{"id":4873,"date":"2017-01-31T16:06:38","date_gmt":"2017-02-01T00:06:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/?p=4873"},"modified":"2017-09-13T12:06:26","modified_gmt":"2017-09-13T19:06:26","slug":"make-english-sound-natural","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/make-english-sound-natural\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Make Your English Sound More Natural"},"content":{"rendered":"

Check out this post originally published on the Listen & Learn<\/a> blog!<\/em><\/center><\/p>\n

Learning English is incredibly difficult, which is something non-native speakers of English don\u2019t always understand. The English language is insane, with rules that almost always have exceptions, homophones, homonyms, gerunds, and a ton of other things that make the language incredibly tricky to speak with native proficiency.
\n 
\nSo what\u2019s an English language learner to do? Throw in the towel and give up now? No! Of course not!
\n 
\nWe know how difficult it can be to make yourself sound natural in English, and we know that being able to express yourself in the easiest and most comfortable way can be really difficult. We\u2019ve come up with some tips to help you speak and write English more naturally, improving your confidence with the language and ultimately improving your fluency.<\/p>\n

Know your audience!<\/h2>\n

All the world\u2019s a stage, and we are merely players, right? Well, sort of.
\n 
\nThis doesn\u2019t mean focusing on how loud you\u2019re speaking or on the lighting in the room as you\u2019re speaking. Rather it means that you need to understand if you\u2019re speaking in a formal setting, or an informal one. Most languages have whole separate verb conjugations and subjects to easily communicate the formality and respect owed in different situations, but English does not.
\n 
\nWhen speaking with someone, or especially when writing to someone you should always keep these questions in mind:<\/p>\n

    \n
  • What is our relationship?<\/li>\n
  • Are they friends, co-workers, professors, or complete strangers?<\/li>\n
  • What am I discussing?<\/li>\n
  • Is it personal and private or something casual and common?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    If the relationship is more formal \u2013 like a professor, or an employer \u2013 then you should choose more formal language. Stay away from slang and make sure you\u2019ve properly addressed the recipient if you\u2019re writing to them. If you don\u2019t know someone very well, or at all, it\u2019s a better idea to start formal and gradually work towards more casual conversations. Keep the slang for friends and more casual topics and discussions for people you\u2019re closer with. When it doubt, follow the tone the other person, or other people present to you.<\/p>\n

    Chop away at it.<\/h2>\n

    Don\u2019t be afraid to use contractions when speaking or when writing in English as it sounds more fluent and more casual. If you listen to native speakers (or read their emails, newspapers, and literature) then you\u2019ll notice contractions all over the place! Just scanning through this paragraph, you\u2019d be able to find at least 3 before this sentence finishes. When you use contractions, make sure you\u2019re using the correct ones; doesn\u2019t versus don\u2019t, can\u2019t versus couldn\u2019t, and never, ever use willn\u2019t.
    \n 
    \nCarrying on with the idea of chopping \u2013 be careful of run-on sentences in your writing. Don\u2019t try to fit too much into one sentence, as it just looks disorganised and cluttered. This doesn\u2019t mean you have to keep your writing direct, blunt, and to the point (unless your audience needs that), but it does mean you should be wary of how many conjunctions are within your sentence and how many ideas you are linking together within that sentence.<\/p>\n

    Phrasal verbs, collocations, and idioms \u2013 oh my!<\/h2>\n

    Want to sound more natural when you\u2019re speaking English? Make sure your collocations are up to snuff and your idioms are on point when you\u2019re speaking or writing!
    \n 
    \nIdioms are phrases that mean something completely different and indiscernible from what they say. Give it a shot (an idiom meaning \u201ctry something\u201d) when you\u2019re speaking with some English-speaking friends, for example. Collocations are words that naturally go together \u2013 they can be noun combinations, adjective-noun combinations, verb-phrase combinations, or any other countless combination.
    \n 
    \nThink of the phrase: \u201cMake a difference\u201d. You would never use the verb \u201cdo\u201d or \u201chave\u201d to mean changing someone\u2019s life for the better. Collocations connect with phrasal verbs as well. You would ask<\/strong> someone out<\/strong> on a date but you wouldn\u2019t ever ask<\/strong> someone in on a date\u2026 well, unless the date had gone really well\u2026 but that\u2019s a different meaning entirely.
    \n 
    \nWhen you make mistakes with phrasal verbs, collocations and idioms it sounds very strange and very wrong to a native speaker ear. If you can nail these, you\u2019ll sound more natural and more like a native speaker in a heartbeat!
    \n 
    \nKeep these tips in mind, and you\u2019ll find your English speaking and writing being mistaken for a native English speaker\u2019s in no time!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Check out this post originally published on the Listen & Learn blog! Learning English is incredibly difficult, which is something non-native speakers of English don\u2019t always understand. The English language is insane, with rules that almost always have exceptions, homophones, homonyms, gerunds, and a ton of other things that make the language incredibly tricky to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":257,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13605],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[13652],"class_list":["post-4873","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-english-skills"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nHow to Make Your English Sound More Natural - Magoosh Blog \u2013 TOEFL\u00ae\ufe0f Test<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/make-english-sound-natural\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to Make Your English Sound More Natural\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Check out this post originally published on the Listen & Learn blog! Learning English is incredibly difficult, which is something non-native speakers of English don\u2019t always understand. The English language is insane, with rules that almost always have exceptions, homophones, homonyms, gerunds, and a ton of other things that make the language incredibly tricky to […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/make-english-sound-natural\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Magoosh Blog \u2013 TOEFL\u00ae\ufe0f Test\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/facebook.com\/MagooshTOEFL\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-02-01T00:06:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-09-13T19:06:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/files\/2016\/09\/Facebook-SEO-Default.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"628\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Heather Keagan\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@MagooshTOEFL\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@MagooshTOEFL\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Heather Keagan\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/make-english-sound-natural\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/make-english-sound-natural\/\",\"name\":\"How to Make Your English Sound More Natural - Magoosh Blog \u2013 TOEFL\u00ae\ufe0f Test\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2017-02-01T00:06:38+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/#\/schema\/person\/dfd527427af71914d5238e13d1e7c937\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/make-english-sound-natural\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/make-english-sound-natural\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/make-english-sound-natural\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"How to Make Your English Sound More Natural\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/\",\"name\":\"Magoosh Blog \u2013 TOEFL\u00ae\ufe0f Test\",\"description\":\"Online TOEFL Preparation\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/#\/schema\/person\/dfd527427af71914d5238e13d1e7c937\",\"name\":\"Heather Keagan\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/32489695f5516a357fe963b98b95516f\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/17681f40dfbd34c023b17a6b376ade213dfd33aed9a8900d719bea10ceb13c8c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/17681f40dfbd34c023b17a6b376ade213dfd33aed9a8900d719bea10ceb13c8c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Heather Keagan\"},\"description\":\"An explorer at heart, Heather has been working abroad as a teacher for the last 4 years in Jakarta, Donetsk, Budapest, London and currently Seoul, South Korea. 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