I’m not a fantastic language learner. I don’t have the discipline to study for a while every day, to memorise vocab lists or master the finer points of grammar. I love languages, and I love the feeling of being able to communicate in a new way for the first time. But I’m by no means a model student.
I do have one key advantage, though: I have no shame. I have no fear of making mistakes, even of embarrassing myself completely. This allows me to bumble my way through basic conversations in several languages. Take my Spanish, for example - I’ve never really studied it formally, but the language shares enough vocabulary and grammar with French, which I’ve studied a lot. There’s also of course some overlap with my native English, so if I combine that with my utter indifference towards sounding like a moron, then I can just get by.
To be clear, my Spanish grammar and vocabulary would make any native-speaking 2-year-old sound like Cervantes. (Until recently, I was using “exactamundo” as if it were a real Spanish word). I’m also prone to elaborate hand gestures. But that’s OK.
Sure, grammar and vocabulary are important. Mastering these things not only makes you sound smart, but it genuinely allows you to transmit complex ideas more effectively, in ways you just can’t do with simple, error-ridden language. And of course if you’ve got an exam coming up, you can’t ignore grammar. But most of the time, in real life, language is about communication, not about judging a foreigner’s intelligence based on their ability to speak a new language ‘properly’.
In fact, if anyone should be embarrassed about their foreign language abilities, it’s me, as a native English speaker. I have the unearned confidence of knowing that my language is likely to be understood by many people I speak with, even outside of English-speaking countries. With this advantage, you might expect me to make an effort to learn at least one foreign language properly.
By contrast, we English speakers, particularly in Europe, hear non-native English speakers speaking English every single day. It’s completely normal, and completely acceptable. And every time I hear someone speaking English with a foreign accent, I have an immediate respect for that person, no matter the soundness of their grammar. The more broken their English is, the greater the courage I know that person is showing.
It’s true that practice makes perfect. I have noticed that the more I practice speaking Spanish while sounding like a moron, the less I sound like a moron. And then I start to realise that the people I’m speaking with don’t actually think I’m a moron (well, maybe they do, but not because of my Spanish). They just see me as someone in the middle of the learning process.
So swallow your pride, and get speaking!