Hello. This is Jack from ToFluency.com and welcome to Episode 9 of Ask Jack, the free
series where I answer your questions about learning English and the English language.
Now, normally I answer 3 questions in an episode but today I’m just going to answer one and
here is the question. Dhansri from India asks, "I’m scared when
I speak English. What should I do?" Thank you for your question Dhansri and for
everyone else who sent in this or a similar question. The first thing I want to say about
this is that if the fear of speaking English is stopping you from speaking, then you need
to do something about this. This is because in order to progress, in order to reach the
level you want to reach you’re going to need to practice speaking. So, for the rest
of the video, I’m going to talk about how you can overcome this fear.
Firstly, it’s wise to think about whether you have a fear of speaking English or whether
you have a fear of speaking in general. For example, when I’m with friends I’m very
comfortable and obviously I’m a native speaker and when I speak English with my friends I
feel completely relaxed in these situations. But, sometimes when I’m giving a presentation
or I’m speaking to people I don’t know or in front of large crowds and sometimes
when I’m tired too, I’m a little bit more shy and sometimes there are things that I
want to say in these situations, but I don’t just because it’s a different type of situation.
So, think about situations in your native language where you’re scared of speaking
or you’re shy about speaking and doing this will help you bring awareness to your situation
and know whether it’s a specific English problem or if it’s more a general speaking
problem and this confidence about speaking in certain situations.
Now, I know that a lot of learners are embarrassed about their level, that they are embarrassed
about making mistakes. The thing to know here is that native speakers, native English speakers
are used to hearing non-native speakers talk all the time, we’re used to hearing different
accents and learners making mistakes. This is because we, English is obviously the language
that the world wants to learn and because of that we’re in situations when we travel
where people are speaking English. It’s the international business language. It’s
the international language of travel and other things too. So, we’re constantly hearing
people make mistakes in English and we’re used to this. We’re used to talking to non-native
speakers. And, therefore, when we hear a mistake it doesn’t sound strange. It just seems
normal to us. And, as long as you can get your point across and as long as you, you
know, speak to someone and you can actually have that person understand what you’re
saying, in the general scheme of things it doesn’t really matter if you make mistakes.
Now, obviously, we want to limit the mistakes we make but don’t let that put you off speaking.
A good way to build your confidence with speaking is to start with someone on a one-to-one basis,
someone that you feel really comfortable with. This might be a teacher. It might be a friend
or a language exchange partner but finding someone that you feel comfortable with and
speaking in this one-to-one basis is going to give you the practice you need. But, additionally,
it’s going to help you build your confidence. It’s going to help you just get used to
speaking English so that when you’re in different situations, it won’t feel that
strange when you’re actually using your English. So, find someone first who you can
work with on a one-to-one basis and this will help you build your confidence.
If you have had bad experiences in the past, for example, if someone has laughed at you
or if someone has made fun of your level then this can stop you from speaking because it
obviously doesn’t do anything good for your confidence. Now, in the future, if you find
yourself in this situation, okay, there are 2 things, I think you can do. The first one
is, if they’re just laughing at a mistake that you made and it’s funny because of
the context then ask them why it’s funny because you’re going to learn from that
mistake and maybe you can laugh with this person too. But, if you have a situation where
someone is being mean, someone is laughing at you in a mean way or making fun of your
level then this person isn’t worth talking to. This person isn’t worth your time. So,
simply go away from the conversation and find someone else to talk to.
The last thing I want to say about this topic is that as you improve your level, you’re
going to gain the confidence to speak because having a high level means that you can express
yourself. It means that you can handle different situations and this is going to give you confidence.
So, obviously, work on your English, improve your English and do the things that are going
to make a difference and focus on this process, you know, focus on the actual learning part
of English and the ‘what you do on a day to day basis’. And, just to go back to what
I said before, speak with someone who is going to give you confidence. Then, you can take
things from there. What I want you to do now is, firstly, in
the comments section let me know if you are scared when you speak in English. Are you
shy when you speak in English? Share your experiences. And, the second thing is if you
have overcome this fear or if you are confident about speaking in English, share your tips,
share your experiences in the comments section below. I really want to hear from you about
this. So, thank you for watching and I’ll see you next time.