{"id":179923,"date":"2021-06-18T18:16:53","date_gmt":"2021-06-18T22:16:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/learn\/speak-confident-english\/"},"modified":"2025-01-30T04:17:13","modified_gmt":"2025-01-30T09:17:13","slug":"speak-confident-english","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/english\/speak-confident-english\/","title":{"rendered":"10 Tips to Speak Confident English and Conquer Your Language Fears"},"content":{"rendered":"

One wrong step and you\u2019ll fall to your doom. That\u2019s what it\u2019s like to be on a tightrope.<\/span><\/p>\n

With English too, you might say every word carefully because you\u2019re scared of making a mistake. And you might dread coming up blank when you can\u2019t remember the right word–with everyone looking at you.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The moment that you slip, you don\u2019t know what to say anymore. You might even be tempted to drop it all in the moment and go back to a language that you\u2019re much more comfortable with.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The good thing is, it\u2019s a lot <\/span>safer<\/span><\/i> to speak in English than being on a tightrope, thousands of miles high above the ground. But actually, being able to speak confident English is possible. And it\u2019s not just possible, but it\u2019s inevitable if you follow the right steps.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Let\u2019s face it: picking up a language as an adult is a challenge. But that doesn\u2019t mean that your English has to be perfect for you to be confident in it. Confidence can be boiled down to hours and hours of practice along with being able to fall down repeatedly–and then picking yourself back up and letting yourself enjoy the process.<\/span><\/p>\n

In this post, we\u2019ve gathered our <\/span>most actionable tips for speaking English confidently<\/b>. There are no shortcuts, but you\u2019ll be proud of yourself once you test these out and see how much progress you\u2019re making:<\/span><\/p>\n

1. Read, listen, and watch to your heart\u2019s content<\/b><\/h3>\n

Are you a movie buff? Or maybe you\u2019re more into fiction books, or cooking shows, or binge-worthy podcasts while working out. Whatever it is, there\u2019s probably a form of media that you\u2019re happy to consume for hours \u2013 and that should be part of your language learning plan.<\/span><\/p>\n

To speak English confidently, you\u2019ll need to have a secure foundation in<\/span> understanding the language. Aside from having English conversations, it\u2019s also important to balance this out with tons of input \u2013 specifically <\/span>comprehensible input<\/b><\/a>, where you understand the general message even though you might know every single word in it.<\/span><\/p>\n

The more comprehensible input that you take in, the more your brain will intuitively understand the language. Eventually, you might even surprise yourself by blurting out sentences in correct English without thinking too hard about it.<\/span><\/p>\n

Textbooks can only take you so far, so the key to getting yourself addicted to learning is by <\/span>choosing comprehensible input that you like<\/b>. Yes, you have the permission to go all out on what you love watching, reading, or listening to \u2013 the catch is it has to be in English.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

2. Imitate how native English speakers talk<\/b><\/h3>\n

Here\u2019s a fun tip: instead of watching English videos passively, go one step further and <\/span>try to imitate how the people in the video talk<\/b>. When a sentence sounds complicated, hit pause on the video, then record yourself saying it out loud. You can then compare the difference.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Regardless of your level of English, this is a helpful exercise. You don\u2019t often notice how you sound when you talk, so catching it on recording will help you see where to improve your pronunciation and intonation.<\/span><\/p>\n

Scouting for videos can seem like a wild hunt because you\u2019d want ones that are close to your English level. You\u2019ll have a much easier time with<\/span> FluentU<\/span><\/a>, which takes authentic videos \u2013 like music videos, movie trailers, news, and inspiring talks \u2013 and turns them into personalized language lessons. It has tons of fun clips that you can select by level. The spaced repetition system also allows you to solidify your knowledge and build speaking confidence with ease.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For focusing on single words, you can use an English dictionary app like<\/span> Vocabulary.com<\/span><\/a> or<\/span> Dictionary.com<\/span><\/a>. Each word listed here has a sound clip for the pronunciation.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

3. Practice confident body language<\/b><\/h3>\n

When you imagine someone who\u2019s confident at speaking English, what comes to mind? They can speak smoothly and clearly in English, yes, but they also have the body language to match that. Around other people, they\u2019re smiling and making gestures at the right moment, and they\u2019re making direct eye contact while keeping their voice firm.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Body language can be incredibly underrated when it comes to fluency, but <\/span>how you hold yourself says a lot about how confident you are in the language<\/b>. If you want an accurate look at your body language while speaking in English, take a video of yourself. Are your gestures matching up with your words?<\/span><\/p>\n

4. Change your environment<\/b><\/h3>\n

If your goal is to speak well in English, there\u2019s one piece of advice that\u2019s often brought up: move to an English-speaking country so you won\u2019t have a choice but to talk in English constantly. This isn\u2019t realistic for everyone, though. Besides, English is so common all over the world that you can recreate a similar environment, wherever you are.<\/span><\/p>\n

Start with baby steps. Buy more English books and stash them in your room so you\u2019re more likely to read them. Listen to more English playlists, try to look for dubbed English versions when you watch movies, or even change the language on your phone or computer to English. You can even sign up for online meetups or events where the default language is English.<\/span><\/p>\n

You might still be tripping up sometimes, but one main benefit of this is psychological: you\u2019ll be <\/span>less self-conscious when you\u2019re using English constantly<\/b>. You\u2019ll know it\u2019s working when you catch yourself automatically thinking in English \u2013 no extra translation needed.<\/span><\/p>\n

5. Seek out conversations<\/b><\/h3>\n

You probably already know this, but it\u2019s a hard truth: the only way to become confident in speaking English is to do it more often. Aside from changing your environment, you\u2019ll have to take the plunge and <\/span>actively seek out people that you can talk to in English<\/b>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The first few times are often the hardest. It can be an adjustment to go from structured exercises to keeping pace with a conversation, especially as the topics get more varied and complicated.<\/span><\/p>\n

There are several options for this, each with its own pros and cons:<\/span><\/p>\n