English speaking difficulty #1 – Listening

Remember that when you’re having a conversation, you’re only talking about 50% the time –
the other 50% is spent listening to the other person speak. If you don’t understand what the
other person is saying, it’s difficult to reply.

Here are two simple solutions to this problem:

First, practice some listening EVERY DAY. All you need is 10-15 minutes per day to
develop your listening skills. You can get free English podcasts on websites like
ESLpod.com and listen to them while driving, taking public transportation, exercising, or
doing housework.

Next, memorize these phrases that you can use in conversation when you don’t understand
something:

 I beg your pardon?

 I’m sorry, I didn’t understand that.
 Could you repeat that, please?
 Could you say that again, please?

English Speaking Difficulty #2 – Vocabulary

Sometimes when you’re speaking English, you have a sentence in mind, but you’re missing
two or three important vocabulary words – and then it becomes difficult to say what you’re
thinking.

The solution? Learn more vocabulary words! But there’s a good way and a not-so-good way
to learn new words. The not-so-good way is to read lists of words and definitions and try to
memorize them.

A good way is to learn words in “families.” For example, imagine you’re in an airport. Do
you know the words for everything you see? (luggage, check-in desk, travel agency, flight
attendant, boarding pass) If not, look for the words you don’t know in a dictionary. Now
think about what kind of conversations you might have in an airport. How would you ask for
help if you can’t find the gate? What would you say if you missed your flight? How about
going through immigration?

Create conversations and write them down in your vocabulary notebook. This will help you
learn useful words that are all related to each other, so the next time you’re in an airport, you
won’t have problems with missing vocabulary.

English Speaking Difficulty #3 – Pronunciation

English words can be difficult to pronounce – and when speaking English, you have to
consider not only the pronunciation of the individual words, but also the connection between
the words in the sentence. There’s also the “rhythm” and intonation of the sentence to
consider – and sometimes your mouth gets confused!
There are two things that can help you improve your English pronunciation. One way is to
take a pronunciation course. Another way to improve your pronunciation is to keep practicing
your listening. The more you listen to English, the more your pronunciation will naturally get
closer and closer to native pronunciation.

A good way to practice is to get an audio sample with transcript. Listen to one or two
sentences (while reading the transcript), then pause the audio and try to repeat the sentences
exactly as the person said them. Practicing pronunciation like this will help you improve very
fast.

English Speaking Difficulty #4 – Confidence

If you feel nervous and are afraid of making a mistake while speaking English, then your
problem is confidence. There are three things that can help increase your confidence:

First, don’t worry too much about grammar! Just do your best to communicate, and you’ll
often be successful even if you do make a small grammar mistake. Also, remember that the
grammar of spoken English is often more “flexible” than the grammar of written English.

Second, keep a positive attitude. Think of yourself as an English speaker (because you are!)
and focus on celebrating what you know, not being frustrated about what you don’t know.

Third, practice speaking English as much as possible in low-pressure situations. Here are two
examples of low-pressure situations: Talk to yourself! It might feel ridiculous, but it really
helps! Talk to your teacher and your friends in English class. If you make a mistake, they can
correct you. It’s extremely important to practice in low-pressure situations as much as
possible to build your confidence so that you will be comfortable speaking English in a more
“high-pressure” situation (like a teleconference, presentation, or job interview).

speaking is the ability to pronounce articulation sounds or words to express, express or convey
thoughts, ideas, and feelings.

berbicara adalah kemampuan mengucapkan bunyi - bunyi artikulasi atau kata -kata untuk
mengekspresikan, menyatakan atau menyampaikan pikiran, gagasan, dan perasaan.

berbicara merupakan instrumen yang mengungkapkan kepada penyimak hampir - hampir secara
langsung apakah sang pembicara memahami atau tidak, baik bahan pembicaraannya maupun para
penyimaknya; apakah dia bersifat tenang serta dapat menyesuaikan diri atau tidak, pada saat dia
mengkomunikasikan gagasan - gagasannya; dan apakah dia waspada serta antusias atau tidak.
speaking is an instrument that reveals to the listening almost directly whether the speaker
understands or not, both the subject and the listener; whether he is calm and adaptable or not, as
he communicates his ideas; and whether he is alert and enthusiastic or not.

communication is a series of communication actions or speech acts that are used systematically to
solve or achieve certain purposes.

komunikasi adalah serangkaian perbuatan komunikasi atau speech acts yang dipergunakan secara
sistematis untuk menyelesaikan atau mencapai maksud - maksud tertentu.

speaking is a language skill that develops in a child's life, which is preceded only by listening skills,
and at that time the ability to speak or say is learned.

berbicara adalah suatu keterampilan berbahasa yang berkembang pada kehidupan anak, yang hanya
didahului oleh keterampilan menyimak, dan pada masa tersebutlah kemampuan berbicara atau
berujar dipelajari.