How to Improve Language Fluency

Reading a language out loud can improve language fluency.

Language fluency is often used to describe how well a non-native speaker can use a foreign language. A study conducted by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign concluded that rate of speed is the main factor in how people perceive another's fluency. This kind of fluency is a goal of most learners trying to master a second language, especially if they need to live or work in an area where the language is used. To achieve the goal of language fluency, repetitive oral practice is necessary, according to several studies.

Things You'll Need

• Voice recorder device

Instructions

1. Obtain many paragraphs of literature in the language in which you want to be fluent. These can be obtained from textbooks, newspapers or books in your second language.

2. Ask a native speaker to read the paragraphs to you and record his speaking using a computer or device that will allow you to save and replay the recording.

3. Choose a paragraph with which to begin practicing. Play your recording, listening only to the first sentence of the paragraph. Listen to the sentence several times.

4. Read the sentence aloud to yourself three or more times until you can say it smoothly.

5. Put the written paragraph away and recite the sentence from memory several more times, focusing on fluency.

6. Repeat these steps, practicing sentence by sentence, until you've made it through the whole paragraph.

7. Listen to the recording of the native speaker reading the whole paragraph.

8. Read through the whole paragraph as many times as necessary until you are saying each word smoothly and without stumbling.

9. Continue practicing this method with other paragraphs on a regular basis.

References

• Center for Instructional Development and Research: Fluency Practice on Your Own
• Carnegie Mellon University: The Effect of Oral Repetition on L2 Speech Fluency: An Experimental Tool and Language Tutor; Yuki Yoshimura, Brian MacWhinney
• University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign: Evaluating Second Language Fluency; Chilin Shih, Chen-Huei Wu