Fluency Using "Shadow Practice"& “Timed Pair Practice"

We learned how to improve our pronunciation, how to increase our vocabulary.

Now it's time to work on speaking more fluently. There are two techniques I use with my students. One is called "shadow practice", the other is "timed pair practice".

Technique Number One: Fluency Using "Shadow Practice"

However, be sure to NOT use your voice. You should be listening the whole time, so that you can hear exactly how words and sentences are being said. While you are training your ear, you are also training your muscles! It's important, especially at first, to NOT worry about the meaning of what you hear. At first, you should concentrate on moving your mouth as quickly and as smoothly as a native speaker. You should FEEL the rhythm of the language, FEEL the movements flowing naturally. Remember, the word "fluent" comes from the word "flow". You want English to FLOW from your mouth.

The main goal of this technique is to make the muscles of your mouth and face move faster. What you do is listen to any English you can, preferably fast and spoken by a native speaker. You can watch TV, listen to a song, use a DVD, VCD or cassette, whatever you have available. As you listen to somebody speaking English, you move your mouth, lips and tongue as if you were speaking. You become, in a sense, the speakers "shadow", following his or her speech pattern, rhythm, and intonation.

Now, it's important to be patient with this technique. You will not improve in just a day or two. You need to do it at least a few times a week. Your improvement, for the most part will be "subconscious", which means that you won't be aware of how much you are learning, but in a short time, the change will be dramatic! Please trust me when I tell you that this is one of the best techniques you could ever use.

  

Technique Number Two: Speak English Fluently with "Timed Pair Practice"

I use this second technique almost every week with my students. As they practice together with their classmates, I can watch them speaking faster and faster, gaining more and more confidence.

Here is a simple example of how to help each other speak faster.

Ask the following ten questions to your friend. He or she must answer with a full sentence. For example, if you ask, "Are you Chinese?” your friend should say "Yes, I am", not only "Yes". Don't let your friend see the questions as you read them. He or she should be listening to English, which means you must practice speaking clearly! 

Use your watch to see how long it takes to answer all ten. It should take less than three minutes to ask and answer all ten questions. Ready? GO!

This technique requires the help of a friend.

1) Do you like to eat pizza?
2) Can you play a musical instrument? 
3) Will you eat dinner in a restaurant this evening? 
4) Have you ever been to Himalayas? 
5) Are you interested in tennis? 
6) What foods do you like to eat most? 
7) Where would you like to visit in China? 
8) Who is your favorite singer? 
9) When is your birthday? 
10) What kind of music do you like?

After you finish, your partner can ask you the same questions, however, he or she should change the order. 

When you've mastered these ten questions, you can move on to more complex questions. You can get questions from any textbook, or you can make up your own questions based on a reading text. With more difficult questions, you will need more time, so be patient with yourself. Don't worry if you take more than a minute or two. The main thing is to improve your time as you practice. 

Happy learning!!

Reference: Teacher Joe