How to Speak English Confidently (About Almost Anything!)

Have you ever been unsure of what word to use in a conversation?

There is a possibility that you worry about making embarrassing grammar and pronunciation errors.

Your professional skills are high, but your English ability is low, and sometimes you feel like you’re being held back in your career.

It’s not your fault if that’s the case.

Traditional language learning methods make it almost impossible to speak confidently.

Despite teaching more words, phrases, grammar, and translations, these methods fail to bring learners closer to confidence and fluency.

In fact, the solution is simply to learn less!

You’re about to discover the ONLY way to learn English so you feel comfortable speaking about almost anything.

It’s simple, fast, and easy. Plus, you can do it all yourself!

Change the Way You Think About Learning English

Imagine a brick first.

What are some of the different ways you can use the brick?

Take 30 seconds to think of as many ideas as you can before scrolling further.

Are you done?

The following are some possible uses:

Building a house

For use as a paperweight

As a counterbalance

Props

Using a yoga block as a prop

Displayed as art

Throwing weapon

To see who can throw it further as a game

Breaking a window

To exercise with as a weight

Is this related to feeling confident when I speak English?”

If you want smooth communication, this exercise connects directly to how native speakers learn English.

Here’s what I mean…

Go Deep, Not Wide

As I walked my older daughter Aria to school the other day, she asked me:

What does harsh mean, Dad?”

Instead of giving her a definition…

I asked her where she heard the word first.

While watching Boss Baby, a TV show she enjoys, she had an epiphany.

When you heard the word, what was happening in the show?” I asked.

Aria explained that one of the characters was yelling at someone. Another character responded:

“Don’t be so harsh with me.”

In order to help Aria understand the word, I explained the context:

It was a difficult and tense situation. It was hard to handle for the person being yelled at. One person was angry and spoke some harsh words.

I explained everything to her in English (without translating).

My goal wasn’t just to define the word, but to help her really understand it so that she can use it confidently and fluently for the rest of her life.

As we walked to school, I gave her many more examples.

She asked me what harsh weather might mean.

What would you suggest:

Is it a sunny day with a nice breeze?

Alternatively,

How about a cold, rainy day, when the wind blows so hard that the rain stings?

Choosing the second option, she thought for a moment.

As a result, there can be harsh weather. We can even be more specific, and say there’s a harsh storm, such as a nasty blizzard.

Also, I might use some harsh soap that leaves my hands dry and cracked after washing dishes.

After that, I asked her:

What does a harsh season mean for a farmer? Easy times, or hard times? How about harsh conditions for skiing? Is it easier or harder to see and ski in harsh conditions? Would I need sunglasses in harsh conditions?”?”

Our journey continued until we reached her school.

I asked her a week later what “harsh” meant, and she replied, “Difficult.”. 🙂

As with the brick exercise above, the main idea is not to stop with one example. We want to go deep and make sure we understand words very well.

Additionally, this makes vocabulary MEMORABLE so you can recall the right words confidently and correctly!

This is awesome, isn’t it?

Native speakers use vocabulary in many contexts all in English, not because of where they live. Native speakers make STRONG connections with vocabulary in many different contexts, all in English.

In this way, they gain a deeper understanding of words and grammar, and learn how language can be used in different situations.

As long as you get the same “deep lessons” that native speakers receive, you can also become fluent anywhere.

Consider this:

Is it likely that my daughter Aria will be confused when she hears the word harsh now? Do you think she’ll feel nervous about saying it?

No, definitely not.

You will feel confident about using harsh now that you’ve learned it the same way!

By learning English as a FIRST language (EFL), you can use words and grammar in many more situations, which helps you feel confident speaking about almost anything!

The Difference Between EFL and ESL

To build a broad vocabulary quickly when you learn English as a second language (ESL), you need translations of words and phrases.

It is common for learners to believe that if they know 1,000 words, they will be able to use them confidently.

As a result, you receive only a passive, surface-level understanding, not the DEEP LEVEL understanding that gives you certainty and confidence.

For instance, the ESL approach would most likely teach you only that bricks are used to build houses. Then you would move on to the next phrase or word.

It’s not much of a lesson, is it?

Nevertheless, vocabulary can be used in many different ways, as you saw with the native (EFL) example of HARSH.

Communication is dynamic. It changes depending on who you’re talking to and what situation you’re in.

The ability to speak confidently depends on your ability to understand and react to the other person.

So the trick to building confidence and fluency is NOT to memorize…

You must feel prepared for the unexpected by understanding vocabulary DEEPLY, which can be done by getting many examples of vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation.

Without this deep understanding of vocabulary, you’re left translating words in your head before you speak. You hesitate, pause, and feel uncomfortable.

But when you understand vocabulary really well, you can speak about more topics much sooner. So even though you’re learning less, you build overall fluency and confidence much faster. 🙂

Learn the Easy, Natural Way to Speak English Confidently

The EFL method helps you learn like a native, but it’s even more systematic. You FOCUS on one thing until you really understand it. Maybe it’s one phrase at a time, one idiom, one grammar point, one topic, or one part of pronunciation.

But you do less to get better results, faster!

When you truly feel confident about what you learn, you can more quickly move on to the next thing. So improvement accelerates. It’s like money you save that keeps earning more money for you!

It’s really that simple.

But this isn’t just some special method I created…

Language researchers like Dr. Stephen Krashen confirmed that fluency is the result of how much you understand, NOT how large your vocabulary is, or how much speaking practice you get.

Even in conversations, it’s not what you say, but what the other person says that improves your understanding of English, and your fluency.

So, the best “practice” for learning how to speak English fluently is to get more understandable messages.

Your understanding (and fluency) comes from getting understandable examples and stories from different native speakers, just like my daughter Aria learns. (You’ve likely noticed that many native children can speak better than adult English learners, even though the adults might know more words. This is because children learn the DEEP way!)

So, the goal is NOT to know every word.

It’s to know the vocabulary so well you use it without thinking.

You want to build a 1000-word vocabulary that you can use confidently, one word at a time.

It’s about QUALITY, not quantity.

Develop Confidence and Learn English Like a Native Speaker

Remember: Your ability to speak confidently is the result of understanding English like a native speaker.

So if your goal is to speak fluently and confidently, and you want a proven system to follow so you can feel prepared for real conversations, then check out Fluent For Life – it’s the only guaranteed way to speak fluent English in the next 30 days or less.