How to improve speaking skills in English

If you're struggling to improve your speaking skills for the CELPIP, or just in general, then you need to listen to today's mini episode, where I will answer one of the most common questions that comes my way via email. I Don't get piles of email from my listeners yet But I do get messages frequently from my website's contact form and this question comes up on Pretty much a frequent basis. So I thought I'd answer it right here The question goes like this I have my CELPIP exam in a week or two. How can I increase my speaking score? I got a 6 last time. I need a 9. Now this question is a bit extreme, but the basic theme is the same for many of the questions that come my way. My CELPIP exam is coming soon, I need a higher score than what I already have, what can I do to get it? I've got good news and I've got bad news for you. If that's a question that is on your mind today. So if it is on your mind. Please sit back and relax and enjoy today's episode as I try my best to answer one of the most commonly asked questions that come my way. Well, hello there and welcome to the Speak English Fearlessly podcast. This is the podcast for motivated English learners who want to speak English fearlessly. And learn practical tips and strategies to conquer the CELPIP exam. I also love to feature encouraging interviews with regular people. People just like you, who are working towards becoming fluent in English, so we can learn from their experiences together. Who am I? My name is Aaron Nelson, and I've been an English teacher for over 17 years, and I now help students prepare for the CELPIP exam through online classes. So, I mentioned that there is good news and bad news in the introduction. So, first, let's get that bad news out of the way, and maybe you already know what I'm going to say. If your current score on the CELPIP is low, like a 5 or a 6, that is telling you something about your current English level. At a 5 or a 6, your level of English is around an intermediate level. Now, if your goal is to achieve a score of 9, which is a very common score that people need for their immigration process, then your level of English needs to be a strong upper intermediate level. To put that in perspective with time, according to a research study done by Cambridge University, and I will have a link to that in my show notes, it takes a motivated adult. Approximately 180 hours, up to 260 hours of study to move from a lower intermediate to an upper intermediate level of English. I'm going to repeat that again because it's really important. It takes a motivated adult approximately Between 180 hours and 260 hours of study to move from a lower intermediate to an upper intermediate level of English. That's a long time, isn't it? Consider this. If your average focus contact time in English, where you're actively working on learning it, is just three hours a week, meaning you're taking two one and a half hour classes each week and that's all of your English contact where you're focused on trying to learn the language, then it's going to take you, get ready for this, 86 weeks or about a year and a half. to move up from a lower intermediate to an upper intermediate, or for you to go from that 6 on the CELPIP score up to maybe a 9, a year and a half. So yeah, like I said before, that's a long time, isn't it? Now results for sure will vary for each person, But you should take this pretty seriously. That same study that I mentioned also points out that the higher you go with your language skills, The longer it takes to break into the next level. But something cool begins to happen. The more your skills develop, The less guided help you need and the more you need to take advantage of the English happening all around you like through movies or TV or the radio or conversations going on all around you in English every single day. Being able to take advantage of that on a more regular basis helps to multiply what you are learning. if you're taking advantage of it. So what does that all mean for your question today? If that's the question that you've been asking, can I go from a six to a nine in a really short period of time? Is it possible to go from a six to a nine in just a few weeks? Well, the answer is, it depends, but likely no. The it depends part means you need to already have a strong upper intermediate level of English in order to achieve a 9 or more on the exam. You can't just magically pull your score up by studying for the CELPIP exam harder. Remember. The CELPIP measures your current level of English. If you want your score to go higher, you need to focus on building your fluency skills in general, which for most people, takes quite a long time. As I just mentioned, it can take over a year to move from one level up to another one. So, if your score was low, but you know you already have an upper intermediate level of English, then maybe you just had a bad day when you wrote the exam. That happens to all of us. Taking some time to practice for the exam will for sure help you be ready for the next one. And if you focus, you might be able to be ready for another attempt in a few weeks. But like I said, only if your current level of English is strong enough already can you expect to move from a 6 to a 9 in just that short space of time. But what can you do if your English level isn't a strong upper intermediate and you are down, you know, maybe, maybe you are at a lower intermediate or at a beginner level of English. For most people who asked me this question This is the situation that they find themselves in their language level isn't strong enough yet You want a higher score, and you need a higher score, but you're still at a lower level of English than what you need to be in order to achieve the results that you need on the CELPIP exam. So what can you do? Number one, focus on making English a part of your day to-day as much as you possibly can. English should not be something that you isolate. It should be something that you are doing day in and day out as much as you can. The second thing that you need to be doing is building relationships with native English speakers. Don't isolate from them. I know it can be scary, I know it can be intimidating to be trying to use the limited English you might have with someone who is a fluent native speaker. But those kinds of interactions are what will help you to build your skills.. It will help you to build your confidence, it will help you to be learning new vocabulary, and it will give you that vital practice that you need. In short, if I were to summarize those two points, you need to increase your regular contact with English. Both in consuming it and producing it. Regular, consistent contact with English where you are consuming it and producing it in meaningful ways is the most important daily thing that you can be doing. And by consuming it, I mean listening to it, reading it, listening to it, and reading it. And it can be doing things that you enjoy. You don't need to be increasing your contact with English in a painful way. It doesn't have to be, you know, like sitting in a classroom for nine hours during the day. on a day by day basis in order for your English level to begin improving. No, you can be doing things that you actually enjoy doing, like listening to your favorite songs in English, to listening to radio programs in English, to be listening to TV shows. Uh, and movies, and engaging in conversations with friends, all of those things, if you're doing it in English, are helpful for you. If you're reading, for example, if you like to read, if reading is your thing, are you reading an English book right now? Are you working on a novel? Or, uh, a nonfiction book. Do you have something that you are reading on a daily basis that will help you to be building your vocabulary and increasing your contact time with English and writing? I mean, that's on the producing side of it, isn't it? We need to be. Actively using the language that we have, be it a little bit or a lot of English, like our current level, even if it's just a little bit, we should be trying to use what we have either in writing emails or, or speaking with somebody that's on the producing side. of English. The consuming it is reading it and listening to it. Producing it is speaking and writing it. You need to be doing all of those things consistently on a day to day basis. The worst thing that you can be doing is waiting for English to happen to you. Waiting for English class, for example, to be your only space where you practice. And then everything else that you do in the rest of the week is in your first language. That is a terrible thing for you to be doing. Or, how about this one? Surrounding yourself with people who only speak your first language. Oh man. Both of those practices are common. I know people who do this. But those two things, those two things totally work against you. So don't do it. If you don't care about seeing your English skills grow, then go ahead and just wait for your English class to practice your English. And go ahead and surround yourself with people who you can speak with easily in your first language. That is the best way to practice. That you can slow your English development down. But if you're serious about building your skills, then you need to do the opposite of that. You need to be increasing your contact time with English as much as you can. Don't be waiting for the, for those English classes to be practicing your English. You can be using English day in and day out, especially if you already live in Canada. English is happening all around you. And I know it's scary. I know it's scary. I'm not trying to, to gloss over the fact that using your English when it's not your first language is a intimidating and scary thing to do. But my friend, My friend, you need to do it. You need to push yourself to do it each day, because the more you do, you will see that your skills will improve. It won't be like a light switch where it just suddenly rockets up. But little by little, if you make those little 1 percent improvements day in and day out, you're going to see those skills improve. That is what you can be doing to improve your speaking skills, to be improving your language skills so that you can go from a six to a nine on the CELPIP exam. But like I said before, if you want Your current level of English is really low if you're currently at a lower intermediate level of English, for example, and that's not really low. You've been working on your English for a while, if that is your current level of English, and congratulations on achieving that level. But if your goal is to achieve that nine on the CELPIP exam, and you are currently at a six, if that is your current level of English, a lower intermediate level of English, then you need to prepare yourself. to not be able to get that nine in just a couple of weeks of study. It's just not going to happen. You need to be investing in developing your English skills for, well, quite a while, probably close to a year. And I'm not saying that to discourage you. I'm not saying that to destroy your hopes. I'm telling you that because I want you to have an honest, and realistic expectation of what you can accomplish. But honestly, if you devote hard focus practice over the next year, you will be able to achieve that nine. So don't give up, you can do this. I hope that this helps you. I hope that this answers that question. If this is a question that you've been wondering about and I just want to say thank you for listening. If you've been listening all the way through today's episode and I will see you again next Tuesday for the Speak English Fearlessly podcast. Have a great week. Bye bye.