Hello guys,

this is maybe the last topic we are going to talk about because lately I can see no interest and it sort of demotivates me to continue. More than 400 people in this group, more than 200 likes and 3 records (including mine) as for the last task. If you were me, who of you would bother yourself to continue? 

I am optimist though, so today I decided to choose following tasks:

A) SPEAKING

Let's talk about F E A R and how to fight against it. There are many kinds of phobia, like some people are scared of spiders, others fear heights etc. What phobia do you suffer from? What about fear of talking in English to somebody whose level is better or even to native speaker? Are you scared of it? What are the symptoms of your fear? Do you have any special tricks how to fight against fear? Do you consider fear important part of our life? What about some adrenalin activities like bungee jumping - are you up to it? These are just some helpful questions... talk about fear please and kill your FEAR of talking :-)

B) READING

How to Use Fear as a Tool to Succeed at Learning English

Envision the worst case scenario: So let's imagine that you relocated to the US as an expatriate a few months ago and there is an important community meeting coming up. You really want to attend the meeting but you are afraid. You know that most of the people at the meeting are native English speakers and you are afraid that if you go the meeting, you will be forced to speak and feel embarrassed by your poor grammar. In this situation, it helps to ask yourself, "what is the worst thing that could happen?" Perhaps you will make a mistake and become embarrassed but do you think that others will pay as much attention to your mistake as you will? I doubt it. Recognize when your fear is limiting you from taking risks and redefine failure.

Realize that fear does have a purpose: Yes, fear is just a thought but actually, it is there for a reason. Our fears are often rooted in earlier experiences and they are our mind's way of trying to protect us. While fear might have protected us and helped us stay out of trouble as a kid, we don't need that protection anymore. When you feel that same old fear coming up again, have some compassion for yourself. Laugh out loud, smile and continue in the direction of your goals.

Move directly toward your fear, not away from it: All successful people have succeeded despite their fears. Don't let your fear scare you away from your goal of learning English. Learn to work with your fear so that it motivates you. Consider your fear a message that you are on the right track because you are challenging yourself. Take small steps. Set up a language exchange and try that for a few weeks. When you feel comfortable with that, take a bigger risk and sign up for a public speaking class in English. Put yourself into increasingly scarier and more challenging English speaking situations every day and then look back and witness how far you have come. This gradual progression will give you confidence to keep acting and to use your fear as energy to improve your English fluency. Just like a speed skater, "lean into" the feeling of fear and uncertainty.

If you want to read more about this topic, check this article, which was my source: http://www.englishandculture.com/blog/bid/80761/How-to-Use-Fear-to-Succeed-at-Learning-English