Anxiety and Language Learning

Anxiety is one of the most challenging obstacles to overcome in learning a new foreign language. We are afraid of making mistakes, of looking and sounding foolish, of being vulnerable. I don't know about you, but whenever I feel like I'm fumbling around in another language, clumsily scrambling for the right word or grammatical construction to make my point, I always want to interrupt myself and say to the other person: "Just so you know, in MY language, I'm really smart!"

We like feeling smart, worthy of admiration, respected for our skill and knowledge, knowing our true personality is coming through. That can be hard to do in a foreign language, especially in the beginning. So here are a few tips to help get you over these fears so that your anxiety doesn't hold you back from making all the progress you are otherwise capable of making:

1. "Fake it 'til you make it" - if you are not confident in using another language, don't let it show! Keep a smile on your face, learn to laugh at your own mistakes, and pretend that you are emotionally okay - or maybe just a little frustrated - with your temporary limitations. If you appear to be totally embarrassed, falling apart under the pressure, you will project those thoughts to the other person. If you "fake" confidence well, it will have two results - first, if you act like it's not a big deal, you will put your listener at ease with it too; and second, you can actually convince yourself that you ARE okay, and eventually, it will feel natural to BE okay with it. Mind over matter!

2. Rehearse - Whether you are reading aloud to yourself at home, repeating phrases that you hear on television or radio, doing your homework out loud, or simply talking to yourself (which plenty of us silently do already) but out loud, practice speaking as much as possible, even if it's just one word over and over. This also has two purposes. First, it will help your mouth get used to the feeling of the words and phrases in the foreign language, so it will eventually feel more natural, just like you have to practice any sport or art to get used to the physical motion involved. Second, it will help you get used to the sound of your own voice in that language. For many people, it simply "sounds weird" to hear their voice in a different language. If your voice sounds "weird" to you, you will probably be afraid that it sounds "weird" to other people too (though it probably doesn't), and this will keep your anxiety level very high. Get used to it so you stop worrying about it.

3. Learn to talk to strangers - This is not as difficult as it seems! Each time you go out, decide you are going to ask a question. Just one question. You can ask the same question to two, five, or ten people, in the same location or in different locations. Perhaps you will ask someone to reach an item on the top shelf. You might ask someone to recommend a good brand of soft drink, pet food, or detergent. You could ask if an item is on sale. You can also decide how complex you want the question to be. Depending on your level, you can ask about the price of something by saying, "How much is this?" or by saying "Excuse me, but could you please tell me how much this costs?" Plan your phrase in advance, rehearse it, then set that as your goal for the day. The idea is to realize that most people will be very kind in responding, even if your language is imperfect, and even if you don't understand the whole answer. It will help you get over the fear of interacting with a native speaker as you get used to taking the first step of engaging them in conversation.

Consider this reality: You have nothing to lose by trying these strategies. If you never make the effort to try, you are guaranteed to make no progress. If you DO make the effort, the absolute worst possible result is that you maybe feel a little silly at first, but you make a little progress; you can't do worse than "no progress," right? And at best, you get used to the experience, reduce your anxiety, and make improvement little by little, which will reduce your anxiety and genuinely increase your confidence anyway! After all, isn't that the goal?

Zig Ziglar, a famous sales guru, asked a very relevant and powerful question: "Is your fear of failure greater than your desire to succeed?" Wow! Think about that, and find the motivation and strength inside yourself to make sure your answer is "NO!" Then use these strategies, and step by step take control of your own language learning success.

Age and language learning - Myth busting

I hear a lot of concerns - mostly "convenient" excuses - about the futility of learning a foreign language as an adult. Everyone assumes they're too old to pick up another language. But in reality, nothing is further from the truth. There is a ton of research out there that shows that adults have every but as much potential to successfully learn a new language as children do. It really bugs me when people toss out phrases like "well, children are just like little sponges, they don't have to try to learn." You are a sponge too! But you have to compare the "water sources" to truly compare. I'll address more issues about age in later posts, but today let's compare opportunity for input and use.

Most children learn additional languages in school. They are in class at least 3-4 times per week, have homework assignments, and are held accountable with grades. Young children are often immersed in the language, even studying content like math and history through it. That means they are surrounded by the language 6-8 hours per day, 5 days per week, plus homework and socializing opportunity with classmates at lunch, recess, etc. That's a lot of input and practice opportunity! So their little "mental sponges" are basically dropped into a bucket of water... no wonder they seem to "soak it up" so quickly!

Adults, in contrast, might take a class once a week, for an hour, with some homework that they probably procrastinate on doing until the night before the next class. Or they buy a computer software program to learn the language, start strong for the first week or so, then get busy and lose motivation, slacking off to once or twice a week, and not practicing in between. There is no direct accountability, no required interaction with people in the language, and no effort to link the current lesson to daily life needs. Adults' "mental sponges," then, are left to sit on the table, and every now and then someone pours a spoonful of water on it. It soaks quickly to the surface, but then dries up again before any more water is added. No wonder it seems like we don't have the "absorbing capability" that children do!

So when we look at the variables of input and practice opportunity, you can see that we are not comparing apples to apples, as the saying goes. It is very unfair to attribute comparative success to biological ability, when there are clearly such powerful external factors at play, tipping the scales against us.

We'll look at more of these factors later, but for now, cross this excuse off your list, and take a proactive step to increasing the frequency of your input and practice opportunities. And remember:

A journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step. There's #1!