Hey everyone and welcome back to the Easy English Podcast.
And you might have noticed that I'm here.
I've decided to try and make a video podcast with myself and see what you guys think.
I've talked about this topic before, but recently this week, I received a couple of messages from different people about being afraid to speak in English.
And not just to speak, but to maybe put all that they've learned into practice.
So to actually speak out loud, to have conversations with people.
And I know that it is so common for English language learners.
And I want to talk about that today.
About why you might be finding it hard to speak in English, why it might be scary for you and how to overcome that.
How to beat your fear of speaking in English freely.
Because it's something I have really felt myself.
And I feel quite passionate about telling others about how to deal with this.
So what I find with most people is that they have the fear of being understood.
So that you'll say something and the other person will just look at you like, what did they say?
What are they saying?
I don't understand.
And to be honest, like the easiest way to get over this is to stop caring.
It is totally normal to sometimes say something and someone to misunderstand you or not understand at all.
And no one cares.
It is not a big deal.
When I first started learning Russian language and I went to Russia as a student, I did like a language exchange.
I was so scared of speaking Russian, I was so worried that people would hear my bad accent, my mispronunciation, that I would forget the words.
And because I stressed myself out, I made it so much worse and I almost just didn't really speak at all.
But Here's the number one thing is eventually I realized, if I just stop caring what people think about my language, I can speak so much more freely.
Because I taught English as well as a teacher And I understand that when other people speak English to me, so non-native speakers, I don't think about.
You know, are they using the correct words?
Are they pronouncing words correctly?
You just have the conversation and you just want to understand one another.
And this fear of making a mistake stops so many people from practicing and progressing their English.
So once you realize that no one cares if you use an incorrect tense or say a word incorrectly, you're so much more free to just speak and practice and have a great time using the language.
Other fears that people have are embarrassing themselves.
So saying something incorrect and that other people will laugh at them or think that it's stupid.
And in general it doesn't really happen very much, but if it does, one great skill to develop is the ability to laugh at yourself.
If you make a mistake, it's a great opportunity.
If you're in this position and you're like one of these people that I have described and you're worried about making mistakes, about being embarrassed, you need to ask yourself, and change your perspective, that mistakes are good.
Every time you make a mistake, when you're practicing conversation.
It is an option, an opportunity to learn.
The second main point that I want to tell you and make sure that you know, is to be patient with yourself.
And what that means is don't put so much pressure on yourself.
Give yourself time.
You need time to learn, to practice and to develop your English.
Don't expect yourself to be perfect right from the start.
It's unrealistic.
It's not nice.
It's not something that you should have to do.
It's a process.
Learning a language is something that will happen all your life, even with your native language.
And you need to allow yourself that room and that time to study, to practice and to develop without putting so much pressure on yourself.
Another great way is to just not focus so much on yourself when you're in conversations.
Ask questions and focus on listening.
Really think about what the other person is saying and don't think too much about what you're saying.
Don't during conversation be thinking, did I use the correct tense?
Did I mispronounce this word?
Just speak and enjoy the conversation and the time that you are having.
The moment we get it stuck inside our head, the harder it is to speak.
And if we're overthinking every aspect of our English language, it will be a disaster.
So don't let that happen.
And really just try to enjoy yourself and speak with all the mistakes, all the problems that you have.
And that will be a great opportunity for you to learn, to reflect and to improve your English language.
So don't stress, realize maybe why you're scared to speak and just reframe your perspective as to why you're practicing and that mistakes are good for you.
So make mistakes and improve.
Thank you so much for listening.
I hope you enjoyed this episode.
If you're new, please subscribe and like the video if you enjoyed.
As always, if you want to support me, there's a Patreon link in the description below.
Have an amazing day.
Goodbye.
