When people ask if you speak English, they usually mean “Can you have a conversation in English?” There’s a difference between being able to understand English and being able to contribute to discussions and express yourself in conversation. And it’s a skill you can improve with practice.
Good English conversation practice is about preparation and repetition. You’ll need to know how to show good manners when speaking (like saying please and thank you), how to talk about what you’re thinking, and how to handle emergencies. Even if you don’t have someone to talk to in English, there are strategies and resources you can use to practice English conversations.
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Beginner (basic) English conversation practice
Before you choose the best practice for you, find out what your English language fluency level is. This will tell you if you’re a beginner, intermediate, or advanced learner.
The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) is an international standard to assess language skills. Beginners (or “basic users”) match levels A1 and A2.
- You can speak and understand simple sentences and questions. You might need to speak slowly and ask the other person to repeat themself.
- You can have short conversations about daily activities (like habits or work). You might need the other person to lead the conversation.
How to practice beginner conversations in English
Speaking in English every day is important at this level. You can combine your speaking practice with English listening practice. Both skills are essential for conversation.
- Use English conversation skits (like BBC Learning English) as a guide for common conversations. If you don’t have a partner, read both parts out loud.
- Look for practice resources with scripts that include audio. You can listen to the line first, and then you can say it back (which helps with English pronunciation).
- Use the Rosetta Stone app for all of the skills you need for conversation practice. Each Unit includes specific practice for pronunciation, speaking, and listening (and more!). The Units end in a Milestone that gives you conversation practice with everything you learned.
Topics for beginner English conversations
The most important English conversation topics beginners should learn are:
- Common English greetings
- Hello.
- Good morning.
- Useful English phrases
- Excuse me.
- Thank you.
- Words necessary for introducing yourself and asking about other people
- My name is Paulo Lima.
- What’s your name?
- Simple questions with the right question words in English
- What time is it?
- How much does it cost?
- Simple statements about daily life
- He’s going to work.
- I am a doctor.
Beginner English conversation scripts
Try practicing these free English conversation scripts with a partner, or read each line out loud to yourself.
Before you go on a trip, make sure you have everything you need:
- Hello. Do you have your ticket?
- Yes, I have my ticket.
- Thank you. Do you have your passport?
- Yes, I have my passport.
- Do you have a suitcase?
- Yes, I have a suitcase.
- Is the flight on time?
- Yes. The flight departs at four fifteen p.m.
- Thank you.
- You’re welcome.
Talking to store employees (or customers, if you’re the employee) to find the right item is a common shopping experience:
- Today my son is four years old. I need a cake.
- What color cake do you need?
- I need a blue cake.
- What size cake do you need?
- I need the biggest cake.
- This is the biggest blue cake.
You might have a lot of questions about words you see, so practice asking others for help:
- Excuse me.
- Yes?
- What does this sign mean?
- It means “library.”
- I did not understand you. Can you repeat that, please?
- Yes. It means “library.”
- Thank you.
- You’re welcome.
Intermediate (independent) English conversation practice
Having longer conversations in English is important at the intermediate level. Practicing real-life situations (like eating at a restaurant or going to the doctor) will help you move from short sentences to entire conversations. If you already know the basic phrases you need for common situations, it will be easier to add details when that situation happens.
According to the CEFR scale, intermediate (or “independent”) learners fit in the B1 and B2 levels:
- You can have conversations about familiar topics and conversations necessary for travel. You can share information and opinions when asked.
- You can have long conversations with native speakers on a variety of topics (including topics you aren’t very familiar with). You can share your thoughts on most things, although you might still make a few grammatical mistakes.
How to take conversation practice to the next level in English
The best thing for intermediate conversation practice is a conversation partner. That can be a friend, a family member, a waitress at a restaurant, or anyone else who speaks English.
- Learn common everyday conversations in English. Practice by speaking the lines out loud (by yourself or with a partner). When you feel comfortable, try using them in real life by ordering food at a restaurant or going shopping.
- Practice conversations with an English tutor. A good tutor can help you identify your skill level and what kind of practice is best for you. If you find a tutor who also speaks your native language, you can use your native language to ask questions.
- Find a language exchange partner. You can practice conversations in the language you’re learning (English), and they can practice conversations in the language they’re learning (the language you speak).
- Check out your local library for free community events. Depending on where you live, you can find events like storytime for children, book clubs for teens and adults, and even hobby meetups (like Pokémon Go or music jam sessions).
- Use Rosetta Stone chat missions to practice conversations in writing. You’ll get feedback immediately, including tips if you make mistakes.
Intermediate conversation topics in English
At the intermediate level, you can have more complex conversations in English, like:
- Making guesses about the future
- I might buy this novel.
- The yellow team will probably lose this game.
- Giving reasons
- My daughter is happy because she likes playing with her cousins.
- You probably are allergic to cats, and that’s why you have a rash.
- Handling emergencies
- He was in an accident. Fortunately, he was wearing a seat belt.
- We’re taking you to the emergency room. The doctors there will be able to help you.
- Using all English verb tenses, including perfect and continuous
- He had lost his stuffed animal, but he found it.
- They have been living in Australia for five years.
Intermediate English conversation script(s)
When you ask another person for directions, you’ll have to understand multiple instructions.
- Excuse me, how do I get to the museum?
- Take the bus to the fourth bus stop.
- Get off the bus, and walk to the second street.
- The museum is on the left.
- Thank you.
- You’re welcome.
Depending on what foods you like or foods you can’t eat, knowing how to order food in English with modifications can be useful.
- Do you have a vegetarian pasta?
- No, but we have a seafood pasta.
- Can I have it without seafood? I’m a vegetarian.
- Yes, you can have it with a tomato sauce.
Solving problems by talking to customer service or repair people is important for daily life.
- Hello, is this the customer service representative?
- Yes, it is. How can I help you?
- My new washing machine is leaking. I need a repair person.
- Someone will be there soon.
- I’ll be there in five minutes.
- Someone will be there soon.
- Thank you for coming so soon!
Advanced (proficient) English conversation practice
You will reach an advanced level of conversation ability by having regular conversations in English and practicing your speaking and listening skills often. Advanced or “proficient” (CEFR C1-C2) English speakers are able to have conversations about anything in English, including work, travel, and personal topics.
- You can have fluent conversations in English about virtually anything. You might have an accent, but it doesn’t get in the way of others understanding you.
- You can speak and understand English at a native or near-native level. Language is no longer a barrier to having conversations.
How to practice fluent conversations in English
Practicing fluent conversations requires more precision and self-critique. This is also the time to perfect pronunciation.
- When you practice speaking in English, record yourself. Later, listen to the recording and check your speech for mistakes or things you could have said differently.
- Learn English idioms to add figurative language to your conversations. Idioms and other expressions make your English more interesting and descriptive.
- Take free courses from Massachusetts Institute of Technology with MIT Open Learning. Filter for courses that include presentation assignments, projects, and lecture videos for speaking and listening practice.
- Join a book club with English speakers who meet up virtually on a regular basis to discuss the books you’ve all read. There are a number of online book club directories you can search. Groups often read a variety of genres from Literary Fiction to Science Fiction and Fantasy, so you can read what interests you and have engaging and varied conversations with native English speakers.
- Visit one of the English-speaking countries (if you don’t already live in one) for immersive language practice. English is the most widely spoken language in the world, so you won’t have to go far no matter where you live.
Advanced conversation topics in English
As an advanced English language learner, you can discuss:
- Familiar and unfamiliar academic subjects, and correctly use long words in English
- This chemist is about to discover what happens when you add these chemicals together.
- To find out how much the museum tour costs for the class, multiply the number of people by the ticket price.
- The latest news and current events
- What’s on the news tonight?
- They talked about the election, and now they’re talking about the weather.
- What’s on the news tonight?
- Books, movies, and other media
- My favorite part is when the soldier and the nurse meet for the first time.
- There’s a good novel called “Alone in Paris.” It’s about France in the nineteenth century.
- A variety of topics using slang and dialects, like American slang, British slang, and AAVE (African American Vernacular English)
- How y’all doin’?
- Don’t freak out, but I’m so beyond burned out.
Advanced English conversation script(s)
Now that you speak English at an advanced level, you can translate between your native language and English, which is useful for travel and work.
- Hello. I’m translating for Ms. Tanaka today.
- I speak both Japanese and English.
- Ms. Tanaka speaks Japanese and Russian, but she doesn’t speak English.
- I’m happy you’re here to translate, because I speak neither Russian nor Japanese!
If you apply for a job, you can answer job interview questions under pressure in English.
- What types of projects are you interested in?
- I’m interested in projects that teach people how to produce less trash.
- Can you give me an example?
- Yes, I can give you an example. Last month I taught an elementary school class about why it’s important to recycle.
Giving presentations requires a lot of speaking, but you also need to respond to questions from your audience. An advanced English speaker can do both.
- Welcome! My family has been working on this farm for three hundred years. Today I’ll tell you about how they lived and what the farm produced in the 1700s.
- What do you grow on the farm?
- We grow vegetables, like corn, and wheat on the farm. These plants have been grown here since the eighteenth century.
- Did the farmers raise any animals?
- Yes, they raised animals. They raised chickens for eggs, and used cows’ milk to make cheese and butter.
- Do you still produce cheese?
- Yes, we still produce cheese, but now we make it from goat’s milk.
Tips for confident conversation practice in English
Some types of practice work best for beginner, intermediate, or advanced learners. However, these tips work help with all levels of conversation practice:
- Use English contractions often. Contractions (like you’re) and the words contractions are made from (like you are) are both correct, but contractions in English will make your speech smoother.
- Know the difference between the three articles in English (a, an, and the). Using a definite article (the) or an indefinite article (a or an) can change the meaning of a sentence.
- Learn how to conjugate and use irregular verbs in English. English has roughly 200 verbs that don’t follow normal verb conjugations (for example, the past tense of eat is ate instead of eated). Correctly using the most common irregular verbs will make it easier for other people to understand you in English.
- Feeling anxious about speaking in the language you’re learning is natural. You can build confidence by having more conversations in English. Try not to worry about making mistakes. Start by doing only a few minutes a day and slowly increase your practice time as you feel more comfortable.
Speaking English fluently starts with speaking English often
To improve your English conversation skills, you need to practice speaking and listening in English. Learning how to speak English is incredibly useful for travel (you can usually find someone who speaks at least some English), work (more job opportunities), or personal enjoyment. Even if you’re nervous, speak in English whenever you can. Every conversation is an opportunity to practice and learn!
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