Ways to beat your fear and start speaking a Foreign Language

Speaking and communicating with people from other countries and different cultures is what got me into this game in the first place.

First, it was so I could chat to that lovely Italian girl in the café where I worked in London. Second, it was so I could get a job in Paris and not have to go back to the UK, broke and with my tail between my legs. Later, it was so I could communicate with all those amazing people I kept meeting in Brazil and try to figure out why they were so happy, and how I could be that happy too!  Later still, it was so I could escape that foreigner bubble in Tokyo and actually meet some real Japanese people. Speaking, for me, is, basically, what it’s all about. And for most people, it’s what they want to be able to do, too.

Which is precisely why it sucks that speaking is the hardest part of learning a foreign language! If you find yourself asking “How can I start speaking?”, this post is for you.

Why You Find Speaking So Hard

Speaking is tough because it happens in real time. You need to have all the language you need at your fingertips, use it in a way that makes sense to the person you’re talking to, and do it fluently and coherently enough that the conversation isn’t hideously painful for them. To make matters worse, 50% or more of the speaking game is actually…listening! Having got your words out in a good-enough order and hopefully made some kind of sense to the other person, you then have to understand what they say back to you.

I’ve found over the years that, as a beginner in a new language, focusing a lot on speaking can get you talking quickly, but can leave you woefully unable to understand enough of what the other person says in a conversation. On the flip side, working a lot on your listening ability will always help your speaking, because you’re learning new words and phrases all the time, which you can deploy in your speaking right away. So, if you’re just starting out, and you’re not in any mad hurry to start speaking, my best advice for getting mad speaking skills in the long-run is… you guessed it… work on your listening!

But that’s not why you’re reading this post.