I can't help with practice, but here is a hint for every person who is learning English as a second language.
Learn to speak slowly! If you look at instruction manuals for almost anything, you will find that most are in many different languages. The amount of space occupied by the printed instructions in English is usually very small compared to the space required for other languages.
English is a very concise language, requiring less words than almost every other language to convey what is needed to say. I have found as a consequence in my world travels that non-English speaking people talk very fast.
When they learn English they naturally continue their lifelong habit of speaking fast. They might be using the correct English words, but when those words are spoken with an accent they are often not easily understood by a native English speaker.
Walter
P.S. I lay some of the blame on teachers of English as a second language, because they fail to address this problem,
Learn to speak slowly! If you look at instruction manuals for almost anything, you will find that most are in many different languages. The amount of space occupied by the printed instructions in English is usually very small compared to the space required for other languages.
English is a very concise language, requiring less words than almost every other language to convey what is needed to say. I have found as a consequence in my world travels that non-English speaking people talk very fast.
When they learn English they naturally continue their lifelong habit of speaking fast. They might be using the correct English words, but when those words are spoken with an accent they are often not easily understood by a native English speaker.
Walter
P.S. I lay some of the blame on teachers of English as a second language, because they fail to address this problem,
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