Improving Speaking Skills for Non-Native English Speakers

Today I will give you two great tips to help improve your English speaking skills. Learning how to speak like a native English speaker can be challenging, but don’t worry, we are here to help! Let’s check out today’s tips!

1. Shorten your sentences to avoid the “run-on” sentence
2. Make sure to add the letter “s” to verbs when needed

Tip 1: Let’s talk about sentence length.

Your ideal sentence should express one idea. When a sentence tries to express too many ideas in one sentence, it becomes what we call a “run-on” sentence. These can be confusing for your audience. If you don’t take the time to pause between ideas when speaking, listeners may miss some of your ideas.

Check out this example of a Run-On Sentence:

Today I took my kids to the beach, they had so much fun and played in the sand and they enjoyed swimming and playing with other kids, I enjoyed laying in the beach chair and reading a book and my husband stayed home and worked remotely while we were out enjoying the sun and I felt bad for him.

This example above is actually many sentences, not just one! When writing, it’s important to separate sentences with punctuation like a period, exclamation mark, or question mark. When speaking, it’s important to take a short pause after each sentence. Pay attention to the intonation of your voice when you ask a question or make an exciting statement. This can be hard to do when you are nervous, but keep practicing! Let’s take a look at a better way to write that one long sentence above:

Today I took my kids to the beach, they had so much fun and played in the sand.
They enjoyed swimming and playing with other kids.
I enjoyed laying in the beach chair and reading a book.
My husband stayed home and worked remotely while we were out enjoying the sun.
I felt bad for him!

Here we can see that there should actually be five sentences here, not just one! Remember when speaking, make sure to pause after each sentence and use transition words when possible.

Transition words can be useful when moving from one sentence to another. A few transition words that are commonly used are: also, likewise, and however. Smart Words provides a comprehensive list of transition words and the best times to use them. Practice including these words in between sentences when speaking and writing. It will provide a smooth transition and nice flow for your audience.

Tip 2: When do I add the letter “s”?

This is one of the most common mistakes among non-native English speakers. When the subject is singular, third person, we add “s” to the end of the verb. So when the subject is he/she/it, this is the time to add the letter “s”. The best way to learn this is by practicing and looking at examples.

Let’s take a look at the sentences below, focusing on the verb “take”:

I take the train to work every day.
You take the train to work every day.
My boss (he) takes the train to work every day.
My boss (she) takes the train to work every day.
My dog (it) takes the train with me to work every day.
My sister and I (we) take the train to work every day.
My coworkers take the train to work every day.

As you can see, the verb “take” has the letter “s” added to the end when the subject is he/she/it. Some verbs are different and add “es” to the end. We will cover some of those in another article. For now, practice this concept when writing and speaking. You will level up your English speaking skills in no time!

Pro Tip: Downloading the free software Grammarly is a big help when writing. It catches many spelling and grammar mistakes. If you are writing your speech before speaking, this will help you avoid mistakes. I love using this program!

Practicing one new language tip at a time will help improve your fluency and help you sound more like a native English speaker. Practice these two tips as often as possible, and you will be on your way to becoming a better English speaker in no time!

Written by: Michelle Melville-Kashon
Michelle is a university English teacher for non-native speakers.