How to stop being shy when dealing with foreigners

1. Stop perceiving English as a school subject

For me, foreign languages have always been something academic, a kind of large-scale life-long project. I studied English for ten years at school, four years at the university, and I kept waiting that I was about to speak it as well as Oprah Winfrey. And then I moved to the USA and saw how people begin to speak English fluently from scratch in just a few months. This is because they are not learning a language just to know it. They need English every day to communicate, look for work and start a family.

This does not mean that you will not learn English until you find yourself in the United States without money and work. It is enough to change the methodology and learn English not only in theory, but also in practice. For example, the online school Skyeng regularly runs training marathons, during which students complete various practical tasks. They are asked to call an English car rental company and ask for prices, or send their CVs to several foreign companies and arrange an interview.

2. Train active vocabulary

There is another dark side to the academic approach. This is the creation of an inadequately high level of knowledge of the language. The classic bookish English of Shakespeare and Byron has little to do with living English. Most native speakers do not respect the timing, abbreviate words and do a lot with the language, for which you would get a lower grade at school.

Of the 170 thousand words of the English language, no more than three thousand are used in everyday life. Knowing them, you will understand up to 90% of written and spoken English.

The study of the most used words was carried out by the authors of the Oxford The Oxford 3000., Macmillan Red Words & Stars dictionaries. and Longman Longman Communication 3000.. Based on these studies, the specialists of the Skyeng school made their own Gold 3000 list and adapted it for the Russian-speaking audience, excluding all words that sound the same in Russian and English.

Communication with foreigners: Gold 3,000

The Gold 3000 list is available on the Skyeng website and app. When you add words to your personal dictionary, the site will tell you if they are included in Gold 3000. So you will know exactly which words should be given special attention and which ones you can leave for later.

3. Remember that communication is good

It also happens that you need to explain yourself in a foreign language right now and there is no time to learn three thousand words. This has happened to me more than once, albeit not in English. Once I worked in a resort area where Spanish-speaking clients came, and in Spanish I only knew how to say hello. As a result, we spoke through a voice translator and understood each other perfectly.

Feel free to use all the tools at your disposal, you are not on the exam. There is nothing wrong with peeking in a dictionary, explaining something with gestures or drawing. Foreigners are not so scary, and after such conversations, you will definitely see this.

4. See yourself through the eyes of a foreigner

Believe me, your accent sounds charming, your effort to find the words is touching, and you yourself radiate mystery.

Foreigners are as interested in you as they are to you.

They want to learn as much as possible about you and your culture, check a couple of cinematic myths in a conversation and demonstrate knowledge of two or three Russian words. And your courage to speak a foreign language will only arouse their respect. After all, you do not expect perfect knowledge of Russian from a foreigner and you will be happily surprised even if he says without mistakes: "Hello, how are you?" Chances are, you too will not hear anything other than a flood of compliments to your excellent English.

5. Give yourself time

I remember my first meeting with a foreigner. I was then about ten years old, and I tried unsuccessfully to pour myself coffee for breakfast at the hotel. The coffee pot was empty, as an elderly American woman hurried to tell me. She simply said, “There is no coffee anymore,” and I was paralyzed. I still cannot forget this phrase, because for a long time after this incident I wanted to go back in time and answer something intelligible. I'm sure that American woman forgot about me in five minutes.

Now I have fluent English and I understand that all I needed was just time. After all, you learned your native language not in a year or two. So don't get confused about failure and just keep learning English.

6. Live the language, do not cram it

Be greedy and curious. Don't be shy: ask, ask again, tell a funny story, even if it sounds clumsy. Over time, you will stop noticing that you are speaking in a foreign language.

Make English a part of your daily life: watch movies in original language, listen to music, subscribe to British or American magazines, find an English-speaking interest group on Facebook.

Better yet, talk to native speakers often. If the nearest trip to Europe or America is far away, start with online lessons with a foreign teacher.

At Skyeng, the rule is that the student speaks 70% of the lesson. Classes with a teacher are held via video communication on an interactive platform. A special counter keeps track of how long you talk, so you won't be able to keep silent. But it will turn out to quickly overcome the language barrier and stop being ashamed to speak English from the very beginning of training.

What else will be on the course at Skyeng

The facilitator will suggest a suitable teacher, taking into account your interests and even temperament. You can choose a Russian speaking tutor or a native speaker.
You will be connected to a personal account in the system, where everything will be: exercises, video communication and chat with a teacher, tests, rules, films, audio and video clips.
You will get access to an application that is fully synchronized with your personal account. In the application, you can do your homework at a convenient time and keep a personal dictionary.
They will tell you about the many free educational and gaming services. You can participate in webinars and conversation clubs, automatically translate your favorite songs in Yandex. Music, subscribe to a fun newsletter and receive useful emails once a week on Tuesdays.

By promo code LIFEHACKER-2all new Skyeng students will receive 2 lessons as a gift.