How to practice speaking English like a native?
1. Practice listening to the intonation you want to target
To speak English like a native requires you to listen a lot and practice speaking skills according to their
intonation and pronunciation.
First, you need to determine whether you want to speak English with a British-British or British-
American accent or the intonation of a favorite country that also speaks English. Then, pick up
conversations on the internet and start practicing. Note: the best way to practice listening is to pause
and repeat what the speaker is saying. Or say chase the speaker without stopping, record your own
voice to compare with the speaker's voice.
2. Practice pronunciation with YouTube
Pronunciation is one of the important factors to help you speak English like a native. Therefore, pay
attention to pronunciation before you dive into grammar and vocabulary activities!
Forget the textbook pronunciations, turn on YouTube and practice. Here are three YouTube channels to
help you practice listening to English communication interesting and attractive:
Speak English with Vanessa (UK - US): great channel with pronunciation lessons on how to speak like an
American.
BBC Learning English (UK - UK): More than 100 videos dedicated to pronunciation and how to speak in a
standard British accent.
Aussie English (UK - Australia): Learn a bit about Australian culture and the country by watching over 40
videos that teach you how to speak like an Australian.
3. Awareness of intonation
Although good pronunciation is important, in order to learn how to speak English like a native, many
students make the mistake of focusing only on pronunciation and forgetting about intonation when
speaking.
Intonation is the tone you speak and the stress you place on different parts of a word or sentence. Every
English speaker has a different intonation depending on where they were born and raised. For example,
when pronouncing the word “garage,” an American-English speaker would say: ga-RAGE, while an
English speaker in South Africa would say: GAR-age.
Using the wrong intonation not only confuses the listener, but can completely change the meaning of
your sentence. In addition, speaking with the wrong intonation will make the listener realize that you
are not from an English-speaking country.

4. Practice to improve intonation
You can practice intonation the same way you improve your pronunciation: listen to native speakers and
try to repeat what they say. However, you will not focus on listening to vowels and consonants, instead,
you need to listen to how they say the whole sentence or intonation while speaking.