Are you afraid of speaking English?

A lot of people really want to speak English but they are scared. Is this you?

Are you shy? Or you don’t know what to say? Or are you worried about making mistakes? Or worried that people won’t understand you?

I tried learning Polish when I was living in Poland so I do know that it isn’t easy to get past this fear. But if you really want to speak English, you have to work on it! Here are some ideas.

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Are you worried about making mistakes?
Most learners are but you really don’t need to be. Most people are kind and won’t laugh at you! Even if they do, that’s their problem!

Also, most people will still understand you, even if your grammar is not perfect, and communication is the most important thing, right?

Also, you can learn a lot from your mistakes! Mistakes actually help you to get better so try to see them as a good thing!

Don’t know what to say?
Perhaps you are shy and don’t know what to talk about. Conversation lessons are a great way to overcome this because the teacher will give you ideas to talk about and questions to discuss.

Find a safe and comfortable place
When I was in Poland, I hated speaking Polish with people I didn’t know, for example, in the shops, but I could talk happily to my Polish teacher and the other learners in my class..

My advice is to find somebody to talk to who you feel comfortable with. You’ll feel more relaxed with other language learners because they have the same problems as you do. You’ll probably be comfortable talking to a teacher too because she has heard all the mistakes before and will know what you’re trying to say!

Accept the fear and just do it!
Even if you are afraid to speak, decide that you are going to do it anyway. The hardest part is getting started so you have to be tough with yourself and make yourself do the scary thing!

I used to be scared of posting on social media but I know it’s good for my business so I do it. I’m still learning but I’m more confident about it than I used to be. Sometimes the only way to stop being scared is to just do it!

The more you do something difficult, the easier and less scary it becomes.


For more ideas on how to improve your speaking, download my English Speaking Challenge e-book here:
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English Speaking Challenge E-Book