Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[mengxiangwu]

I have been an English learner for 9 years, but my oral English is not so good. I am really worried about this. I can learn grammar and knowledge very well, but I cannot improve my oral competence very well. To improve my oral English, I attended an oral class taught by native speakers. Sometimes I practise by myself. But everytime when I communicate with others, I am nervous and don't know how to express and what to say. I almost lose confidence.However I must try my best, but I don't have chances to communicate with native speakers, so I come here for your help and suggestions.Thanks a lot.

[bud]

It's a fairly common problem, Meng. Many people feel nervous or shy when speaking their second language with native speakers. I can relate, too, as I feel embarassed when speaking Spanish with native Spanish speakers - except for the few that I already speak with.

The only thing I can suggest is to practice as much as you can. It's great if you have an English speaker or two that you feel comfortable conversing with. But in other cases, try to converse anyway. I think the more you do it, the less nervous you'll be.

Also, I think it's the hardest part of learning a new language. Be patient with yourself! And Good Luck!

[CP]

You may be trying to speak perfect English, so you spend too much energy getting everything right before speaking and too little energy just saying it, right or wrong.

I have that problem with German, which I am learning right now. I stumble speaking but I can read and write pretty well. A classmate of mine doesn't know the grammar as well as I do, but he speaks more freely and naturally, because he just blurts it out without worrying too much if he makes mistakes. Our teacher corrects errors as we make them, anyway, so we all learn and improve as we go.

Recently an 11-year-old girl from Hong Kong, whose English is not perfect, said to me: "What you call the animal, lives in a tree, the mouse." I said, "Oh, you mean a squirrel?" "Yes, squirrel!" she said, and she was very happy. If she had tried to make a perfect question out of it, she never would have asked me and she never would have had the fun of finding out (or actually, re-learning) the name of one of her favorite animals.

Try to be more like the 11-year-old speaking English and less like me speaking German. Maybe that will help. Good luck.
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You live a new life for every new language you speak. -Czech proverb

[mengxiangwu]

Thanks a lot for your good suggestions.