They had a grasp of English grammar that few of the rest of us native speakers had. I taught English to European students in England for a summer, and my colleagues from Greece were easily among the best teachers in our school. If you usually feel self-conscious about your English speaking, other English learners might be more comfortable conversation partners for you.Īlso, I should just say that, in my experience, non-native English teachers are some of the best English teachers. Indeed, you might feel less nervous speaking with other learners. Speaking with other learners will still help you develop confidence speaking, it will still help your brain practice formulating sentences using English words and grammar, and it will still give your mouth muscles practice pronouncing English words. So a native speaker might be the ideal conversation partner.īut you can get many of the benefits of practicing a language from conversation with non-natives, too. They can tell you if something sounds strange, or better ways to use language. They speak the language, so they really know it. Native speakers are great because they can provide model language the way it is actually used. You’re here because you want to chat with people in English but you don’t know where to find them!įirst, though, do you need to find a native English speaking conversation partner?Īlthough it might be ideal to speak with a native speaker, you don’t have to. Does my conversation partner need to be a native speaker?īut you knew that. Ĭonversation is a great way to practise and actually improve your spoken English. It’s a learning activity, but it usually doesn’t feel like studying. Talking to others is often an interesting and enjoyable experience. The best way to learn a language is by doing activities you like. This automatic feedback and responsiveness is part of the reasons conversations are such good language practice. Your partner can then help you by repeating or clarifying or using different words. Conversation provides immediate feedback: if you don’t understand something, you can’t reply. The beauty of a conversation is that it requires you to actively participate. We’ve said elsewhere that you should aim to learn actively- passive learning is not a very effective way to learn English. Conversation is a type of active learning.I’m sure you know this already, but to remind you, here are some of the reasons why having conversations in English will boost your learning: There are no shortcuts or ‘hacks’ that will get you speaking like a native unless you actually practise. To get better at something, you have to practise it. In this article, I want to give you my top tips on how you can find a conversation partner, and have a successful conversation with them that will actually help you improve your English speaking. If you really can’t find a conversation partner, those strategies are helpful.īut the Internet has made it quite easy to find someone to chat with if you want to. In another article, I’ve given you a tonne of strategies that you can use to improve your English speaking ability when you don’t have a speaking partner. When I talk about learning goals with my students, virtually everyone says their only real goal is to be able to speak English fluently. Or maybe you just want to make small talk with your mother-in-law in a way that doesn’t feel like pulling teeth. Maybe you’ve dreamt about walking up to a pub in a small English town and engaging in witty banter with the locals. You’re probably learning English because you want to be able to speak it.