Are you shy about speaking? (General discussion) Language Learning Forum

Are you shy about speaking?
Tags: Shyness \| Speaking
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Language Learning Forum : General discussion

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pfwillard
Pro Member
United States
Joined 5701 days ago
169 posts - 205 votes

Speaks: English*
Studies: French
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Message 17 of 50

24 August 2009 at 12:41am | IP Logged

Shadowing while walking swiftly outdoors (see Professor Arguelles site for a video demonstration) seems more and more like something I need to be doing. I think that might be more productive than randomly attacking foreigners on the street for practice.

Hiring a tutor for conversation might also speed things up considerably--I do feel a bit awkward about that but view it as a necessary step.
1 person has voted this message useful

Raчraч Ŋuɲa
Triglot
Senior Member
New Zealand
Joined 5820 days ago
154 posts - 233 votes

Speaks: Bikol languages*, Tagalog, English^C1
Studies: Spanish, Russian, Japanese

Message 18 of 50

24 August 2009 at 2:17pm | IP Logged

numerodix wrote:

Speaking has always been the weakest aspect of any language to me.
Originally, with English, it took a long long time to get fluent for real, despite
reading and writing at a level far above that. Then with French, where I never mastered
the grammar, I would never speak outside of class because I felt so pathetic about it.
And I didn't want to be one of those people who make lots of mistakes in their speech
and seem to be careless/oblivious about it.

But beyond that, the problem is the interaction. Even if I can say something correctly,
I fear the response will come back in a form I don't understand and what then. After
all, there's a pretty wide gap between reading and listening, dialects and accents
thrown into the mix. I'm sure that kind of thinking is quite detrimental though, but
merely knowing that doesn't make it go away.

In my case, my vocabulary is still below 1K, and I haven't mastered the
conjugation/inflection yet, and advanced grammar subjects. That makes me shy in
speaking. But I am not shy when it comes to writing, as I have a lot of time to compose
things correctly and shamelessly requested to be corrected as well.
1 person has voted this message useful

Zeitgeist21
Senior Member
United Kingdom
Joined 5647 days ago
156 posts - 192 votes

Speaks: English*
Studies: German, French

Message 19 of 50

24 August 2009 at 5:27pm | IP Logged

I wasn't saying what you're doing is wrong Healing332 just that I disagree with the statement "Those who do not speak are afraid. Actually it is all ego and pride."

I'm not saying that a silent period is the only way just that it's a way, and not just an excuse.And it's something I should really get round to doing...
2 persons have voted this message useful

Mujerc
Newbie
United States
Joined 5650 days ago
2 posts - 2 votes
Studies: English

Message 20 of 50

24 August 2009 at 9:33pm | IP Logged

Yes I'm like that .I'm very afraid b/c .I don't want to look dump or something,and I've been told I speak Spanish very well by alot of natives.................
1 person has voted this message useful

Kurkko
Diglot
Newbie
Finland
Joined 5677 days ago
21 posts - 23 votes
Studies: Swedish, Finnish*, English
Studies: German, Dutch, Danish, Icelandic

Message 21 of 50

24 August 2009 at 10:20pm | IP Logged

I love to talk (if I have something to say) and speaking different languages is amazing... If the one I'm talking to understands. My English has improved greatly after I downloaded skype. I learn things if I can speak them aloud, so for me it'd be wonderful to have someone who'd want to speak Icelandic/Danish/Swedish with me!
... Unfortunately, I find it frightening to go to talk with someone who speaks the language with a native fluency. I've already gotten over it with English, since I've spoken to so many native English speakers... However, I don't dare to talk to my Swedish friends in Swedish... I know I could improve it if I only got rid of my fear of not being understood.

... Actually, I signed up for a course where I can speak Swedish with other Finns. I hope it'd help. :D
1 person has voted this message useful

Marcos Ortega
Newbie
Bolivia
Joined 5461 days ago
8 posts - 15 votes

Message 22 of 50

14 December 2009 at 10:38pm | IP Logged

Splog wrote:

The most common example is when I am in a group setting and all the locals talk about TV shows, or breakfast cereals, or famous people whom I have never heard of, and when they start dropping into very deep slang as a form of bonding.

But this happens even in our native language! And, heck, it doesn't even need to be in another country. How many times have you felt like an "alien" when your local friends start talking about topics you don't care about? Have you ever hung out with women and experienced the utter boredom of hearing them talk about colors you didn't even know existed? :)

My point is, the feeling you mentioned will never go away, no matter how awesome your second language skills are. The best thing you can do is try to get them to speak about a topic you understand about ("Hey guys, I read in a magazine that...", "guess who I found yesterday...").
4 persons have voted this message useful

Marcos Ortega
Newbie
Bolivia
Joined 5461 days ago
8 posts - 15 votes

Message 23 of 50

14 December 2009 at 10:40pm | IP Logged

(Double post, please delete.)

Edited by Marcos Ortega on 14 December 2009 at 10:41pm
1 person has voted this message useful

burgler09
Diglot
Groupie
United StatesRegistered users can see my Skype Name
Joined 6050 days ago
72 posts - 88 votes

Speaks: English*, Spanish
Studies: Portuguese

Message 24 of 50

15 December 2009 at 5:49am | IP Logged

Seems boring, whats the point in language learning if you are afraid to talk? The second I learn my first words i'm looking to talk my target language. Granted it can be embaressing before you do it, i just say that i'm very very new but i like speaking the language. everyone is extremely friendly and its always great for laughs.

1 person has voted this message useful

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