Just about all language learners have been there. Searching for methods on how they can improve their speaking skills in their target language. I know I have!
Even though I’d studied Norwegian off and on for years, a couple of years ago I was incredibly frustrated with my speaking ability. I would speak slowly, awkwardly, and just not very fluently at all!
It kept me from feeling confident speaking to native speakers, and I started questioning the point of my language learning entirely. What was the point of studying for years if I couldn’t even say a sentence without stopping and stuttering?
Fast forward a few years, and now when I start speaking to a new Norwegian tutor on italki, they’re always shocked I don’t live in Norway—my speaking has improved that much!
I’m always so happy when I get that comment because it means I’m doing something right.
How to improve speaking skills? Listen to more content. This can be podcasts, songs, or audiobooks. Try shadowing, or repeating native speakers word by word. Speak more, read more, and finally, be consistent.
Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. This means I may earn a commission should you chose to sign up for a program or make a purchase using my link.
1. How to Improve Speaking Skills? Listen More.
This was probably isn’t a shocker, but to improve speaking skills I started listening to native content a lot more.
Why do this?
Listening to your target language allows you to build familiarity with the language in natural use so that you can speak in a more natural way.
Think about it. If you’ve never heard how words are said, how can you be expected to properly say them yourself?
This helps you to pronounce words correctly, have a natural rhythm, and overall speak more fluently and like a native.
Once you’re familiar with how your target language pronounces words, you’re way more likely to pronounce even new words you come across correctly!
But what should you listen to?
Listen to Podcasts.
Podcasts can be great for all leveled language learners.
For beginners, there are podcasts made for learners that speak more slowly, use simple words, and give you the definition of words as they go along.
For more intermediate and advanced learners, listening to podcasts made by natives for natives is a great way to pick up filler words and hear spoken conversation more naturally than you would listening to a show’s dialogue or an audiobook.
Listen to Audiobooks
If you’d rather listen to an interesting story that goes on longer for just an hour, audiobooks are great.
Audiobooks will likely use a broader vocabulary than you’d hear in a podcast. However, you likely won’t pick up as much slang or casual language as you would in a podcast. So it’s best to balance using both.
To get the most bang for your buck, read along to the audio with the actual book to help boost your listening skills at the same time.
Watch Shows and Movies
This is where Netflix and Youtube comes in.
Shows can be easier to follow since you can see what the speakers are talking about, allowing you to have visual context.
When it comes to a foreign language, it’s hard to add a word to your vocab if you don’t remember what it means. Watching a show allows you to hear how words are said, and helps you remember their meaning through visual context.
One tip: Watch with subtitles in the foreign language to put together the words being said with the sounds being made. Using subtitles in a foreign language, similar to reading along with audiobooks, benefits your listening and speaking skills.
Listen to Music.
Music is my favorite way to practice listening. Like the other content types here, it helps with familiarizing you to the sounds and rythm of the language. But another perk? It’s super fun to listen to, and not a huge time commitment!
I’m also way more motivated to learn my target language if I’m trying to understand what my favorite musicians are singing about.
Need more help? Check out my ultimate tips to improve listening skills!
2. How to Improve Speaking Skills? Shadowing.
So first, what is shadowing? Shadowing is when you copy how a native speaker says a word. It’s originally designed to work with audio, where you listen to a clip then say the words that you hear at the same time they’re being said.
Why do it?
A few reasons:
- It improves your pronunciation. By actively trying to copy a native speaker’s pronunciation, word by word and sound by sound, you’ll learn how to properly pronounce like a native would.
- Shadowing helps you get used to how the language sounds and the rhythm of it.
- Unlike just listening, you are taking action. You get to feel how the words sound in your mouth. A lot of people learn by doing, and this is a great way to do just that.
Here are two methods for shadowing:
Singing Along to Songs
This is one method of mirroring, just without the visuals. It’s one of my favorite ways to mirror, and my accent and pronunciation really improved with this!
Repeating What Natives Say
This is taking out the song element and just copying the spoken word. If singing along to music isn’t your thing, just pull up a video or audio of a native speaking.
Ideally, you’d do this with just a sentence or two, so feel free to stop the video/audio and go over the same short snippet a few times.
For real-time feedback, you can also find an affordable italki tutor to do this with. Just tell them you’d like to work on your pronunciation and want to shadow!
3. How to Improve Speaking Skills? Speak!
Of course this list wouldn’t be complete without speaking itself.
Why do this?
If you’re learning how to swim you need to get into the pool eventually. And you’ll only get better the more you do it. The same is true for learning how to speak in a foreign language.
I’m not saying you have to start speaking from day one, but you should start speaking in a conversation like fashion at some point.
You Can Talk to Yourself.
You don’t necessarily have to speak to other people.
For those who don’t have access to native speakers, don’t want to pay for a language tutor, or are shy, you can speak to yourself!
Robin MacPherson has a great video on how to make progress speaking to yourself. I’d encourage you to check it out! He talks about interviewing yourself, and going into detail on both the question and answer.
You pick a question on Monday. Each day of the week you ask yourself that same question and answer it.
You can look up words as you need them, and each day for a week you build upon both the question and answer. By the end of the week you should notice progress in how much you can say about the topic!
You Can Schedule Lessons with a Teacher.
This is what I do most of the time, and that is scheduling lessons with a tutor to practice speaking. My speaking improved greatly from this.
During real-life conversation, you feel the pressure that comes with taking long pauses to think of words, having to ask for the speaker to repeat what they said repeatedly, etc.
Needless to say, after some awkward conversations with tutors on italki, I was really driven to improve. It was also helpful to have a teacher who could fill in vocab gaps and correct my pronunciation in realtime.
You Can Do Language Exchange.
If you’re already past the early beginner stage, you can try a language exchange.
With a language exchange, you basically speak to a native speaker or another learner and chat.
Typically they want to learn your native language, and you’re trying to learn theirs. So you both get something out of it, which is why language exchanges are usually free.
There’s no lesson plan, just informal conversation.
You Can Try Pimsleur.
In between my italki lessons, I did Pimsleur for Norwegian. I loved it, and will always recommend it for speaking practice.
It’s audio-based, where they teach you words, you listen to a dialogue, and by the end of the thirty-minute lesson, you should understand the dialogue in full.
There are dialogues spoken by natives at a normal pace (not slowed down), and pauses where you’re supposed to answer.
When you’re working with a tutor, they’ll wait for you to stumble through your sentence, or they’ll jump in and help you. With Pimsleur, you either answer in the pause or you don’t! Either way, they move on.
It’s like how you’d have to respond in a normal conversation.
I really attribute my early speaking success to both this, and italki lessons.
If you’d like to give it a try, you can sign up to try the full Pimsleur course free for 7 days!
Pro tip: Sign up using the app, it’s way cheaper than buying the CDs!
4. How to Improve Speaking Skills? Read.
Another way to improve speaking skills is to read more. Let me explain.
Why do this?
You ever hear the saying that the best speakers and writers, pretty much the most well-spoken people entirely, are well-read? This follows that same principle!
Reading expands your vocabulary. This helps you when you’re trying to come up with a word to say in conversation. Think about it, how will you be able to say a word if you’ve never come across it before?
Reading also builds your familiarity with grammar rules and how sentences are structured. This familiarity then gives you more confidence when you need to speak.
Ok, great. So what should you read?
Graded readers or textbooks
Graded readers are textbooks written for specific language learner levels.
These are great if your target language has them! If not, you can rely on the texts in textbooks, which can fill the gap of a graded reader since they’re also targetted towards specific levels.
For example, there aren’t a ton (I can count 2!) graded readers for Norwegian. So, I rely on the short texts in textbooks which pretty much act as the same thing.
Online articles
Reading online articles is a good way to find content about a variety of topics.
They’re short form, so you can squeeze them into your day and don’t have to commit to it like you would a novel.
My favorite? Finding blogs in my native language! The text is conversational, the words used aren’t typically too complex, and there’s a clear beginning and end of the text all in one post.
Novels
For longer-form content, you can read novels in your target language.
Completing a novel could be a great monthly or quarterly goal to have!
Social Media Captions
If you’re big on social media, follow some accounts that speak your target language!
By reading their captions, you get to see slang and how people actually talk (at least to their friends).
5. How to Improve Speaking Skills? Be Consistent!
This was another hard truth that took my speaking skills to a new level. It made such a difference, I dedicated an entire post to it!
Why do this?
Progress doesn’t happen if you only study once in a blue moon.
Consistency is the glue that binds all of these methods together so you can improve speaking skills in a foreign language.
Need help? Download the daily language learning checklist! It includes daily tasks you can do to stay consistent with your studies.
All in all…
If you’re stuck trying to improve your speaking skills, try the methods up above. To recap, what’s the answer to how to improve speaking skills in a foreign language?
- Listen to more content in your target language, whether that’s podcasts, audiobooks—even watching tv counts!
- Practice shadowing, or imitating native speakers.
- Actually speak! Either to yourself or with natives.
- Read more to broaden your vocabulary and subconsciously boost your confidence speaking in your target language.
- Be consistent.
I know speaking a foreign language can be scary, and I’ve heard of many language learners putting it off due to fear.
Don’t worry.
If you practice, you’ll be fine. And hey, you’re learning anyway, so be nice to yourself and understand that mistakes are part of the process.
Liked this post? Share it on Pinterest!
Great post! I’ll have to try out these tips over the weekend – I think my speaking has skyrocketed recently, but my accent could do with some work. Shadowing and more native material seems like the way to go! Hello from your most recent email by the way – that’s where I found this post 🙂
Thanks Lola! Let me know how the shadowing and more native content goes 🙂