1.  Don’t be shy! 

You will never improve your oral English if you never speak it!  Think of your mouth as a musical instrument, like a piano or a guitar:  it makes sounds which can either be loud and clear or soft and confusing.  It takes practice and hard work to improve the sounds you make.  Do you think the best musicians in the world are the best because they simply wanted to?  No!  They had to practice for many hours a day.  You might not be trying to be the best, but you need to make sure your brain, mouth and vocal chords are all working together so you can make yourself understood by other people, to make the best instrument you can. 

2.  Don’t think your oral English is very poor!

It is acceptable to think you need to improve your oral English, but you must realize that you control whether you improve or not.  Most people who think they are not good at something tend to not want to do the activity anymore or even try.  With that attitude your oral English will NEVER improve.  Realize you actually know the English language very well, since you’ve studied it for a long time; you just need to transfer the knowledge in your brain to your mouth, which you can share with other people.

Put simply, be confident with your abilities.  Realize you have accomplished a lot and can still accomplish more, if you want.

3.  Remember it is okay to make mistakes while you are speaking English. 

I promise you NOTHING will happen to you if you make a small English mistake in front of a native speaker, such as an American.  We are familiar with people from all over the world who all speak English differently.  Even Americans themselves have much native speaker variation in their pronunciation and usage.  I tell my students the nice thing about the English language is it is very forgiving – you can make many mistakes in a conversation, like pronunciation or grammar, and still be understood.  I make mistakes in English all the time!  And yes, sometimes my friends laugh at me.  I just laugh with them and try not to make that mistake again.  That is the basis of learning:  making mistakes and learning from them. In addition, you will make your English teachers, both Chinese and foreign, very happy by participating in class.  We can’t help improve your English if we don’t know what mistakes you are making!

I’m also studying Chinese, which I think is exciting and rewarding – I can communicate with people all around China!  And guess what?  I make mistakes ALL the time!  I am also sometimes embarrassed by my mistakes and then become nervous about saying anything else.  But then I remind myself I keep trying and trying, because that will the only way I will become better.

4.  Be patient!

Learning a foreign language is very difficult but it is also worthwhile.  The great thing about learning a foreign language is that it opens a new world of communication with people both in and out of China.  There are more and more foreign people coming to China, and many of them speak English.  Or, you might travel out of China one day.  Being able to speak English allows you to share experiences with others.

5.  Create a language environment with your friends

I feel very lucky to be studying Chinese in my spare time here because I have millions of native speakers all around Wuhan and China to practice with.  This is very different compared to the English speaking environment in China; many students tell me they feel strange or nervous speaking English, both in and outside of the classroom, because people either look at them strangely or make fun of them.  Simply put, there are not millions of native English speakers around here to practice with.

Knowing this, I am often amazed by how well many of the students at Wuhan University can speak English and have never left the country!  This phenomenon says two things:  one, your English teachers in China have done a great job, and two, you have done a great job.  So how do create your own English environment?  I can think of a few ways:

1.  Talk with native speakers, such as foreign students or foreign teachers.  Unfortunately there aren’t too many of us around here and we can’t spend a lot of time with everybody, but I’m sure many of them will be happy to spend a few minutes with you.

2.  Don’t worry if you can’t speak with native speakers all the time…you don’t need them.  Surround yourself with classmates and other students who want to learn English as well.  It is important they are eager to practice too.  You want to be with people who will support you, not criticize you.  Plan some time each week to practice speaking English, and ONLY speak English!  There are already a few clubs around Wuhan University that were created to do this, including English Street.  Remember, though, that speaking Chinese does not improve your English!

3.  MSN Messenger, Skype and other Internet web sites and programs are accessed by many native speakers, which gives you opportunities to chat.  If you can politely ask them for some time (I was wondering if you had a minute or two to chat) they will probably spend some time talking with you.  But as I said earlier, PLEASE DO NOT SAY YOUR ENGLISH IS POOR!  This might be “Chinese modesty,” but it does not help here.  You need to be confident.

Now that I have suggested some ideas to improving your English, ask yourself what you want to achieve - what goals do you have?  Pass an exam?  Find a job in a foreign company?  And then TRY…you can do it!