Hi folks, My name is Burak and It’s my first time posting here, I’ve been using Lingq for quite some time though. Recently I was watching the Oxford Union debates on Youtube, and it suddenly dawned on me that some of the speakers there, albeit non-native, speak rather eloquently, but they were also super fast and had no trouble using really “high-end” words. It got me thinking that why can’t I achieve the same kind of speed and fastness when I speak? don’t get me wrong, I‘ve been exposed to English for a good amount of time and can manage any kind of conversation with natives and non-natives alike, but when technicality and complexity comes into play, and when I am unfamiliar with the topic being discussed, I wind up altering my speech rate to a somewhat slower state. Nevertheless, as Turkish people—excluding regional exceptions—we generally have a tendency to speak relatively more slowly than Britons anyway, so maybe that’s a factor too. All in all, I am a bit lost on this. is there any advice you can give me to speak faster without making mistakes in the most complex, intangible and esoteric conversations? have you ever run into the same problem yourselves, if so can you share your views?
thanks,
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<< when technicality and complexity comes into play, and when I am unfamiliar with the topic being discussed, I wind up altering my speech rate to a somewhat slower state. >>
Yup, that’s true of anyone in any language I think. It comes with familiar with the language and the topic you are discussing. The better you are, the better you are. How do you get better? Speaking a lot. Listening a lot. Reading a lot. Knowing a lot of about your subject. Practice practice practice.
There isn’t an easy answer, but there is a simple one. Good luck. You’ll get there!
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I guess listening a lot to fast talkers helps. You will start to pick up the fast speed as normal.
I often listen to rap/hiphop and sing along. Also in languages I am learning.
And I find it a good excercise.
You might want to check out Daily Wire on youtube. Ben Shapiro has a daily news talk. He is one of the fastest speakers I know. And he is a destroyer in any debate. Don‚t know if his political stance (conservative republican) is your cup of tea. But language wise definetly worth a try.
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To get better…you simply need to practice more and possibly be put into more situations where you’re not as “comfortable”. I’m not familiar with the debates you’re talking about but there are a couple of possibilities…First of all, if they know the topic they are debating about, they are going to be well versed in the subject and have already formulated the arguments they will make or at least how best to steer the direction of the debate where they want to go. They also are probably very familiar with the arguments against their position. Obviously, if they know the material well and have practiced they’ll be able to speak much faster.
If they debate impromptu about topics that they may not know anyything about then probably still have some number of ideas and thoughts they can steer the debate toward. They also practice debating quite a bit I’m sure so they simply know how to do it better.
So, again, just practice debating and discussing things in the language to get faster. However, you may never get as fast as some of these people. They may simply think quicker and/or be able to spew a lot of words out quickly (maybe even without really saying much of anything important). Some people are simply better at it. In my native language I’d say I’m a really slow talker. I tend to measure my response and think about what I want to say. Others simply will rattle on and on.
BTW, although I don’t have any examples in mind, there are plenty of really smart, eloquent people who are slower talkers. People are simply different.
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I listen to his content every now and then, and he indeed uses really fancy word structures and words (just as Jordan Peterson). To be honest, I don’t really care about the political stance of anyone as long as they are well versed in rhetoric and I can learn how to express concepts from them. So, yeah he can be a role model in that sense. Legit suggestion anyway, thanks.
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On second thought, yeah maybe it is a problem even natives run into. For the last couple of days, I have exposed myself to the Oxford Union debates a lot, and realized even they follow certain patterns in their speech, and if I simply immerse myself into the context everything just starts to tessellate. Thanks.
It’s amusing to see Shapiro in conversation with Sam Harris, who is at the opposite end of the scale - it seems that it is impossible for him to sound rushed and agitated even if he wanted to. And if you can sound like Sam Harris when you speak English, you’re still doing very well 
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