How can international students practice speaking up in class in English?
Rehearse one short contribution before each seminar, decide in advance which moment you will use it, and treat the first sentence as a fixed formula rather than something to invent live.
Rehearse one short contribution before each seminar, decide in advance which moment you will use it, and treat the first sentence as a fixed formula rather than something to invent live. Speaking up is a timing habit, so the goal of the first three weeks is not a brilliant argument but a contribution you actually made out loud.
A drill that works in two weeks: choose one sentence, write it on a card, sit in the second row rather than the back, and count to two before you speak. Then ask one follow-up question after class, which gives the same contribution a second chance. The point is not to argue well but to hear your own voice in the room.