Speak Up! Three Ways I Overcame The Fear of Practicing My Spanish Conversation Skills as a Language Learner

Photo by Miguel Á. Padriñán: https://www.pexels.com/photo/two-white-message-balloons-1111368/

In one of my high school Spanish classes, I had a teacher tell us, “there are two types of language learners in this world: one is really good at speaking the language, but is too shy to talk, and the other isn’t really that great at speaking, but will talk to anyone who is willing to have a conversation with them. 

Learning Spanish, I definitely fell into the former category. It was at the age of thirteen that I became absolutely enamored with the Spanish language. Back then, I was just a preteen with pretty low self-confidence and not-so-good grades. However, that all changed when I took my first Spanish class. I finally felt like I was learning something interesting and meaningful, and my language teachers praised me for picking up the language quickly.  It was clear that I had been bitten by the language bug, and from there, I took all the Spanish courses I could throughout middle school and high school, ended up majoring in Spanish and International Relations in college, and obtained my Master’s and PhD in Hispanic Languages & Literatures. I have travelled to many Spanish-speaking countries, including Peru, Colombia, Panama, Cuba, and Spain, and use my Spanish language skills almost every day at my full-time job. 

However, it took me a long time to get to this point. In reality, from my studies in middle school to the beginning of my college career, I was pretty terrified to speak Spanish to anyone! The worst part was no one really understood my fears either. My friends (the non-language learning kind) would look at me perplexed and say: “so you spent all this time and energy learning Spanish and you don’t even speak it? What a waste.” 

At first I thought those words were pretty harsh, but honestly, it did get me thinking: what is holding me back?

Well, first off, I was generally a pretty shy person, and secondly and most importantly, I was really afraid of making a mistake. I would get embarrassed if someone was talking to me and I did not understand what they were saying, and I was also afraid of being misunderstood or sounding “dumb.” 

The first step to losing my fear of speaking Spanish in public was realizing that I had to let go of the illusion that I had to speak perfectly in order to speak at all. Here’s how I did it.

I Started Having Conversations–with Myself

I realized that while practice doesn’t  always make perfect, it can relieve a bit of anxiety. During my Spanish learning journey, I would actively practice my conversation skills by asking myself questions that challenged my vocabulary and grammar knowledge. If there was a particular word or phrase I did not know how to express in Spanish when answering, I would look in a dictionary or ask my teacher to get the solution. Not only was I improving my fluency by doing this, but I was also building my confidence so that if someone did ask me a complex question–like directions, where or how I grew up, or how I started learning Spanish–I felt more prepared to answer.

I Put Myself in Situations Where I Had No Choice But to Speak Spanish

If you have the option to use English, then you will most likely default to it, so get out of your comfort zone and really force yourself to speak Spanish. During my undergrad years in college, I was blessed to have won a Gilman International Scholarship to financially support my decision to study abroad in Spain. In my early twenties, it would be my first time on a plane, travelling to another country, and going to a place where English was not considered the standard language. Despite my nervousness, it turned out to be a miraculous opportunity and hugely helpful. My Spanish language abilities were the difference between me getting the services I needed at a restaurant, bank, or hotel, and not getting what I asked for due to misunderstandings and language barriers. If you don’t have the opportunity or means to travel abroad, try going into a tienda (Hispanic grocery or convenience store) and chatting it up with the clerk, joining a Spanish immersion club or class, or asking a native-speaker friend to have a Spanish only conversation with you. 

I Strengthened My Comprehension Skills as Much as I Could 

Not only was I nervous about not speaking well, but I was fearful of not understanding what someone would say to me. The Spanish-speaking world encompasses a vast area with a broad range of dialects and accents, so I knew that I needed to expose myself to as many of these differences as possible. What do I mean by differences, exactly? Well, for example, an Argentine accent sounds very different from a Mexican accent. Changes in pronunciation can throw a non-native speaker off instantly, depending on who they are talking to. In order to accustom my ears to these differences I watched movies, TV shows, and news from Spanish-speaking countries around the world, listened to podcasts in Spanish, and also listened to Spanish-language music. This was probably the most fun part of the process because I got to develop my taste for entertainment and media in a completely different language!

Language learning is truly a lifelong process, and there will be many times where you may find yourself lacking confidence, stuck in a language rut, or afraid or nervous to take the leap into an unfamiliar situation, like striking up a conversation with a native speaker. Despite all of it, though, learning another language is well worth it!

If you or someone you know would like to practice Spanish conversation skills with a near-native speaker, let’s chat! I would love to help 🙂