How can I improve my French oral skills?

As most language learners will know speaking a foreign language can prove difficult - and scary! However, there are several ways in which you can easily improve. First of all, you can find a buddy, someone who you can speak with. This could be someone in your French class, or even better someone with a higher level of French than you who can correct you and build your confidence. If, as was my case, you don't know any French speakers, you can record conversations with yourself instead. While this may seem silly at first, it's a great way to discover gaps in your vocabulary, to become more confident in speaking and to hone your accent. On hearing yourself played back errors in grammar and pronunciation are also much easier to spot. Secondly, I would recommend writing down useful conversational phrases, such as ‘autant que je sache’ (as far as I know) and sticking them around your house, where you’ll see them often. This way you’re frequently exposed to the content and it eventually becomes cemented in your memory. Also, because you have a specific spatial connection with the phrase, it should be quick and easy to retrieve from your memory when you need it. Finally, my biggest piece of advice for improving your speaking is listening! After hearing French speakers cite ‘n’est-ce pas?’ over and over again at the end of a sentence it will soon become second nature to you as well as a speaker. Even if you understand little of the content, you’d be surprised at how much you do learn by switching on the radio for 15 minutes while you each your breakfast. If the radio is a little too heavy for you, you can always listen to music, watch French films or check out French Youtubers online (I’d recommend Cyprien, because he’s hilarious and he also kindly subtitles a lot of his videos). However, make sure you do pay attention to register, not everything you hear in a Youtuber’s vlog will be appropriate for your exam!