How can I improve my speaking skills?

Speaking in your target language, especially in exams, can be daunting. The anxiety of exams in general is heightened if you don’t have the time to let your brain mull over answers like you do in written exams, under pressure the link between what you think and what you say can get a lot more complicated. Every person has different strengths and struggles when it comes to speaking a language that need to be worked on specifically – however, my general top tips for improving speaking are: 1)     Focus less on accuracy and more on fluency – this is something I struggled with, needing the perfect grammar and everything is of course important, but not at the expense of the fluidity of your conversation. Speaking examiners are not trying to catch you, they want to hear you speak, so talking despite there being a few mistakes is better than pausing every few words to check your grammar in your head. 2)     Don’t learn whole answers by rote – teachers may recommend this, and it CAN BE helpful but you run the risk of freezing and beating yourself up if you forget a small part. A better idea is to yes, learn bullet points, learn key information about possible topics but do not learn answers word for word because no matter how hard you try it will show that you are not thinking and speaking spontaneously which examiners do not like. 3)     Learn sentence starters, learn phrases which introduce what you want to say and provide you with a few seconds to gather your thoughts. We use these in day to day conversation in English without even realising, these sorts of phrases are called fillers and can be so helpful when faced with a more difficult question. 4)     Listen – I think a major thing we all forget is that the more we hear a language the more our brains get used to it. If you watch TV or films or listen to music or podcasts in your target language you will learn phrasing and natural ways of speaking, but you will also begin to understand questions asked of you more easily as your brain adapts. 5)     Practice – you may not have anyone you feel confident practicing speaking with outside of school, nobody who can speak your target language but that doesn’t have to stop you from practicing. Talk to yourself in the mirror, talk to your pet, talk to someone who can’t understand but is an ear to listen. Prior to speaking exams I speak almost entirely in my target language to anyone and everyone (and then translate to English) and it helps my fluency and my spontaneity as my brain becomes more comfortable thinking, even just on a basic level, in that language.