As a teacher of English I often find it interesting how many students excell at grammar but struggle badly when it comes to speaking. Speaking is definitely the most important part of any foreign language, as it helps you express yourself, communicate with other people and find your way around when visiting a country abroad.

Many students complain they feel insecure or shy when speaking in a foreign language, because they are short of vocabulary or because they get lost when putting their thoughts in a sentence.

Here's some tips that will help you improve your speaking skills :

SPEAKING Speak as much as possible. Speak with your English teacher, your friends who are good at English, tourists asking for directions, maybe even join an international discussion club - whenever there's an opportunity to speak, just brace it!

READING It sounds like a waste of time to some people, but believe me, it's not. By reading you learn tons of new words and develop your vocabulary - you won't be short of words and expressions anymore. Moreover, by reading you will learn how to arrange a sentence and make it sound English - no more translating from your mothertongue!

WRITING As I always tell my students, writing is extremely important when it comes to correcting mistakes and learning not to make them anymore. It's easier to arrange your thoughts on paper, what's more you can always go back and have a look at the mistakes you made and analyze them.

Learning a foreign language takes time and effort, but you can make it faster and more efficient by combining speaking, writing and reading, it definitely worked for me! :)