Confidence is everything in learning a foreign language! Especially when you want to learn English…
The ability to believe in yourself and think “I can do it” is essential to learn any foreign language. We have to accept that when we are learning, it is a process in which we learn through making mistakes. English has some difficult vocabulary and pronunciation that can only be learned through trail and error.
However, the problem is that these mistakes can affect our confidence. What learners need to do is get over this fear and embrace their mistakes in order to progress.
An interesting activity that learners can do is learn how to speak in front of others to put themselves on the spot. This way they will get used to feeling pressure and with a bit of luck, learn how to deal with it. they will realize that all people commit errors when speaking another language and they can be excellent indicators of what they need to do to improve.
Try this activity: one minute topics
Education: speak for one minute about these topics
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What’s your favourite subject? |
Is English easy to learn? |
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When did you last fail an exam? |
What other languages would you like to speak? |
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Why do you like learning English? |
Is it important to revise before an exam? |
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Who was your favourite teacher at school? |
What subjects were you good at in school? |
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What is the easiest subject to learn about? |
Is it a good idea to go to university? |
When you give a monologue:
You need to organise what you say so that you don’t repeat too much… Try to use these structures:
- Impersonal passive: It is said that…
- Inversion: Not only…, but also…
- Cleft sentence: What I think is…
- Relative clause: It is something that we all…
- Modal verbs: It could be a good idea…
- Conditionals: If I could…, I would…
- Wish: I wish I could…
DOWNLOAD THIS ACTIVITY IN PDF HERE
Other activities:
There are also other types of activities that people can do to improve their confidence when speaking English, like role-plays, for instance.
Try some of these different role-play activities.
ROLE-PLAY: POLICE OFFICER AND WITNESS
ROLE-PLAY: ORDERING IN A BAR/RESTAURANT
ROLE-PLAY: TEACHER AND STUDENT CONFERENCE
ROLE-PLAY: ASKING TO GO TO A PARTY
For more advanced students
For students preparing for advanced English exams or C1 level assessments, you may like to try more challenging topics.
have a look at C1 level topics on controversial issues.
