Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[Jenny01]

Dear friends, I am Jenny ,i come from China,.
I like English, But my spoken english and listening english is not good, so i want to imporve it , can you tell me ,what i should do .In China, in my dailylife,We always speak Chinese not English ,so i do not have many chances to practise spoken English.

Dear friends, can you help me?

Many thanks!

Jenny

[lady_M]

hi! from my won experience try to watch any TV programm in English and listen to the radio and of course if you are in the US right now- make friends and hang out with people! that will help you a lot more than any esl courses!!!
good luck!
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" Nullla Dies Sine Linea..."

[Jenny01]

Thank you for your advice!
But i am in China now, and i do not have any foreign friends.
I will try my best to speak English .

[CP]

If you have no one to speak English with, I suggest that you watch television shows and movies and try speaking to the people on the screen. If you have a movie on DVD or tape, you can listen to one person speak, then answer that person, or rephrase what that person said, putting it in other words. Even repeating the dialog is good practice for pronunciation, rhythm, intonation, and grammar.

You can also try speakng with English speakers by telehpone or over the Internet. I used to speak with a friend over the Internet, but I don't know what is available now.

If you don't already have a pen pal or two, find one and write to him or her. Pretend that you are speaking with him or her, not just writing. Say the sentence, then write it down. It doesn't matter what you talk / write about, so long as you practice.

Try to find people who speak English and speak with them. Maybe you can enroll in a class, or maybe you can get a job giving information to foreign visitors at the airport or train station. Whenever I go to China, people come up to me speaking English for practice all the time. (You can spot me as an American from a mile away.)

I have a pen pal whom I met in a Guang Zhou museum more than 10 years ago. She was there with a group. She was brave enough to ask me a few questions, and we have been writing to each other ever since. Maybe you will be brave enough to speak to a stranger, too.
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You live a new life for every new language you speak. -Czech proverb

[alan.es]

This is a site which uses Skype to make contacts and have conversations with students of all languages.

http://www.language-exchanges.org/login.aspx


I haven't tried it but it looks useful.