When learning a new language, fluency takes years of practice and requires constant learning, as there are always new rules and new words to discover. You can help your English as a Second Language (ESL) students with their fluency by bringing a positive attitude to your classroom and planning your lessons with eventual fluency in mind.

Encourage your students to hang out with English-speaking friends and engage each other in English. Using a language is the only a way to develop fluency, so your students should be using it whenever they can.

Show films in your classroom that demonstrate key differences between how fluent English speakers communicate and what the rules of grammar are. Most native English speakers skip many grammar rules for the sake of clarity and convenience.

Teach your students phrases in addition to vocabulary and grammar. Direct translations of words rarely combine into coherent thoughts, so learning phrases is much more useful than trying to translate a thought word by word.

Incorporate new vocabulary words as often as you can. One of the hallmarks of fluency is having a wide range of words to choose from to express similar thoughts, and the more words your students can use and identify the closer to fluency they will become.

Understand that there are many barriers to language fluency. Some words have relationships in English that may not be related in another language, and students can only learn so much over any given period of time. Be patient, positive and provide your students with resources and ample time to converse in English, and they will eventually reach their goals.