Speaking with Native English Speakers: A Step-by-Step Guide to Overcoming Language Barriers

 

Hello everyone! How was your day?

I listen sometimes to people say: I am ashamed to speak English with natives. So, I have decided to share it with you, for I identify myself with this situation. When I started to learn English I did not want to speak with other people. How did I change my idea? Well, I will say to you in this post, and I will try to help you with tips and websites where you can start today, lose shame, and try a chat with a native. 

Shall we?

I started writing

How did I start? Well, I started writing (typing). My first step was to download the Hellotalk app. In the Hellotalk I met many native people, and I made friends. These friends have helped me gain confidence, and I have understood that is okay to make mistakes. Then, in my opinion, if you want to start but you do not have confidence yet, my advice is to start writing. It is funny, but that's the first step to start to gain confidence.  

Face to face with your afraid...

On the first call, you will feel a mix of apprehensive, tense, and excited. However, you will feel tranquil throughout the conversation. Depart from this first call you will start gaining confidence, and continue with more and more calls ( it's addictive), and your confidence will increase. 

To sum up, simply confront your fears, and afterward, you will feel wonderful. While it may seem scary at first, don't give up. Persevering through the fear is key. 

Look for partners

When you have a language partner, it's important to have regular conversations where you can see progress each week. You and your partner can discuss many subjects. My advice is to agree on topics (two or more) before chatting. Why define topics? I'll explain that in a post, but having topics will help you and your partner stay focused and avoid long periods of silence, and it will improve your English on those topics. Additionally, I want to emphasize that you and your partner will become closer, and taking breaks for gossip and discussing the news of the day is perfectly fine and enjoyable! Hehe.

Here is where I knew my partners:

Hellotalk (app phone)

language.exchange

 Confidence!

Today is so comfortable and relaxing for me to have a chat with an English native or non-native speaker. I allow myself to make mistakes and learn from them. I think that's confidence! You play a part in the process. It's cliché, but you need to make mistakes. Overall, allow yourself to make mistakes, be corrected, and learn from them. You'll see how funny it can be!

Overall...

In the end, I understood how silly I was. Learning a new language is a challenge, and people understand that. Furthermore, they are also learning (whether it be Portuguese, Italian, Spanish, etc.)! Automatically, when you have a language partner, you develop empathy. If your partner lacks it, change partners urgently!

So, finding someone who is understanding and supportive can make a big difference in your learning journey. 

I will do a post about how a be a good language partner, how to start a chat with a native, and how to learn English speaking with a native.  

Stay strong guys! Your homework is to start a chat! 

bye bye!!