Learn English easily and confidently with Rosetta Stone
Learn English
English is referred to as a lingua franca, or a common language that allows people who do not share a dialect to communicate. While standard Chinese and Spanish have the honour of being the languages with the most native speakers in the world, English is the most used official language and the most widely spoken second language. Estimates indicate about 1.5 billion or about 20% of the population is a significant value in most countries and industries across the globe.
Learning how to speak English confidently is a bit more difficult than picking up a few words and phrases, however. For those who are trying to learn how to speak English easily in conversations, you’ll need to get beyond vocabulary lists and memorisation and into studying how to speak English in context. Practising speaking English daily and getting feedback on your pronunciation is also essential.
Rosetta Stone, a trusted partner in language learning for over twenty-five years, understands how to help language learners speak English. The lessons you’ll use are carefully crafted with a dynamic immersion method that builds towards confidence and encourages learners to speak English in real world conversations. Rosetta Stone’s lessons are also supported by feedback on pronunciation and bite-sized exercises that let you practise speaking when and where it’s convenient for you.
Learn to Speak English Easily in Conversation
When learners begin to take lessons to learn how to speak English, it may be tempting to focus on vocabulary and grammar. But one of the difficulties in learning to speak English is the fact that the language has many irregularities. Some words called homophones have multiple meanings, and the English language is packed with idioms that have become part of common usage. Trying to help an English language learner parse out the meanings between to, too, and two could fill an entire day’s lesson. And if you try to grapple with phrases like getting your just deserts, cold shoulder, silver lining, and wild goose chase without context, you’ll see that English can be overwhelming even for committed language learners.
Those who focus on vocabulary acquisition and grammar may struggle to learn how to speak English with confidence, especially in impromptu conversations. That’s why a successful language learning program should help contextualise learning English with practical phrases and exercise that help you speak the language. Those that don’t step outside reading and writing textbook English might make embarrassing mistakes in real-world conversations. That’s why it’s important to rely on the context of the situation rather than grammar rules and sophisticated vocabulary.
Rosetta Stone understands how to help learners speak English in conversations with bite-sized lessons that focus on delivering spoken words alongside visual and audio cues. This approach gets you speaking from the very first lesson and contextualises your practise. Rosetta Stone’s immersion method avoids teaching grammar rules as standalone concepts and helps learners develop a more nuanced understanding of how to speak English. This emphasis on speaking the language and practising pronunciation develops confident English language learners who have the skills to engage in conversations.
How to Learn English Confidently
One of the most important objectives of any language learning program that teaches English is how to understand and be understood in conversations. While English certainly does have an extensive vocabulary, there are significant differences in word usage between English speakers in various countries. For instance, it’s _television _in the United States, but you’d turn on the telly in the UK and Australia. That’s why it’s best to keep your sentences simple in the beginning and focus on learning how to pronounce English words easily to build confidence.
English is a stressed language, which means that different meanings may be implied depending on the way the syllables are pronounced. A great example of this is the word “desert” versus “dessert” where the spellings are quite similar, as are the pronunciations. But the words have entirely different meanings communicated by where the stress on the syllable lands. In an arid, uninhabitable place, the stress lands on the first syllable of_desert_. In a delicious, sweet ending to a meal, English speakers would stress the second syllable in _dessert_.
The best way to practise your pronunciation is to speak English early and often in your language learning journey. That’s why Rosetta Stone incorporates immersion methods that focus on speaking the language instead of just learning to read and write. TruAccent, a patented voice recognition engine, is built into every lesson and provides feedback by comparing your pronunciation to that of native English speakers. You’ll learn to adjust how you stress words to clarify meaning and dial-in your pronunciations until you’re confident you can hold your own in real-world conversations.
Learn how to say "Could you recommend a local restaurant?" from a native English speaker.
How to Get Beyond Lessons to Speaking English
If you want to get beyond learning English to speaking English in real-world conversations, you’ve come to the right place. Rosetta Stone is a partner in your language learning journey, helping connect vocabulary to practical experiences with bite-sized lessons that let you learn on-the-go and sync across all devices. While there are no shortcuts on the journey to learning a new language, there are ways to accelerate your understanding and gain confidence.
Here are a few tips to expand learning English beyond your lessons and into everyday life.
1: Practical Phrases
Successful language learning begins not with a word soup of vocabulary but with learning to pronounce helpful phrases in the context of daily situations such as grocery shopping, driving, and ordering at a restaurant. Rosetta Stone incorporates contextually rich phrases into their bite-sized lessons and supplies a handy Phrasebook you can access on or offline for quick reference and convenient learning.
2: Speak Daily
Finding ways to engage with a new language daily is called immersion, and it’s an important technique for accelerating your learning. Watching television shows in English or listening to music or podcasts will do more than let you acquire new vocabulary. Immersing yourself in English daily will help you to pick up the nuances of pronunciation and better understand native speakers. So turn up the volume and sing along with the confidence that you’re doing more than expanding your car karaoke repertoire.
3: Grammar Shortcuts
While there are some irregular aspects of English, there are also a few techniques and grammar rules that provide consistency. For instance, English often answers questions by mirroring the words and structure of the question. An example—_Is she going to the movies? **Yes, she is. **_All you need to do is take words from the question and preface it with yes or no to mirror back an answer. Learning this simple rule can help language learners out of a tough spot in an impromptu conversation.
4: Practise with a Partner
You’ll need some interactive experiences to build confidence, so trying to find a partner to practise English with is essential. Language is often not just about the words, but the cadence and rhythm of speaking that you can only develop by hearing your own voice and mimicking native speakers. Rosetta Stone’s online community is a good place to start. You can connect and chat online with other language learners and get a bit of extra practise each day by having real-world conversations.
Ways to Learn English
Is there a way to learn how to speak English easily? It’s a complicated question. Learning a language requires commitment and consistency, but learning English also doesn’t have to be a chore. While you’ll hear often that practise makes perfect and you should devote some time everyday to speaking English, that doesn’t mean you have to go out of your way to incorporate language learning into your daily life.
Here are a few different ways you might choose to learn English and each has both benefits and drawbacks.
Learn to Speak English in the Classroom
Learning a language works best when it’s engaging, and some people do prefer a classroom that allows personal interaction with other English speakers. Classroom learning does have some drawbacks though, including a lack of convenience and a curriculum that often emphasises reading and writing English over speaking it in conversations.
Learn to Speak English Online
Just a glimpse online and you’ll see many language learning websites offering to teach English in just a few minutes a day. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Language learning is a journey, not a destination you’re rushing to. While you can probably pick up a few phrases online that’ll help you out in the case of an emergency, you need a deeper dive into the nuances of the language to speak English confidently. But that doesn’t mean you need to leave the convenience of learning a language online behind.
Learn to Speak English with a Language Learning Program
Language learning programs can offer the best of both worlds. Rosetta Stone provides both software and a mobile app with a program carefully built by experts for contextual language learning. It lets you pick up learning to speak English where you left off with an award-winning mobile app that syncs across all devices.
Benefits of Learning How to Speak English
Along with the very practical reasons to learn English, learning another language also has inherent value and benefits that are a little less tangible. Not only can it lead to new career opportunities, but learning English can also help broaden your cultural understanding and increase tolerance.
How can learning how to speak English benefit you? Here are just a few specific ways speaking lingua franca can open new doors.
English is one of the most widely spoken languages in the world
English is the third most spoken language in the world in terms of native speakers. But it’s also the one of the most widely spoken second languages, making it incredibly useful in most industries and careers including business and education. That means not only more career opportunities but also the chance to increase earning potential within your field of expertise.
English is the language of the internet
The most common language on the internet is in English, so learning the language is pretty necessary for anyone making their living online. Many online careers rely upon at least some knowledge of English, including movers and shakers in social media, journalists, entertainers, website designer and developers, and much, much more.
English can help you travel with ease
In large sections of Europe and North America, English is an official language and speaking it will let you travel without worrying about getting stranded by language barriers. The EU reports 38% of the citizens say they speak and understand enough English to carry on a conversation.
Learning how to speak English can provide educational opportunities
If you’re looking to study in the United States, Australia, or the UK, learning English will definitely improve your student experience. In addition to making studying abroad more convenient, speaking English is also necessary to become a citizen in some countries like the United States.
Try Our Award-Winning App
Surround yourself with English (American) whenever, wherever with the Rosetta Stone app.
Download a unit and knock it out on the train or a flight. Select a 5-10 minute lesson and sneak it in while you wait in line or for your ride to show up. And explore dynamic features, like Seek and Speak, where you can point at an object in the real world and get a translation.
The best part? You don’t have to choose between app or desktop. Both come with your subscription and sync, so you can switch between devices seamlessly.
