If you’re a foreign language learner who’s still letting out a ‘Uhm’ or an ‘Ah’ every few words or having difficulty saying the words despite knowing them, then you’re probably not just struggling to learn the language but also having the confidence speaking it.
Learning a foreign language is already quite a challenge for many people. However, speaking confidently in that foreign language is another huge hurdle that foreign language learners need to overcome.
Being confident in speaking a foreign language isn’t just a textbook matter. It requires a great deal of mental exercise and a series of good habits to express yourself in a language other than your own.
In this article, we will guide you to several tips on becoming a confident foreign language speaker.
Ways to improve speaking confidence in a foreign language
Set your goals
We know how exciting it is to finally motivate yourself to learn a foreign language, and sometimes, this excitement translates to pushing yourself to reach your desired goals in language learning.
Learning a language is not easy, like any type of study. Hence, setting goals or milestones is crucial for monitoring progress and maintaining consistency.
However, this is where many people unknowingly fail to keep up with their language learning studies—setting goals, and unrealistic ones at that. Setting goals is one thing, but setting unrealistic goals is like setting yourself up for failure.
“Setting unrealistic goals is most likely to cause stress, burnout, and anxiety, giving you an avenue to question your motivation and learning capabilities,” says Tom Golubovich, Head of Marketing & Media Relations at Ninja Transfers.
“Am I not studying enough?” “Am I not pushing myself hard enough?” when the reality is you’re probably setting unrealistic goals or aiming too high beyond what you can manage.
Here are some ways on how to set realistic goals when it comes to language learning:
Break down your goals into small, manageable tasks.
Assess your learning capabilities.
Aim for quality, not quantity of learning.
Set consistent and fixed but manageable schedules.
Monitor the progress of your goals.
Brooke Webber, Head of Marketing at Ninja Patches, says, “Setting achievable milestones helps keep you motivated throughout your learning journey, like learning 10-20 new foreign language words a day or five new phrases by the end of each week.”
Find your purpose
When learning a new language, it is crucial that as much as you know your goals, you should always know the reason why you’re learning a particular language. Why? It helps you know the course and direction of your learning, especially when time is tight.
Rodger Desai, CEO of Prove, says, “If you’re learning a language for business reasons, some languages have different nuances, tones, and expressions in a formal setting. If you’re learning for fun, leisure, or travel, focusing more on daily and usual conversations should be your focus.”
Make it a daily habit.
We cannot stress this enough: There’s no better way to learn, become fluent, and feel confident in speaking a foreign language than to make studying and speaking it a daily habit.
Gary Hemming, Owner & Finance Director at ABC Finance says, “Practice does make perfect in learning a foreign language, and the best way to become fluent and confident is to find every avenue where you can consistently speak the language.”
Connect with people who speak a foreign language.
If you have access to it, join group language courses where you can communicate with people who study the same language as you do or find websites where you can talk or connect with people residing in the country of the language you’re learning.
This can make speaking in a foreign language more natural when speaking with locals, and you can also ask for tips on learning their language.
Make use of language learning applications
Connecting and speaking with actual people in a language you’re unfamiliar with is easier said than done.
If you’re not one to talk with real people and face the fear of embarrassment, many language learning applications or websites offer programs where you can talk and repeat after a voice recording. You can even replay your voice recording so you can hear your progress in terms of proper pronunciation and intonation.
Talk to yourself
You can also practice language learning confidence daily, even while doing your daily chores, by talking to yourself in a foreign language. For example, count in a foreign language when inventorying your house supplies or narrate what you do when sweeping the floor or folding the laundry.
Watch your favorite foreign shows.
Watching foreign language shows is a very underrated way to practice speaking, listening, and having confidence in learning a foreign language.
“Exposing yourself heavily to foreign language shows helps you grasp natural nuances and expressions that may otherwise not be taken up in a formal learning setting, building your confidence along the way,” says Lankitha Wimalarathna, CEO of Hiveage.
Mind your body language
According to the American Management Association, nonverbal communication, like body language, impacts how your audience receives and interprets your message more than the actual words you speak.
For this reason, foreign language learners must emphasize the importance of their body language when they speak a foreign language, as it can impact the message they are trying to convey.
But what does this have to do with confidence?
Chris Aubeeluck, Head of Sales and Marketing at Osbornes Law, says, “You see, when you don’t feel confident when you speak (foreign language or not), your body says what your words don’t—you avoid eye contact, fiddle with your fingers or hair, slouch, and many more.”
When you practice fixing your body language, even when speaking a foreign language—making direct eye contact, using arms and hands to emphasize your point, refraining from fidgeting or moving around too much, and keeping a pleasant face—you’re most likely to get your message across better even when your words are all jumbled up.
Speak clearly
Truth be told, nobody can ever perfect a language—not even locals of their own. Language is meant to allow people to communicate effectively; if you can, you’ve successfully spoken a foreign language.
If you want to be confident in speaking a foreign language, you should first focus on speaking clearly to whoever you’re talking to. When you speak clearly, you allow your audience to hear you loud and clear, no matter how right or wrong your words may be. After all, you’ll never know unless someone hears you, right?
Speaking clearly doesn’t only mean speaking loudly but also properly. Avoid mumbling and try to enunciate each syllable or word carefully, making sure you’re well understood and heard. It may be awkward at first, but doing this will help you become more confident speaking clearly and faster the next time.
Embrace your mistakes
Albert Einstein once said, “Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.”
The universal truth is that mistakes are a part of our lives because we keep challenging ourselves with new things outside our comfort zone. When we stop making mistakes, it means we have stopped learning.
The same goes for learning a foreign language or basically anything new. Mistakes are an essential part of the learning process, helping you identify which aspects to keep working on.
If your grammar is off, seek more grammar textbook exercises. If your spelling is off, familiarize yourself with the words repeatedly daily. If your pronunciation or enunciation is off, find a language partner you can talk to to help you point out your mistakes.
Roman Zrazhevskiy, Founder & CEO at MIRA Safety, says, “Contrary to belief, mistakes aren’t meant to shrink your confidence. While it may be embarrassing at times, learning from a spelling or pronunciation error helps ingrain that learning in your mind more than when you haven’t made a mistake at all.”
Don’t be afraid to seek feedback
Just like you never know your progress until someone points out your mistake, you need people who aren’t afraid to judge your learning process, no matter how harsh it may seem sometimes.
If you’re enrolled in a foreign language course, don’t hesitate to ask your language teacher to assess your speaking progress regularly. If anything, they’re more than happy when their students take the initiative to be taught, signifying your motivation and enthusiasm to learn the language.
If you’re learning individually, try looking for a language partner in person or online who can help assess your progress. Ask them for feedback and which points you could still improve on.
“Seeking feedback from someone who honestly points out your mistakes will help give you the confidence boost you need. They will help objectively assess your progress, motivating you to work and learn better the next time around,” says Jeffrey Zhou, CEO and Founder of Fig Loans.
Enjoy the learning process
Last but not least, enjoy the process of learning!
Learning a language is meant to help you connect and communicate with people from different walks of life. There’s a different kind of satisfaction in knowing that you can properly communicate your thoughts in a language not your own.
Being confident in speaking a language starts with dispelling all the doubts and fears of learning and finding joy in what you do.
If you’re too bored in the regular text book learning route, find fun language games available online. You can also join online and in-person language meetings with people learning the same language as you or just open Netflix and watch your favorite show in a foreign language—yes, that still counts as learning!
Conclusion
Learning a foreign language requires patience, time, and confidence. Confidence in speaking a foreign language starts with yourself—allow yourself to make mistakes, build good habits, embrace feedback, and have fun with the learning process.
When you begin to actually love the learning process, confidence and fluency will naturally follow.
