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A
serious difficulty educated non-native speakers
have...
Most non-native
people who know English face a serious difficulty.
You
see, they know
reasonable English – or even excellent English.
And if you asnk them to write
a report or something in English, they may do
it fairly well. But you see, if you ask them to
speak
to you about the same thing, they find it hard
to do. Or even impossible.
When
they start speaking, most of the words remain
on the tip of their tongue, and don’t readily
come out. And often, what words do come out sound
disconnected and random. And they find themselves
speaking in a clumsy and unclear way. With long
gaps and intervals of indecision between every
two words. And they keep fumbling for something
to say. And they find it difficult to go on beyond
one or two lines. Without tripping up. And without
stumbling over the sounds or sequences of sounds.
And
then they tend to fall back upon their mother-tongue
– or become tongue-tied.
Conventional
methods won’t
help you produce fluent English...
To
remedy their fluency problem, many non-native
speakers try the wrong
method.
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Mind
you... You can’t speak fluent English by using
written
English as a model.
-
Nor
by learning ready-made sentences by heart.
-
Nor
by translating.
-
Nor
from audio or video cassettes.
No, you
can’t. But many people are under a wrong impression.
They think that these conventional methods will
make them fluent in speech. But the truth is otherwise.
These conventional methods won’t bring fluency
in speech. Conventional methods can’t, you see.
They can't, because they're not geared to that
purpose. They're not suitable for that purpose.
So we use new, research-based, techniques.
Techniques geared for fluency development. Yes,
techniques specially designed to develop and extend
your speech fluency.
One-line
English isn’t fluent English...
Now bear this in mind: Conventional
methods can only help beginners. Elementary level
learners. And not
people like you – who already know English reasonably
well. Remember this: If
your aim is to achieve speech fluency (and not
just to begin learning a new language), they won’t
help you. No.
At the most, conventional methods may help you
make one-line statements, ask one-line questions
or give one-line replies. That too, in routine
or repetitive situations. That’s all. After that,
you falter. So you know, one-line English does
not
make you a fluent speaker.
If you want to become fluent in speech, you need
to become good at speaking continuously for some
time... At a stretch. Without abnormal breaks
in the middle. By describing and explaining your
ideas, thoughts, feelings, intentions.
Yes, you need to become good at manipulating the
form, content and organization of the language
you use. And at making them suit the moment-to-moment
demands of the speech-situation. The constantly
changing speech-situation. You need to become
good at filling time with talk. In newer and newer
situations. Even in situations you come across
for the first time.
Fluent
English is spontaneous English
You know... you can only call
yourself fluent if you can speak spontaneously...
And in detail... Yes, spontaneously.
Without prior planning, preparation or rehearsal.
By composing your speech and
speaking at the same time... By planning and producing
your speech as you speak on... On your feet.
Real
English fluency only through English
Mind
you... if you learn English through your mother-tongue,
you’ll only be able to achieve limited proficiency
in English. And not
speech fluency. You see, your mother-tongue would
keep interfering with the free flow of your English.
And it would keep holding you back from speaking
with a fine flow of English.
You
see, a bilingual approach is only suitable for
beginners. Or for learners at a junior level.
And not for people who have crossed the junior
level – and are trying to achieve fluency.
If
you want to achieve real fluency, you’ll have
to train yourself in fluency techniques. That
too, through English itself – and not
through any other language. Only then will you
be able to produce real spoken English. English
spoken by native speakers of English. English
that is genuine and unvarnished. And not stilted
or unnatural.
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