Hello and welcome to the instructor blog! I’m James Cort and I teach TOEFL Speaking and Pronunciation and Fluency (発音矯正) at Agos.
The year is finally coming to an end, and the winter holidays will soon be upon us. Many of us are looking forward to some time off work or school, some may be travelling overseas and others preparing for important examinations. Whatever your plans, before we forget the year at the next忘年会 (end-of-year party), let’s reflect on our academic progress and consider how to make next year even more successful.
“Well… I can understand you, but it doesn’t sound natural.” Have you ever heard this from a native English speaking friend, colleague or instructor? You might then note down the corrected sentence that your teacher offers. However, you may not understand where you went wrong or how to sound more natural in the future. Today I’m going to talk about naturalness: What is natural English? Why is it important for the TOEFL and IELTS tests? How can you learn to use it?
What is natural English?
Natural English simply means the English that native speakers actually use. This can be quite different from the English you find in many textbooks, and drastically different from English directly translated from Japanese.
Unnatural English is often caused by several types of errors. Have a look at the examples below.
| Error |
Example |
Natural English |
| Inappropriate vocabulary choice |
‘My friends and I gathered at the bar.’ |
‘My friends and I met up at the bar.’ |
| Word order |
‘I went to a Japanese traditional restaurant.’ |
‘I went to a traditional Japanese restaurant.’ |
| Register (formality/context) |
‘There were many people at my birthday party. Moreover, it was very enjoyable.’ |
‘There were loads of people at my birthday party and we had a good time.’ |
| Direct translation |
‘I entered university in 2010.’ |
‘I started university in 2010.’ |
| ‘Textbook’ English |
‘For the first time, I ate dinner at Cici’s some days ago. It was so-so.’ |
‘I tried Cici’s the other day – it wasn’t great.’ |
| ‘Japanese’ English |
‘I went to the hot spring to refresh my mind.’ |
‘I went to the hot spring to unwind.’ |
| Wrong collocation (collocations are words that go together) |
‘The temples in Kyoto are very amazing.’ |
‘The temples in Kyoto are absolutely amazing.’ |
If you’re told that your English sounds unnatural, then it’s likely that it contains at least one of these errors.
Why is natural English important for the TOEFL and IELTS tests?
The ability to use natural English is vital for both TOEFL and IELTS. This is especially true for the speaking sections, where you have limited time to think about and plan your response. TOEFL speaking is graded holistically, which means the grader gives you a score based on their overall impression of your response. Of course, more natural speech will make a better impression, so you’ll get a higher score. The IELTS speaking examiners use very clear and detailed grading criteria, and producing more accurate and natural speech will help you to reach the higher bands.
How can you learn to use natural English?
So, how do you improve? Memorising the corrections your teacher gives you is vital, but this can be a slow process. Here are three important steps you can take to speak more naturally.
- Increase your exposure to natural English
The first step is to expose yourself to a lot of natural English material. Tedtalks, Youtube and online radio are great free resources. Netflix, Hulu and Amazon video are useful paid resources. Most of these have English subtitles available that can help you with new language. After listening or watching, make a note of new language, practice shadowing, make your own sentences and say then say them aloud. The material doesn’t have to be difficult. The important thing is to expose yourself regularly to natural English, and try to copy how the native speakers use the language.
- Consider the Context
Whenever you hear new words or phrases, think about the setting. What is natural in one context may sound very unnatural in another. Ask yourself: ‘Was the setting formal or informal? Was it at work, home or school? Was the topic serious or light-hearted? What’s relationship between the speakers? What’s the emotional state of the speaker and listener? How is the speaker using intonation? Etc.’ Questions like this will give you clues as to when and where you can use this language.
- Get out of your comfort zone
It’s easy and safe to use what you learnt in high school. But if you act in the same way, you’ll always get the same results, you won’t make progress and your TOEFL or IELTS scores won’t improve. Get out of your comfort zone and try out what you’ve learned in the real world. Use the new language with friends, with co-workers, in class, for homework and eventually on your TOEFL and IELTS tests!
Try these tips and see if you can start sounding more natural in 2017, and improve your TOEFL or IELTS speaking scores!
