I started my language journey as a clueless German language student in the university. The course was for four years and by the second year, I still wasn’t able to communicate in the language. Don’t get it twisted! I had amazing lecturers but I had fear too. She was my unwanted companion. We always strolled to lectures together. We studied together and even sat for exams together.
Funny yeah? But it wasn’t funny at the time. So what was I so afraid of?
MISTAKES- Yes, I was afraid of making mistakes. I was afraid of being laughed at.
I nursed my fear till she got pregnant and gave birth to ANXIETY. I housed them both for a long time till I found a new friend- Courage.
I slowly began to muster courage in expressing myself and soon began to understand concepts of language learning and how easy it was to acquire a foreign language. Oh well, my courage also became pregnant and gave birth to CONFIDENCE
That was how I began to speak German with confidence. Did I make mistakes? Yes! I did. But for every time I made a mistake, I learned from it.
In my fourth year, I became the president of the German club in the University. Me? The same me that couldn’t muster a word of German in my second year? Exactamundo!
You can already guess what happened to fear. I chased her out like a plague.
FEAR is no friend of fluency.
That’s my little story.
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