“Stop worrying about mistakes and start speaking. Be confident.” I’ve seen this advice so many times. I’ve even given it myself. But the truth is that it rarely works.
Most non-native speakers that I know are afraid of making mistakes when they speak English and just telling them not to be fearful is of no help. Fear feeds on resistance and grows stronger, so don’t fight it. Be ok with it. There’s nothing wrong with being afraid. Admit it and invite the fear to join you on your journey.
But you know what? Fear fears acceptance because it loses control. It’s very antisocial and it will soon hide away. The only way to get rid of fear is to embrace it.
Get an inspiration from this quote by Emma Watson:
There’s nothing wrong with being afraid. It’s not the absence of fear; it’s overcoming it. Sometimes you’ve got to blast through and have faith.
Embrace your fear and start speaking.
What I do now if I make a mistake
Earlier this year, for example, in one of my classes, I had to record a presentation about modals in English. Everything was going quite well, but about 12 minutes into the recording, instead of “modals”, I said “models.” I froze for a split second, realizing that I had just mispronounced one of the vowels. I had to quickly decide what to do. The perfectionist in me said: Start over. The pragmatist in me, however, just told me to keep going. I didn’t want to waste 12 minutes of good recording because of one mispronounced vowel. So I just laughed it off and kept going. By the way, I still find it funny that it is the vowel that is spelled the same (o) that is pronounced differently, not the other one (a vs. e). Don’t we all love English?!
Five ways to react if you make a mistake in English
Here is how you can be a confident English speaker too:
1. Don’t panic; stay calm
The calmer you are, the faster you will regain control over your thoughts. Correct yourself and move on.
2. Do not apologize for your English
You are communicating in a language that is not your mother tongue. There is nothing to apologize for. You should be proud. Stay confident and people will respect you.
3. If you don’t know, ask
People would love to help you if you really don’t know something. You are not expected to know every little detail of a language you were not born into.
4. Laugh it off
An occasional grammar mistake or mispronunciation are not going to make you a bad communicator. Laugh it off not in an arrogant I-don’t-care way, but in a humble I’ve-learned-something way. Of course, this is if you are sure that your listeners have understood your point. If they still look confused, make sure that you explain your message using other words.
5. “Would you like to switch to (my language)?”
Whatever you do, some people are going to tease you anyway just because they think it’s funny. In this case look them straight in the eye and say: Maybe you would like to switch to (your language)? If they are smart, they’ll get the point.
The bottom line
The bottom line is that, as daunting as it can be, learning and communicating in English can be very exciting as well. Think about all the people from different parts of the world that you can be connecting with.
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