What to do if you are afraid to speak English: personal experience and life hacks

Author of the channel English Nook on Yandex.Zen talks about personal experiences and gives advice to those who are afraid or embarrassed to speak English. Further - from the first person.

I was given some advice at one time:

• If you are afraid, it means that there is simply no motivation. Do not want. Go get busy.
• If you stop, you will speak!
• If you are afraid to do it, start by force. Little by little, as you can, as it turns out.

All three versions have a right to exist, but in my experience, only the last one really works. Only the last piece of advice suggests at least some kind of active action, and not just a statement of an already known fact.

We will try to figure out the biggest fears associated with speaking (and understanding others) and find a solution.

In any business that you cannot do easily and naturally the first time, you just need to gain experience and skill. English and other foreign languages ​​are no exception.

Judge for yourself, few people swam on their own the first time, few of the speakers delivered their first speech perfectly. Any athlete will tell you that it takes effort to get things done. Remember for yourself, any of those skills that you possess came after several attempts to do something.

On the subject: How Americans Relate to Accent and Weak English: The Immigrant Experience

What shouldn't you be afraid of?

Here are some common fears:

• "I'm wrong." Mistakes are inevitable, just accept it. Native speakers also have them. But the more you speak, the clearer your speech becomes.
• "I'm talking too slowly." Firstly, no one drives you anywhere (a phrase of my teacher in Russian). Secondly, everything will come with practice. The more you say ...
• "I will forget the words." The language (even English) is rich and powerful. Forgot a word - reformulate, say in other words. Ask the other person: You know, that thing we use for ... or How to say ... the person who works in ...
• "I can't pronounce the whole sentence." Speak with the wrong word order, speak in phrases, in separate words. They will understand you.
• “I don’t understand what they say.” Maybe. It's simple - ask again, ask to speak more slowly. Sorry? Repeat, please! Talk slower, please! What do you mean? What is it? Be clear that you do not understand. Native speakers (with rare exceptions) will be happy to help, because they know that you are just learning.
• "They won't understand me." The accent has long ceased to be a disadvantage, but has become a feature. If they don't understand, they will definitely ask again. Perhaps they will help you formulate your idea. And you will learn something. All goes to good. But yes, you need to work on phonetics anyway.
• “They will laugh at me” (insult, etc.). Who! Your inner critic? Let's say you said something wrong. Let's say (!) That a native speaker smiles. But that will apply to the phrase, NOT to you as a person. You will be corrected, and you ... will learn something new. Who knows, maybe even at the most awkward moment in the future you yourself will laugh more than once.

How to start speaking English?

Start with yourself. As a terry introvert, I can assure you that sometimes it's difficult (and scary) to meet new people at all. Especially with foreigners. Start developing your speaking skills with the best, kindest, understanding person - yourself.

Comment on your actions, talk about your plans for the day, complain about your boss - whatever. You can even create some sort of audio or video diary. The vlog format may eventually grow into a favorite pastime, and then Youtube is not far off.

Listen to yourself, don't criticize, but work on mistakes.

Talk to English learners. The next step is to develop not only the skill of formulation and pronunciation itself, but also the skill of understanding others. For starters, these may be people who learn the language in the same way.

It would be ideal to sign up for an English course and find a good teacher who will “talk” you, and at the same time correct pronunciation and help with grammar.

If for some reason English сlasses is not your option, look for Speaking club. There are such in your city and certainly there are online. Books, movies, travel, lifestyle, board games - find or organize an interest group and talk to like-minded people about your favorite topics.

On the subject: 15 most common mistakes made by Russian speakers in English

Find the native. Are you ready to improve your English? There is nothing better than a native speaker for speaking practice. Now there are dozens of applications and sites where you can chat with a foreigner. Start with Tandem is a platform for people from all over the world to learn foreign languages.

There you can practice English and also (optionally) help someone speak Russian. It is an interesting experience to be both a student and a teacher. Understand that people are friendly and that no one is going to scold you for mistakes.

To prepare for international exams or for the same exam, I strongly recommend professional teachers (even Russian-speaking ones).

It is difficult to speak a foreign language. It's hard for everyone. But people do not give up, they try to speak in separate words, phrases. Some linguists compare mastering a foreign language with mastering a native language. A child, even in full immersion in the language environment, does not learn to speak in two days (and even in three months, gentlemen, marketers!). He repeats after adults, makes mistakes, but still speaks.

Original column published on the blog. English Nook on Yandex.Zen

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