Look, I’m gonna be completely honest with you. Three years ago, I was that guy. You know the type. The one sitting in the corner of the meeting room, knowing the answer to the question but scared shitless to say it because I’d have to speak English. My boss would ask “anyone want to add anything?” and I’d just stare at my laptop like it was the most interesting thing in the world.
It’s stupid when I think about it now, but at that time it felt like the biggest thing in my life. I had friends from my college doing way better than me, moving to Singapore, getting international assignments, all that stuff. And I was stuck. Not because I wasn’t smart enough. Not because I didn’t know my job. Just because I couldn’t speak bloody English without feeling like I was about to throw up.
So yeah, I finally decided to look for the best spoken English classes in Delhi. And man, what a journey that turned out to be. I’m gonna tell you exactly what I learned and what actually worked for me, because there’s so much garbage advice out there about this.
Why Being Hindi Medium Basically Ruins Your English Chances
I studied in a Hindi medium school in East Delhi. My parents thought it was good for me to stay connected to our culture and language and all that. Fair enough, right? But nobody tells you the price you pay for that later.
By the time I reached class eleven, suddenly everything switched to English. My teachers were speaking in English, the textbooks were in English, and I was absolutely lost. I remember sitting in my first English class and feeling like I was in a different country. Everyone else seemed to understand what was going on, and I’m sitting there thinking “what the hell is this guy even saying?”
The thing is, in Hindi medium schools, you don’t get enough exposure to English. You’re not speaking it every day. You’re not thinking in it. Your brain basically processes everything in Hindi. So when you have to suddenly shift to English, it’s like learning completely skill overnight. And that’s exactly what happened to me.
College was rough too. Engineering college in Delhi, everything was supposed to be in English. But honestly? A lot of teachers weren’t even that good at English. So I just memorized everything in Hindi, passed exams, and never actually learned to speak properly.
The Point When I Realized This Was Actually Destroying My Life
I got my first job at a startup in Noida. Decent salary, nice office, all good on paper. But within three months, I started seeing the problem. There was this other guy, Rohit, who was also a fresher like me. Same college, similar marks, similar background. But Rohit could speak. He could go into meetings and just talk. He could explain things to clients. He could present ideas.
I could do all those things too, technically. But I couldn’t do them in English. And our company was obsessed with English. Everything was in English. Meetings, emails, presentations, everything.
Within six months, Rohit got assigned to a project with a client in Singapore. He was going on calls with international people. He was getting experience. I was stuck doing basic stuff that didn’t even need client interaction because they couldn’t put me on client calls. My boss would just say “your technical skills are good, but communication needs work.”
Communication. That’s what they said. Not “you don’t know your job” or “you’re lazy.” Just that I couldn’t communicate. But I could communicate perfectly fine in Hindi. So it was specifically about English.
That’s when something in my head just snapped. I realized I was going to be stuck in this position for years if I didn’t do something. I wasn’t going to get the good projects. I wasn’t going to get promoted. I was literally limited by my inability to speak one language.
So I started looking. I searched online for English classes. I asked people at office. I went to a few places. And that’s when I realized most places are just straight-up scams.
The Absolute Garbage Classes I Wasted Money On
First place I joined was near Kasturba Nagar. It was this big institute with like thirty people in one class. The teacher was standing in front with a projector, literally just reading slides. He didn’t even look at the students. Just read the slide, moved to the next one. After two weeks, I stopped going. Complete waste of money.
Second place promised “personality development” along with English. I went there hoping maybe they could help with my confidence issues. Turns out they were just making people stand up and give speeches without any actual teaching. I gave a speech for two minutes where I used “um” and “uh” like fifty times. Nobody even corrected me. I was just like… okay, this isn’t helping.
Then I joined this online class thing where the teacher was from America. I’m not saying American teachers are bad, but this guy had no clue how Indians actually speak English. He’d just correct me constantly without understanding why I was making the mistakes. Like I’d say “I am having a doubt” which is totally normal for us to say in India, and he’d be like “no, you don’t HAVE a doubt, you HAVE a question” like I was being stupid. That got frustrating fast.
I wasted about fifteen thousand rupees on these three places in like two months. Total waste.
What Actually Changed For Me
Then I found a small class near my office in Noida. It was run by this woman named Priya who was from Kerala and had lived in London for five years. The class had only seven people.
When I walked in that first day, I was already expecting it to be another waste. But something felt different. The classroom was small. There were like ten chairs, and only seven of us showed up that day. Priya sat with us, not in front of us.
She asked everyone why they joined. When it was my turn, I just told her the truth. I said I wanted to be able to speak without feeling scared. I said I didn’t want to be that guy anymore who sits quiet in meetings. I said I was tired of being passed over because of my English.
She just listened. She didn’t try to sell me on something. She didn’t give me some bullshit speech about how I’d be fluent in three months. She just said “okay, we’ll work on this.”
That first class, we didn’t even open a textbook. We just sat and talked. She asked us questions about our work, our lives, our problems. We had an actual conversation. And while we were talking, she was just listening. Sometimes she’d stop us and correct something, but she’d explain why. Like I said “I am shocking” instead of “I am shocked” and she explained that shocking and shocked mean different things, and she showed me the actual difference. I got it. It made sense.
Why Small Batches Actually Matter So Much
In that first week of the small class, I realized how different it was. With thirty people, even if you speak one sentence per person, that’s thirty sentences. By the time it gets back to you, you’ve forgotten what you were saying. You’re nervous. You mess up.
In a class of seven, you’re speaking way more. And everyone’s listening to you. It feels exposing at first, but honestly? That’s exactly what you need. I couldn’t hide. I had to actually try.
Priya would push me too. She wouldn’t let me stay quiet. I’d make a mistake and I’d stop talking, and she’d be like “no, keep going. That was fine. Say it again properly.” So you learn to push through that moment where you want to give up and shut your mouth.
After four weeks, something clicked. I was in an office meeting and someone asked a technical question. Instead of going blank and looking at my screen, I just opened my mouth and answered. In English. Full sentences. And nobody was confused. They understood me.
It felt like winning a million rupees, seriously.
How She Actually Taught Us
Priya didn’t care about grammar rules, which honestly was great because I hate that stuff. We’d pick topics. One day we talked about our jobs. Another day we talked about a stupid movie one of us watched. Another day we did role plays where we’d pretend to be in different situations.
She’d correct us while we were speaking, not after. So if I said something wrong, she’d jump in and show me the right way, and I’d repeat it. It was natural. Not awkward.
And she made fun of us sometimes, in a good way. Like one guy in our class would use “very” before everything. “Very good,” “very nice,” “very bad.” She’d just laugh and be like “bro, there’s other words” and he’d laugh too. It made learning feel less serious and more like hanging out.
The thing I really appreciated was that she knew exactly why we were making mistakes. Like most Indians, I have trouble with the ‘R’ sound. So she actually showed me how to do it. Like physically showed me where my tongue should be. Took me a while but I got it. She also explained that we structure sentences like Hindi, so that’s why we sound weird sometimes. She taught us the right way but made it make sense for our brains.
Outside the Class I Had to Actually Practice
Just going to class two times a week wasn’t enough though. I had to practice. I started listening to podcasts in English while commuting. Not like studying, just like… actual conversations. That helped a lot.
I also started forcing myself to speak in English at work. My colleagues thought I was weird at first, but they got used to it. I’d speak in meetings even if I had to pause and think. Nobody actually cared that I paused. They were just like “oh okay, Ashish is saying something.”
At home, I’d make voice notes to myself in English. Just talking about my day or whatever. Listening back to them was so cringe at first, but I could hear myself improving month by month.
I also started watching YouTube videos in English. Not learning videos, just like regular content. Comedy, tech stuff, whatever interested me. That helped with listening comprehension and just getting used to how English sounds.
Real Questions I Actually Had And Got Answered
So how many months before I could actually have a proper conversation?
For me, seriously noticeable improvement? Three months. But I was also practicing outside of class. Not like studying, just using English wherever I could. By month three, I could have a full conversation with someone and not feel terrified. By month six, I was actually enjoying speaking English. By a year, it felt natural.
What if you work crazy hours? Do you really have time for this?
I work at a startup. I easily work fifty to sixty hours a week. But I made time for three hours of classes per week. That’s nothing when you think about it. You definitely waste more time scrolling your phone. I cut down my Instagram time and that was it. Plus, once you start seeing improvement, you actually want to go. It doesn’t feel like wasting time.
Is it actually okay to be an adult and not speak proper English?
Dude, literally thousands of smart people in Delhi don’t speak fluent English. It’s not a character flaw. But if you want to progress in your career or just feel confident, yeah, you need to work on it. The thing is, most people know they should do it but don’t. You have to actually take the step.
How expensive is this really going to be?
I was paying about three thousand rupees per month for my class of seven with Priya. Some places charge way more, some less. I think anything between two to five thousand is reasonable if it’s a small batch with good teaching. Don’t go to the big fancy institutes charging ten thousand for thirty students. That’s nonsense.
Where I Actually Ended Up Going
So I was with Priya for about eight months, and I improved a ton. But then she had to move back to the UK for her husband’s job. Before she left, she actually connected me with Multilingua. You can check them out at https://multilingua.in/english-speaking-course-delhi/. They do similar small batch classes with an actual focus on practical English and speaking confidence.
I switched to them and the approach was similar. Small groups, actual conversations, teachers who understood how Indians speak. I’ve been with them for like six months now and honestly, they’re solid. It’s not like I’m promoting them because they’re paying me or something. I’m just telling you what actually worked for me.
The point is, find a place with small batches and teachers who actually give a damn. That’s it. That’s the secret. Everything else is secondary.
Honestly Just Do It Already
I’m not gonna sit here and tell you this will be easy. Speaking English when it’s not your first language is genuinely hard. Your brain is wired to think in Hindi. Breaking that habit takes effort.
But here’s what I’m telling you—if you’re reading this and thinking you need to improve your English, just do it. Stop making excuses. Stop waiting for the perfect time. Stop thinking you’ll do it on your own.
I wasted two years thinking I’d improve by myself. Watching YouTube, reading articles, trying to learn from books. None of that worked. What worked was sitting in a small room with real people, speaking out loud, making mistakes, getting corrected, and doing it again.
Now I’m doing the work I actually wanted to do. I got moved to a project with international clients because they specifically asked for someone who could communicate well. That wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t fixed my English.
More than that, I feel different. I carry myself differently. I don’t second-guess myself before speaking. I just speak.
So yeah, look for the best spoken English classes in Delhi. Make sure the batches are small. Make sure the teachers actually care. Make sure they focus on real speaking, not just grammar rules. Then just commit for at least three months. Show up. Practice. Push yourself when you feel like giving up.
You’ll thank yourself later, trust me on that. I’m living proof.