How To Improve English Writing And Speaking Skills

“Language is the apparel in which your thoughts parade before the public. “ -George Crane

These words ring especially true in today’s times when writing and speaking inappropriate English has become a part of an impressive personality. From daily interactions around other children to academic requirements and future career prospects, children will get a kick start and boost of confidence with strong English writing and speaking skills.

While people stand at various points on the spectrum of English speaking and writing skills, no one is at 100%. No one is perfect. Each and every individual has scope for improvement, given that the English language in itself is dynamic and undergoing continuous changes. It is a funny, complicated language heavily laced with rules and exceptions alike.

Moreover, in India, unlike many other parts of the world, people are exposed to a range of languages and each language has its own band of dialects. From rural areas to urban cities, none of us is a native English speaker. And all of us want to figure out how to improve English speaking and writing skills, for ourselves and our children.

But, worry not! We at GetLitt! have created this list on how to improve your English writing and speaking skills. However, before we begin, we would like to clarify that while most of these ideas and tips to improve your English work for both writing and speaking, there might be a few that work exclusively for only one of them. But since both writing and speaking are co-dependent and lead to the ultimate goal of being able to communicate better in English, we wouldn’t like to separate them.

How To Improve English Writing Skills

How To Improve English Writing And Speaking Skills

1. Think in English

Image Courteysy Shutterstock

Train your brain to start forming sentences in English. If you find yourself thinking in another language, stop yourself and repeat it in English. Once this becomes a habit, you will be able to speak English fluently and find your flow in the language. Thinking in English can also improve your writing because you will not have to wait and translate an idea in your head first.

2. Talk to yourself

To improve your spoken English, you need to keep talking in English. You may not be ready to strike up a conversation with someone else, so here’s an idea. Start with yourself. Talk to yourself. As crazy as it may sound, it’s a great way to overcome the unfamiliarity of a language on your tongue.

If talking to yourself makes you uncomfortable, you can participate in language exchange programs with friends or acquaintances. These programs encourage two individuals to learn and teach different languages to each other. This form of a give and take gives people a chance to not only work on their English speaking skills but also a chance to teach a language they hold mastery in.

3. Read

Start by reading basic books that have less text and are supported by pictures. You can scale up when you feel more confident. Reading helps you subconsciously register the nuances of the language. Books are personal and don’t require any interaction with others, so you can take your own time with a book. If you have a GetLitt! subscription, you gain access to a wide range of books from beginner to advanced reading levels. Being an e-library, it is also easily accessible; it’s like carrying your bookshelf along with you.

Apart from books, try to read absolutely anything in English, from magazines and newspapers to hoardings.

Image Courtesy Pexel.com

Insert link here: Check out our multiple booklists to suit your interest and reading levels here

4. Write

Continuous practice will improve your English writing skills and you will eventually see a definite positive change in your language skills. This combined with other forms of exposure to the language will also equip you to avoid and correct mistakes. Writing also helps to retain information better and while learning a language, it is recommended that the learner put pen to paper.

5. Learn A New Word Every day

To enhance your language, you can create a vocabulary list and learn a new word every day and try to use it in conversation and make sentences with it.  You can also pick phrases and understand what they mean. They are easy to learn and use. Phrases are a collection of words that form a part of a sentence.

Some common phrases:

1. Excuse me
2. Under the weather
3. It’s raining cats and dogs

6. Grammar & Spellings

While these two important pillars of the English language can take a backseat in the initial stages of learning, we wouldn’t advise completely forgetting about them. Grammar is the foundation on which the language stands and spellings too are important for comprehensive communication. But stressing about them can take away from the fun of learning. Don’t focus on it too much but accept corrections and help on spellings and grammar mistakes graciously. Grammar and spellings are also a subconscious learning process that will happen simultaneously as you keep engaging with the language.

How To Avoid Grammatical Mistakes In English

7. Play Games

Learning can become more fun when you make it a game. There are multiple games available today targeting various aspects of the English language. You can find many of these games as apps on your mobile play-store.If you prefer the traditional board game in the physical format, there are many options available in both online and offline stores.

1. Scrabble and Boggle are board games that focus on word building. Ruzzle is a mobile game that is inspired by both of these. Other word games for mobiles include Word Cookies, Word Cross and so on.
2. Crosswords are the most easily available language learning game. All newspapers carry a crossword each.You can challenge yourself with various levels of difficulty via printable worksheets and specifically designed crossword books.
3. Charades is an age-old game that everyone is familiar with. All one has to do is start using charades to enact English words, phrases and sentences.
4. Two Truths & A Lie, 20 questions, etc. are speaking games that encourage participants to talk to each other in English. In Two Truths & A Lie a participant presents the others with two truths and a lie which they have to recognize. While playing 20 questions, the participant thinks of an object or person and the others ask them yes or no questions to guess the word.

Various versions of other games like Hangman and Word Search can be played virtually or in person.  All these games are useful and help one learn English in different ways.

8. Watch Movies and Plays

What better way to familiarize yourself with the language! Movies and plays are engaging because they are based on human emotions which are universal. The language speaking is also simultaneously supported by visuals and this helps viewers to connect and understand.

English is a global language and knowing how to communicate in it well has become imperative. We hope these ideas and tips will help you improve your English speaking and writing skills. If you have any more suggestions or doubts, do leave us a comment below. We guarantee a reply as soon as possible.

Like This?

Read: Tips to Develop Writing Skills for Preschoolers

Read more: Short Story Writing Ideas for Kids

Feature Image: Shutterstock