Talking to yourself in English is a popular way to practice. For example, you can say, "I'm making coffee," in the morning. Does it work? Studies show that self-talk can help people focus and feel calm.

Also, when you try to speak, you notice words you cannot say yet. That helps learning. But few studies have tested English self-talk directly. So when you get stuck, write the word down and look it up later.

Many English learning books recommend talking to yourself in English, such as describing what you are doing while getting ready in the morning. Research on self-talk in general is quite positive. In 2014, a team at the University of Michigan reported seven studies with 585 people. Those who used their own name instead of "I" when talking to themselves before a stressful speech felt less anxious and performed better.

In sports, a 2011 meta-analysis found a moderate positive effect of self-talk. For language learning, Merrill Swain's output hypothesis suggests that trying to speak helps learners notice gaps in what they can say. However, very few experiments have directly compared learners who practice English self-talk with those who do not, so no one knows yet how much it improves English skills.

Talking to yourself in English is widely recommended as a free, anytime substitute for a conversation partner, and research on self-talk in general offers some encouragement. In seven studies involving 585 participants, Kross and colleagues found that people who referred to themselves by name or as "you" before stressful tasks such as public speaking felt less anxious and were rated as performing better, apparently because this creates psychological distance. A 2011 meta-analysis of 32 sports studies reported a moderate positive effect, especially for learning new or fine motor skills, and another experiment showed that naming a target aloud can speed up visual search. In second language acquisition, Swain's output hypothesis provides a plausible mechanism: attempting to speak makes learners notice gaps in their knowledge, which may direct their attention when they next read or listen.

However, these findings concern emotion regulation, motor tasks and attention, not language proficiency. Research on second-language private speech has been largely descriptive, and controlled experiments comparing learners who practice English self-talk with those who do not are scarce. Without feedback, learners may also repeat errors. Self-talk is therefore most useful when the gaps it reveals are checked and corrected afterwards.