How to improve foreign language skills: 20 secrets to find balance and build fluency

The four language skills are speaking, listening, reading and writing, all of which are interconnected in some way, shape or form.
Here are the ways that these skills relate to each other:

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  Working on your language listening skills helps you mimic sounds for speaking.
  

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  Reading helps you recognize more vocabulary and grammar structures to improve writing.
  

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  Speaking and writing are known as active or productive skills.
  

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  Listening and reading are known as passive or receptive skills.
  

Looking at all these different language skills, you might be wondering if it’s necessary to devote equal amounts of time to develop each one.
Because the whole point of learning a new language is to communicate, many linguists argue that speaking is the most critical language skill. This is often why active skills are highly emphasized in the beginning, with the development of passive skills following later in the language journey.
But does that mean you should only focus on speaking and listening? The answer is no.
Besides, language proficiency tests measure your ability in all four areas, so you’re really shooting yourself in the foot if don’t put any effort into developing your reading and writing skills.
Isn’t it difficult working on all four skills at the same time?
Remember that none of these skills are ever isolated—when you put in the work for one skill, you’re automatically improving another.
It also helps to diversify your learning activities for foreign language practice to minimize the boredom and frustration with repetitive exercises. The variety also takes away the monotony of studying.
As you move onto the intermediate and advanced levels of foreign language acquisition, you might start focusing on certain skills over others, depending on your endgame. It’s the difference between an aspiring interpreter and a striving translator, where the former would need to be a fluent speaker and listener, while the latter would need to be advanced in reading and writing.
Whatever your motivation may be, we’ve outlined all the best tips to develop all four foreign language skills.
How to Improve Speaking Skills in a Foreign Language
Speaking in a new language can be intimidating, but it doesn’t have to be! To boost your speed, confidence and overall fluency in speaking, keep the following tips in mind.
Improve Your Pronunciation and Accent

One of the biggest reasons why people feel uncomfortable when speaking in a new language is because they sound drastically different from natives. That discomfort goes away once you perfect your foreign language pronunciation.

It’s completely normal to sound awkward when you’re a beginner or an intermediate learner. To be honest, there are even advanced learners out there who still haven’t quite nailed their accents yet. Rather than obsessing over that awkwardness, put the work in to improve your accent. By taking the time and effort in refining your pronunciation, communication between you and native speakers will eventually improve, ultimately boosting your confidence in the language.
Therefore, don’t overlook those seemingly tiny pronunciation issues. Whether you need to learn how to roll your Rs or how to pronounce Chinese pinyin, acknowledge those issues and make a conscious effort to mimic the proper mouth and tongue movements for better pronunciation.
Find a Language Exchange Partner

If you aren’t ready to casually converse with native speakers or are too anxious to attend language meetups, find a language exchange partner instead. This language exchange partner could be a friend who happens to be a native or fluent speaker of your target language. It could also be a fellow learner interested in studying a language you’re proficient in.

Aside from meetups, you can search for a language partner online through language exchange websites and apps, perhaps participate in some language exchange on Skype. You can also go on WhatsApp for language exchange to connect with like-minded language learners.
The great thing about online interactions is that they take away the social anxiety of being face-to-face, allowing you to discuss a variety of language exchange topics without the stress of small talk.
If this type of social interaction is just not your thing, you can always find a language tutor to help you with speaking, in addition to the rest of the language skills.
Always Read Out Loud

Why only work on one language skill when you can kill two birds with one stone?

Reading is obviously a very important language skill. Though if you ask me, silently reading in your head is a missed opportunity for improving your verbal communication skills.
Whenever you find yourself reading any kind of text in your target language, say the words out loud! It doesn’t matter if you have a book in front of you or if you randomly spot a vocabulary sticker on your fridge—if you see words in your target language, vocalize them.
Volume isn’t totally necessary for this exercise. If you’d rather whisper because you’re reading in a public space, that’s totally fine. What’s important is that you practice the mouth movements to help you feel more comfortable when speaking in a foreign language.
Speak Often—and Make Mistakes!
If you want to know how to speak a language fluently, be vocal as often as possible. Any opportunity you have to speak in a foreign language, do so! Talk to fluent speakers, make those mistakes and learn from them.
And when you fumble on a word or translation, try your best to describe it in conversation rather than resorting back to English. By doing this, you stop translating in your head and start having a natural conversation instead of spitting out textbook responses. It’s achievements like these that push you closer towards language proficiency.
I should add that you don’t have to be with other people to practice speaking. In fact, when you’re on you’re own listening to or watching foreign media, you’re more than welcome to do language shadowing exercises to learn how to speak as naturally as the natives.
How to Improve Listening Skills in a Foreign Language
Your speaking ability depends on your listening, so let’s discover how to improve listening skills in a foreign language for better verbal communication.
Listen According to Your Interests

Listening may be a passive skill, but that doesn’t mean you can’t be an active listener.