Teaching Conversational English - Commonsense Tips

By Rowan Pita

There are over 508 million learners of English wanting to learn how to speak naturally. With online learning and the ability to connect live with native speakers, there will be many opportunities for you to teach English from home. It is important however, to sharpen your teaching skills so that your students keep coming back to you. The following commonsense tips will help you lay a solid foundation for the way you approach conversational English.

Pace

We speak very fast when we naturally converse. To a learner, it can sound like noise, a machine gun, a rumbling train or a squeaky wheelbarrow.

Slow down the pace.

Tone

Be careful not to sound like you are teaching them A-B-C with a tone that sounds like you are speaking to a two year old. Nothing turns a learner off more than being treated like a small child.

Maintain a natural, friendly tone.

Grammar

We use a lot of incomplete sentences that are grammatically incorrect but sound natural. Please don't worry can become no worries. We break grammar rules when speaking. It ain't my fault rather than, It is not my fault. Second language learners can only learn this through speaking and listening to native speakers.

Speak as though you were conversing with a native speaker.

Elision

We omit sounds such as a vowel, consonant or whole syllables. I have got to go becomes I gotta go. We do this because it is easier to say but it is more difficult for a language learner to hear and understand. They will only learn this through practice.

Model natural English as much as possible.

Idioms

We put words together that don't make literal sense. They are difficult for a learner to understand or translate. What's up will make a learner look up rather than reply, Nothing much. Don't try and explain what idioms mean. Second language learners will learn through repetition of the context and situation. Don't try and explain or translate idioms.

Rowan Pita (MA Applied Linguistics) is CEO of http://www.samespeak.com Samespeak is an innovative and easy online platform that allows non language teachers to coach a student from another country to speak natural English and earn money online. It's a great way to earn good money from home, in your own time for something you do naturally - talk! All coaching lessons and instructions are provided free of charge.