How to speak English fast
Who wants to learn how to speak English fast? What about as fast as Busta Rhymes, at 143 words a minute?
No, maybe not that fast.
But, for many people, learning how to speak faster is connected to feeling more confident and sounding more fluent in English.
While speaking fast doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re being clearer, it can be a good way to practise. Keep in mind though, that real fluency is about being understood.
Take a look at these video clips and pronunciation activities to speed up your English, with tips to remain articulate and accurate along the way!
1. Zootopia – Take your time
Learning how to speak English fast takes time and plenty of practice. It’s important to remember that everyone talks at a different speed in whatever language they’re speaking, so try not to compare the pace you talk at to others.
Watch this clip from the film Zootopia that shows the different speeds different people (well, animated animals) speak at.
What differences are there in the way the sloth speaks compared to the rabbit?
Now pause the video after each character has spoken and try to repeat what they say. Which one is easier? And which one sounds more natural, in your opinion?
This activity allows you to experience speaking fast, with speaking slow, and finding the pace that makes the most sense for you.
2. Learn With Shadé – Connected speech
In English, connected speech is when people join words together to make a new word. These words tend to be colloquial and used in informal contexts. For example, don’t you becomes don’tcha. Give me becomes gimme. Understanding and using connected speech can help you sound more fluent in English. And, it speeds up your speech by milliseconds!
Watch this video from Learn With Shadé that gives examples of connected speech and examples of them in TV shows. For each word, practise repeating the full version, and then the connected version. After, try using them in different sentences – do you find that they help you speak more quickly and naturally?
3. British Council – Short word forms
You want to know how to speak English fast, but you also need to understand other people when they’re speaking fast. One way to do this is to listen for key words in a conversation – these help you keep up with what the speaker is saying and understand the overall meaning.
In English, there are lots of shortened words that people use to refer to things. These words are also quite casual and playful.
Watch this video from the British Council that goes through common shortened words, including uni for university, footy for football and veg for vegetables. Again, repeat the words and their shortened forms as you watch, and then try to implement them in example sentences or your next conversation in English.
Does the short version save you much time when you’re talking?
4. Taylor Swift – Contractions
Listening to music and reading the lyrics is a great way to speed up how you talk in English – even if it’s not Busta Rhymes’ rapping.
Would’ve, could’ve, should’ve by Taylor Swift is a good song to practise contractions, which is when two words are grammatically joined to make one. Could + have = could’ve. Contractions can make your speech sound natural and of course, give you momentum to talk faster.
Sing along with the song, and as you do, think about other contractions and songs that use them – do they tend to be fast-paced tracks?
5. Gordon Ramsay – ‘Running’ words
When a word ends in a consonant sound and the next word begins with a vowel, English speakers tend to ‘run’ them together. You can see some examples in the video of chef Gordon Ramsay making pasta. Here, he says things like adding in as addingin; mix that in as mix thatin, and let it drain as letit drain.
Watch the video and after each sentence, pause it, and repeat what Gordon says out loud. These snippets help you get comfortable with running words together. This way of speaking shouldn’t be something that you force – it’s more a natural result of speaking quickly and not emphasising each word.
Record yourself as you do this exercise. When you listen back, ask yourself: was what I said clear and understandable? Did my speech sound natural or forced?
6. Friends – Chatty expressions
English is a diverse language, but there are common expressions that you can slip into your speaking that make you sound more confident and less ‘wordy’ when you’re explaining something.
In this clip from TV show, Friends, you can hear common expressions like enough with the [verb] (meaning to stop whatever the person is doing), hold on (meaning to wait), and to have it up to here with someone (meaning to be annoyed with someone).
Pick a character to mirror speaking during the Friends scene and try to mute them when they’re speaking. Are you able to keep up with the flow of the conversation? Do you think the expressions let you speak faster or just get tongue tied?
7. First We Feast – Faster accents
English comes in lots of accents with different vocabulary. For example, British and American English has variations, including the speed that people talk at.
Watch this TikTok from First We Feast. The guest is British and the host is American. Repeat what each of them says and see if you notice a difference in speed and clarity. Do you find one person easier to understand than the other? Do you think one accent is harder to replicate when trying to speak quickly compared to the other?
8. Tom Holland – Drop ‘g’ endings
By now, you’ve probably noticed that a big part of how to speak English fast is to drop letters. Another tip then, is to let go of the ‘g’ at the end of ‘ing’ words.
In this interview with actor Tom Holland, you can hear him repeatedly pronounce trying as tryin. Dropping the ‘g’ is popular among native English speakers, but it’s not used when writing. As you watch the video, think about other words ending in ‘ing’ that you can practise saying out loud.
If you’re ready, say: The king was jumping on his bedding and went falling into the living room below.
A natural progression in English
Learning how to speak English fast shouldn’t be the main goal as you learn English. Being clear, confident, and easy to understand matters far more. However, becoming aware of speed and the techniques you can use to speed up your speaking can help you sound more natural and fluent in English.
Use the videos above and practise listening to and speaking in English as much as you can. You’ll quickly find that your speech gets faster without even trying!
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