7 tips for speaking better in any language

Working as an international consultant, I’m constantly traveling to different countries and interacting with new languages. At first, I struggled to adapt because basic translations weren’t enough, and my sentences often sounded unnatural in real conversations. At the end of 2024, I realized I needed something more than just memorizing vocabulary. That’s when I discovered BeLikeNative. It translates across 80+ languages, but what truly helped was how it refined my phrasing to sound natural, just like a native speaker. I used it to prepare for meetings, refine my writing, and ensure I was communicating effectively wherever I went. If you want to master any language for real-world use, BeLikeNative makes all the difference!

thanks

I really needed to hear the last part about needing to make a lot of mistakes, and not letting that frustrate you. Too true that its the people who can keep plowing through who will ultimately reach their goals in language (in anything). Would've watched this on repeat when I was living in Japan getting frustrated at myself every day!

Love how he takes the opportunity to go grumbling grammar nazi <3

Hello, Teacher. I'm Korean and English learner. I'm so thankful to have you by my side on this journey of learning English :) You are such an reliable online mentor!!!

"Wound have went" Audible Rage

Steve, what about writing? How to improve if I my job need to write things! Do you consider writing as well?

I advocate Immersive translate app to help better your foreign languages. It offers impeccable services plus for free

hola Steve, seria bueno tener un capitulo dedidado a tips para inmigrantes que tienen que aprender un idioma nuevo en situaciones de supervivencia y urgencia y no en un ambiente ideal con tiempo y dinero para tomar clases y aprender tranquilamente. gracias!

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I'm starting in the English world. But i like your podcast because teach me kinds different of forms.. congratulations...

Every vidéo contains too much publicity for lingq

Hi, Steve — I am learning a lot from you lately and have taken up LingQ for Spanish. Thanks for sharing your knowledge and experience.

Back in the 60s I majored in Russian and slavic linguistics. All classes, assignments, and exams in Russian and Serbo-croatian were in the language. Still read Rusdian fluently but would not say that I speak it well. The only languages that I am fluent in (i.e. able to communicate in comfortably) are those that I picked up by living with them — English of course as a native Texsn, German from my Grandma and early home immersion, Spanish from a couple of years of working in Mexican labor crews and later doing technical support for my Latin American clients, and Polish from a year and a half working in Poland plus speaking Polish all the time with wife and friends. For a long time I was very frustrated that I devoted decades to studying and reading Russian but can't carry on a casual conversation, but can function normally in languages I never studied. You have helped me reconcile with that and realize that efforts to improve are better directed towards languages that I actually use for living.

Can you link to the russian book you used please? I googled it but it didnt pop up

When I try to speak with someone i have in mind that my job is I have to be as clearly as possible , I feel bad when the other person struggles to understand me .

I am unable to comprehend and I am not speaking. It is not possible to understand this.

You speak too fast!

"Pro"nun"ciation".

You're welcome

Prononciation is very important

There is another important tip: never talk to people who don't want to talk to you. They will only prove that you do not know how to speak.

Thanks to the author of the channel for the interesting content! The book by Yuriy Ivantsiv “ Polyglot Notes. Practical Tips for Learning Foreign Language” had a profound impact on me, opening new horizons of understanding the diversity of languages and cultures. The author's ideas that learning foreign languages not only broadens one's horizons but also contributes to spiritual development became a real revelation for me. I realized that every language is not just a system of signs, but a whole world with its history, traditions and way of life. Thanks to this book, I learned to see language learning as a path to self-discovery and a deeper understanding of others, which in turn enriched my worldview. Inspired by Ivantsiv's approach, I became more conscious of my learning, integrating the author's practical advice into my daily life. This opened up opportunities for me not only to improve my language skills, but also to develop a personal philosophy based on mutual understanding and empathy. Immersing myself in languages has allowed me to see the world from different angles and realize the importance of cultural exchange, which has been the foundation for my spiritual growth. Reading this book and applying its advice has helped me to become a more open and tolerant person who seeks harmony in my relationships with others.

Besides vocabulary I guess collocations are also important to learn any language.

Hello from Türkiye teacher. İ have been living in Cappadocia since I was born 😅.

I remembered the way I learn japanese before, I never been in japan but when I met japanese people for the first time in australia they literally surprised how I can speak that well.

I learned japanese mostly 85% of them is from watching a japanese drama or anime, coz there you can find some word that actually not exist in dictionary but they used it everyday, while watching, listen and write the word and translate.
Even I never learned the grammar but I can know exactly how to use it and whether it sounds right or not, its just automatically recorded in my brain and use only commen sense.

Now I learning spanish and I dont know why I feel that spanish is waaayyy to hard because of the grammar 😢

Take my love from Bangladesh, i like your videos,when i get free time that's time i try to watch Your important videos. I have a question, how can i improve my spoken English?
Please give me some idea!

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Thanks Steve! This is very good advice - even for those of us not smart enough to be retired diplomats! 😊

Thank you so much!!! Always very helpful and inspiring!!!

hello enjoyed the video! please help me ! i am that person who pronunciation is well but can not express myself why ? what am i doing wrong? please be specific. i am studying chinese. thank you

Amazing as always, thanks!

I'm from Bangladesh,, may i know where are you from?

Thanks a lot sir

God bless you abundantly in Jesus' Name Amen ✝️

God bless you abundantly in Jesus' Name Amen ✝️

Thank you so much for your tips, for sharing your experience, which is validated for many, many others good teachers and materials that I stayed in touch with and for subtitle your videos. Thank you so much for all.

I am a brazilian guy and i am 15 years old, and i want to be polyglot. Now i'm studying english (B1 level).
I'm using your videos to pratice english, love your channel, Steve!
If my comment has any grammatical/writing error, you can notice me, all help is welcome!

what is the languages more difficult?

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Turkish is my native languga if ı did mistake ım so sorry

A very rare note of disagreement - I think pronunciation is more important that you suggest *particularly for mother tongue English speakers learning other languages*. If you have a go at the pronunciation (essentially by mimicking what you hear), you can ensure that you do not get put back into English everywhere you go - and thus you get more practice in the target language! So I think it’s quite a high priority.

As a person who work every single day with people from different countrys, pronunciation is the most important think to keep a good conversation otherwise any chat could become in a totally waste of time; no matter your grammar or how many words you could recall to express any idea.

Nice advice! I'll share this with my students, give them more short, easy stories and round up a bunch of usage patterns (I heard about it being standard in Japan long ago to memorize about 100 English sentences exemplifying all the grammar rules. This would be different and would differ between places, but I'll try focusing on this.)

good advices

A thought on pronunciation. I wouldn't say that pronunciation isn't important. It just becomes less important once you've reached a minimum level where you can be understood. I think to continue to work on making the right sounds after that point but understand that it's secondary. Accept that you're probably never going to sound native, accept that you'll make the wrong sound just like saying the wrong thing. But do continue to work at it to some degree.

Thank you for useful explanations regarding improving speaking !! Btw im turkish and trying to level C1 in english not in writing or reading but in speaking !! İts soo weird that my reading level is c1 when it comes to speaking its b1 !! But ! where does the gap between speaking and reading skills comes from ??

Really enjoying your videos Steve, thank you!

I completely agree that grammar is not a set of rules, but rather a set of patterns.