Fear against speaking in English

Alicia   Wed Nov 08, 2006 11:06 am GMT
Hi everybody

I wanna ask about yours experience of feeling scared while I speak English. I've been learnig English for 2 years and my grammar is really great IMHO but if I have to speak to people I feel scared and only thing I can think about is fear.I only think if I pronounce correctly,if my grammar is ok.This really annoys me.Maybe you could give me some tips how to overcome it.
Please help me

Thanks

Alicia
Al   Wed Nov 08, 2006 3:10 pm GMT
Years ago I moved to US and started my first job in the office in 4 weeks after arrival. My English was soooo far from even beginners level. But I went through interview and got the offer. Hard to tell how much concern I had about my English. But as soon as I heard a few of my coworkers talking on the phone to customers with heavy accents and very poor vocabulary I forgot about my fears.
Remember it is not about you not speaking well, it is about people who want to hear and understand.
Good luck
:)

__________________________________________
“Open your heart for me slightly, and I’ll open the world for you.” - The Zohar
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Alicia   Thu Nov 09, 2006 7:49 am GMT
Thanks a lot Al.You're right but sometimes is hard to convince myself that I don't speak so bad.But I gonna try and try.Maybe somebody else has any tips for me,please.

Alicia
Vladimir   Thu Nov 09, 2006 9:46 am GMT
Dear Alicia,

I am not a native English speaker and I can tell you that your fear is a natural feeling. It will pass with time. My first experience was to translate for English miners. We were to descend into a coal mine. I was so scared that I might fail to understand them or to find a proper word when translating that I was really out of countenance. The miners noticed it and decided that I was afraid to go into the mine and started to encourage me that it was not dangerous at all... Now it sounds just a bit funny.

I would advise you to speak English as much as possible. It will help to forget your fear quicker.What you need now is a speaking experience. Do not think much about pronunciation and grammar. I am sure when you speak your own language your pronunciation and grammar is not always correct either - we all often give up them trying to quicker bring our thoughts to the interlocutor. The same is with the English speaking people whom you speak to.
Alicia   Thu Nov 09, 2006 11:44 am GMT
Thanks a lot Vladimir.I appreciate your opinion which I think help me and maybe I'll stop thinking about my fear.
Maybe somebody else help me too.

Best regards
NO NO NO   Thu Nov 09, 2006 8:55 pm GMT
Don't fear. fear is bad. do not become scare to talk to the people because they nice. the persons in North America are imigrants and knew what is like