Hi, I'm Tim. I'm the co-founder and tutor at Testpass Online School. And in today's video, I will be talking about the underestimated power of using correct filler words in your speaking tasks. So, let's get into it.
The first category of good and correct filler words are thoughtprovoking and bridging phrases. Instead of using um and uh try using well, you know, actually, to be honest, I mean, so these words help you take a pause and for you to think, but still sounding fluent and almost like you're just speaking naturally because again, the purpose of using correct filler words or words that are actually there to help you connect one idea to another is to sound natural. and how native English speakers would speak because even though they are speaking natively and it's their own language, they don't always speak perfectly grammatically. They make zero pauses. We all do that. It's just a natural human thing to do. So, minimizing the bad filler words like um and uh allows you to create room to use better filler words and phrases like I just said. So thoughtprovoking and bridging phrases and uh to make sure that your idea keeps on going and doesn't just stop.
There are also things like transition words and phrases. Technically they're not filler words. However, they still help you connect your ideas and take 5 seconds to think of the next thing that you're going to say. So transition words are firstly, secondly, lastly, moreover, in addition, additionally. There is a bunch more, but these are just some of the examples. These words help you connect ideas and transition from one to another, then eliminating the need to say um or uh to continue on with your next idea.
And last category of correct filler words are emphasis and confirmation words. For example, it's like right, you see, or exactly. These words help you sort of confirm whatever it is that you're saying to the other person and sets more of a speaking and a conversational tone. Even though it's just a monologue that you are having basically with yourself, it still allows to then the raters who are checking your speaking for them to understand that okay this person is almost like having a conversation which is what this task was supposed to be which is again pretty much all of the tasks in the speaking section.
Now for how to practice to integrate the good filler words into your speaking practice. This isn't about memorizing a list of set words. It's more just like knowing how to utilize these certain good fillers in your regular speaking and also in the speaking in the CELPIP speaking tasks. So the first thing to practice integrating these words is you want to listen and mimic. What does that mean? Well, essentially whenever you hear or you listen specifically to English speakers, be it in podcasts or listening to movies and watching movies, listening to TED talks, which is a very good thing you can do to generally practice your listening skills.
You need to notice the things that people say in order to bridge gaps in their speech and what things and what words and phrases I should say they use to continue going on without using uh or um in their speaking. Shadow them. you don't you need to not just mimic their words and their speaking but also their small interjections and the way that they make pauses but how they make them so it doesn't sound like it stands out from whatever they're saying.
The second way to practice is to record yourself and analyze. So record yourself doing a speaking task from the CELPIP and then play it back and see where are you making those um or ah pauses and can you include a well or actually or I mean phrase instead of doing that and next time when you're doing the similar task and you see that a pause is coming up or you just about to say a certain pause stop yourself before saying um or uh and say some filler word - one of the filler words that I've listed prior. And in addition, think about, can you add a transition word to go from that idea that you were just at and you were just making a you made a pause and said ah or um can you transition from that idea to another one? And then again, next time when you do a similar task, you see that okay, this is a similar situation. I'm going to say ah or um I should use a transition word like secondly or an addition or additionally further more to continue going with my idea.
Now, the third tip to practice integrating correct fillers into your speaking tasks on the CELPIP test, you want to practice thinking out loud in English. This way, whenever you are going through a thought process, you're doing something, you're working on something, you are getting familiar with this thinking process and a natural way of formulating phrases without using um or ah. So when time comes for you to do your CELPIP test or when you practice the self speaking tasks, you're more aware of the way that you think of things and the way that your brain comes up with ideas and how do you connect those ideas whenever you start speaking.
From the rater's perspective, a good use of natural sounding filler words is actually an indication of a higher level of English knowledge because you're able to not just make a pause accidentally and say um or uh or completely stop speaking for a couple of seconds. You're using words that help you bridge that gap, that dead space where you don't say anything with a word and then you continue on with your idea. It creates better flow, better listenability, content, and coherence.
So, essentially, the whole speech becomes that much more better if you're connecting your ideas using these correct filler words.
I hope this video helped you and now you feel more confident in your speaking. Whenever you have to make a pause, you will now know what to say instead of um or a. Also, I hope that my tips helped you and I hope to see you next time.