Tips to increase fluency in English

Whether we speak English as a Second Language or as a First Language, we are all concerned with becoming more fluent. Fluency is the ability to speak without hesitation, without “ums” and “errs” and filler words.

Here are a couple of activities that will help you to become more fluent:

Get books on tape from the library. Read and listen to the tape at the same time.

The Jar Game: Write a number of questions on small pieces of paper and put them in a bowl or jar. Whenever you have a few spare minutes, pick one out at random and answer it. Repeat it until it is smooth. Check the grammar with a native speaker.

For questions to use in the Jar Game, get a book out of the library on the most common interview questions or use questions that someone might ask you at a party. Try to keep the answers to one or two minutes.

Go to the CBC website. There is a feature called “This I believe” There are 52 essays that you can read and listen to at the same time. Then try giving the same speech by speaking a fraction of a second behind the speaker
http://www.cbc.ca/thisibelieve/essays.html