The Top 10 Tactics for Learning to Speak Any Language Fluently

The Top 10 Tactics for Learning to Speak Any Language Fluently The Top 10 Tactics  for Learning to Speak Any Language Fluently You’re doing it wrong!Well, only if youre not focusing the brunt of your attention on speaking your new language.Are you building your  language learning process  upon grammar rules and written exercises?Focused on those little details of the language?Writing out tons of vocabulary lists?Of course those aspects are super important too, especially when it comes to mastering reading, writing and listening. However, you wont get far if youre missing the crucial element of fluency: speech.Theres a common problem for many learners who focus on rules and proper writing, but  who  don’t practice their speech: They cannot understand native speakers and they choke during real conversations. We don’t want that to happen to you.We want you to act completely natural when you start speaking to a native, so you’ll make new friends and so everyone will be impressed. That’s why weve nailed down the 10 best learning tactics that will help you  speak  fluently. The best part is that theyre a pplicable to any language you decide to learn. The Top 10 Tactics  for Learning to Speak Any Language Fluently1. Talk when you read and writeWriting is a really important part of language learning, so you should never neglect it. You need to complete different exercises that challenge you to answer questions, choose the right word that fits into a sentence, write essays and compose email messages.You’ve surely noticed that most lessons in grammar books come with a review and practice section. Instead of solving these parts mechanically, you can take your effectiveness to a whole new level: read out loud.  Read anything that you read or write in your target language out loud.Don’t be afraid to get silly and try to mimic the accent of a true native while doing this. Once you get in an actual conversation, your knowledge of grammar and vocabulary will shine through proper speech. Youll also get a confidence boost, which is extremely valuable for progress.2. ThinkPeople say you’ re not fluent in a foreign language until you catch yourself thinking in it. That makes sense. You can’t achieve high levels of fluency if youre constantly thinking in your native language and doing mental translations.Thinking 100% in a target language at the very beginning of your practice is difficult, but this simpler technique will drive you forward:  Learn how to say your most commonly said words and phrases in your target language.Think about all the short and simple sentences you use in your daily communication, and then  translate them into the language you’re learning. What do you use at the grocery store? At the post office? On the bus? At work? At home? Learn how to say them, and then always think them to yourself as you go about your daily business.Be careful, thoughâ€"literal translations don’t always work. Idioms usually require liberal interpretation, so you’ll need to do a research to see how certain phrases are being used in the language you’re learning. That’s a useful practice that will help you remember conversational phrases.3. Watch movies with subtitlesYou never bother watching movies without synchronization? You need to step away from that habit. Subtitles may seem  boring and distracting on the surface level, but theyre not the most important factor in this exercise. It’s the native speech you want to hear (and learn).There are a few phases in watching a foreign movie if you want to extract speaking lessons:First, you watch it while reading the subtitles. If theres a word you don’t understand, write it in your personal dictionary and define it.Pronounce those words and try to get the accent right. Fit them into sentences of your own, so you’ll understand how they can be used in different situations.Now, watch the movie again. Don’t read the subtitles this time. It’s important to understand as much of the speech  as you can. Then you can move to the next step that will take your fluency to the next level.Not at a level where you can realistically do the above? Or just think that sounds way too tedious for you? Instead of doing it with a movie, try the videos on FluentU. FluentU takes real-world videos from around the webâ€"including movie trailers, music videos, news and inspiring talksâ€"and turns them into personalized language lessons.FluentU makes sure all the captions in a video actually match up to the speech you hear, makes it super easy to pause and replay continually, and even gives you instant word lookup so you dont need to bother with looking stuff up in a dictionary.4. Imitate!Remember that movie? Watch it again! Sure, youre all too familiar with the scenes by now, but you won’t get bored because this is a learning method with a purpose. Pause the film frequently and imitate the speech.Listen to the way the actors pronounce the words and try to do the same.Once youre able to move your tongue faster and juggle those foreign sounds more easily, stop pausing and just try to parro t back what the characters are saying at the same time!  This requires you to understand every word they say in the moment and spit it out quickly. Once youre imitating like a legit parrot, your accent will start to get closer and closer to that of the native speaker youre imitating.5. Listen to local music and learn the lyricsThe words flow naturally when you sing, and you can usually get the pronunciation right when you sing.Music is also fun because it connects you to the culture you’re researching. Of course, you have to choose music with lyrics if you want to work on your fluency. Find the lyrics online and try to sing along. Thanks to the vast information on the Internet, lyrics of any song in any language are usually availableâ€"along with translations and romanized versions (if necessary).It doesn’t matter whether you have a talent  for music or not. The only important thing is to follow the flow of the words. Theres nothing more fluent than words connected through singi ng.6. Read local literatureEvery country and culture has its masterful writers. Miguel de Cervantes wrote in Spanish, Italy has Dante, Hugo presented the sophistication of French expressions, and the great Tolstoy and Dostoevsky revealed new dimensions of the Russian language. It’s important to explore the literature written in the language you’re learning. It’s even better when you read it out loud. You may also try to succeed in different online literature tests.Poetry has an even more awesome effect because it teaches you about rhythm. Of course, poetic expression is a bit more difficult to comprehend, so you’ll need to achieve higher levels of fluency to understand complex poems.7. Find a language learning buddyEven when you’re imitating the actors from a foreign movie, you won’t notice that your pronunciation is a little off sometimes. The human mind is a peculiar thing. It can easily distort our impressions and we may think we speak perfectly even when we’re maki ng serious mistakes. That’s why you need a friend who will join you on this journey.You can talk in the foreign language and correct each other when needed. The corrections may lead to heated discussions about the proper pronunciation of certain words, but the confrontations will be productive when you analyze native speech together.You can also make plans and set goals together, increasing your level of accountability and keeping you on track to fluency.8. Talk to a native speakerWhen you manage to amaze natives with your vocabulary and pronunciation, that’s when you can call yourself a fluent speaker. Your friends are great support when you learn a foreign language together, but they cannot replace natives.Some of the things you can do is travel or find a native in your area. You may consider taking a semester abroad in another country. Some countries, like Germany, offer wide range of programs through reputable language and culture institutes. If that doesn’t work, the Inte rnet will come to the rescue.Conversation Exchange is a platform that can help you find native speakers living in your area. You’ll connect. You’ll meet for a coffee and help each other become fluent in the languages you’re learning.Speaky is a worldwide language learning community where you can meet people from 180+ countries and connect with them to practice your language skills online.9. TravelWhen you want to become really fluent in a certain language, you have to understand the culture that speaks it. It’s important to see and feel that country from the inside. That’s when all idioms and phrases start making sense.You’ll meet many native speakers who will be happy to help you learn the language better. Traveling is not a simple decision to make, mainly because it costs a lot. However, theres no goal you can’t achieve with proper planning and budgeting.10. Analyze different dialectsIf youre fluent in the standardized form of the language you’re learning, it’s t ime to move to a master level: dialects. Explore the way natives speak in different areas of their countries. Try to learn words specific for those areas and experiment with the way the same words are being pronounced across the country.Your goal to become fluent in a foreign language will be a lifetime journey. Theres no peak that you can achieve.Youll always find new heights to reach. All above-listed methods have one thing in common: Theyre really fun.And theyre bound to help you boost your levels of fluency without serious difficulties! And One More ThingIf youre digging these tactics, youll love using FluentU. FluentU makes it possible to learn languages  from music videos, commercials, news and inspiring talks.With FluentU, you learn real languagesâ€"the same way that natives  speak them. FluentU has a wide variety of videos like movie trailers, funny commercials and web series, as you can see here:FluentU App Browse ScreenFluentU has interactive captions that let you tap on any word to see an image, definition, audio and useful examples. Now native language content is within reach with interactive transcripts.Didnt catch something? Go back and listen again. Missed a word? Hover your mouse over the subtitles to instantly view definitions.FluentU Interactive TranscriptsYou can learn all the vocabulary in any video with FluentUs quiz mode. Swipe left or right to see  more examples for the word you’re learning.FluentU Has Quizzes for Every VideoAnd FluentU always keeps track of vocabulary that you’re learning. It uses that vocab to give you a 100% personalized experience by recommending videos and examples.Start using FluentU on the website with your computer or tablet  or, better yet,  download the FluentU app from  the iTunes store  or Google Play store.