English speaking tip - How to increase your CONFIDENCE!

Hi there. In yesterday's lesson, you learned how you can get fluent faster by focusing on learning whole phrases, not individual words or grammar rules. But there's another problem that might be holding you back from becoming fluent, and that problem is not being confident in your English. Let me tell you a little secret. I've worked with hundreds of students, and I would say about 99% of them are insecure, meaning they lack confidence about their English. They say things like, I hope you can understand me. I know I make a lot of mistakes, and sorry for my bad English. Even students with a good level of English say things like this. Do you ever feel like your English is bad? Do you ever want to say something, but you don't feel confident that you're going to speak English well? Here are three simple ways you can increase your confidence to speak English. Number one is to focus on what you can do, not on what you can't do. The truth is it takes a long time to get fluent in English, and most students are constantly thinking about what they are missing or lacking. This is a big mistake because it will sabotage your English learning progress, and also it makes you feel bad. Instead, you should change your focus to celebrating what you can do in English. One way you can change your perspective and learn to think more positively is by keeping an English success journal. So every time you make some progress, or you have some small victory in your English learning, write it down in a notebook or in a document on your computer or cell phone. Here's some simple examples. Today, I learned three new words and used them in sentences. Today, I understood how to use the present perfect. Today, I practiced listening for 15 minutes. Today, I remembered a word without using the dictionary. Today, I understood some of the phrases in a song or movie. Today, I successfully made a phone call in English. These things can be big or small. The important part is that they show progress and improvement. So on days when you're feeling depressed about your English, or when you don't have much motivation, you can read your success journal to see all the wonderful progress you've made. This will help increase your confidence and encourage you to keep going. Tip number two is to practice speaking in low-pressure situations. When you have to give a presentation in English, or when you're at a party trying to socialize with native English speakers, there's a lot of pressure. The pressure can make you feel like you need to be perfect, and then you're not confident enough to say anything at all. What's more, you become nervous, and then you might have trouble remembering or saying even the phrases you already know. If the only time you practice speaking is in these types of high-pressure situations, it can make you think that speaking English is just really difficult. But you can build your confidence by practicing speaking in low-pressure situations. One way to do this is to speak English to yourself. It might sound or feel ridiculous, but it really works. You can look at a list of discussion questions. Imagine that someone is asking you the question and respond by speaking aloud. This helps you train the ability to put your ideas into spoken English without the pressure of another person listening. When you become comfortable and confident speaking English in a low-pressure situation, then it will be much easier to express yourself in a higher-pressure situation, like a job interview or a telephone call. Tip number three is to get feedback on your speaking. Let's say you're doing okay with your speaking, but you still wonder, am I saying everything correctly? How is my pronunciation? Are there any phrases or words I'm using that would sound strange to a native speaker? The only way to get answers to these questions is by getting feedback on your spoken English. Someone, could be a friend or a teacher, can comment on your speaking and let you know what you're doing well and what you could improve. So where can you get feedback? Well, you can sign up for private lessons with an English teacher on a website like italki.com. Or you could join a conversation exchange where language learners interact and help each other. You can also join my everyday English speaking courses, which include some speaking tasks. So you can record an audio of your answer to a question and send it in to us and a teacher from the Espresso English team will listen to your audio and reply with comments and corrections on your spoken English. This type of feedback is really valuable for students at all English levels because you'll know exactly how to fix your mistakes and improve your speaking. If you're ready to start the everyday English speaking course, you can click on the link under this video to sign up. Remember, the three ways to increase your confidence to speak English are focus on what you can do in English, not on what you can't do yet, practice speaking in low-pressure situations, and get feedback on your speaking. Remember, think positive and keep up the good work in your English learning. And I hope to see you in the speaking course where you can get personalized feedback on your spoken English. Thanks for watching and I'll talk to you in the next tip.