How to Overcome the Language Fear…

This wee blog is to encourage Lingo learners to give themselves a break and to not be too hard on themselves whilst learning a foreign language! My friend was telling me about feeling embarrassed after a slightly awkward Spanish exchange in a café in Madrid, so in true Carry Bradshaw style I began to wonder about my own experiences…

I have always loved languages, I remember when I was a wee boy, my cousins came over from Switzerland and started to speak in a foreign tongue, I was mesmerised, I had never heard anything other than English before and almost felt that my cousins were speaking in code to each other or had developed an extraterrestrial mode of communication. With hindsight it turned out to be French, but after that I caught the language bug.

I have never identified myself as a linguist, I enjoy language learning, but I would call myself a language grafter- with grit and determination I have managed to learn a couple of foreign tongues (still not French though). I have learnt a lot about myself through languages, it has widened my perspectives, given me insights to cultures and has enabled me to have friends with people from all over the world.

However, despite my personal and professional language experiences, I still get language shame and the “fear”. The fear I am referring to is ordering the wrong food or panic speaking when I am not 100% sure what the person said to me, so I give a rushed answer back which only adds to the confusion. I also feel embarrassed if people speak back to me in English or they have not understood what I have said.

Although as mentioned above I find great enjoyment in learning language, there is an element of vulnerability. Language learning out in the wild is very different from in the classroom, people speak quicker, use different words and have different accents but try your best not to lose hope. I know we have all had the fear and that such experiences can feel like blows, but they are not representative of our language skills. Expressing ourselves in a foreign language is not solely based on our knowledge but also on our ability to adapt to different circumstances and is very much dictated by the context of the situation.

The important thing is that we are trying, and people appreciate that. Even the best linguists in the world make mistakes, nobody is perfect so embrace the journey and unshackle yourself from the fear.

So, the next time you order accidentally order pollo instead of paella, don’t be a chicken, dust yourself down and try again!

Written by: Robbie Norval