Can writing improve spoken language skills?

In my experience teaching English for around 15 years in seven different countries, my answer to your question is not really.

If a student relies on translating written words into speech, it’s very slow and sounds like a textbook.

In case you didn’t know, the parts of the brain that store language (reading comprehension, spoken language, listening comprehension and writing knowledge) are not connected. .

This is why people who can read and write English well often find their mind goes blank when trying to speak. That part of the brain is empty unless you ‘fill it up’ by practising speaking in conversations.

You can build up connections between the different areas but combining two or more different learning modalities at the same time. For example, read out loud while reading, or listen to the audio recording for a book while reading the words spoken in a print book. And by discussing what you have read or written. ‘Practise makes perfect! ‘ As they say.

I recommend the free website ‘breakingnewsenglish.com’ if you can’t find a native speaker to practise with (or pay for a subscription on English Tutors Online - Cambly to find native English speakers to talk with).

Breaking News English is a way to hear well written news articles read in a range of speeds and a variety of accents. You can listen and read along. And do a ton of other language learning exercises. You can use the ‘two page mini lessons ‘ and the discussion questions in them to discuss with a tutor . Great vocabulary building exercises and useful discussion questions for those preparing for international exams like the IELTS or TOEIC.

Tip: I don’t recommend trying to learn spoken English by watching videos or TV shows as the main way to learn spoken English. When you watch a screen your mind switches from ‘Beta’ (awake and active) into ‘Alpha’ mode, and your brain doesn’t retain information in this mode. Your subconscious does but not your conscious mind. Also, the auto captioning is usually filled with errors. It can be very misleading and confusing.

Try podcasts with transcripts instead.

Or, as I mentioned, listening and reading along, then speaking aloud to practise mimicking the pronunciation, intonation and cadence of native speakers.

best wishes!