GCAS 7 戦略：英会話の良い習慣

Women giving a presentation

Develop good speaking habits

Image Credit
Nadine Shaabana via Unsplash

流暢さを高める次の段階です。回答に時間がかかったり、「ああ」や「ええと」などの発言を失くすことで、より洗練された会話が目指せます。

Introduction

Pay attention to your flow of speech as you answer this question.

What's the hardest part of your job?

Type some of the sentences your student says. Use them for practice in the Language section.

Warm Up

Let's discuss bad habits in speech. Did you have any in your answer?

Bad habits

  1. Did you use non-word sounds?
    • "Um" and "uh" make you sound unsophisticated. Stop saying them.
  2. Did you pause too often?
    • Halting speech is a problem. We. do. not. speak. like. this. 
      • Work on chunking. Because actually // we speak like this, // in chunks // of a few words, // give or take.
  3. Did you pause too long?
    • Long pauses are a problem.
      • Tell the listener you are thinking. Use filler phrases ("Let me see", etc...) paired with thinking intonation.
  4. Did you rush?
    • Slooow down. Add more word stress to key words. Use bigger intonation. Don't rush.

We will solve bad habits in the Language section.

Language

These are four bad speaking habits:

  1. Non-word sounds.
  2. Halting speech.
  3. Long pauses.
  4. Rushing.

Are any of these a problem for you? If so, work on it with your teacher. 

1. Non-word sounds 

  • Say:

If "um" and "uh" are a problem, fix it. It is easy. First, notice you are saying them. Then, stop yourself when you're about to use one. Pause briefly, or use a filler phrase, instead.

  • Ask one (or both) of the following questions. Signal (with sound or gesture) every time the student says a non-word sound. 
    • Is diversity important at your company?
    • Would you prefer to work in a domestic project or a global one?

2. Pausing too often

You can use fewer pauses, without rushing. Don't allow a gap between words. Instead, stretch the word. 

  • Stretch the peak vowel—longer, with a rising (or falling) tone. 
    • "This. is. speech. with. a lot. of. stops." 
    • Buuuut, this is speeeech with a moooore fluid delivery.

  • Pause after key words. Do not pause after conjunctions or any non-key words. 

3. Long pauses

Say:

It's perfectly natural to take time to think. But the listener must know you are thinking. So, tell them. Use a filler phrase.

Filler phrases were discussed in the previous lesson (GCAS 6). Some examples are: 

  • Let me see/think... 
  • How should I put it?
  • Well, hmm, good question. 
  • Ah, what's the word? It's on the tip of my tongue!

4. Rushing

Say:

The faster you speak, the less time you have to think about grammar, vocabulary and logic. Fixing it is easy. Sloooow down.

  • One strategy:
    • Tap a rhythm. Keep it slow. Speak in that rhythm. 
  • Rhythmic speaking also helps with the bad habits above.

 

Practice

Now let's practice some more questions. Focus on keeping your good speaking habits.