The #1 Reason you Struggle to Improve your Speaking Skills

So you’ve decided to learn a language, Congrats!

If you’ve been learning languages for any length of time, you’ve probably noticed that some skills are much easier for you to improve than others. For some people, it’s reading or writing, and for others it might listening or speaking.

This post is all about SPEAKING the languages you’re learning.

So if you’re looking to improve your speaking skills (and stop making this #1 mistake I see all the time) keep reading.

In this post, I’m going to share:

Why so many language learners struggle to improve their speaking skills.

There are many reason why you might struggle to improve your speaking skills.

When we set out to learn a language, we often hear stories from other language learners (usually the more ‘successful’ ones) who share how quickly they were able to go from zero to fluent.

Because of this, we often place a heavy expectation on our own language studies.

We feel like we have to get conversationally fluent just as quickly, if not faster, than they did.

This way of thinking is honestly one of the biggest saboteurs to your language learning journey as a whole. Rushing to get quick results, comparing yourself and your progress to others, it all leads to feeling discouraged, overwhelmed, and frustrated.

And it’s why so many people quit learning languages.

To be completely honest, the speaking skill, just like any other skill, can only be improved by practicing.

Think about it this way, you don’t learn how to paint by decorating cakes. But you can learn a lot about color theory from that same task, and apply what you’ve learned to painting when you actually get started and practice.

In that same way, there are tons of strategies that help you get better at speaking because you gain the vocabulary and grammar, or you learn how to build sentences and recall information in a different language. And more.

But at the end of the day, you’ll have to speak at some point in order actually see progress.

What’s the #1 reason language learners struggle to improve their speaking?

The biggest reason why you aren’t able to improve your speaking skills, above all other reasons is this:

You’re afraid.

I talk about this a lot, but mindset is the one thing that can make or break your entire study routine.

Your feelings about your language learning dictate the actions you take or avoid in your language studies. It all starts with your thoughts.

If you don’t want to make mistakes, you’re going to feel hesitant, afraid, or silly. And because of this, you’re going to try your best to NOT make mistakes so you avoid those feelings.

If you don’t want to look or sound silly, you’re going to feel shy and embarrassed at the very thought of saying the wrong thing, and you’re going only speak when you’re 100% sure of what you’re doing. And only then.

If you don’t want to be judged or seen as “stupid”, you’re going to feel nervous and insecure. So you might avoid speaking entirely and compare your skill to others as a way to see how “good” you are.

You get the idea?

The thoughts you have about yourself and your ability to speak produce these feelings, and these feelings generate specific actions that you take to either avoid those feelings or generate more of them.

And in order to break this chain, you have to confront the thoughts and beliefs that got you here in the first place.

What You Need To Be Doing Instead

Now that you know why you’re struggling to improve your speaking, here’s the one thing you need to do right now to confront those fears and improve your speaking:

You need to get comfortable with making mistakes.

It truly is that simple.

In order to overcome the thoughts and beliefs that have you stuck, wishing you could sit down and have a conversation without stumbling over your words, you have to get comfortable with being uncomfortable.

Is it going to be easy?

Probably not.

But the truth is: You need to get comfortable with making mistakes in order to improve your speaking ability. This means sometimes feeling silly, using the wrong words, and being okay with awkward pauses or struggling to get your ideas across.

It’s all a part of the process.

How To Get Comfortable With Being Uncomfortable.

Right now, the approach you’re using to improve your speaking isn’t working. You’re out there, searching for the secret formula to quickly improve, and this is it.

“But, how to I get comfortable with being uncomfortable?” you might be asking.

There are tons of ways you can do this, and as with everything, you need to do what works best for you.

But here’s what I often recommend:

Make Mistakes On Purpose.

The more often you make mistakes, or do the very thing you’re afraid of, the less scary it becomes.

And when you do this purposefully, and with intention, you get to control the circumstances that it happens in.

Here are two different strategies you can try for yourself!

  1. Record yourself speaking silly sentences. In these recordings, you’re using the grammar and vocabulary the correct way, but maybe your sentences are a little weird and unconventional. When I used to practice Japanese with my friends back in college, we made a game out of creating long sentences with every vocabulary word from a chapter in the Genki Textbooks.
  2. Make actual mistakes, and then correct them. Use the grammar wrong, make those mistakes you feel you might make with the vocabulary you’re learning. Then go back and correct those mistakes. Rerecord the video with the RIGHT way to do it. And if you’re not sure what the right way is, look it up first.

If you remember nothing else from this post, remember that the more you confront that fear and get comfortable with being uncomfortable, the better you’ll feel when it happens in situations you can’t control.

3 Strategies for improving your speaking skills.

Now, I share tons of strategies all the time on social media like Tiktok and Instagram, and also in my newsletter.

When you’re ready to tackle your speaking skills and start improving your speaking ability, here are three different strategies you can use.

1. Read a text aloud and focus on your expression or intonation

Why does this work: Even though you aren’t speaking to other people here, reading aloud is great practice for when you DO eventually talk with others. Think of this as rehearsal for the main event.

2. Practice Shadowing an audio by repeating what is being said as the speaker does [instead of after]

Why does this work: This works so well because you’re following along with speakers who are saying REAL sentences. Speaking isn’t just creating sentences, many times, we have phrases we’ve memorized in our heads for specific contexts, and this helps to not only build this phrase bank in your mind, this get you used to actually saying them out loud

3. Narrate what you have done today

Why does this work: This works because if you’re working to speak in your target language, one important skill is being able to contribute to the conversation and share your experiences, thoughts, and feelings! You can do this with a partner or teacher and get feedback OR record yourself speaking.

How do YOU improve your speaking skills?

Do you use any of the strategies above? Or do you have your own go-to strategies? I’d love to hear what you often do to improve your speaking skill, so DM me on Instagram at @thepolyglotfox and let’s connect.

P.S. Want more strategies like these?

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