“If you can dream it, you can do it.” 

-Walt Disney

Speaking a foreign language can be really frightening.

You always know that you are making mistakes every time you try to say something. And yes, most of the time it is really stressful.

It’s hard to make yourself speak when you don’t feel confident, but to get better at speaking English, you have to practice, practice and practice more.

What should you do?

Your mistakes don’t matter.

Really, the don’t. Most of the time we are just really scared of the mistakes that we might do, almost about everything. We’re always afraid that people might judge us.

That’s true of your English skill, too. The people you’re speaking with probably don’t care whether your grammar is good or bad. They have their own problems to worry about. Well unless you talk to me (sorry!) I’ll try as much as I can to correct your grammar hehehe pet peeve!

Most native English speakers have a lot of experience with speaking to people with different accents. They may not even think about the fact that your English isn’t perfect.

“Fake it ’til you make it“

This is a common catchphrase. The purpose of “Fake it till you make it” is that by imitating confidence, proficiency and an optimistic mindset, with the hope that it leads to realization of that imitation in an individual’s life.

As you continue and build your skill, your fake confidence will be replaced by real confidence.

When you get a chance to speak to people in English, take it! Stand up straight and tall. Jump into the conversation and speak as if you’re completely fluent.

Expect to be nervous.

Even experienced speakers get nervous. Don’t try to eliminate your jitters. Turn them into energy you can use to boost your delivery.

When you’re in a funk, probably the last thing you want to do is turn on some Pharrell. But recent research found that forcing yourself to listen to happy music and consciously trying to become happier can actually lift your mood. And this in turn will lessen your nervousness.

People won’t see how nervous you are. (They can’t tell if your palms are sweating or your knees are knocking or your heart is pounding.) So don’t tell them. Smile. Stick your chest out. Look confident, even if you don’t feel it.

Honestly? There are so many worse things in life.

Prepare.

Know what you are going to say – and why you want to say it.

Practicing speaking will make you a better speaker. Reviewing things that you’ve learned in the past, rather than trying to learn new things, can make you feel more sure about what you’re saying.

We mostly worry about leaving something out or losing our train of thought. Aim, instead, to communicate one basic idea. Keep it short and simple.

Take it easy.

When you are conversing with someone, your first job is just to listen to the other person.

Yes.

Just listen.

If you’re listening carefully, you won’t have time to worry about your own language problems.

Your next job is to respond to what other people are saying. Your response can be a smile or frown, a few simple words, or a short question. It doesn’t have to be complicated.

Don’t feel like you have to express every idea that you have in English. Some of your ideas might be too complicated for you to talk about right now. It’s OK to save them for later and say something a little simpler instead.