GIVE ANSWERS - English

Regularly practising is key to improving langauge proficiency at any level in any language skill.

If a student is really at a B1 level, they should already have some fluency in speaking on a number of topics. At A1 and A2, students should already be getting fluent in speaking about a small range of topics. I suspect that person who asked the question might not have the basic skills to handle B1 level speaking. Unfortunately, a lot of ”speaking” in many English courses consists of memorising dialogues rather than actual speaking with someone.... Sadly, the questioner’s real level might be only A2 or even A1 and perhaps needs to be realistic about this.

I found it also very suspicious that the question referred to a 3-month timeframe for going through B1 speaking. There are a lot of people out there promising ”quick results” like moving through B1 in just 3 months if they take a certain online course, private tuition and so on - which of course in almost all cases is total nonsence and is bordering on fraud.

Native speakers are not always the best option - particularly for levels B1 and below.

Firstly the native speaker has to be the ”right type” of native speaker - British English for someone learning British English or American English for someone learning American English. A British English student practising with an American English speaker - or vice versa - often gets confused because there are substantial differences between British and American English in vocabulary, verb tense usage, prepositions and even articles.

Secondly, the native speaker should be able to communicate in standard English - particularly for levels B1 and below. Dialect is very confusing for lower-level students.

Thirdly, the native speaker needs to be able to speak at a natural speed and use intonnation and elocution naturally while at the same time filtering for the right level of grammar and vocabulary. Many native speakers are not able to do this. They usually talk too slowly and speak sounding out words individually rather than elocuting them - even quite a few native speaker instructors of English!

A non-native speaker who has C1 or even a good B2 level, who can speak English without too many mistakes in pronunciation and grammar, elocutes well and has a reasonable accent is actually a better choice for someone to practise with than a native speaker who speaks too slowly and word by word and who is not adapting his/her speaking for the level of the person he/she is speaking with.