Going beyond average language competence

[Aisha Sultan]

Hello language learners! 

I am a polyglot from my early childhood, so speaking and listening to several languages have been with me throughout a long period. Nevertheless, no matter how long I am studying English, there are myriads of unknown words, expressions, idioms and ... slang! I blame my imperfect English competence on the artificial language immersion - I have never been abroad, I don't have a native English speaking partner, I don't encounter spoken lively English on everyday basis and I am not forced to use it at all. So, what do you think,guys,  is it possible to become an eloquent speaker implementing home resources in a more intensive way, or is it obligatory to dive into natural ambience?

Looking forward to your answers!

[linguaholic]

2 hours ago, Aisha Sultan said:

Hello language learners! 

I am a polyglot from my early childhood, so speaking and listening to several languages have been with me throughout a long period. Nevertheless, no matter how long I am studying English, there are myriads of unknown words, expressions, idioms and ... slang! I blame my imperfect English competence on the artificial language immersion - I have never been abroad, I don't have a native English speaking partner, I don't encounter spoken lively English on everyday basis and I am not forced to use it at all. So, what do you think,guys,  is it possible to become an eloquent speaker implementing home resources in a more intensive way, or is it obligatory to dive into natural ambience?

Looking forward to your answers!

Hey Aisha

While I do think that Immersion is almost always the most effective method to learn a language, I still do think that reaching proficiency in a foreign language is possible even without (complete) immersion. Have you thought about finding an English language buddy (on the Internet) and talk with him/her over Skype or Facebook or so? I think that would be great for you. However, it seems that your English is already awesome! But written English and oral English are not exactly the same thing. And speaking usually helps a lot and leads to quick results.

Best wishes from Beijing, 

Lingua

[Aisha Sultan]

Thank you! Yes, I agree that talking to a native speaker would be a big contribution to my knowledge, but the problem is that I can't find a suitable person who shares my interests and values, with whom I can really become friends and not force each other to discuss a particular topic  But I'm not giving up

[Bekhruza]

Hello Aisha! You have faced with a common problem of every language learner. Nevertheless judging by your writing abilities, your situation is not as incondite as you defined in your topic. But talking about your other abilities and skills, here are some advice for you.
Try to use English when you’re thinking about your day, or when you’re trying to decide what food to order. Even try to use an English to English dictionary to look up words. That way you never have to use your native language and translate words. You’ll notice that when you think in English, it’s easier for you to speak in English.

Whenever you’re at home (or alone somewhere else) you can practice your English with your favorite person: yourself.

 

If you’re already thinking in English, try speaking your thoughts out loud. Read out loud, too. Practice is practice, and even if you don’t have anyone to correct your mistakes, just the act of speaking out loud will help you become more comfortable speaking English.

Whenever you can, take a few minutes out of your day to stand in front of the mirror and speak. Choose a topic, set a timer for 2 or 3 minutes and just talk.

 

The point of this exercise is to watch your mouth, face and body language as you speak. It also makes you feel like you’re talking to someone, so you can pretend you’re having a discussion with a study buddy.

 

Talk for the full 2 or 3 minutes. Don’t stop! If you get stuck on a word you don’t know, try expressing your idea in a different way. You can always look up how to say that word after the 2-3 minutes end. This will definitely help you find out what kinds of words or sentences you have trouble with.
I hope the tips that are used and tested by myself will definitely help to improve your language.

 

[Aisha Sultan]

10 hours ago, Bekhruza said:

Hello Aisha! You have faced with a common problem of every language learner. Nevertheless judging by your writing abilities, your situation is not as incondite as you defined in your topic. But talking about your other abilities and skills, here are some advice for you.
Try to use English when you’re thinking about your day, or when you’re trying to decide what food to order. Even try to use an English to English dictionary to look up words. That way you never have to use your native language and translate words. You’ll notice that when you think in English, it’s easier for you to speak in English.

Whenever you’re at home (or alone somewhere else) you can practice your English with your favorite person: yourself.

 

If you’re already thinking in English, try speaking your thoughts out loud. Read out loud, too. Practice is practice, and even if you don’t have anyone to correct your mistakes, just the act of speaking out loud will help you become more comfortable speaking English.

Whenever you can, take a few minutes out of your day to stand in front of the mirror and speak. Choose a topic, set a timer for 2 or 3 minutes and just talk.

 

The point of this exercise is to watch your mouth, face and body language as you speak. It also makes you feel like you’re talking to someone, so you can pretend you’re having a discussion with a study buddy.

 

Talk for the full 2 or 3 minutes. Don’t stop! If you get stuck on a word you don’t know, try expressing your idea in a different way. You can always look up how to say that word after the 2-3 minutes end. This will definitely help you find out what kinds of words or sentences you have trouble with.
I hope the tips that are used and tested by myself will definitely help to improve your language.

 

Absolutely! Thank you! Yes, I hope that they will come in handy

[nkaretnikov]

On 6/20/2018 at 10:11 PM, Bekhruza said:

Try to use English when you’re thinking about your day, or when you’re trying to decide what food to order. Even try to use an English to English dictionary to look up words. 

 

 

I liked that advice the most! That technique engages your cognitive abilities to remember the idea of the word, not just a match in your native language.

At some point I even tried backward approach - when struggling to remember or explaining a word's meaning in my native language I first looked it up in English to English dictionary

[Alina K]

Natural ambience is often overestimated. You can live in a country and have absolutely 0% interest to its language. There are thousands of Russians living in Thailand in their own little bubble and nobody even came up with the bright idea of learning Thai.

However, you can easily create Immersion environment at home if you reinforce the use of your target language at every opportunity. All that these unfamiliar expressions signify is just a little gap in your vocabulary. So just read more in English instead of using resources in any other language. And your problem with slang can be solved with one season of Misfits

Also. It's completely fine to not understand something. An average native English speaker needs 10 years to learn vocabulary on an "adult" level. If you're polyglot, you need 10*x years (x here is the number of languages) to acquire each on the native speaker level. So just relax, nobody here is perfect