Developing English Speaking Skills in Saudi Society

Many people want to develop their English speaking skills because they are considered one of the four most important skills when learning English, so that they can keep up with the developments of the era in which English has become the basis of all work, development, travel and building new relationships. Speaking English is now one of the basic things in Saudi society and all societies.

Mastering this skill is not difficult or easy, but it requires daily practice, application, and commitment in order to be able to develop your English speaking skills within a few months. There are many ways to help you do this, the most important of which is using technology to learn English.

The importance of English in our lives

Learning English is one of the best and most important skills that you should master for several reasons, which are:

• English is the language of global communication whether in business, science, tourism, travel or studying abroad.
• English language proficiency is one of the best skills that employers look for in job applicants . Working on developing your English speaking skills opens up huge job opportunities with high salaries.
• Learning English enables you to browse the Internet easily because most of the Internet sites are written in English.
• Developing English speaking skills helps you communicate with others and understand different cultures around the world.
• Proficiency in English helps in studying at international universities in many specializations.

Ways to develop English speaking skills

In order to develop your English speaking skills, you must follow some instructions that will help you do so, which are as follows:

•       Learn the English phonetic alphabet: You can learn the phonetic alphabet by pronouncing the letters and adjusting the exits and sounds. Some letters have more than one aspect in the English language :

1. The first aspect: the shape of the letter (which is the drawing used in writing and what distinguishes the English language is that its letters do not change like the Arabic language, for example).
2. The second aspect: The name of the letter: such as the letter Baa, which is called (Baa).
3. The third aspect: the sound of the letter, which is the way the letter is pronounced and spoken.

One of the tools that can be used to develop your English speaking skills if you want to pronounce letters correctly is learning the International Phonetic Association (IPA) alphabet or the IPA chart. This alphabet is a chart that includes all the sounds, especially all the phonemes, found in all the languages ​​of the world.

When you learn the sounds, you will be able to develop your English speaking skills in an easy way, by pronouncing every phonetic version you see without hesitation.

Some people think that learning and pronouncing the IPA phonetic alphabet is difficult and requires a lot of effort, especially since some letters of the English language have more than one sound, but this method, although a little difficult, helps you develop your English speaking skills in an effective way. For example:

The letter (c) is pronounced (see) and sometimes (k). There are many examples of this: we find that the letter c is pronounced as a kaf in the word cat, and we find that the letter c is pronounced with the same basic pronunciation in the word peace, which is (see).

• Speaking for at least an hour daily : This condition is considered one of the best ways to develop speaking skills in the English language . The more and more you speak, the more your chances of learning increase. You can talk about anything you want to talk about, such as talking about your life, your dreams, your ambitions, your daily activities, and anything you want. You can talk to yourself or to someone else around you, whether your friends, colleagues at work or school. The important thing is to speak in any way in English.

Some people think that it is difficult to find people to talk to, but technological development has solved this dilemma. The Internet is now full of many free and paid educational courses and language exchange sites that help you talk directly with native English speakers. If you do not like this method, you can listen to video clips on YouTube or any foreign educational sites, then you can also record what you heard for yourself and compare your speaking with the way you speak in the video and discover your mistakes in order to learn from them.

• Learn idioms and expressions: In order to develop your English speaking skills, try to learn idioms and expressions rather than individual words, because expressions are the most commonly used things among native speakers. For example, an English learner might ask someone: “How are you feeling today?”, while a native speaker might use the phrase: “What’s up?” or “How are you?” Therefore, learning idioms and expressions is more useful than learning individual words.

• Repeat the use of the vocabulary you have learned: One of the most important methods for developing speaking skills in the English language is to constantly repeat the vocabulary, expressions and terms because repetition will make you memorize them to a large extent, and with repeated use of them you will speak more powerfully and better, and your speaking skills will be similar to the way of native English speakers.

• Learn English Grammar: Although grammar is important and necessary, it is not as important as speaking skills. Grammar is important, but you will need it at some point in your life, but not at the beginning of learning English, because after a period of speaking with native English speakers, you will find that you have begun to immerse yourself in English grammar naturally without the need to study rule by rule without applying it.

• Record yourself speaking: Try to speak out loud when speaking English and record your voice while speaking. Speaking out loud even if you don’t have anyone to talk to will make you feel comfortable speaking English. Record your voice and then listen to it later and check for your mistakes. You can also listen to a lot of educational materials in English and then record yourself reading them. Then listen to your recording again and look for mistakes in pronunciation or grammar and correct them periodically by repeating this process. Don’t despair if you listen to native English speakers and find that you don’t understand many words. This is normal. You just have to take the risk to learn. Repeat what you hear a lot and then review what you said.

• Using a mirror : To develop your English speaking skills, stand in front of a mirror, choose a specific topic that you can talk about in English, set a timer for two or three minutes and speak. The goal of this activity is to watch your mouth, face and body language while you speak. This makes you feel as if you are talking to someone else and conversing with them. All you have to do is pretend that you are talking to someone else and continue talking for two or three minutes without stopping. If you encounter any problem with a specific word that you cannot translate into English, try to express it in a different context. Repeat this daily if you can. This exercise will help you know the types of words and sentences that you find difficult or problematic when speaking.

•       Listen to English stories and repeat what you hear: Listening to stories, especially short stories in English, develops your English speaking skills because most of the words in the story will stick in your mind for hours and perhaps for days. So, you can listen to your favorite short stories and look at the words in the story to improve your English speaking skills , acquire new meanings and vocabulary, learn English grammar , and improve your pronunciation, whether in an American or British accent .

•       Without new vocabulary and terms: When evaluating learning English in Saudi Arabia, it was found that the level of education is very low, so the Saudi Ministry of Education is trying to raise the level of learning English and develop language skills, especially speaking. In order to be able to develop this skill quickly, you can write down all the new vocabulary and terms, even if they are colloquial and do not have an exact meaning in your mother tongue ; because these vocabulary and terms will make you speak English automatically.

• Watching English TV shows: Watching TV shows on a daily or weekly basis greatly stimulates the sense of listening and speaking in English, especially when you listen to them again through the Internet. Here, you can watch the shows on websites, especially YouTube, so that you can repeat the clip in the way you like. You can also advance or delay the video, and thus you will get the most benefit and you will be able to develop your English speaking skills faster.

•       Develop and exercise your mouth muscles: English sometimes uses sounds that are not present in your native language, and here it is difficult for the learner to imitate these sounds, but with intensive practice, in a loud and clear voice, and recording your voice, you will be sure that you are speaking correctly or you will discover mistakes and try to correct them. In order to be able to develop your English speaking skills through this method, try to exaggerate when pronouncing each new sound, and thus it will be easy for you to speak clearly and smoothly in any English conversation.

• Traveling to a foreign country: Traveling to a foreign country is one of the best and most important ways to develop your English speaking skills . You do not necessarily have to travel to America or Britain, but when you travel to any neighboring country where you need to use the English language, you will be forced to use the English language all the time and you will hear it all the time as well. No matter what your level is, you will have to try and speak because it is the only means of communication in this country, but with this hardship you will learn a lot and increase your language skills in a faster way.

•       Learn and practice more: In order to develop your English speaking skills, try to make an extra effort to add English to your day and try many activities to improve your level faster. Here are some examples that may help you with that:

1.     Try writing an email to a foreign colleague or friend.
2.     You can memorize 10 words over the weekend.
3.     Try to study a few rules from a reliable site or reference.
4.     You can attend an English class on language exchange programs several times a week.
5.     Learn to conjugate five irregular verbs on a daily or weekend basis.
6. You can challenge yourself to learn 30 new English words in 30 days.
7.     Read one BBC news article on your phone while you eat breakfast every morning.
8.     You can also watch a 5-10 minute video on YouTube from English learning channels.
9.     Another interesting idea is to try listening to an audiobook in English or listening to a radio station on the radio while you are on your way to work or traveling.
10.                       Use educational apps on your smartphone to review about 20 words during your lunch break or any other break in your day.

• Imitating a native English speaker: The method of imitation and mimicry helps in developing your English speaking skills to a great extent, but all you have to do is choose a person with a comfortable, calm and soothing tone for your ear, imitate some of the sentences he says, then record yourself, pay attention to each section of the sections you recorded, then compare your voice with his voice and correct your mistakes and repeat this many times until you reach an excellent stage.

School.com and developing English speaking skills

Madrasa.com is the first virtual school that helps teach and develop English speaking skills through training courses and private lessons provided by the best and most skilled Arab and foreign teachers who are native speakers of English.

These courses offered by the Madrasa.com platform have many advantages:

• Flexible appointments, whether morning, evening, or any time of the day
• Lower cost.
• High quality educational materials.
• Develop your four skills of speaking, reading, writing and listening.
• Interactive individual audio and video lessons on Zoom
• Courses tailored to your needs.
• Madrasa.com courses qualify you to pass popular language tests such as IELTS, AMSATS, TOEFL and TOPC.
• You will be able to learn English from the world's English language experts.
• New monthly releases.
• The Madrasa.com platform offers hundreds of hours of audio, video and written educational materials, and will release new content every month to help improve your English language skills.

English language courses on the platform Madrasa.com

The Madrasa.com platform offers a variety of training courses that help you develop your English speaking skills online, which are:

1. English for beginners online course
2. Business English course
3. English conversation course online
4. English for travelling online course

Always remember that fluency in English does not come from learning English in Saudi Arabia once or for one month, but rather it requires repetition, practice, mastery and commitment. This matter may take some time, but the result will be amazing when you master the English language and are able to speak it at any time and with anyone.

The truth is that anyone who speaks or learns a new language needs patience and perseverance to reach an excellent stage without giving up halfway through. Some research has shown that most people continue to learn additional words in their native language on a daily basis until the middle of their lives. This should motivate you and try to always reward yourself when you reach your goal at the end of each week in order to feel motivated and encouraged to learn more in the English language .