Don’t Be a Shrinking Violet When You Speak Another Language (Part II)

Practise

The best way of speaking with confidence is to keep on practising. If you manage to say something fluently after some practise then you will feel a real shot of confidence from it. If you are taking Chinese courses London is a great city because you can find people to practise with. However, I had never had a problem with speaking to myself and even taping my own voice to listen back to it.

Don’t Go Into Your Shell

So what if you make a mistake? Everyone who learns a language will do so at some point. I remember a few toe-curlingly embarrassing things I said in Spanish but in the end I had to shrug them off and try to learn from them. You should keep on trying out new words and phrases and pushing yourself. It is a tremendous feeling when you say a difficult new word and it is understood. When they are taking Italian courses Brighton students will soon realise that speaking with confidence is half of the battle.