How to get rid of the language barrier

29.03.2016

4834 0 0

Many of those who study English face the following problem: they have been learning English for many years, they know a lot of grammar rules, many words and expressions, but when it comes to talking to a real native speaker, all the knowledge goes down the drain. The problem is the language barrier. What is it? Why do people have it? How to get rid of it?
Language barrier is a psychological state when a person is too constraint to speak a foreign language. The person may speak English really well, be able to watch movies in English and read unabridged books, but be unable to speak.
The most frequent reason why people face this problem is negative impression and bad experience caused by English classes in school. The thing is that before students actually speak a foreign language, they have to learn grammar, tons of vocabulary. Only then they may be allowed to say a few words about the weather and tell who is on duty or absent today. Sure thing, the results aren’t good at all. Nobody says «good job», so students are't encouraged to speak well. First they teach one thing (grammar), but they require a different thing (speaking). It's like watching runners on TV, and then expect people to run just as fast. The worst case scenario is if you were laughed at when trying to speak.
This is why it's so hard to speak with natives. What if they don't understand me? What if my pronunciation is terrible? What if I use only 30 words?
Here are a few simple tips on how to get rid of the language barrier:
Don't be scared of mistakes.
Making mistakes is a part of any studying process, it's absolutely OK. Most likely the person you speak to will turn the blind eye to your mistakes as long as he or she can understand what you are saying. If something is not quite clear, the person will ask you to repeat.
Don’t be shy because of your pronunciation.
Of course you should try to pronounce the sounds as well as you can, but don’t forget that the Americans and the British are used to people speaking with accents since the entire world speaks English! So, even if you don’t speak like the Queen, it doesn’t mean that your interlocutor won’t be able to understand you and enjoy the conversation.
Don’t freeze when you can’t remember a word.
It’s no big deal. You forget words of your mother tongue every day, but you can easily find a synonym or give a definition. You can say a phrase like: «I was sitting on that thing, you know… What do you call it? At the table… Ah! A chair, right!».
Use simple words.
If you want to say how fascinated your were by Di Caprio in his last movie, but you can’t remember the word fascinated, just say you liked his acting.
Ask to repeat.
Don’t be afraid to show that you don’t really understand something. You’d better find everything out right now than wonder if you understood the person right later. Use these phrases to ask to repeat:

Could you repeat that, please?
What was that, again?
I didn't quite get that.

Don’t try to understand every word.
The most important thing is to understand the main point. It’s especially useful when it comes to phrasal verbs, the meaning of which can sometimes be guessed from the context. Also if you think that you are not following what the other person is saying, you can paraphrase his or her words and add «right? just to check.
Dive into English.
Go to an English-speaking country, take English skype lessons with a native speaker, look for English clubs in your town. In other words, don’t let yourself be quiet. Put yourself in a situation, when you will have to speak.
Remember that you can only learn to speak English if you speak English regularly! This is what human nature is – all that is new seems to be dangerous. That’s why it’s important to speak regularly, this is how you will get used to the language!

Please, login to leave a comment

Blog

Popular

How to get rid of the language barrier

Don't be scared of mistakes.

Don’t be shy because of your pronunciation.

Don’t freeze when you can’t remember a word.

Use simple words.

Ask to repeat.

Don’t try to understand every word.

Dive into English.

You may like