Using Fillers
Native speakers don't say "Ummm" for 5 seconds. They use Fillers to buy time and sound natural.
"Well, ..."
"You know, ..."
"I mean, ..."
Fillers are like spice. A little is good, too much ruins the dish.
"Well, I think it's really good." ✅
Fluency Check ⚡
Mission 🎯
Mission 🎯
Mission 🎯
Sound Natural
Fluency Tip: Watch how Teacher Sopheak uses fillers. Notice how they don't break the flow of the sentence; instead, they *connect* the ideas smoothly while giving her brain a split second to find the next word.
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Recent Questions
Hi Sovan! Fillers are NOT bad when speaking. In fact, native speakers use them all the time. In exams like IELTS, using them naturally actually *increases* your Fluency score! The problem only happens if you *overuse* them because you don't know the vocabulary. 🗣️
Can I use "Well" and "You know" when I write an email to a client?
Good question! No, you generally shouldn't. Fillers belong to *spoken* English. When we write (especially in business), we have time to think and edit, so we don't need fillers. Keep your emails clear and direct! ✍️
Teacher, are fillers bad? My old teacher told me never to say "you know".