Do you really have to start speaking English as soon as possible and what if you don’t do it? How long do you need to spend in the “silent” stage when you just listen to others? And what if you make lots of mistakes and you feel that other people judge your intelligence based on your English fluency? Then what? Do you keep trying to speak, or do you cave in and decide not to say anything?
These are the questions that I will be discussing in this post, so if you have ever wondered about any of them, make yourself comfortable and keep reading.
Practicing English in the initial stage of learning
Let’s start off with the question: Do you have to start speaking in English or any other language you are learning from day one? The short answer is: No.
You could certainly try to repeat some sounds or words, but you don’t have to. I personally started repeating whole phrases that I’d heard on TV during my first days in the US, but I did it when I was alone at home.
So, in this initial stage, the most important thing is to listen and pay attention to the melody of the language. Try to notice if you hear any vowels, consonants, or sounds overall that don’t exist in your language.
Of course, you can try to repeat what you think you are hearing. It could be a single sound, a separate word, or even a whole phrase. But know that if you’re struggling to pronounce it in the same way you heard it, that’s normal. It takes time for your mouth muscles to get used to the new sounds.
Listening is also a crucial step towards starting to understand more. What good does it do if you force yourself to speak but don’t understand what other people say?
Speaking with mistakes
The biggest thing that most nonnative speakers of English dread when they first start speaking is making mistakes. But mistakes are inevitable in the beginning when you start speaking a foreign language. Many people understand that but still feel embarrassed when they say something incorrect or forget words.
As a result of that, two things can happen. One thing is that people decide to stop talking and stay quiet because, of course, if you don’t say anything the chance of making mistakes is zero. But another thing that many people might try to do in order to overcompensate this feeling of inadequacy is to start using super fancy words and too many idioms.
Don’t stop speaking
My advice is not to stop speaking even though you might feel embarrassed when you make a mistake or forget a word. You know how some people stop driving after having been in a car accident because they are afraid that it can happen again. This is the same. If you stop speaking, it’s going to be way harder to start again.
Just accept the fact that you might be rambling sometimes or using the wrong word. That’s ok. Stick it out for a while and you will see that it does get better. And of course, keep listening. The more exposure to the language, the better.
Practice with intention
Let me clarify one thing though. Yes, I do believe that you shouldn’t stop speaking if you make mistakes. But I don’t believe that you will improve just by speaking more. I’ve heard some advice from other people telling learners to just speak as much as they can. But this can actually lead to fossilization. This means that if you keep repeating the same mistakes over and over again, it will be harder for you to fix them later on.
So, practice with intention. Notice what mistakes you make and try to say the same sentence in the correct way. Really pay a lot of attention. It’s about quality and not quantity.
Overusing idioms and fancy words
Now let’s talk about using too many idioms and fancy words. Using only four- and five-syllable words or too many idioms is a sign that you don’t feel confident and comfortable with the language. I know this might sound counterintuitive, but it’s like people who have recently become rich and they wear all of their jewelry at once and buy clothes with huge designer labels just to show off. This can actually have the opposite effect. You can’t fake fluency. Packing your sentences with multisyllabic words or idioms might make you sound as if you are trying too hard. I’m not saying not to learn or use them at all, but don’t overuse them.
For example, if you are more of a beginner, it is better to say “Good luck” instead of “Break a leg.”
Or “Let’s begin” instead of “Let’s get the ball rolling.”
Or instead of saying “My trip was splendiferous,” you can just say “My trip was great.”
The point is, don’t overdo it if you are still learning the basics.
By the way, I have another post about the power of simple words where I tell you a personal story when I once used super-simple words in an English class and I got praised for it. Check it out to learn more about why the “easiest” words are sometimes the most powerful.
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