How to beat fear and speak in a foreign language
Text: Anastasia Maximova
Most of us perceive another language as a spacecraft: it is huge and difficult to control, thousands of buttons and levers, intricate mechanisms, and the most complex among them is speech. We think so, because we are talking in real time: you need to respond to the replica immediately, how to take the ping-pong pitch. Of course, this is stressful, but it can be learned. And not just an effort of will, but using specific techniques — the linguist and translator Anastasia Maximova told us about them.
Understand: you are not afraid to speak
No one is afraid to say: most of us started doing this in early childhood and have not abandoned this habit until now. There is nothing difficult to say the words out loud. In fact, we fear the other - how we look from the outside. We are afraid to seem ridiculous, ridiculous or stupid, we are afraid not to understand the interlocutor, or that the interlocutor will not understand us. Surely you ever had a dream where you stand naked among dressed people. The same with a foreign language: you are not alone in your fear - perhaps the realization of this will help to take the first step.
Talk to yourself
Speaking with yourself out loud, you kill several birds with one stone. First, get used to how your voice sounds when you speak a foreign language. Many people notice that their intonation, tone and pace of speech vary slightly depending on the language. Some even claim to feel a little different. Secondly, speaking out loud without witnesses, you liberate and relax. The monologue lacks the most frightening element of communication - the fear of criticism.
Thirdly, you develop fantasy and learn to speak on different topics. Play For example, imagine yourself as a Hollywood star: you are awarded an Oscar, you are amazed, you tell from the stage how long you have gone to this, thank your mother, grandmother, director, spectators and everyone who supported you on this difficult path ... You can become anyone , behave as you like - no one will hear and do not interfere! If it is very difficult to come up with topics for conversation, there are special sites where hundreds of questions are offered on any topic that may come to mind.
Learn Phrases Helpers
Often people are afraid not to understand the interlocutor and get confused when they need to respond. How to help yourself in such cases? It is necessary to learn a few phrases - more precisely, only three. Two of them are designed for normal life, the third - for force majeure. They will save you in almost any circumstances. And this is not "London from the capital ..." These magic phrases: "Sorry, I do not speak Spanish (Italian, German ...). Do you speak English?", "Sorry, I do not speak "Spanish. Speak slower, please." And finally, the most important phrase not only for those who study foreign languages, but also for all travelers who go to an unfamiliar country: "I need help! Call the police (ambulance)."
There is one more category of phrases, without which it is impossible to do during a lively dialogue. Among them there are quite simple ones: in Russian, these are interjections “well,”, “uh-uh” and introductory words like “in general”, in English - “well”, in German - “also”, in French - "alors". There are more complicated ones: "in my opinion", "in my opinion", "quant à moi" ... These are the so-called hezitations, the task of which is to give you time to gather your thoughts and think over the answer.
Leave comments in social networks and blogs
When you say: “I understand everything, but I cannot speak,” this is not quite the case. You just do not know how to respond quickly enough and remember the words, so you need to learn to respond faster. Most people believe that conversational and written speech are not related to each other, but this is not so: the necessary skill can be gained in correspondence. Find a dozen interesting bloggers who write in the language you are learning, subscribe to them and start commenting. In social networks, the speed of communication is usually higher and more unpredictable than on blog platforms. The answer may come in a day, or it may appear right there. Comments on interesting topics will greatly expand your vocabulary and ease the fear of communicating with other people. With the most interesting people you can begin to exchange personal messages.
Learn to listen
If you want to master the speech, you have to listen a lot, because at least half of any conversation, we listen to the interlocutor. You need to start with the video or audio, where they speak clearly, clearly and, preferably, there are subtitles. It can be anything: movies, audio books, songs of your favorite artists, videos on YouTube, podcasts, online courses ... First you can try to watch or listen to what you have already watched or listened to in your native language - a familiar story will be easier to understand. It is important that you were interested. Why was it so hard to cram endless topics at school? They were boring, and boredom and lack of drive can ruin even the best ventures. Breed fish? Collect indoor plants? Do you knit? Do freestyle wrestling? You know what to do.
Do not worry about the pronunciation
Those who studied in the Soviet school remember how they were forced to train interdental consonants or the "p" one hundred times in class. We were taught that the accent is a shame and a shame and it is necessary to get rid of it. But the truth is that everyone does not care what accent you say. Most French, speaking in English, still emphasize the last syllable. Spaniards juicy roll their "Herre", not even trying to soften it to the English sound. And they understand! They just do not consider their "non-English" pronunciation a disadvantage, but treat it as their peculiarity.
Getting rid of the accent is very difficult, it takes many years of hard work, and it may take several years to live in another country. Patricia Kul, co-founder of the Institute for the Study of the Brain at the University of Washington, believes that the accent begins to form in our brain from the age of six months — it is during this period that the child begins to “draw a map of sounds” that he hears. "This card continues to evolve and grow stronger as sounds repeat," says Patricia Kul, "until these sounds become almost incorrigible."
Your goal is to make you understood. And you will understand, even if you are not given interdental sounds or traversing "p". This principle also works with grammar: do not worry that you cannot remember complex grammatical constructions and verb conjugations, speak simply and briefly, as you understand. Do not consider the focus as an enemy, look at it as your highlight. And if you really want to speak as carriers, there are special applications where you can write text that the native speakers will then read to you.
Speak to the person in person
The main thing in language learning is to move forward, and the next step should be a full-fledged dialogue in a foreign language face to face. At the same time talking on Skype or, especially, on the phone will not suit everyone. Oddly enough, talking on the phone is more complicated than talking one-on-one. When we see the person with whom we speak, we understand him not only because of speech: the interlocutor sends us a thousand signals through body language and facial expressions, which, in turn, are read by our subconscious mind. Speaking by phone, we sort of cut off some of the keys to understanding what was said, and we have to rely solely on voice.
In conversations on Skype and video chats there is another trick - call quality. Sometimes during a conversation there are delays, and what we have said comes to the interlocutor only after 3-4 seconds (which is quite a lot for a lively dialogue) - all this time we see his frozen face on the screen. Imagine: you said something about the weather, and in response - silence ... Is it because we blinked out stupidity? Or did they say so indistinctly that the interlocutor did not understand a word? Agree, it is very demotivating! Nevertheless, in a conversation, you must first focus on your comfort. If you feel better with an online person than talking face to face, then use video chat.
Go to courses in another country
It all depends on your goals. If you want to learn everyday language for everyday needs, the tourist trip is ideal: you will learn how to order food in a restaurant, discuss the hotel room with the administration and check with the locals about the way. Although, in fact, you will not have to talk too much: it is unlikely that you are going to discuss Kant's philosophy with a waiter in a cafe.
If you need something more, then the real way to master it is to sign up for language courses in the country of the language being studied. Willy-nilly you will speak at least two hours a day. And most likely, you will have to talk much more, because with you in the group there will be people from different parts of the globe and together you will go to lunch after school and walk around the city. Even the most shy learn to communicate here - the more so your “classmates” came here to learn the language, just like you, which means it will be easier to speak. At the same time, remember that it is better not to settle with compatriots or those who speak Russian - unless you have an iron willpower and cannot speak with a friend exclusively in a foreign language.
Sign up for a conversation club
If you do not have the opportunity to go on a trip, you can find a conversational club in your own city. Speaking club, as the name implies, is a place where people come to communicate. There are many advantages to such places. First, there is not a spontaneous dialogue, but a moderated discussion. This means that you will speak as much as you need - no one will let you keep silent, but you will not have to chat without ceasing. Secondly, meetings usually take place in a free atmosphere, where it is easy to relax. Thirdly, you do not know these people, and if you don’t like something, you will never see them again.
Do not demand too much from yourself
The main thing - do not force yourself and overpower. Language is not about "faster, higher, stronger." There are people who mobilize (or at least they think so) in a situation of stress, and a good shake-up helps them talk. But this method is not for everyone: most of us do a better job when he feels comfortable. Learning a language - any aspect of it - should be associated with something pleasant and interesting. You should like to speak this language. There is no universal recipe for how to overcome fear, but there are ways to reduce the level of stress that communication causes. Of course, you can always force yourself. You can strain and pull yourself together. But why, if you can find another, comfortable way that will suit and be convenient for you?