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😢Keine Angst: Fears when learning foreign languages and how to deal with them

Let's talk about fears. You can often hear: "I read well, but I'm afraid to speak," "I'm afraid to call and answer the phone," "I want to change jobs, but I'm afraid my language skills won't be enough." Fear is manifold.

🔥Let's look at the main fears and how to deal with them

😢🇩🇪Fear of appearing stupid.

This fear tends to come first. And it takes up so much space sometimes that some people spend years accumulating vocabulary and perfecting grammar, but are panickedly afraid to say a few simple phrases. Others spend hours writing a short letter, and when they finally send it they worry a lot - what if they've made a bunch of mistakes? And let's not even mention the phone calls - who isn't afraid of them? "It is better to keep silent and have the reputation of an idiot, than to talk and dispel all doubts" - this is what the victims of this fear take for themselves as a rule. They keep silent, like the hero of The Matrix, tortured by evil agents.

❗️🤛🏻How do you fight it? Easier than it looks. Here are a couple of tricks:

(a) Enjoy the process.

Rejoice and enjoy the fact that you have at least some command of the language. It wasn't long ago that you couldn't even do that. Look at communication as a game. Do small things first: order in a cafe, chat with your neighbor about the weather. Praise yourself more often. And if something doesn't work, just try again.

b) don't think about what people think of you.

Instead, focus on the goal. After all, every communication has a purpose, and sometimes that purpose is very simple. Finding directions, filling out a form, or choosing the right product - that's what's important to you, not how you'll be looked at (usually by complete strangers, random people). If you mix up cases or the gender of nouns, no one will die, I've checked. Also - very often it's not as bad as it looks. Germans, for the most part, are friendly and polite, will try to understand and help you.

c) take your time.

It happens that when someone approaches us, we try to respond immediately, but usually it is not necessary. Observe yourself when you speak your native language. Thinking over your answer, picking up a word, asking again - these are all natural pauses or repetitions that are perfectly normal - you're a living person, not an answering machine. So before you start talking, give yourself time to collect your thoughts.

😢🇩🇪 Fear of not getting what you want

⚡️A job interview tomorrow and you're terrified of being rejected because of speech errors?
⚡️Don't want to go to the bakery (Bäckerei) because they will give you Roggenbrötchen instead of Joggenbrötchen again?
⚡️ Afraid of calling the doctor so that you don't get an appointment (Termin) at the wrong time by mixing up the numbers?

Fear of being misunderstood, of not being able to express your thought is the next trap we fall into when the first barriers have already been successfully overcome. Once we begin to use language in any way, we are afraid that it is not enough.

❗️🤛🏻 How do we fight it?

Just take it and do it. It doesn't matter if you get it right away or later, if it's better than others or worse, and from what time you get a noticeable result.

👍🏻When we stop expecting immediate success, we suddenly find that doing becomes easier. The pressure we put on ourselves disappears.

😏 Of course, not everything will work out the first time. You might actually get rejected for a job, but with each rejection your experience will grow, and one day it will be enough. One day you'll get to make a complicated order at a restaurant instead of pointing your finger at the menu, answering business emails quickly, and, without hesitation, solving other tasks that seem so difficult right now.

The important thing is to just keep doing something.

😎Are you experiencing similar fears?

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