BBC Learning English - Beating Speaking Anxiety / I’m scared of making mistakes - podcast

Beating Speaking Anxiety / I’m scared of making mistakes - podcast

“I felt really insecure sometimes because I was like, oh, am I saying the right things?” - Deivid

“I put pressure on myself to avoid making mistakes and being foolish.” - Elisa

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Introduction

The fear of making mistakes can be related to the fear of judgement and personality traits like being a perfectionist. Learn from experts about this topic and get tips on how to reduce this fear.

With professor of Chinese Han Luo and speaking coach Barnaby Griffiths.

Reflect

Discuss in pairs/groups or write some notes.

Before listening:

Do you feel nervous when speaking English? When? Why?

Do you worry about making mistakes? Why/why not?

After listening:

Do you think you have any irrational beliefs when it comes to learning or speaking English? Why are they irrational?

What did you learn from this episode? Do you feel differently about making mistakes when speaking English?

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Vocabulary

dreadfear about something that will or might happen

irrational beliefsbeliefs that aren’t based on things that are true

implicit beliefs beliefs we don’t notice

conscious beliefs beliefs we do notice

self-perceptionhow you view yourself

in the same boat in the same difficult situation (as other people)

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Transcript

HananDo you get anxious when you speak English? You’re not alone.

MiguelI guess I’d say that my experience speaking English is full of dread and regret. I don’t know why, but I cannot find the courage to speak to someone.

KristinaFor me, it was very important to be good in English. And I was like thinking what people will think about me when I’m speaking the wrong way or my pronunciation is not correct.

Han LuoImagine that if you are able to sound very intelligent, very wise, very smart in your first language, but then in the second language, you are not able to do that.

Barnaby GriffithsIt isn’t about perfection, and it isn’t about necessarily being very fluent. It’s about communicating well.

GeorgieIn this special series from BBC Learning English, we’ll be helping you understand speaking anxiety and improve your confidence in English. Hello and welcome to Beating Speaking Anxiety. I’m Georgie, an English teacher and presenter at BBC Learning English.

HananAnd I’m Hanan, a bilingual reporter for BBC Arabic and presenter of the Arabic educational series, Dars.

GeorgieSo, as an English teacher, something my students used to ask me all the time was, “How can I get better at speaking?” And sometimes they mean they want to make fewer mistakes, but most often it’s about confidence and wanting to stop feeling so nervous. They’re worried about being judged for their mistakes. They’re scared they’ll forget their words, that people won’t understand their accent. There are so many fears when it comes to speaking a foreign language.

HananYes, it’s something I struggled with too when I moved to the UK to work at the BBC. My English was actually pretty good, but having conversations with people, I found it really difficult. So when I first joined the BBC, the Learning English team made an assessment of my English level, which they used to do for all new joiners to see if they need any help or courses. My results were pretty good, and I was fluent, but on that very same day, leaving the building and going to get some coffee, I couldn’t really understand what the barista was saying, and I felt pretty nervous to order coffee and was trying to stress every single word, hoping that my grammar is correct and I am pronouncing the words right.

GeorgieYeah, I’m sure that’s a situation lots of people can relate to. So, in this series, we’re going to look at all the things that make us afraid of speaking in a new language. We’ll speak to experts to understand why speaking makes us so anxious, learn about what happens to our brain when we learn a new language, and explore some tips to help make speaking English less stressful.

HananEach week for the next eight weeks, we will focus on a different fear learners have when speaking English.

GeorgieAnd we start with one of the most common fears for learners: I’m scared of making mistakes. Let’s hear more from some learners – Cindy from Colombia, David from Brazil and Elisa from Mexico.

CindyAnd I feel afraid when I speak English because I don’t have more vocabulary and I feel afraid for mistake and can’t communicate my idea.

DeividI felt very self-conscious. I felt really insecure sometimes because I was like, oh, am I saying the right things? Do I say, do I know things well enough?

ElisaI don’t like making mistakes and knowing they know more than me. I put pressure on myself to avoid making mistakes and being foolish.

HananAll of those learners are worried about making mistakes.

GeorgieYes. A time when I felt this fear the most was when I worked as an English teacher in Spain, and I had to have meetings with my students’ parents to discuss their progress, all in Spanish. I was so scared of making mistakes because in my head it was linked to my job and my professionalism. I didn’t want the parents to judge me and think I was a bad teacher.

HananTotally. And you know, it’s not just new learners of English who are worried about making mistakes. Even advanced learners talk about this. So what’s going on?

Han LuoYou know, usually the beliefs that cause anxiety, especially severe anxiety, are, we call it ‘irrational beliefs’. And also like, some low self-perceptions, fear of negative evaluation. All those learner internal, you know, factors.

GeorgieThis is Han Luo, associate professor of Chinese at Lafayette College in the United States. Han has done lots of research into the sources of anxiety, or where that fear comes from. Han says irrational beliefs can make us anxious. Irrational beliefs are beliefs that aren’t based on things that are true. And Han says that learners worry about mistakes because they’re scared of ’negative evaluation’. In other words, that people will judge them for their mistakes and think badly of them.

Han LuoImagine that if you are able to sound very intelligent, very wise, very smart in your first language. You are, you know, admired by people, but then in the second language, you are not able to do that, right?

HananWhen people speak in another language, they worry about what other people might think about them. But Han says this judgement doesn’t come from other people. It comes from within.

GeorgieYes. But in the moment when we try to speak, we’re often not aware of what’s causing the anxiety and stress. And so the first step to reducing the fear of making mistakes is to recognise that fear.

Han LuoWe want to make those implicit beliefs into conscious beliefs. That is already like a very, very important step.

GeorgieOften the beliefs that are making us anxious are implicit – we don’t notice them, and we need to make them conscious so that we do notice them.

HanYou realise it now – ‘Oh, nobody will laugh at me, uh, if I make a mistake’, because everyone is in the same boat, right? So when you realise this, you know, now, I tell you, “You don’t have to worry about it”. So are you able to just remove your anxiety, you know, and then your your beliefs are changed?