Beating Speaking Anxiety I'm scared of making mistakes

Hanan:
Do you get anxious when you speak English? You're not alone.
Miguel:
I guess I'd say that my experience speaking English is full of dread and regret. I don't know why, but I
cannot find the courage to speak to someone.
Kristina:
For me, it was very important to be good in English. And I was like thinking what people will think about
me when I'm speaking the wrong way or my pronunciation is not correct.
Han Luo:
Imagine that if you are able to sound very intelligent, very wise, very smart in your first language, but
then in the second language, you are not able to do that.
Barnaby Griffiths:
It isn't about perfection, and it isn't about necessarily being very fluent. It's about communicating well.
Georgie:
In this special series from BBC Learning English, we'll be helping you understand speaking anxiety and
improve your confidence in English. Hello and welcome to Beating Speaking Anxiety. I'm Georgie, an
English teacher and presenter at BBC Learning English.
Hanan
And I'm Hanan, a bilingual reporter for BBC Arabic and presenter of the Arabic educational series, Dars.
Georgie:
So, as an English teacher, something my students used to ask me all the time was, "How can I get better
at speaking?" And sometimes they mean they want to make fewer mistakes, but most often it's about
confidence and wanting to stop feeling so nervous. They're worried about being judged for their mistakes.
They're scared they'll forget their words, that people won't understand their accent. There are so many
fears when it comes to speaking a foreign language.
Hanan:
Yes, it's something I struggled with too when I moved to the UK to work at the BBC. My English was
actually pretty good, but having conversations with people, I found it really difficult. So when I first
joined the BBC, the Learning English team made an assessment of my English level, which they used to
do for all new joiners to see if they need any help or courses. My results were pretty good, and I was
fluent, but on that very same day, leaving the building and going to get some coffee, I couldn't really
understand what the barista was saying, and I felt pretty nervous to order coffee and was trying to stress
every single word, hoping that my grammar is correct and I am pronouncing the words right.
Georgie:
Yeah, I'm sure that's a situation lots of people can relate to. So, in this series, we're going to look at all the
things that make us afraid of speaking in a new language. We'll speak to experts to understand why
speaking makes us so anxious, learn about what happens to our brain when we learn a new language, and
explore some tips to help make speaking English less stressful.
Hanan:
Each week for the next eight weeks, we will focus on a different fear learners have when speaking
English.
Georgie
And we start with one of the most common fears for learners: I'm scared of making mistakes. Let's hear
more from some learners – Cindy from Colombia, David from Brazil and Elisa from Mexico.
Cindy
And I feel afraid when I speak English because I don't have more vocabulary and I feel afraid for mistake
and can't communicate my idea.
Deivid
I felt very self-conscious. I felt really insecure sometimes because I was like, oh, am I saying the right
things? Do I say, do I know things well enough?
Elisa:
I don't like making mistakes and knowing they know more than me. I put pressure on myself to avoid
making mistakes and being foolish.
Hanan:
All of those learners are worried about making mistakes.
Georgie
Yes. A time when I felt this fear the most was when I worked as an English teacher in Spain, and I had to
have meetings with my students' parents to discuss their progress, all in Spanish. I was so scared of
making mistakes because in my head it was linked to my job and my professionalism. I didn't want the
parents to judge me and think I was a bad teacher.
Hanan
Totally. And you know, it's not just new learners of English who are worried about making mistakes.
Even advanced learners talk about this. So what's going on?
Han Luo
You know, usually the beliefs that cause anxiety, especially severe anxiety, are, we call it 'irrational
beliefs'. And also like, some low self-perceptions, fear of negative evaluation. All those learner internal,
you know, factors.
Georgie
This is Han Luo, associate professor of Chinese at Lafayette College in the United States. Han has done
lots of research into the sources of anxiety, or where that fear comes from. Han says irrational beliefs can
make us anxious. Irrational beliefs are beliefs that aren't based on things that are true. And Han says that
learners worry about mistakes because they're scared of 'negative evaluation'. In other words, that people
will judge them for their mistakes and think badly of them.
Han Luo:
Imagine that if you are able to sound very intelligent, very wise, very smart in your first language. You
are, you know, admired by people, but then in the second language, you are not able to do that, right?
Hanan:
When people speak in another language, they worry about what other people might think about them. But
Han says this judgement doesn't come from other people. It comes from within.
Georgie
Yes. But in the moment when we try to speak, we're often not aware of what's causing the anxiety and
stress. And so the first step to reducing the fear of making mistakes is to recognise that fear.
Han Luo:
We want to make those implicit beliefs into conscious beliefs. That is already like a very, very important
step.
Georgie:
Often the beliefs that are making us anxious are implicit – we don't notice them, and we need to make
them conscious so that we do notice them.
Han:
You realise it now – 'Oh, nobody will laugh at me, uh, if I make a mistake', because everyone is in the
same boat, right? So when you realise this, you know, now, I tell you, "You don't have to worry about it".
So are you able to just remove your anxiety, you know, and then your your beliefs are changed?
Georgie
I find what Han said about irrational beliefs really interesting. So I'm an English teacher, so I know that
mistakes help us learn. And also that as long as you communicate your ideas effectively, it doesn't really
matter if you make a few mistakes. But I still have an irrational fear of making mistakes in Spanish. I
need to make my feelings match my belief that making mistakes is fine.
Hanan
And you know what, Georgie? Um, we already make mistakes in our own languages, so I feel like we
should encourage ourselves and tell ourselves it's OK to make mistakes.
Georgie:
A hundred per cent, I totally agree. Han says recognising that these fears of making mistakes are
irrational is the first step. But is there anything we can do practically to help get rid of this fear?
Barnaby Griffiths:
It isn't about perfection, and it isn't about necessarily being very fluent. It's about communicating well.
Hanan:
This is Barnaby Griffiths. He's a speaking coach who works with the students who want to improve their
speaking in English.
Georgie:
Barnaby says if we think about speaking as communicating rather than like a test, then we can relax. So
embrace your mistakes.
Barnaby Griffiths:
Above all, allow for mistakes. So self-correct is fine. Allow pauses and silence within your
communication and learn to correct yourself and also introduce elements such as humour and smile and
laugh when things go wrong and say, 'Oh, I didn't mean to say that' and have phrases like 'Let me rephrase
that', or 'I need to say that again' and be vulnerable.
Hanan
I love Barnaby's advice to just smile and laugh when things go wrong, but I imagine it might be difficult
to be vulnerable like Barnaby says. Do you have any tips, Georgie?
Georgie
Yes, I do. I think the best way to get comfortable making mistakes is to start in situations where you feel
safe. So you could practise with someone you feel comfortable with. And another idea is to do a language
exchange. So this is when you find someone who wants to practise your language and you want to
practise their language. This is really good because you're both practising languages and you're both
making mistakes, and you're kind of in the same situation.
Hanan
That's true. I had a similar experience actually when I was learning Turkish, so I did an exchange with a
Turkish friend. She was teaching me Turkish and I was, funnily enough, I was actually giving her some
English tips. Um, and it was really good because it is with someone you know and you feel comfortable
with and you don't worry too much about mistakes. I was making mistakes in both languages, and, uh,
that felt OK.
Georgie:
Yeah, it's great because there's no judgement, is there?
Hanan
Exactly. Thanks for listening to this episode of Beating Speaking Anxiety. To learn more about speaking
anxiety, head to our website where Georgie has made videos for each of the speaking fears we talk about
in this series. You will hear more advice and see some tips in action with real learners. Use the link in the
notes for this episode or visit [Link]
Georgie:
And we'd love to hear about your experience speaking English. Please send us an email and tell us what
scares you about speaking. Our email address is learningenglish@[Link]. And in the next episode,
we'll be talking about what to do when you're speaking English and your mind suddenly goes blank. See
you then.
Hanan: Bye.