Use expression in your voice!

7 years ago

So, you are learning English. You know lots of vocabulary. You have studied the grammar. However, you have problems when you speak because you just don't sound right. People don't seem to want to listen. What could the problem be? It might be your tone and expression. When you speak in English try to change the tone of your voice, to give expression, to add animation, excitement and interest, Then people will want to listen more. 

A good way to practice this is to read short stories and record your voice. I have included an example for you. This is me reading one of my favourite short stories by Dave Eggers, called 'What the water feels like to the fishes'.
mp3: https://www.dropbox.com/s/xm6yvchwlyyt4p2/Fishes.mp3?dl=0
story: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2005/jan/08/shortshortstories.fiction

Choose a short story of your own and record your voice as you read it. This is easy to do on your smartphone as most have a voice recording app. Have a listen. How do you sound? Do you want to listen to the story. Are you engaged?

You can also watch this video by Julian Treasure on ted.com for help on how to speak so people will listen.
video: https://www.ted.com/talks/julian_treasure_how_to_speak_so_that_people_want_to_listen

If you want to learn more then try a lesson with me: https://www.verbling.com/teachers/rachelb