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An important way of gaining more confidence when speaking English is to feel you are able to communicate in a fluent and effortless way, without going blank. One concern that many of my students have is how to sound more fluent and less like a “Native Indian” when they are speaking English. So this week, I am going to give you some tips on how to make your English flow and hopefully, turn you into a more confident English speaker.
Most people think that in order to really communicate in a foreign language we need to be able to talk quickly and without hesitation when in fact, just the opposite is true! Hesitation and pauses are a completely normal and expected part of communication and to be honest, if non-natives speak too quickly, they can be a bit difficult to understand. It is true, though, that long and silent pauses can be quite uncomfortable for both the speaker and the listener- the speaker feels embarrassed that they can’t think of the word they want to use and the listener feels they need to take over the conversation.
So, how can we solve this problem? Simple! We just need to take advantage of some handy little fellas called “fillers”. Fillers are words, phrases, and sounds that we can use to make sure we don’t leave any of those awkward silences or talk too much like a robot. They are so commonly used by English speakers that apparently every one in ten words we use is a filler! They serve the purpose of telling people that we just need a little time to look for a word or decide the best way to phrase something, but that we haven’t finished speaking yet. Here are some of the most typical fillers and how to when them.
I hope these fillers help you feel like a more fluent and therefore more confident English speaker. If you know anyone else who could find these fillers useful, don´t be shy! Share this article with them and I am sure they will be very grateful.
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