The #1 request from most of my students is to increase their fluency. When a person begins the journey of learning a language, they spend a lot of time listening to native speakers and admiring their ability to speak with ease. If we are all honest, this is the goal and desire for anyone who decides to learn a new language. So what exactly is fluency? Let's take a few moments to clearly define what fluency is and I will give you a technique you can use to increase this skill.
Fluency, according to linguists, is the number of starts and stops one makes throughout conversation. The idea is that the less starts and stops you make while speaking, the more fluency you are perceived to have.
So how does a learner reach this level of fluency? The truth of the matter is there are many factors that contribute to the improvement of your fluency; increased vocabulary, a strong command of sentence structure and confidence just to name a few. Today, let's focus on one technique you can use to lessen the number of starts and stops you make--Gap Fillers
Gap fillers--pause fillers, fillers-- are often times meaningless words, phrases, or sounds that speakers use to fill in their pauses to avoid silence. The most common examples of fillers are um, uh, er, like, right.
Take a look at the mini tutorial lesson below explaining what gap fillers are and how to use them. Then, leave a comment below telling me which ones you have heard before. What are you favorites?
If you would like to practice more gap fillers, contact me for English Conversation lessons. Let's work on your fluency together!
