Who can I practice my English with?

You are developing these new English language skills, and you are ready to practice them with others. Who do you practice with? Maybe you live alone, none of your friends or family speak English. Maybe the people you know don’t like to use their English with you. Maybe you live in the middle of nowhere in a field like I do! Don’t worry. There is always a way!

I developed these methods when I lived in Germany. I was in a strange position where I wanted to practice my German but everyone I knew had very good English and found it much easier to speak to me in my native language. Very frustrating! I had to develop different ways of practicing my new skills outside of my lessons.

1.       Join an expatriate English community. Many places have expatriate English speaking communities that welcome non-native English speakers to join in their social activities. This will get you surrounded by native English speakers and force you to practice your skills to socialise. You will also enjoy yourself which always makes learning easier. I recommend the website www.meetup.com to look for expatriate communities in your area.

2.       Find a tandem buddy. Look online for people who would like to practice your native language, who speak English. This is called tandem learning. You can meet (online at the moment) and speak English for an hour, and then speak your native language for an hour. This is free, and a great way to meet new people. I know people who have made lifelong friends from looking for a tandem buddy. If you have a specific need to practice writing, look for a tandem pen pal, and email each other in both languages. https://www.tandem.net/ is a good place to start looking.

3.       Join Wright English Social Events. Wright English is a new company, but there are plans to launch free online Business English, General English, and online games events for learners to meet each other and practice their English skills. As soon as these are up and running I will email all current learners that they are available!

4.       Talk to yourself. O.K. I know how crazy this sounds, but there are a lot of benefits to having a quick chat with yourself. When you talk with yourself, you practice your fluency. You can practice both sides of the conversation, and you have time to think of different responses. You practice your conversational English in a way that is comfortable for you. I recommend practicing everyday conversations with yourself, or conversations you plan to have. It also helps to talk to yourself about what you are doing. This helps your brain build nice strong paths to the words and phrases you will need every day. When you use your English with other people, you will remember these words more quickly.

5.       Talk to a pet. If you find chatting with yourself is just a little too strange, talk to a pet. I practiced my German by chatting with my pet mice. I would normally speak to them in English anyway, so I just switched to German. It helps like talking to yourself, but you might feel a little less like a crazy person.

6.       Plan a holiday to an English-speaking country. This only works if you commit to going out and talking to local people. The good news is most English-speaking people are terrible at other languages, so we will force you to practice your English!

Do you have any more ideas of ways to practice when you are alone? Write them in the comments below! We can all support each other by sharing our tips and tricks.