Learning a new language can be daunting, you have to learn a lot of new words, their order, their pronunciation, their translations, their spelling, you have to learn the rules, find a partner, and many more things. All these things can make us feel afraid when communicating, hence there’s one aspect that’s also necessary to learn a new language, confidence. In fact, confidence can make you sound like you know the language, at least to the absent-minded.
That’s why we have compiled some suggestions to increase your confidence in a second language.
1. You will feel much better if you practice with a partner, especially someone who is at your own proficiency level. So, it’s a good idea to find a language partner to practice with regularly. This will help you improve your fluency, pronunciation, and vocabulary, as well as get feedback and corrections. If you’re having trouble finding a partner in person, you can use online platforms like free4talk or italki to find language communities and resources.
2. This one may sound silly, but the good use of body language goes a long way to showing confidence when speaking. Use the right body language to convey confidence and interest. Make eye contact, use gestures, and avoid fidgeting or shrinking. Some studies have shown that body language affects your behavior and emotions, so acting confident can make you feel confident. And even, some specialists recommend practicing your body language in front of a mirror.
3. To be heard and understood, speak loudly and clearly. Don’t speak quickly or incoherently. You may improve your ability to express yourself and stay away from filler words like “um” and “uh” when speaking. Your voice can speak volumes.
4. Practice, practice, practice. The more you speak, the more comfortable and confident you will become. Like we mentioned before, speaking with a partner is a great way to improve your confidence but thanks to technology you also have the option to practice by yourself. You can record yourself and then listen back, use apps and podcasts to mimic native speakers, or you can repeat phrases out loud and listen to yourself.
5. Ask feedback from others to learn from your mistakes. Asking for assistance, explanation, or correction when you don’t grasp something or make a mistake shouldn’t be seen as a weakness. Making mistakes is normal and unavoidable when learning a new language, and it’s a terrific way to pick up new skills.
6. One of the key things that prevent learners from speaking is being afraid to make mistakes because they focus too much on pronunciation. Although in reality, the important thing is that you communicate. Try not to overthink your ideas and say them as you think they are correct. The main goal of language learning is to communicate with others, not to sound like a textbook or a native speaker. As long as you can get your message across, you are doing well.
7. Preparation can go a long way in increasing your confidence. Although we cannot always prepare for conversations, in some situations it is possible, like presentations, job interviews, speaking tests, etc. If you know you are going to have a conversation, do a mock trial with a partner or record yourself. It’s also a good idea to write what you’re going to say like in a script.
8. And finally, going back to the original idea, learning a lot of words will help you get your message across. Try to learn, not only the basic words, but also common expressions like idioms or phrasal verbs, repeat some of the expressions you listen to on the TV or in songs. By doing so, you will increase your vocabulary, you will complement your ideas better and, as a result, your confidence will increase.
Lastly, confidence speaks volume. It’s not the only aspect to take into account when learning a language, but it will definitely help you communicate because people will pay attention to you and you’ll communicate your ideas more coherently and loudly.