Antoine de Saint-Exupéry wrote: “The only luxury I know is luxury human communication" Do you allow yourself the luxury of communicating in English or are you afraid of having to speak in non-English? native language? This article is addressed to those who want to know how to overcome the language barrier in English and start communicating with foreigners freely.
Reasons for the appearance of a language barrier
The language barrier in English is the difficulties that arise when speaking in a language that is not our native language. Almost every person studying a foreign language has experienced this unpleasant phenomenon. A barrier can arise not only for beginners, but also for people with good knowledge. Moreover, it’s especially offensive for the latter: you know grammar well, you calmly read articles in English, watch “Theory big bang"in the original, but when it comes to conversation, you can hardly squeeze out a couple of sentences.
How to overcome the language barrier? You need to know the enemy by sight, so let's see what this phenomenon is and how to deal with it.
Psychological component of the language barrier in English
- Fear of the unknown
- Fear of mistakes
- Shyness caused by an accent
- Fear of speaking slowly
- Fear of not understanding your interlocutor
It often happens that when we need to say something in English, we fall into a stupor. This may happen because we find ourselves in a situation that is atypical for ourselves: we need to talk to a stranger in a non-native language. In addition, we do not know how such a conversation will turn out: what topic the interlocutor will talk about, what phrase he will say next, etc.
Certainly, main enemy in speaking English it is the fear of “blurting out something wrong.” When talking with an English-speaking interlocutor, we are so afraid of seeming stupid or funny that we prefer to remain silent or say only Yes or No. Psychologists explain this fear by saying that we have become accustomed to it since childhood: we are punished for mistakes. Therefore, even adults subconsciously try to avoid mistakes, so they prefer to keep their mouth shut in literally this word.
Some people are embarrassed by their accent English language. And this one psychological problem sometimes takes on universal proportions: a person cannot achieve the ideal British pronunciation, therefore prefers to remain silent and communicate using gestures. This is because we are afraid to show that we do not belong to a given society; we do not know how others will react to our speech. In addition, it seems to us that they will laugh at our accent; we are afraid of looking stupid. At the same time, we completely forget how much we like it when foreigners try to speak Russian; their accent seems cute to us and does not interfere with communication at all.
Another common phobia goes something like this: “What if I take a long time to choose my words, speak slowly and with pauses. A foreigner will think I’m stupid.” For some reason, we think that the interlocutor expects us to speak at a speed of 120 words per minute, and not to have a normal conversation. Remember, when speaking Russian we also take pauses, sometimes we take a long time to select the right words, and this is perceived quite normally.
The final phobia combines all the previous ones: “I may make a mistake, I speak too slowly and with an accent, and I may not even catch some words of the interlocutor. All this will prevent him from understanding me.” IN best case scenario this fear forces us to speak too loudly to a foreigner (we think that they will understand us faster), at worst, it keeps us from even trying to speak English.
So why is it difficult for us to speak English and perceive non-native speech by ear?
- Small lexicon . The larger your vocabulary, the easier it is for you to express your thoughts to your interlocutor. equal conditions. If you have a narrow vocabulary, it will be more difficult for you to express yourself and understand the words of an English-speaking friend.
- Poor knowledge of grammar. Of course, even knowledge of times Simple groups will already allow you to chat on some simple themes. However, if you want to convey your thoughts to your interlocutor more accurately, studying more complex grammatical structures can't be avoided. Moreover, in order to perceive English speech by ear in in full, you need to understand all the subtleties of English grammar.
- Lack of practice. If you speak English only a couple of hours a month and practice listening for half an hour a week, the appearance of a language barrier should not surprise you. For the systematic development of any skill, be it speaking or listening comprehension, regular “training” is needed, that is, English classes. Based on the experience of our school, we recommend studying with a teacher at least 2-3 times a week for 60-90 minutes and studying English independently every day or every other day for at least 20-30 minutes. Remember how people learn to drive a car: to feel confident behind the wheel, you need to constantly practice. One lesson per week or month will not bring the desired result.
My father taught me that the only way you can make good at anything is to practice, and then practice some more.
My father taught me that the only way to succeed at something is practice, and then some more practice.
How to overcome the language barrier in English
1. Calm down
First tip - main step for those who want to overcome the language barrier. Just accept the fact that first conversations with foreigners can be difficult. At the same time, remember: it’s difficult not only for you, but also for him. Your interlocutor is similarly embarrassed and afraid of being misunderstood, so he will make every effort to make your conversation successful. In addition, foreigners always have a favorable attitude towards those who learn English, so even a simple dialogue will seem like an excellent achievement to your interlocutor, and he will help you in every possible way to carry on the conversation.
Does the call to calm down seem banal to you? put forward a hypothesis according to which the person experiencing negative emotions a person's language abilities deteriorate. That is, if you are nervous or upset, you will have a much harder time expressing yourself in English than in English. calm state, in fact, your language abilities are partially “switched off” during strong excitement. It's like being afraid public speaking: You can know your speech by heart, but from excitement you completely forget everything.
2. Give yourself permission to make mistakes.
A somewhat strange but important recommendation: allow yourself to get rid of perfectionism. Remember how, as a child, you learned to write the letters of the Russian language: someone wrote them in mirror image, some forgot to draw “loops” or “tails”, others wrote so crookedly that the teachers remembered with a smile the joke about the chicken paw. And, despite all these “failures”, as a result we learned to write Russian quite passably, and some even legibly (doctors don’t count :-)). The process of communicating in English will be exactly the same: at first you will make mistakes, but the more often you practice colloquial speech, the faster you will get rid of them. So don’t be afraid to accidentally lose an article; native speakers will forgive you for this mistake; after all, you are not an ambulance doctor or an airport dispatcher, so your mistake will not have harmful consequences.
3. Don’t be afraid to “sound” wrong.
Of course, you should strive to pronounce the sounds of the English language clearly and correctly, but do not be afraid to speak with an accent, otherwise it will be difficult to overcome the language barrier. English is taught in all corners of the world, and each country has its own “peculiarities of national pronunciation.” By and large, a foreigner will be able to understand even our notorious “zeriz/zera,” so don’t be shy about your accent, it’s not a defect, but a feature of your speech. At the same time, work on your pronunciation, for example, using the techniques from the articles "" and "". Keep calm and fake a British accent!
4. Take your time
Of course, we all want to speak quickly from the very first English lessons, without thinking about the words. However, in reality it turns out differently: the transition from the native language to the target language is not easy. Be prepared for the fact that at first you will speak slowly, pause, and choose your words for a long time. There is no need to force yourself: speed will come on its own as a result of practice. At first, focus on competent speech, not fast. Speak slowly, but build your sentences correctly, choose suitable words. In this case, your speech will definitely be understood, but speed does not contribute to understanding.
5. Try to get the point across
To understand your interlocutor's speech by ear, it is not necessary to catch every word, you need to grasp the essence of what was said. A common mistake: you hear an unfamiliar word in a speech and “get hung up” on it, without listening to what is said to you next. In this situation, you will definitely lose the thread of the conversation and will not be able to understand what was said to you. Try to grasp the meaning of what was said without thinking about unfamiliar words, then it will be easier to overcome the language barrier. Teachers give exactly the same advice before international exam: when passing the Listening part, you should not dwell on unfamiliar words, the main thing is to grasp the essence, then you will be able to complete the task.
6. Repeat your words
Did your interlocutor not understand you the first time? Nothing bad happened: repeat the sentence again, reformulate it, try to simplify it. You are just learning to speak English, so your interlocutor does not expect eloquence from you.
7. Ask again
Don't be afraid to ask your interlocutor again. If a foreigner speaks too quickly and you do not have time to catch the words, ask him to repeat everything more slowly. Do you still not understand what the other person is saying? Without a hint of embarrassment, ask him to explain everything to you more in simple words. Remember, your request will be received adequately, because any person understands how difficult it is to perceive non-native language aurally.
How can you ask your interlocutor to repeat what he said:
| Phrase | Translation |
|---|---|
| Could you please speak a little slower? My English isn't very strong. | Could you speak a little slower? I don't speak English very well. |
| Could you, please, repeat that? | Could you repeat that please? |
| Could you repeat your last phrase, please? | Could you please repeat your last phrase, Please? |
| Could you repeat, please, what are you said? | Could you repeat what you said? |
| I’m sorry, I don’t understand. Could you repeat that, please? | Sorry, I can't understand. Could you repeat this again please? |
| I’m sorry, I didn’t get that. Could you say it again, please? | Sorry, I didn't understand what you said. Could you repeat it please? |
| Sorry, I didn't catch you. | I'm sorry, I did not catch you. |
| Sorry, I didn’t quite understand that. | Sorry, I didn't quite understand what you told me. |
8. Keep it simple and people will understand you.
If this is your first time speaking to a “living foreigner,” try to simplify your speech. For example, in a restaurant, simply say: “Tea, please”, do not complicate your life with long constructions “I would like ...” / “Could you please ...”. A simple sentence will definitely be understood, and this will give you confidence. To prevent simplified speech from sounding rude, do not forget to add polite words please and thank you, they are appropriate in any conversation. In addition to simplifying the construction of sentences, also use simple vocabulary. At first, do not try to use all the idioms you know and slang expressions. Firstly, you can get nervous and get confused in them. Secondly, some expressions may not be used in some territory or may be used with a slightly different meaning. Therefore, we recommend that everyone who is interested in how to overcome the language barrier first speak as simply as possible. At the same time, try to gradually complicate your speech, add words, “build up” sentences. In this case, your speaking skill will develop systematically and without psychological trauma.
9. Increase your vocabulary
A large vocabulary will allow you to speak more accurately, select new words faster, and at the same time better understand your interlocutor. Good fluent speech can only be achieved by a person with a wide vocabulary. Read our article; from the 15 techniques outlined in it, you will definitely find something useful for yourself. In addition, remember that in a conversation a native speaker may use different phrasal verbs, idioms, etc. To understand what they are trying to tell you, try to learn different words, including popular figurative expressions.
10. Learn phrases
Try not to teach individual words, but whole sentences or excerpts from them. This way, vocabulary is remembered better, and useful phrase patterns will remain in your memory. From such templates you can “construct” your appeal to your interlocutor.
11. Listen to audio materials
To avoid worrying about whether you can understand English by ear, develop your listening skills. How to overcome the language barrier using audio materials? To do this, you can watch news, films, TV series in English, listen to podcasts on topics that interest you, etc. In addition, take into account 11 tips from the article “”. Try to listen to something in English for at least 10-20 minutes a day. Do not stop your studies, even if at first you cannot understand half of what is said. Your ears need to get used to the sound of unfamiliar speech, gradually you will adapt and be able to understand everything that is said to you.
12. Learn grammar
Even though you won't use it in every Present sentence Perfect Continuous, but knowledge of grammatical structures will allow you to specifically and accurately express your thoughts in English, as well as correctly understand what exactly a foreigner is telling you. To understand grammar, take one of them and read the articles of our teachers in the English grammar section.
13. Find someone to talk to
Remember the saying, “They knock out a wedge with a wedge”? You will overcome the language barrier in English only if you have a constant speaking practice. The more often you practice your speaking skill, the faster you will improve it to the level you need and the less embarrassment you will feel when you need to use English in communication. You can find a teacher to talk to on ours, in which case you will not only “have a conversation,” but also increase your vocabulary and also understand grammar. In addition, you can find a conversation partner among other English learners like you on one of the language experience exchange sites. And if you have a friend who is learning English, try talking to him in English sometimes. You won't be embarrassed or afraid to make a mistake and will be able to practice having a conversation in English.
14. Speak everything in English
During self-study in English, you can also practice speaking. To do this, just say everything out loud. Read a book - read aloud, do grammar exercises- say what you write, watch a movie - repeat the phrases after the characters. Such simple steps will bring tangible benefits in overcoming the language barrier. Many English learners note that words spoken out loud are remembered better than those learned silently. In the article "" you will find 14 more simple and working techniques for development oral speech.
15. Smile
It's time to dispel the stereotype about “gloomy Russians who never smile.” Abroad, a smile is almost required condition for normal communication. A benevolent, smiling interlocutor will be helped faster than a nervous and frowning one.
Now you know how to overcome the language barrier in English and why it occurs. Remember, there are no insurmountable obstacles, there is little desire to overcome them. Our 15 tips will help you overcome any barrier and forget about your fears of speaking your target language. We wish have a nice chat in English!
We have probably all been in situations at least once when we were unable to convey our thoughts to our interlocutor. "It's like we're speaking different languages“, you might think, although you were communicating in your native language.
But what to do if you can’t speak fluently in German? There is uncertainty about own strength, embarrassment, all the words are suddenly forgotten, and you involuntarily get lost. This phenomenon is called the language barrier. How to deal with it?
It may seem strange, but the reason for the language barrier should be sought not in the level of your knowledge of the German language, but in your ability to communicate.
Some people like to be the center of attention, others prefer to remain silent even in noisy company. Some people find it easier to send SMS, while others spend hours talking on the phone. Such features are not very noticeable in Everyday life, but may cause some difficulties in communicating with Germans.
Do not forget that communication includes not only oral speech, but also gestures and facial expressions. A sociable person easily uses these means, compensating for a lack of knowledge, while a shy person can not only become silent in the middle of a conversation, but also get negative experience communication in German.
Children overcome the language barrier more easily. They like to learn new things, make friends, and they perceive learning German as a game. Children are not afraid to ask again, they know how to be attentive and, most importantly, they are not afraid to make a mistake.
In contrast, adults perceive own mistakes much more painful. We prefer not to ask again once again So as not to seem stupid, we approach learning the German language with all the seriousness we can muster.
Because of this, it can be difficult for adults to start learning German, and when meeting a German, a feeling of self-doubt arises.
Our German language teachers via Skype work to reduce the communication and language barrier in every lesson, provoking the student to use their knowledge not only when performing written assignments, but also in oral speech.
Communication barrier and how to deal with it
At active use There are four German languages communication barriers. Let's take a closer look at them.
Barrier to Understanding - difficulty in listening to German speech. It may manifest itself partially when the listener does not understand certain words or phrases, but intuitively grasps the essence; or completely, when the meaning of everything heard eludes.
A barrier to understanding most often arises in the initial stages, when German speech seems foreign to the ear. However, this problem does not bypass students with a good level of language.
To overcome the barrier of understanding, you should pay attention to listening: listen to German songs and radio or TV shows. Each person’s speech is individual and unique, therefore, the more you listen, the easier it is to perceive it by ear.
Speaking barrier - this is exactly what we mean when we talk about the language barrier. This feature may appear on initial stage learning German when the speaker does not have enough knowledge to express his thoughts, or when good level possessions German language, when some external or internal factors prevent you from expressing yourself freely.
At the initial stage, a speaking barrier can serve as motivation for further study, but when the speaker has sufficient vocabulary and grammar, but communication does not occur at the proper level, some psychological problems may arise.
The first thing to remember is that no one will think you are stupid if they hear that you made a mistake. It is impossible to speak German immediately and without mistakes. Try to explain yourself in short sentences, communicate slowly.
Pronounce all words clearly, do not be afraid to correct yourself. If you forgot a word, try to replace it with a synonym or explain the meaning of this word in a few sentences.
Exchange students often ask their new German-speaking friends to correct them if they hear a mistake. This approach will not only make it easier for you to understand a conversation in German, but will also help even the shyest to speak.
If you don't have the opportunity to speak with a native speaker, try to practice speaking as much as possible during German lessons via Skype. If you add to this watching films in German, you will not only be able to express your thoughts freely, but also begin to think in this language.
It occurs when a student begins to encounter phenomena and concepts that are not in their native language. Fortunately, when studying European languages(German language in particular) a cultural barrier appears extremely rarely.
However, it can occur when directly entering a foreign environment. To avoid getting into awkward situations, you should devote time to studying the life, traditions, and worldview of the Germans. You can get acquainted with all this on our online lessons on Skype, because regional studies - mandatory part learning German.
The school barrier is a kind of “sediment” that could remain after studying German at school or at language courses. Negative attitude to the subject often interferes with quickly mastering the language in adulthood, when, for example, there is a need to learn German and go abroad.
Such sediment also interferes when it enters a German-speaking environment; a person involuntarily, almost subconsciously, rejects language.
In order to cope with the school barrier, you should clearly understand that now you are learning German not because it is written so in the school curriculum, and by at will. There is no longer a classroom in which your mistakes will be exposed for everyone to see, and no grades that can be scolded by your parents.
Our highly qualified teachers use individual approach to each student, thanks to which German lessons on Skype are easy and relaxed.
It doesn’t matter whether you are a “mathematician” or a “humanitarian” by ability. Learn, practice, surround yourself with the German language, and no barriers will come between you and free possession language.
One of the most common problems One thing that arises on the way to learning a foreign language is the language barrier. Sooner or later, most people learning English face this problem. In this article we will tell you how to deal with this!
What is a language barrier or fear of communication?
Let's imagine this situation: you start learning English at school, then continue at the institute, maybe in courses or even on your own. And now you know the rules, have a large vocabulary, read, translate and write letters. It would seem that everything is going well, you have a good command of the language, but then you realize that you are completely unable to express your thoughts in conversation. This problem is the language barrier or fear of communication: the inability of a person, knowledgeable of the language on a certain level, communicate on it.
Reasons for the language barrier:
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- Lack of speaking practice and difficulties in understanding English speech.
Basically, when learning a language, we are taught primarily grammar, reading and writing, forgetting that we learn a language in order to speak it. - Fear of making a mistake in a conversation and lack of confidence in your knowledge.
A person is guided by the principle: if I don’t say anything, then I won’t make a mistake. - Shyness in communicating with people.
Some people who have little communication even with their surroundings (family, colleagues) find it difficult to communicate in Russian.
7 tips to help you overcome the language barrier:
1. Start communicating in English
This the most-most effective way! Talk, talk and talk again. Remember how you learned to swim. At first you felt uncomfortable, you swam only near the shore, afraid to swim into the depths. But the more you trained, the more free you felt in the water. And soon all your fears passed, and nothing stopped you from swimming as far as you wanted.
The same will happen with your communication skills. The more you have speaking practice, the more confident you will feel. It's better not to start with native speakers. First, try to practice with those for whom English is also not their native language. This will help relieve unnecessary stress and fear.
2. Stop being afraid of mistakes
The main thing to understand: all people make mistakes, and there's nothing wrong with that. Only those who do nothing make no mistakes. If you allow yourself to make mistakes, you will improve your English communication skills much faster.
3. Relax and smile
Chat in in a positive way. After all, a smile is universal remedy, which will help you in any dialogue. Show kindness, and the interlocutor will be only happy to help you, even if you make a mistake when trying to formulate your request.
4. Don't be shy
Don’t be afraid to admit that you don’t understand your interlocutor well enough, don’t be shy to ask again or ask him to speak more slowly. Of course, he will begin to express himself more simply, because it is also important for him to be understood. In the end, your interlocutor is the same person as you, and he also often worries and thinks about how to say his thought so that it is understood.
5. Read aloud
Read books, articles, magazines in English out loud: learn words and expressions - repeat them out loud. This exercise will help you get used to the pronunciation of these words and not be afraid to do this in dialogue with your interlocutor.
6. Use your knowledge
Use what you already know every day. Remember that the sooner you start practicing speaking English, the better. There is no need to get hung up on a thorough study of grammar and rules. It is enough to learn some words and phrases and start using them, learning additional words along the way. By the way, you can subscribe to our newsletters in the form after the article. There we send 1 word and 1 expression once a week. Learn and immediately apply in life!
7. Let go of the fear of looking stupid.
In most cases, our interlocutors think better about our English than we do ourselves. Many people often underestimate themselves. So why not put these unnecessary fears aside?
Remember - all your fears can be overcome. The main thing is to start communicating in English!
How did you overcome your fears of communicating in a foreign language?
If your thoughts are confused, your mouth is dry and you have forgotten everything you previously, it would seem, carefully learned English words and phrases are symptoms of a “language barrier”. Do you know these feelings? Then you've come to the right place! Our article will help you identify the reasons and all possible ways to overcome the language barrier in learning a foreign language.
How to overcome the language barrier? Indeed, this question torments not only the student, but also the teacher, who is racking his brains over how to help the unfortunate student. For many, the language barrier is associated with the indestructible Great Chinese wall, which cannot be bypassed or bypassed. All our most optimistic endeavors in learning a language dissipate like smoke as soon as the teacher asks us to say a few words impromptu. Most often, at this moment a person feels panic and completely forgets everything previously learned. But what is this fear and what are we really afraid of? Let's find out the real background of the language barrier, and based on this, determine effective ways overcoming it.
1. Fear.
Truly this is the most common reason, because it is better to remain silent and say nothing at all than to say with mistakes. What is the reason for this fear? Firstly, this is a bad experience of learning a foreign language at school, as they say, we all come from childhood. Each of us remembers how often teachers at school gave us bad marks for mistakes, constantly correcting us, interrupting us. The lucky ones are those who have not encountered this. Of course, this complex remained for life. In this case, the student, when starting to speak, subconsciously expects that the mistake will be pointed out to him right away, and worst of all, he will be given a bad rating. Secondly, oddly enough, it is shame. Yes Yes! Although we all know that we have the right to make mistakes, because we homo sapiens, but we cannot afford to be imperfect. We especially often feel shame when we speak with native speakers. After all, they certainly won’t miss the opportunity to laugh at our grammatical, lexical errors, not to mention the pronunciation.
How to overcome the language barrier caused by fear.
Have you ever wondered why young children learn a foreign language so easily, and by the age of five or six they can say not only a lot of words, but also entire phrases? At the same time, they do not miss a single opportunity to introduce a “foreign word.” This is because they learn language naturally by imitating and copying the teacher. In addition, the entire process takes place in game form, so they have absolutely nothing to fear, because their mistakes are corrected without scolding or criticizing, but simply by repeating the correct option.
Overcoming this particular reason is the most difficult. A lot depends on your teacher, who should also be a kind of psychologist. IN in this case we can advise you to find a teacher with whom you feel free and comfortable, have a lot common interests and so on. He must encourage and praise, and it is mandatory not to correct your mistakes during your speech. In any case, this does not make sense, since, firstly, it knocks the student out of rhythm, and secondly, the error is indicated, but work on it is not carried out, so next time, in the same speech situation, you will make the same the most mistake.
Of course, in order to overcome the language barrier caused by fear and complexes, you need to be patient, try not to be too critical of yourself, notice your successes and sincerely rejoice at them. Only in this case is there a chance that one fine day you will speak easily and freely without any “fear and reproach”.
2. Lack of active vocabulary.
In this case, the reason for the language barrier lies on the surface - we do not have enough words to express everything that we are so striving to say. Any person who begins to learn a language mentally formulates phrases in his native language, which, in fact, does him a disservice. After all, in our language, which we know perfectly, we can express ourselves using all kinds of synonyms, antonyms, metaphors and epithets. Of course, when we try to say the same thing in a foreign language, the most “language barrier” arises. That is, mainly we forget about main goal communication - communicative.
How to overcome the language barrier caused by a lack of active vocabulary.
This reason can be easily corrected, although the solution may seem tedious and boring to many. But whether you like it or not, in order to overcome this language barrier, you need to learn as much as possible more words, read books, watch movies and the like. In addition, you should try to use newly learned material as soon as possible. Then the passive vocabulary becomes active. There is no need to try to use too complex phrases, thereby piling up the speech; often, a person who speaks a foreign language fluently expresses himself in rather short sentences. Remember, it’s better to say it simpler, but faster.
3. Lack of training system.
Quite often there are students who say that they know a lot of words and understand quite well foreign speech but still can't speak. In this specific case, the main problem is fragmented knowledge. That is, figuratively, it can be compared to a puzzle, crushed into small pieces that do not want to be put together. As a rule, this is all because we start learning a foreign language several times, go to language schools, we take private lessons or study on our own, but we never finish what we start.
Here are three main reasons, one might say three stumbling blocks, which every student encounters to one degree or another. Are there ways to overcome them? Of course there is, otherwise there would not be a huge number of people who speak a foreign language fluently.
How to overcome the language barrier caused by the lack of a training system.
To put it simply scientific language, a system as such is a set of interconnected elements that form a unity. Accordingly, only on condition that all grammatical structures, as elements, are interconnected, and their meaning is clear and speech situations, in which they are used, the student will be able to express himself freely in a foreign language. If you understand that this reason is the basis of your barrier, do not start learning the language from the beginning, that is, from the alphabet. It doesn't add to your self-confidence. this level does not correspond to the actual state of affairs and your knowledge. Start the course one level higher. Thus, the scattered pieces of the puzzle will, as it were, be integrated into the system. In addition, it is necessary to listen more, since all kinds of dialogues form the context, without which understanding and assimilation of grammatical structures is impossible.
So, the language barrier is a problem for many people learning a foreign language. But, as in any business, the most important thing driving force is motivation. If you have a burning desire to speak a foreign language, you will be able to overcome it and one day you will realize that you can easily communicate on a variety of topics.
And now you can.
What is a language barrier? 
When they say that, I immediately read the subtext: I don’t know anything, I don’t want to teach, I want to talk! And I remember a good old film, the Russian fairy tale Sadko. Just as they hit the Phoenix bird on the head, and it began to sing sweet trills, so here, with some kind of help, hit such a student on the head so that he starts talking. There is such a magical English club, they claim that people come to them and immediately start talking, and only then do they begin to understand why they say that. I have no idea how they do it, I only know that they take at least A2 level. All the teachers there are expats, they communicate only with them in the language... And so on, let's try to figure out the reasons for the language barrier.
Reasons for the language barrier
Usually the reason is a lack of speaking practice, but there are others:
- fear of saying the wrong thing
- lack of active and necessary vocabulary,
- incorrect approach to speaking (for example, the desire to literally translate a phrase into English),
- difficulties with
- absolute ignorance or absence of convenient structures (, manage to, want to, I’d rather, you’d better, I + Past S/Past Perf, etc.).
In short, the language barrier is not a myth.
How to overcome the language barrier?
To fight it, you need to “treat” the cause 🙂 There is not enough vocabulary and constructions - we study with examples and work on them, problems with pronunciation - we become a little bit of speech therapists, fear of making mistakes - we listen carefully to strange phrases, praise, correct only those things that make balls roller-coaster they come in, explain and work out the correct option...
Psychology of this phenomenon
The article would not be complete if we did not consider the opposite point vision. Many people don't believe that this is linguistic problem. Psychological, rather, and it can be solved more successfully by a psychologist than by a philologist. By the time people first find themselves in an English-speaking country, they cannot open their mouths for the first three days. They are terrified to do it though objective reasons they have no reason to fear.
Conducting psychological work above yourself and by practicing in front of a mirror, you can gradually relieve discomfort when communicating with carriers. Hence the conclusion is that the problem is not an ephemeral language barrier, but a banal fear of making a mistake, and it is much deeper than many people think. What does language have to do with it? Only complexes and fears. And a person can only cope with them on his own. Not without the help, perhaps, of a psychologist, a teacher, a friend... But the teacher only opens the door, the student himself must enter ©.
P.S.. Watch The Lonely Island's "Shy Ronnie 2: Ronnie & Clyde (feat. Rihanna)" video. Can shyness be called a language barrier? Is there a language barrier in your native language? I look forward to your comments!