I just got a message from a friend who had written weeks ago. He wanted to know how he could speak out loud without being shy and afraid. He worries that people will correct or criticize his speaking. Those who will correct us are our best friends.
Shyness is natural and criticism is important. If others cannot criticize and correct us we cannot learn. I am now learning Arabic and face the same feelings as you. I don't like to make mistakes, but it is how I learn the correct way of saying things.
We must just do the way little children do and speak without fear of correction, because correction is the quickest way for us to learn. You have seen children learning to walk. They try to stand and take a step, but they fall back down. If they had the same fear that we do as older people, they would never walk.
We must be like the child who keeps getting up and trying over and over, even though we will fall again.
You may think, What if they laugh at me?
Does laughter hurt? Laugh at yourself right now. I am laughing at myself. I am only a beginner in Arabic.
Are children hurt when they fall? Maybe they are hurt a little, but falling teaches them to walk.
Will you learn to speak English well? You can speak English very well someday, but you must have many falls along the way.
Your other choice is to spend the rest of your life crawling.
It is your choice to make.
Will you walk or will you crawl? I will walk someday, even if it is painful.
Comments
We all must walk. Maybe we take a step backwards or to the side when we want to go forward, but that is the beauty of learning. The club provides the protected and safe place for members to speak out and not be afraid.
We praise each other in our comments. This is not because our work is perfect, but because we are making an effort to be better. We will give small bits of criticism along with praise and it is given with love for each other. We are all a big family of brothers and sisters who share a love for learning and for helping others, as well as ourselves.
I like to invite both students and teachers here. Why do I do this?
I do this because we can all learn from each other and web based learning works best for some students. Others may do better with a book or a blackboard, but I am certain that some students will be helped better here, than in the classroom.
Those who are shown this club and respond well, can stay and benefit from the experience. I hope to see local clubs in many cities where plans made here can be carried out. schools can easily begin a club and use the club here to expand their activities. This club is a tool we have not yet learned to use to it's best potential.
Thank you all for your comments :) I am glad this is helpful.
Hi, Mr. Bob.
I am one of english language teacher in Taif and I met you in Al-Shafee schools.
I hope to be friends and I became one of memmber in this web when you told us about it .
I read your last article and I was happy cause I remembered when I was student in my university.
Thank you Mr. Bob .
Hi Mr. Bob...........
Long time am not visit this EC because many duties I must to do. This minute I have a little time to see my page and I found inbox from you :D. am really happy and hurry to read the message :)
Hope you always fine.
am the one who really want to can speak English well but difficult to find a partner to practice it. :D, yes...some friends on EC told me to interact with them by SKYPE, but I think it couldn't help me a lot hehe..may be because my skype friends same with me ( beginner ) so not much words or vocab I got. :D
some friends in my office said that my English not bad, but still I don't have confident when directly speak with expatriates. Still little bit nervous.
But I still keep trying Mr. Bob. :)
Hope someday I could speak fluent as you hehe..amin.
Zoba,
Confidence is a good thing but it is not the most important. When you are learning the most important thing is forgetting your fears. After learning a language you can then become confident. For conversational English it is better to speak the best that you can at the moment. In conversations we can not know what to expect so we use the words we know and ask for help.
When we are writing we look up words to learn vocabulary and try to obey the grammar rules. If we make a mistake it is part of the process. If you are trying hard you will make many mistakes. If you are paying attention, you will learn from the mistakes so they are your teaches. Every month the mistakes you make should be different than the month before because you have learned and do not make the same mistakes.
At a point in your life you will have some confidence in your ability. You will still be making some mistakes, but they will be from less common words and situations. :)
good moring sir,
your nice advice is very useful to me , anyhow we will learn new language with out shyness
we will try to findout some good friends , here in english club a lot of friends are here , some friends will suport us so we dont worry and lose our heart here .
I wouldn't agree for more~
Learning is a process. Be patient for yourself. I am also a beginner learner of Japanese.
It's hard but fun!
Good post, Bob! A lot of people think so and they shy/have fear to begin speak with others.
Im not hiding, I have thought and had the same questions, but I prevailed myself and opened for others.
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