Where should I start?
By Veggy
@Fruity_ (885)
Indonesia
December 11, 2018 10:30am CST
Hi, everyone .
English is a foreign language in my country. But i like it so much and i want to speak English better.
For me, speaking English is stressful. I'm worried if I'm probably making mistakes or that I might say something offensive and make people angry.
Any idea of how to become more confident with speaking English to get better at speaking English? Where should I start ?
9 people like this
12 responses
@1hopefulman (45120)
• Canada
11 Dec 18
The more you practice, the more your language skills will improve. Find some friends that speak English and practice with them. Do you know any people that speak English?
3 people like this
@1hopefulman (45120)
• Canada
12 Dec 18
@Fruity_ Great! Keep at it! Practice makes perfect! 
2 people like this
@owlwings (43910)
• Cambridge, England
11 Dec 18
To judge by this short passage, your written English is just fine. Don't worry that you may say something offensive. It is quite hard to be unintentionally offensive in English, especially if your accent tells people that you're not a native speaker.
The only really effective way of learning to speak English is to find good English speakers (preferably native English speakers), make friends with them and ...just talk English. Yes, speaking an unfamiliar language is always stressful at first because you begin by translating in your head all the time and wondering whether you have the right words or not.
A great deal of learning a foreign language is becoming familiar with the patterns and rhythm and the sound of it and you can go quite a long way by listening to radio broadcasts (news broadcasts and plays and documentaries) and watching films and TV.
Until you get out there and actually dip your foot in the water, though, you won't really learn to swim properly!
1 person likes this
@owlwings (43910)
• Cambridge, England
11 Dec 18
@Fruity_ Is there, perhaps, a social club or society near you which meets just for socialising in English? It depends, of course, where you live in Indonesia but I'm sure that the larger cities have such things. The biggest hurdle to speaking another language is probably the fear of making mistakes but actually nobody is offended by mistakes and many will help you correct them.
Learning a language is really all about communicating, not about good grammar, and as you get to know people who happen to speak a different language, you will find that communicating in their language is fun and fulfilling and that mistakes you make in their language (and mistakes they make in yours) may be just jokes to be shared.
1 person likes this
@Raj7779 (3657)
• Canada
12 Dec 18
keep going my Friend you are good.if i share my story then i was also not good in English but i improved my english by reading books and by using the site likes mylot,etc.mylot has improved my english lot because here people do not judge us you can write whatever you want to writejust keep going and enjoy
just keep going and enjoy1 person likes this
@Raj7779 (3657)
• Canada
13 Dec 18
@Fruity_ yes when i was at my beginning level i afraid to speak in public as i had a fear of wrong speaking but to improve it i practice to speak against my friend as they dont judge me and also correct my mistakes.as doing this i got confidence in speaking then i started to communicate more and more in English.if you also want to be good in speaking then you try to speak in English more and more
@freelancermariagrace (27970)
• Philippines
12 Dec 18
Watch English movies with subtitle on it, read books, etc
1 person likes this
@Plethos (13581)
• United States
12 Dec 18
kids programming, is a good source. most english is localized to the region . british, canadian, american, australian are all forms of english, with different pronunciations at times, and the regional accents and wordings make it difficult for many to learn. that is why i suggest childrens programming, its very standard. speak a lot with others who know english or want to learn like yourself.
1 person likes this
@JohnRoberts (109846)
• Los Angeles, California
11 Dec 18
Watch English language movies and repeat out loud the dialogue you hear.
1 person likes this
