Why Speaking English Practice Doesn’t Get You Fluent

You’ve likely heard something like this many times: “Practice makes perfect. So practicing your English by speaking will make you fluent.” However, while practice certainly is the best way to perfect a skill, the surprising truth is that fluency doesn’t come from you “practicing” speaking.

This article explains what really makes you a confident English speaker, and how you can actually get all the “practice” you need to get fluent, by yourself!

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Does Speaking Help When Learning A New Language?

Speaking is a critical step to learn a language; but it’s actually the last step you should take, not the first.

If you think about how you learned your native language, you really spent a lot of time getting input, before you said a single word. You heard words, watched people speak, and started your language-learning journey trying to understand what people said. As you understood more, you felt more confident that you would communicate correctly. Then with this confidence, you spoke.

This process is the exact opposite of what most non-native English learners do in school. In the typical “second language” approach to learning English, you study something, and before you really understand what you’ve learned, you try talking repeatedly. Maybe you speak to yourself, or you try “practicing” with a partner, like how language students speak in pairs in classrooms. But you likely don’t feel complete confidence that you’re speaking correctly.

Maybe you still worry about grammar rules. Or you’re unsure about pronunciation. Or, in a real conversation, maybe someone’s English is hard for you to understand, so you can’t follow them. But whatever the issue might be that causes you to lack confidence, you likely get stuck during communication.

How Non-Native Speakers Should “Practice” To Speak Fluently

Since you probably won’t feel comfortable about speaking if you’re worried about saying the wrong thing, the “practice” that really builds fluency comes from understanding English really well.

This doesn’t mean trying to memorize translations and grammar rules, then repeating things in your head, or out loud. It means getting enough examples until you eliminate any doubt that stops you from expressing something.

For example, rather than getting a definition for the word “spark,” and then repeating the word 10 times, the following “fluency trigger” will help you understand the word more like a native:

A tiny spark from the campfire landed on some dry leaves, and started a massive forest fire. — She felt a spark of excitement when she received the job offer. — His speech ignited a spark of hope among the crowd. — The discovery of a new scientific theory sparked a revolution in the field. — Their conversation sparked a newfound interest in ancient history. — Did you feel a spark of romance the first time you two met?

Notice how each example made you feel more confident about the word “spark”? Even though you didn’t speak while reading the sentences, this “practice” helped you understand “spark” better. You come to understand how it’s like a small action or feeling that can trigger something bigger. So you’ll now feel more confident about SAYING the word! Isn’t that great?

This process is critical to becoming naturally fluent in English, because if you don’t truly understand what you want to say, you won’t communicate fluently. So you MUST remove doubt if you want to express yourself smoothly. This is the real “practice” that destroys any doubt or fear.

Stop Translating, And Start Understanding, All In English! 

To build up your fluency, you need to stop translating, and start understanding more like a native speaker. If you’ve tried to practice your English skills before, trying to do things more like a native may take some effort. But as you’ve experienced from the example above, this is easier than most English learners might think.

The goal is not to translate phrases and words in your head before you say them, but instead to get lots of exposure to native examples that make English understandable: 

• Fluency goes up with more situational exposure: Taking the native speaker’s approach unlocks your ability to develop fluency faster. As you expose yourself to scenarios where you can understand what’s benign said all in English, your comprehension, vocabulary, and understanding of English grammar rules will increase. This could come from movies, TV shows, real life or anywhere else. But as you pay attention to what people say in different contexts, you’ll naturally come to understand English very well.
• Fluency does not go up with rote vocabulary development: On the other hand, simply memorizing vocabulary words and analyzing grammar rules will most likely only increase your passive vocabulary. You may understand people when they speak, but will still have doubts that stop you from expressing yourself. 

Common Misconceptions About Speaking Fluently

There are many misconceptions about what you should do. and should not do, when learning to speak English. So let’s dispel some of these misconceptions:

You Need a Live Teacher 

Perhaps the biggest misconception is that you need a live teacher to sit with you, correct you when you make mistakes, and teach you to speak with confidence.

The truth is you simply need many examples of natives speaking in different situations. So you don’t need a live teacher to help you develop fluency. You just need the native speech. And even if you’re practicing alone, you can still learn how to speak like a native with these examples. 

You Need To Study Grammar Rules

While it’s true that you need to know grammar, you become fluent as you connect grammar structures with different situations, rather than by trying to memorize rules.

Natives say the right thing at the right time, although they typically can’t tell you the name of the grammar points they use, because they’ve experienced so many examples of how other natives express themselves in various situations. So instead of trying to memorize rules or translations, pay attention to what people say in different situations. The more examples you get, the more confident and fluent you will become, even if you don’t say a word! Then, when you’re confident you understand something really well, the right words will flow automatically in your conversations!

You Need To Study Vocabulary

Like the myth above grammar that we just covered, you likely won’t become a fluent speaker by trying to memorize words, because this method doesn’t help you understand vocabulary better. It also doesn’t prepare you to understand natives who might not pronounce things clearly. So if you want to develop proper pronunciation and fluency, pay attention to what natives say in different contexts. Get examples until you feel you really understand something. Confident speech is the RESULT of this practice! 

You Need To Live In An English-Speaking Country

Another big misconception is that you need to physically immerse yourself in the English language to develop your fluency. Although, this is easy to disprove since many English learners live in English-speaking countries for years and never become confident speakers.

Instead, as you’ve seen, you can develop your fluency ANYWHERE, all on your own, simply by understanding English better. The key is exposure to native ENGLISH, rather than needing native English SPEAKERS. So, again, get as much exposure as you can, and you will improve quickly, like a native child.

If A Native Won’t Do It, You Shouldn’t Do It Either!

Overall, you should approach speaking by considering what natives do. If a native doesn’t do something to learn, you shouldn’t either. Natives don’t learn through translations, for example. Instead, they see how others use vocabulary in different situations. As they understand these uses well, all in English, they become able to say things fluently.

The same is true for learning grammar, pronunciation and anything else. The more YOU learn like a native, the faster you become a confident English speaker!

How You Learn Is How You Speak

When it comes to sounding like a native, and speaking like one, how you learn is how you speak. If you learn like a student, you will speak like a student. But if you learn like a native, you will sound like a native, and naturally develop fluency in English like a native.

This is possible because no one is BORN native. You only BECOME native by learning English in English. So, you can do this, too!

Sounding like a native requires understanding through contextual learning. Once you understand the right thing to say, you’ll reply accordingly, without translating or hesitating. Sounds great, right?

Learning how to speak like a native is faster and easier than you might think. In fact, you can start speaking better today with Fluent For Life, our program that automatically destroys the doubts that stop you from expressing yourself. To speak better today, click on the link below!

Build your fluency and become fluent and confident in English with our Fluent For Life program.