Speaking
It seems like Speaking is the only skill that you cannot master on your own without anybody to communicate with. Which seems to make it much more challenging to practise than any other language skill.
However, you actually can (and should!) try to practice it all by yourself as well. Not waiting for anyone to meet up with in order to talk to. And not only is it possible to practice Speaking completely by yourself but you can also make this activity enjoyable. There are a number of ways you can do it. And in this article. I’m going to list them off and talk about each in detail.
Self-talk
You can simply talk to yourself. And yes, it can be boring and feel unusual. Yet, it also can be fun to the point where you don’t have to push yourself to do this activity, but rather feel like doing it again and again. Here are a few keys to this exercise.
Funny Ramble
Start rambling about whatever comes into your mind. People usually are afraid to say something ridiculous. But what you need to do here is the opposite – try to say nonsense intentionally. With the more ridiculous things you come up with, the better. Why? Because this is what makes this activity fun to do. If you try to say something wise and serious, you will get bored with it very soon.
It’s like a stand-up comedy. As a byproduct, you can improve your sense of humour. But be careful not to focus too much on how funny the things are that you say. You might get misled by a false aim and start feeling discouraged. The goal of this activity is not to become a comedian. It’s to practise Speaking in a relaxed and pleasurable way. To make yourself enjoy the process of it.
How to make it even more useful?
Ramble on some specific topic.
Variant 1: Choose a topic and start rambling about it.
Variant 2 (more efficient): Choose a topic and make a list of 10 topical words or phrases, and then start rambling looking at the list and including these words.
Why is it more useful? Because here not only are you practising your Speaking, but also boosting your vocabulary.
Your vlog in English
You might have already considered this option. This can be viewed as a half-self-talk. And it might be more fun for you because here you’re not just talking to yourself, obviously, but also might have conversations with others, once you upload your video.
Writing
And how can you write for pleasure? Like with speaking, you can, basically, do the same activities. The only difference is that here you use your pen or keyboard. You can write:
-Blog.
-Diary.
-Articles.
-Book/film/music/etc. reviews.
-Anecdotes (=interesting or funny stories from your/other people’s life).
-Fiction stories.
-Comments on social media.