Spoken English

[Silver Knight]

So guys, there's a chance i'll be going to an excursion to Italy, France and Spain (it all depends if my father gets fired or not... )

 

Now, i think it's time to address the problem i've been postponing for quite some time... I think that my English skills are reasonably high, at least in a written form, but my spoken English is horrid... My accent, pitch and generally speaking is pretty bad... I'm not used to communicating with people using English, so there's that, and it's also my second language...

 

So, is there any site i can use for speaking, and therefor learning to speak English better, with other english speakers? I'd prefer if it were with native speakers (Australians, Brits or American)

 

 

Thanks in advance

[NeatSquidYT]

Join Teamspeak servers, so you can game and develop your English skills simultaneously.

[Fulgrim]

Game online with some English guys. Not only will you have some banter, you'll pick up some good words/insults and have some fun too.

[TheSLSAMG]

Join Teamspeak servers, so you can game and develop your English skills simultaneously.

Furthering this point, come over to the Unofficial LinusSchnitzelTips server, teamschnitzel.ltt-unofficial.com

[ComradeHX]

If you go to Italy/France/Spain, chances are they probably do not speak English any better than you do.

 

I recommend watching some TV shows, like Stargate SG-1.

[Fate]

Just find people to talk to/talk to team mates from games like CS:GO/WoW/Arma3/etc. 

[Silver Knight]

Join Teamspeak servers, so you can game and develop your English skills simultaneously.

 

Game online with some English guys. Not only will you have some banter, you'll pick up some good words/insults and have some fun too.

 

Furthering this point, come over to the Unofficial LinusSchnitzelTips server, teamschnitzel.ltt-unofficial.com

 

Just find people to talk to/talk to team mates from games like CS:GO/WoW/Arma3/etc. 

The problem is i'm still using my shitty laptop... Because of my father's work problems, i'll have to wait till New Year for a new PC (i seriously am starting to hate bureaucracy (he works for the state...)), but when i get it, i'll be glad to game with you peeps

 

 

If you go to Italy/France/Spain, chances are they probably do not speak English any better than you do.

 

I recommend watching some TV shows, like Stargate SG-1.

 

Yeah, but i'm the guy with the best vocabulary in class (noobs ), and i have a feeling that some of them will rely on me for stuff like ordering, and for that i'd like to have a fluid conversational skills

 

As for Stargate, watched it, all series'es and i absolutely loved them (still can't get it why they cancelled something with so much potential like SGU... I guess there just isn't enough Science fiction fans out there...), so high five man :)

[Fulgrim]

Try watching Red Dwarf, it should make you chuckle a bit as well.

[Fate]

Like others have suggested, watching tv series/movies in English will be good practice. It may be really annoying at first, but it will definitely help you understand English better. I'm currently trying to learn Spanish and it is really aggravating trying to watch movies/listen to music in Spanish because I can hardly understand them, but it helps. 

[Zeke]

Watch "Zero Punctuation" until you understand every single word he says

[Silver Knight]

Like others have suggested, watching tv series/movies in English will be good practice. It may be really annoying at first, but it will definitely help you understand English better. I'm currently trying to learn Spanish and it is really aggravating trying to watch movies/listen to music in Spanish because I can hardly understand them, but it helps. 

Actually, i'm already watching everything in English I don't use subtitles I only have trouble speaking... I want my speaking to be fluid, so i want to practice with other people (skype, sites where you can do this...)

 

I also don't mind helping people with their Serbian (but i can't imagine anybody learning this language...)...

 

Do you know of any of those sites

[Yoinkerman]

Just wave your arms around a lot and you'll be fine

[Silver Knight]

Just wave your arms around a lot and you'll be fine

Yeah, and when i try to explain something to some French woman, and her husband comes and starts hitting me with a baguette, i'll send you the bills for my doctor

 

 

But seriously, when i went to Greece, i had trouble communicating because most people working on street shops (?) didn't know english... The ones working in normal shops (like Starbucks), knew it... And like i said, i've been postponing this problem for quite some time... I also want to better my spoken english, so i could freely wield it whenever i want

[TheMail]

Just talk with as many people as you can in English, try and isolate the sounds that make your accent distinguishable, and work on those sounds individually.

 

I know the feels of having a super heavy accent, most people don't understand my English because of my Afrikaans accent

[Trik'Stari]

Join Teamspeak servers, so you can game and develop your English skills simultaneously.

Took the words right out of my mouth boy I tell you what...

 

I'd just immerse yourself in the language, watch english language TV shows, etc. Practice on your own. The best thing I've found when conversing with people who have trouble speaking english is to get them to just speak a little slower than they normally, and focus on the enunciation of each word.

[Shroomster]

Yeah, and when i try to explain something to some French woman, and her husband comes and starts hitting me with a baguette, i'll send you the bills for my doctor

 

 

But seriously, when i went to Greece, i had trouble communicating because most people working on street shops (?) didn't know english... The ones working in normal shops (like Starbucks), knew it... And like i said, i've been postponing this problem for quite some time... I also want to better my spoken english, so i could freely wield it whenever i want

How is your english speaking bad? Like accent wise?

[NeatSquidYT]

Took the words right out of my mouth boy I tell you what...

 

I'd just immerse yourself in the language, watch english language TV shows, etc. Practice on your own. The best thing I've found when conversing with people who have trouble speaking english is to get them to just speak a little slower than they normally, and focus on the enunciation of each word.

Yup.

[Silver Knight]

Just talk with as many people as you can in English, try and isolate the sounds that make your accent distinguishable, and work on those sounds individually.

 

I know the feels of having a super heavy accent, most people don't understand my English because of my Afrikaans accent

The problem is that not a lot of my friends know english fluently enough... I have one friend with whom i used to talk in English, but we went to different high-school so we kinda lost contact... And a lot of my friends, who know English, kinda make fun of me (idiot, when they don't have even 50% of my knowledge and vocabulary...)

 

 

Took the words right out of my mouth boy I tell you what...

 

I'd just immerse yourself in the language, watch english language TV shows, etc. Practice on your own. The best thing I've found when conversing with people who have trouble speaking english is to get them to just speak a little slower than they normally, and focus on the enunciation of each word.

Actually, most of my everyday is spend immersed in English I watch movies in English, mostly read books in English (unless it's something for school), and in 98% i use English wikipedia... And a lot of my imaginative process is in English

 

I do think that speaking slower will help, because i have a feeling that i unconsciously speak fast... I'll try speaking slower

 

 

How is your english speaking bad? Like accent wise?

I'd say that my accent is bad, but understandable... I think i don't have fluidity, and i also don't know how to say certain words... I also occasionally have a block when speaking English with foreigners...

 

 

Yup.

Like i said, i'm using a shitty laptop (specs are in my profile), so teamspeak is currently impossible... 

[Pesmerga]

If you go to Italy/France/Spain, chances are they probably do not speak English any better than you do.

 

 

This, especially in the south of Italy

[The_Strict_Nein]

One of the main problems with American and British spoken English is the huge amount of colloquealisms and idioms that we use, rather than standard phrases.

Typically speaking, those speaking english as a foreign language don't use them, so you'll have a slightly easier time.

Also, another problem with learning english is the flexability of the language. Other languages have rules as to how a scentence is structured. English has virtually no rules to make sense

[Trik'Stari]

One of the main problems with American and British spoken English is the huge amount of colloquealisms and idioms that we use, rather than standard phrases.

Typically speaking, those speaking english as a foreign language don't use them, so you'll have a slightly easier time.

Also, another problem with learning english is the flexability of the language. Other languages have rules as to how a scentence is structured. English has virtually no rules to make sense

I remember quite a lot in english class when I was in high school about sentence structure, I remember it was there, but I don't remember what it was. Other languages do have colloquealisms as well. My sister took french for a long time in high school and she had a horrible time trying to speak it over in france because everyone used slang instead of the "propper" french that she was taught.

[Silver Knight]

This, especially in the south of Italy

I'm pretty sure we won't be going to South Italy We'll be going to North Italy (I think that we'll go to Verone and Venice)

 

 

One of the main problems with American and British spoken English is the huge amount of colloquealisms and idioms that we use, rather than standard phrases.

Typically speaking, those speaking english as a foreign language don't use them, so you'll have a slightly easier time.

Also, another problem with learning english is the flexability of the language. Other languages have rules as to how a scentence is structured. English has virtually no rules to make sense

Like i said, outside of all of that, i just want to better my spoken english, a problem i've been postponing... I'm 100% sure that i could talk with a native speaker, but i just want to get better, and it won't hurt if i get better before we go to that excursion

[Silver Knight]

I remember quite a lot in english class when I was in high school about sentence structure, I remember it was there, but I don't remember what it was. Other languages do have colloquealisms as well. My sister took french for a long time in high school and she had a horrible time trying to speak it over in france because everyone used slang instead of the "propper" french that she was taught.

I know about that... I'm currently learning japanese, and i'm learning the proper, formal Japanese, and our teacher said multiple times that we should be wary of informal speech... 

 

As for English sentence structure, it's there... It's in every language, but since most western languages have similar structures, it's easier to learn them than eastern (for ex. i had trouble with Japanese at start because the verb is always at the end of the sentence, and generally, their structure is very different than Serbian, English or French (learned it for 4 years, learned almost nothing... a language i never liked...)... it was quite troublesome at first (and it, sometimes, still is)...)

[Misanthrope]

Here is the deal in my experience through the years: As long as your grammar is good, a thick accent really doesn't matters to anyone but a small minority that consists of:

 

1) Rednecks

 

2) Pissed off people calling customer support

 

3) Both combined (in which case brace yourself)

 

I used to think I had way too much of an accent to be understood by anybody but when visiting Canada I had exactly this many problems communicating with people in my entire 4 month visit: 0. The friends I made there in fact couldn't believe I was completely self-taught in English. So I say don't go by a few negative comments, people who wanna make an effort and care about what you're saying will get used to your accent in 1 or 2 seconds.

 

If you don't trust me you can verify yourself: I have youtube channels with people with British accents, swedish accents, german accents and indian accents and I can understand every one of them with 0 issues. Only annoying shitheads living in sister-fucker USA will ever complain. 

[Misanthrope]

I know about that... I'm currently learning japanese, and i'm learning the proper, formal Japanese, and our teacher said multiple times that we should be wary of informal speech... 

 

As for English sentence structure, it's there... It's in every language, but since most western languages have similar structures, it's easier to learn them than eastern (for ex. i had trouble with Japanese at start because the verb is always at the end of the sentence, and generally, their structure is very different than Serbian, English or French (learned it for 4 years, learned almost nothing... a language i never liked...)... it was quite troublesome at first (and it, sometimes, still is)...)

 

Actually while not as radically different as Japanese, Spanish has mostly inverted grammar vs English too so it takes some time to adjust since you really can't translate on the fly you have to think in English grammar or Spanish grammar or otherwise have a lot of practice.