Learning any new language requires one to master the four language skills – listening, speaking, reading and writing. As a kid, you would have first listened to your parents, grandparents and siblings speaking. It is from such conversations your mind deduces that a particular thing is called so and that words put in a particular order would convey what you intend to communicate.
Now, there are multiple ways to acquire these language skills. Listening and reading are skills that facilitate learning – your mind gets to understand how to use words to communicate. On the other hand, speaking and writing are skills that let you exercise what you have learnt from listening and reading. Are you thinking, ‘I want to improve my English speaking skills’ because you feel you are good at the other three skills? In that case, you have to first understand the fact that not one of these skills can be taught or learnt in isolation. The most effective way to learn any language is by mastering all four skills simultaneously.
Let us look at how you can work on your fluency. The easiest way to improve your speaking skills is to listen to speeches, analyse how something is presented in the text that you are reading, and pay attention to the way someone uses sentences to put an idea forward. In order to be able to have a constant flow of thoughts and communicate it efficiently, you have to muster up the courage to make mistakes and the willingness to be corrected. You should never feel dispirited but be ever ready to try harder.
In that case, how do you improve your writing skills? Reading as much as possible is the key to improving your writing skills. When you read, your mind will keep capturing spellings and analysing meanings and sentence structures even without you consciously trying to do so. With every different article, speech, story, poem, novel or prose piece you read, you will be improving your vocabulary, learning the different ways to present a piece of information as well as familiarising yourself with the various genres and styles of writing.
From the time you are in school, you are introduced to multiple forms of writing. You are taught letter writing, article writing, essay writing, report writing, speech writing, etc. In addition to these, you are also taught how to write a poem, a story, a blog, a dialogue and so on. This will definitely help you understand and learn the different forms; just make sure you use every opportunity to better your writing.
As you work on each of your skills, you are indirectly working on the others as well. Never miss a chance to listen, read, speak or write. Try out fun ways to acquire the four skills. Listen to songs; watch movies and series; read novels, short stories and magazines; write letters, reports, poems, stories, journals and diaries; give a speech, recite a poem, participate in a debate and indulge in fruitful conversations.
