its pros and cons. And you should pay attention to this. Chatting with someone who is also learning English is a great way to practice your spoken language. You can also motivate each other and point out major mistakes.

Only study English material that you can trust and that is commonly used to avoid wasting time.