How To Speak English Like a Native: Five Practical Tips
Of the 1.3 billion English speakers around the world, over 900 million are English second-language speakers, meaning that English is not their first language and they learned English later on. Because of this, many people can speak English, however, it is difficult for them to reach a “native” level. Reaching a “native” level can be quite difficult, as the English language is full of rules, exceptions to rules, slang, and figures of speech. However, here are a few tips to help you get there.
1. Get familiar with different English accents. English accents are more diverse than simply British English or American English. Try to source material from your desired accent.
2. Imitate native pronunciation. Find YouTube videos or movies and watch how people pronounce words. Watch how their mouths move. After you’ve studied this, practice in front of the mirror to stimulate your muscle memory.
3. Learn the flow of English. This might be trickier. Usually, this can be understood as using conjunctions instead of two separate words. You could also try dropping the last consonant on certain words in the middle of a sentence or try to follow the rhythm of native people’s speech patterns.
4. Use slang when you speak English. You don’t have to be caught up on the most popular slang, but using more casual speech and everyday words will help you to appear native. For example, usually, when Americans speak, they rarely say, “Would you like to go to the mall and relax?” Instead, they would likely say, “You wanna hang out at the mall?” Teachers may not teach you slang in school, but it will help you to sound more native.
5. Learn English idioms. Learning idioms is helpful for sounding more native, but it is also helpful for understanding others. English speakers tend to use a lot of idioms and many of them have roots in England, meaning that they are used across many cultural and geographical boundaries. But, it is important to use the ones that people actually use. There are many idioms that English speakers recognize, but rarely use. A great example is: “It’s raining cats and dogs.”
Ryan Lim For The Junior Times
1. How many speak English as their second-language?
2. What should you do to be able to imitate native pronunciation?
3. Why should you learn English idioms?
1. How high is your English level?
2. What type of English do you speak? British? American? Australian?
3. What are some idioms that you know of?
4. What do you think about these tips?
Of the 1.3 billion English speakers around the world, over 900 million are English second-language speakers, meaning that English is not their first language and they learned English later on. Because of this, many people can speak English, however, it is difficult for them to reach a “native” level. Reaching a “native” level can be quite difficult, as the English language is full of rules, exceptions to rules, slang, and figures of speech. However, here are a few tips to help you get there.
3. Learn the flow of English.
