Try These Activities for English Speaking Practice
2020-08-26
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1Have you ever recorded yourself on an electronic device while speaking English?
2If so, what kinds of things did you notice?
3Recording yourself gives you the chance to listen to and critique your English speaking skills.
4You can take note of things like sentence structure, word choice, pronunciation and fluency.
5This can give you a better idea of what your strengths are and which areas need more work.
6Today on Education Tips, we will talk about two recording activities you can do to strengthen your speaking skills.
7The first activity involves narrative storytelling.
8William Stout teaches at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.
9His specialty is teaching English as a foreign language.
10He says some speaking activities do not give an accurate picture of your true language skills.
11But narrative storytelling does.
12Narrative storytelling is the retelling of a story.
13It can be a short piece of fiction, such as a program from the VOA Learning English series American Stories, or it can be the retelling of a news event.
14Or you can talk about something that happened in your own life.
15Stout explains that narrative storytelling frees your mind from forming complex ideas, which lets you speak more easily in English.
16On the other hand, he notes, an activity requiring your opinion can slow you down.
17That is because it forces you to think about your ideas as you say them.
18For the narrative storytelling activity, Stout says try to provide as many details as possible and aim for a recording of three minutes or fewer.
19"Don't just say, 'I studied at the library.' Say, 'I walked into the library and I thought about where I should sit. And most of the seats were taken, so I looked around and I finally found a spot, but it was near the window. But it was chilly, so I had to keep my coat on.' Something like that."
20The goal in giving such detail is not to fill the time, but to speak at a faster speed because you do not have to stop and think of each idea separately.
21Before the activity, Stout suggests speaking out loud to yourself a few times to make sure you have your main points in mind.
22When listening to the recording, do not expect to find all or even most grammar or vocabulary mistakes, he says.
23But you can easily find some mistakes, such as wrong verb tenses, verb endings and noun endings.
24You can also take note of your language fluency.
25Other things are harder to do yourself, like recognizing and critiquing individual sounds from words.
26After the first recording, Stout says, record yourself telling the same story at least once more and take note of your progress. But avoid memorizing your speech.
27The second activity involves giving and getting directions.
28Wynter Oshiberu teaches English in the Washington, D.C. area.
29She works for the International Center for Language Studies and Montgomery Community College.
30She is also a volunteer English teacher for a nonprofit group called Paper Airplanes.
31Oshiberu says giving directions is a real-world skill and one you can use almost anywhere.
32And you can train by yourself if you do not have people to speak English with.
33The first step in the activity is to choose a starting point and a destination.
34For the starting point, she says, choose a place that you know well, like your home or a nearby bus or train station.
35For the destination, choose a place you need to travel to more often, such as the supermarket, train station, your work place or favorite eating place.
36Then, record yourself giving the directions.
37The recording should not be longer than one minute.
38Oshiberu says the activity is a good way to employ the imperative form, also known as the command form.
39In English, the command form begins with a verb, as in, "Turn right when you reach the doctor's office."
40Note however that, when giving directions, native English speakers sometimes add the subject "you" to the start of a command.
41"The correct way, if you're telling someone what to do, you might want to start off with, 'First, you go right on 7th Street' or 'First, you turn right on 7th Street' or just 'Turn right on 7th Street.'"
42Avoid adding the modal verb "can," which Oshiberu notes is a common mistake of English learners.
43For example, avoid saying something like, "You can turn right on 7th Street."
44When listening to your recording, take note of your subject-verb agreement, use of prepositions, use of the command form and pronunciation.
45You can even try using your own directions yourself, Oshiberu adds.
46In other words, play the recording as you walk from the starting point to the destination.
47This will let you know whether your directions were clear and accurate.
48Another way to practice getting directions is to use your phone's GPS or global positioning system.
49To do this, she suggests changing the language settings on the GPS system to English.
50Then, choose a destination to get walking directions to, a place that is not too far away.
51Set the GPS so you can listen to the directions and then follow the directions to the destination.
52Oshiberu says listening to directions is useful because, when you give directions to a real person, they are probably going to ask questions.
53That brings our program to a close.
54As you try these speaking activities, remember to relax and enjoy the process.
55And don't forget to celebrate the things you do well! Let us know how it goes.
56I'm Alice Bryant.
1Have you ever recorded yourself on an electronic device while speaking English? If so, what kinds of things did you notice? 2Recording yourself gives you the chance to listen to and critique your English speaking skills. You can take note of things like sentence structure, word choice, pronunciation and fluency. This can give you a better idea of what your strengths are and which areas need more work. 3Today on Education Tips, we will talk about two recording activities you can do to strengthen your speaking skills. 4Retelling a story 5The first activity involves narrative storytelling. 6William Stout teaches at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. His specialty is teaching English as a foreign language. He says some speaking activities do not give an accurate picture of your true language skills. But narrative storytelling does. 7Narrative storytelling is the retelling of a story. It can be a short piece of fiction, such as a program from the VOA Learning English series American Stories, or it can be the retelling of a news event. Or you can talk about something that happened in your own life. 8Stout explains that narrative storytelling frees your mind from forming complex ideas, which lets you speak more easily in English. On the other hand, he notes, an activity requiring your opinion can slow you down. That is because it forces you to think about your ideas as you say them. 9For the narrative storytelling activity, Stout says try to provide as many details as possible and aim for a recording of three minutes or fewer. 10"Don't just say, 'I studied at the library.' Say, 'I walked into the library and I thought about where I should sit. And most of the seats were taken, so I looked around and I finally found a spot, but it was near the window. But it was chilly, so I had to keep my coat on.' Something like that." 11The goal in giving such detail is not to fill the time, but to speak at a faster speed because you do not have to stop and think of each idea separately. 12Before the activity, Stout suggests speaking out loud to yourself a few times to make sure you have your main points in mind. 13When listening to the recording, do not expect to find all or even most grammar or vocabulary mistakes, he says. But you can easily find some mistakes, such as wrong verb tenses, verb endings and noun endings. You can also take note of your language fluency. Other things are harder to do yourself, like recognizing and critiquing individual sounds from words. 14After the first recording, Stout says, record yourself telling the same story at least once more and take note of your progress. But avoid memorizing your speech. 15Giving, getting directions 16The second activity involves giving and getting directions. 17Wynter Oshiberu teaches English in the Washington, D.C. area. She works for the International Center for Language Studies and Montgomery Community College. She is also a volunteer English teacher for a nonprofit group called Paper Airplanes. 18Oshiberu says giving directions is a real-world skill and one you can use almost anywhere. And you can train by yourself if you do not have people to speak English with. 19The first step in the activity is to choose a starting point and a destination. 20For the starting point, she says, choose a place that you know well, like your home or a nearby bus or train station. 21For the destination, choose a place you need to travel to more often, such as the supermarket, train station, your work place or favorite eating place. 22Then, record yourself giving the directions. The recording should not be longer than one minute. 23Oshiberu says the activity is a good way to employ the imperative form, also known as the command form. In English, the command form begins with a verb, as in, "Turn right when you reach the doctor's office." 24Note however that, when giving directions, native English speakers sometimes add the subject "you" to the start of a command. 25"The correct way, if you're telling someone what to do, you might want to start off with, 'First, you go right on 7th Street' or 'First, you turn right on 7th Street' or just 'Turn right on 7th Street.'" 26Avoid adding the modal verb "can," which Oshiberu notes is a common mistake of English learners. For example, avoid saying something like, "You can turn right on 7th Street." 27When listening to your recording, take note of your subject-verb agreement, use of prepositions, use of the command form and pronunciation. 28You can even try using your own directions yourself, Oshiberu adds. In other words, play the recording as you walk from the starting point to the destination. This will let you know whether your directions were clear and accurate. 29Another way to practice getting directions is to use your phone's GPS or global positioning system. 30To do this, she suggests changing the language settings on the GPS system to English. Then, choose a destination to get walking directions to, a place that is not too far away. Set the GPS so you can listen to the directions and then follow the directions to the destination. 31Oshiberu says listening to directions is useful because, when you give directions to a real person, they are probably going to ask questions. 32That brings our program to a close. As you try these speaking activities, remember to relax and enjoy the process. And don't forget to celebrate the things you do well! Let us know how it goes. 33I'm Alice Bryant. 34Alice Bryant wrote this story for VOA Learning English. George Grow was the editor. 35_______________________________________________________________ 36If you would like to more closely observe the grammar and vocabulary in your speaking, you can transcribe your recordings. To transcribe means to put your speech into written or typed form. 37There are two ways to do this. 38You can use a transcription service, such as Google's speech recognition service, which offers a free trial period. Such services automatically type out the words you speak. However, note that these services usually work better for common accents. 39The second way is to type or write the words yourself after you record yourself. This might involve having to rewind the recording a few times, but it can also act as a good English writing practice exercise. 40______________________________________________________________ 41Words in This Story 42pronunciation - n. the way in which a word or name is said 43fluency - n. the ability to speak easily and smoothly 44accurate - adj. able to produce results that are correct 45fiction - n. written stories about people and events that are not real : literature that tells stories which are imagined by the writer 46library - n. a place where books, magazines, and other materials (such as videos and musical recordings) are available for people to use or borrow 47spot - n. a particular space or area 48chilly - adj. noticeably cold 49coat - n. an outer piece of clothing that can be long or short and that is worn to keep warm or dry 50destination - n. a place to which a person is going or something is being sent 51relax - v. to stop feeling nervous or worried 52accent - n. a way of pronouncing words that occurs among the people in a particular region or country