Do you hate speaking English around NATIVE SPEAKERS?

If you are shy or nervous when speaking English with native speakers, I have some advice for you.

Learners of English often become shy or hesitant to speak around native speakers because they are afraid of making mistakes. In this video, I share tips with you to boost your confidence when speaking English with native speakers. I will explain why native speakers don’t care about your mistakes as much as you think they do, and give you my suggestions that will help you feel confident speaking English – regardless of your level. Nobody has ever learned a language without making mistakes, and no one expects you to!

This video is full of advice to help you feel CONFIDENT when speaking in English, so watch it and then go out and DO IT!

TRANSCRIPT

Hey, guys. Welcome to engVid. Is it a lot harder for you to speak English around native speakers than it is to speak English with other learners or people from other countries who are speaking English as a second language? So, do you forget your words, do you lose all your confidence when you're speaking to someone from England, for example? If your answer is yes, then I have some advice for you so that you can speak with more confidence around native speakers.

I think the most important point, where I want to start, is that: Don't look at the native speaker as if they're up here, and better than you in any way, because sadly, that is why a lot of people get awkward and stop talking around native speakers because they think: "The native speaker's English is just so good, I'm going to sound like an idiot next to them." And that's why they close down and go quiet. So, the next time you're around a native speaker, speak to the native speaker on a level with them. It means: "You're here, I'm here, I'm not looking up at you, you're not looking down at me", and that is a really important step to bringing that confidence to you when you're speaking around the native speaker.

The next important point is: Some people are confident speaking English around other learners or other non-native speakers because they think: "When I'm speaking to this person, they don't know if I'm making mistakes, so I can just say this, say that, say this, and it doesn't matter if... In fact, it doesn't matter if I make mistakes because the other person doesn't know; therefore, I feel relaxed." But the problem when you speak to a native speaker, then, is that: "Oh no, they are going to know all the mistakes that I'm making. They're going to notice that I'm saying it wrong. It's... I... I don't want to speak because they're going to think that my English is so bad." Well, it is... It is true that a native speaker, if they're analyzing your language and watching your language and if they care about your language, they can notice: You made a mistake there, you made a mistake there, you made a mistake there. But the reality of communication is that most people are not thinking about that kind of stuff when they talk to you; they are communicating in the moment, they're thinking about themselves, what they're going to say. They're not watching you and your language closely. The native speaker just doesn't care about your language that much. The native speaker doesn't care about your mistakes as much as you think about your mistakes and worry about your mistakes.

Speaking as a native speaker, now, as a native speaker teacher, when I'm talking to someone, I have to switch on and concentrate if I want to listen for people's mistakes. It takes effort and it takes energy. And if I'm concentrating on listening to the words to find mistakes, it means that I'm not really in the middle of a conversation with that person. Instead, I'm just listening to: Are they making mistakes? So in my normal communication, my normal social communication with people, of course I'm not listening closely for mistakes, because I'm having a conversation. It's so far away from my mind and it's not important to me at all. So I hope, as an example, that gives you some confidence to think that: "Oh yeah, maybe native speakers don't care about my mistakes that much."

Which brings me to the next point, which is: Even if you are making mistakes, is it really that important? So instead of having this way of looking at yourself when you make a mistake: "Oh, it's terrible, it's really bad. I have to... I have to learn more. I have to avoid it." Try instead to develop and grow in yourself the ability to make those mistakes with what I would call vulnerability.

[TheJoyfulEye]

I'm a native speaker of English, but I can't speak any other language at all. If you can speak your own language, plus English, no matter how imperfectly, you are way, way ahead of most native English speakers, who speak English only. So don't put yourself down --- you're doing great! If you make a mistake, so what? Just smile and say, "Sorry, my English isn't perfect yet, but I'm working on it."

[ozermehtap]

I teach English in Sarajevo and I've seen so many students losing their confidence when there's a native speaker around. It happens. Thanks for sharing.

[Phoenixe]

Oh God, when I'm around native English speakers, my brain shuts down and I forgot the entire language and I start to panic! I can understand everything that they are saying but I just can't respond.
This guy walked up to me in Tesco the other day, he wanted my help to find coffee but I couldn't really help him even though I knew exactly where he can find what he's looking for. I wanted to tell him to turn right at the end of the aisle we were in and then look for the sign that says "tea" and he can find coffee in that aisle as well. But I forgot the words "aisle", "sign", "right" and even "tea" which sounds almost the same in my language as it does in English! So in the end I just pointed to the general direction of the tea/coffee aisle and didn't say a word. Not a single word! I felt so embarrassed! And I was afraid he might come back and ask more questions so I left the store as fast as I could!

[Caroline-vovp]

Talking to native speakers may be challenging because it really makes you come out of your comfort zone, which I find an amazing opportunity for growth both as a learner of English and a person.

[MariaDeff]

Oh, you just described all of my fears when I'm around native speakers) Thank you for your advices!

[umaraftab]

Ms Jade is just so awesome. Love her. The way she gets her messages across the people - Amazing. She looks GORGEOUS in glasses. :)

[deathbysvent]

As a native speaker, everything she said is true. However, some error detection is always running with native speakers, particularly on irregular verbs.

[dawidstepniewski]

When I speak with one native speaker everything is fine. My accent is quite good, usually everybody understands what I am talking about, if something isn't clear for me I just ask. The problem is when I'm among few native speakers. I can't understand anything then. They speak to fast, use some slang expressions, to many phrasal verbs etc.

I thing most of them are aware that they have to speak different way when they talk to somebody who is not an English speaker. When they are in a group they just forget it. I don't judge them, that's just the way it is, but in that kind of situations I lose my confidence.

[mishalalotaibi]

That's correct no one around the world is perfect and if we want to learn a new language, don't be shy don't be shy just try to speak as much as you can and you will achieve your goals as soon as possible

[victorliendo]

I utterly agree with you about your suggestions. We tend to get nervous whether we are speaking with native speakers or someone else we consider they have a higher level. Without minimizing the importance of pronunciation and fluency, I think the ultimate purpose is communication, make them understand your message...BTW it's been a while since i watched any of your videos. I really like them

[DianneWilderASMR]

Jade, thank you so much for this! I love your vids so much! I've been trying to inspire my students to speak more and more confidently for years, but I couldn't break it down so eloquently.

[AstroFazersPlaylist]

I'm not native speaker, but my friend who is native speaker told me once that he like to talk with me because my pronunciation is clear and he understand all my words :)

[MASA-CHI]

Hi, Jade. Thanks for making this video. From my experience, native English speakers are quite kind and patient when I talk to them. Just like you said, they are not analyzing my language but try to communicate with me. On the contrary, I feel much more nervous when I talk in front of my colleagues who are non-native English speakers because they do judge your accent, word choice or grammar lol

[Barbara]

So beautiful your words! I used to have this problem back when I was learning English long ago and now I also say this to my students. Thank you so much

[miltonduvanpazminovega]

I really appreciate your lessons, these increase my self-confidence. Keep going helping people with your wide knowledge

[Caroline-vovp]

Thank you, Jade! You are really good at giving useful advice. I've been watching your videos on both of your channels for quite a while and would like to say that I admire you as a person because you've done a lot of work on yourself to sound better as I've learned from some videos and I appreciate the ideas and thoughts that you convey through your videos. They really make a huge difference to me and inspire to perfect my skills and abilities!

[grisouriem]

THANK YOU A LOT for this video! Being afraid of speaking w/ native speakers is like my big problem and your tips help me a lot! I'm going to be a French language assistant in the UK next year so your advices will be very helpul when I'll be there. I'll watch this video again and again each time I feel less confident in my speaking English.
I say it again but thank you, I mean it.
Manon x

[tslytrongdai]

I'm learning English and I really like the way you teach. You are very beautiful also.

[daklina]

Im living in Manchester and as a spanish person i can say that most of them are so nice and they try to understand you even if you dont pronunciate each word properly, they obioualy know that you are s foreigner but some peopl e dont care and if you dont say the correct words making the correct sounds they wont probably understand you, they wont make any effort as a receptor of the speech, thx a lot for ur videos they are quite helpful.

[yaseminheemann]

Thank you so much Jade! Your advice encourage me a lot. I have no chance to speak with native English speakers but I listen and repeat your sound:) Thank you !❤️