Conquer Your Anxiety When Speaking a Foreign Language
How to be confident in a foreign language when speaking with locals
I learned German until the B2 level in my home country and came to Germany to study there. I thought my German was good enough to communicate and understand basic things. But when I had to order food in a restaurant or go to a grocery store or the pharmacy, I could hardly say any words. I felt nervous, my mind went blank, and I made too many grammar and pronunciation mistakes. All that time and energy of learning and polishing my language skills didn’t seem to have worked out. I was very anxious and nervous to say even danke or bitte.
This is a problem shared by people worldwide who communicate in a language that is not their mother tongue, and it can become a massive obstacle to learning. That’s because it effectively stops you from communicating.
Foreign language anxiety is a universal phenomenon that is not just found in English language classrooms but also in other languages, such as Spanish or French, and among less commonly taught languages, including Arabic and Japanese.
It has been reported that one-third of all foreign language learners experience some level of such phenomenon, which is called language anxiety.
It’s completely normal to experience this anxiety. It’s nice to acknowledge what’s causing this anxiety.
Here are some practical ways to help you overcome this anxiety:
1. Adopting a new mindset
When we are trying to speak foreign languages, we might think that we are worse than the person we are speaking to or inadequate in some way. Try to change your mindset and see it from another perspective. If you are reading this, either you are thinking of learning a foreign language or are already learning it. You already made the effort to learn the language, and you are interested in it. That shows you are a bright person and trying to develop a new skill.
This will help you feel a little bit better about yourself and help you overcome the fear.
2. Recognize your fears
Introspection is key here. Maybe you have general social anxiety and that’s getting even worse when you are trying to speak a foreign language. Or maybe you have performance anxiety. A general understanding of what is causing this fear can be very helpful to overcome it.
3. Not being too much of a perfectionist
Maybe you are trying to craft the perfect sentences without any grammar and pronunciation mistakes. If you are too focused on these things, then your fear will get worse. It‘ ’s okay to make a few mistakes.
4. Speak to yourself
Try practicing a few phrases that you can use in certain situations. This will help you feel prepared and make you less nervous.
Speaking is a very complex neuromuscular activity that needs to be learned over years and must constantly be practiced, especially regarding foreign languages.
5. Celebrate your wins
We only see and think about what we don’t know. Try to see and be happy about what you have already learned, how many new words you know, and how much of a new language you can understand.
Always remember that you are not alone on this. One of the best tips I can give you is to remember that you’re doing the best that you can and that making an occasional embarrassing mistake is part of the process.
Thank you for reading.
