Language Learning Archives • Countries & Cultures

Overcoming the Language Barrier Pt. 2

Leigh Ann — Mon, 26 Mar 2018 22:21:11 +0000

Overcoming the Language Barrier Pt. 2

art 1 of Overcoming the Language Barrier covered some of the difficulties I encountered during my journey learning Spanish abroad in Spain. I found myself faced with so many more trials than I expected. For any who are new to the blog or are stumbling upon this post without first reading Part 1. it may be helpful to scan my preceding article Overcoming the Language Barrier Pt. 1.

As I found myself in the midst of living alone in a country trying to learn a new language I was faced with loneliness, embarrassment, fear and seclusion. The language barrier causes much more than misunderstandings and often times left me feeling disheartened and desperately in need of encouragement. And that is what I hope this series of articles can be for anyone learning a language; I hope you find support, advice and the feeling that someone else understands. Below you will find my personal perspective and solutions to the struggles I encountered learning a new language abroad:

1. Remember that you have NOTHING to be embarrassed about

When you do make a mistake, which you will, some people may laugh or just politely correct you. Remember that there is nothing to be ashamed or embarrassed about when it comes to learning a new language! Language learning involves everything from endless vocab memorization to trying to teach your tongue to move in ways it never has before to make sounds you never new existed. That’s not easy!
So ask that person to speak slower proudly, let them know you didn’t understand a word they just said and remind yourself that in doing so you are proving to yourself and them that you are serious about learning this language and will not shy away from the scary aspects of that task! It takes time and relentless dedication to learn a new language and rather than be embarrassed about your mistakes, be proud of them because they are proof of the effort you are making!

2. Get rid of the FEAR

Cliché I know, but honestly when you are filled with a fear of making a mistake I guarantee you will make twice as many as you would have normally. The more nervous I got the faster it seemed words I knew flew right out of my brain and I was left standing there like “ummm, I can’t even speak English right now I’m so frozen…”
This fear of not being able to fully speak or understand also kept me from attending gatherings, meeting new people and getting involved in conversations. I think that the people around me were actually much more understanding than I even gave them a chance to show. I was too afraid of sitting alone in a corner with no one to talk to that I never let my teammates even demonstrate the support they were capable of.
As the foreigner, often times people will be eager to talk to you and learn about your life and country. More often than not they won’t care a bit that you’re still learning the language. When they see the effort you are making I guarantee they will be even more excited to get to know you and support your language learning!

3. Get EXCITED to make mistakes!

Sounds a bit backwards, but when you throw away the fear then you can look at mistakes as a way to get rid of some of your bad language habits, learn new words and become even closer to your language goals.
The language learning process doesn’t need to be full of anxiety. Changing your perspective on mistakes allows you to release the fear of conversations and social gatherings and begin to actually enjoy socializing with others.

4. Remember there will be OFF days

Maybe I didn’t sleep well the night before or I was nervous, or I was just already exhausted from spending the whole day speaking in Spanish. There are many reasons why you may have a day when you ask yourself, “Why the heck can’t I remember anything??” “Why can’t I understand what they’re saying, yesterday I could?!”
On days like these I would have a momentary freak out where I would wonder if I had really learned anything at all or if the days I felt good about my Spanish level were just me giving myself more credit than I deserved. But I soon realized that there were several factors that would significantly bring down my speaking and comprehension levels (blog post on this topic coming soon!).
If you’re having an “off” day, don’t be discouraged. Remind yourself that this is perfectly normal, give your brain a rest and go to bed with the intent of waking up ready to continue the language learning process.

5. Be intentional about showing interest and GRATITUDE

One thing I really wish I had done better was thank the girls on my team in person for being so talkative with me and inviting me to different gatherings. In fact, I recently just posted thanking all of them for being so welcoming and inclusive. I even explained that if I seemed uninterested or shy it was only because I was so nervous of using my Spanish. And the response I received from all of them was so sweet!
I also regret not being more involved in conversations. People would ask me how my week was or what I did that day and I would keep my responses short. Again, this was because of my limited vocabulary and fear of making a mistake. But I know this frequently came off as rude or indifferent.
When others make the effort to converse with you recognize that this is their attempt at including and welcoming you! Try to engage with them as much as you can (again, don’t worry about making mistakes when you speak!) and thank them as much as possible for taking the time to reach out to you J

I feel like there are so many other tips I could include in this post, but I know you guys don’t want to be scrolling through this for days. I would LOVE to hear your perspective on this topic. How did you overcome some of these challenges of language learning? What tips do you have that you can share with us? Learning a language while living abroad can often times feel like a solo journey. Hopefully we can all come together to create an atmosphere of support, encouragement and inspiration! 🙂

If you enjoyed the article click the heart at the top right of the page and share! Unless otherwise noted, all photos and content have been taken and written by myself.

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Overcoming the Language Barrier

Leigh Ann — Sun, 25 Mar 2018 18:52:26 +0000

Overcoming the Language Barrier

recently posted on the topic of the language barrier and how those who are in the early stages of language learning may appear shy, rude or unintelligent. Included in this post were several tips on how to support foreigners who are learning on own language. If you find that you are that foreigner, however, I wanted to address what it can feel like from your point of view and then share with you how I overcame some of those difficulties that are involved with language learning! Here are the main language barriers I encountered during my time abroad in Spain:

The side-effects of the Language Barrier:

1. I acted much quieter and shy than I usually am

I would stray away from conversations and even eye contact to avoid talking to people because I was scared of engaging in a conversation I wouldn’t understand. Even when people went out of their way to ask me questions and include me in the conversation I would respond with short answers and not ask any questions in return. Then, I would beat myself up for it later wishing I had been more talkative and shown more appreciation for their effort to include me.

2. I was afraid to speak

In the beginning, I was so nervous to speak even the smallest words and even more terrified of long conversations.I nodded or shook my head so much people probably thought I was a mute or something. I was nervous about my accent, about trying to speak as fast as the locals did, about trying to use local slang…This desire to speak perfectly or not at all just made me quieter and quieter and slowed my language learning.

3. I was afraid to ask someone to speak slower or to repeat themselves

I wanted to hide the fact that I hadn’t understood something as if that was a terrible thing. If there was a time when I didn’t understand a certain word or an entire sentence I would just nod my head some more or agree with them and then try to move on to another topic or even just end the conversation right there.

4. I felt secluded from conversations/jokes/activities

Because of my timidness in speaking, I often felt secluded and left-out from the fun that was clearly being had. Feeling like I wasn’t or couldn’t be involved I would usually leave practice or activities as soon as I could to escape the feeling that I was a deaf person in a crowded room, unable to understand anything.

5. I didn’t attend group activities/or include myself in conversations

My teammates were so great at inviting my to team gatherings, dinners, movie nights, etc, but I almost never went because I was so afraid of ending up alone in the corner with no one to talk to. I would stay home wanting to be a part of the fun, but too scared to get myself to step out the door and put myself in an uncomfortable situation.

6. I felt embarrassed when I would make a mistake

When I would talk and I would make a mistake I would turn bright red and get so embarrassed as if my language skills were supposed to be perfect and it was a terrible thing that they weren’t yet. Then, this embarrassment and anxiety would cause me to make even more mistakes!

7. I wanted to cry when people would laugh at something I said

When I would make a mistake, sometimes the girls would laugh and it was like a knife to the heart. I took their laughter so hard that it made me want to cry and tell them all to go and try and learn a new language then see if they were still laughing. It made me want to go back to my flat as quick as I could, put on an English show and never talk to them again.

Because this post is already long enough I decided to dedicate another article to explaining how I overcame the difficulties of the language barrier. Overcoming the Language Barrier Pt. 2 is up just follow the link!

But before that, what struggles have you encountered during your journey of learning a new language? How did you overcome these or which ones are you still trying to overcome? I would love to hear about your language learning story, answer questions, and get some tips from you all as well!

If you enjoyed the article click the heart at the top right of the page and share! Unless otherwise noted, all photos and content have been taken and written by myself.

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The Language Barrier

Leigh Ann — Sat, 24 Mar 2018 02:42:13 +0000

The Language Barrier

e have all heard the term before and more or less understand what language barrier means, but many may not understand just how secluded language differences can make a person feel. I wanted to write an article on this because I learned some valuable lessons through my own experience with language and I hope it can make a difference to those of you who are currently learning a new language while living abroad. For anyone who knows a timid foreigner trying to learn your language, I hope to give you some ideas of how you can encourage them to talk more and help them feel less alone.

During my time playing professional soccer in Spain I was surrounded by 20+ girls who didn’t speak a word of English (there was only one girl in the beginning who spoke English and I think she was just as timid about using her English as I was about using my Spanish). I lived in a two bedroom flat with another Spanish girl who also barely spoke English and most of the time I was exploring alone. As an introvert, being alone was never something that bothered me too much. But it’s a different story when you are living alone in a new country with no one you know to talk to within the same time zone. The language barrier can effect so much more than just a person’s understanding of what is happening and I wanted to do my best to explain that in this article.

How the Language Barrier can effect someone:

1. Can make a person more timid than they normally would be

When girls on my team would say hi to me as I arrived I would simply say hello back and leave it at that. I wouldn’t initiate any conversation, not because I wasn’t interested in their lives, but rather I was afraid of not being able to have a full conversation or embarrass myself trying to say something so instead I would say nothing.

2. Can make a person seem uninterested or rude

Because I did not always understand what was being said to me, sometimes I would simply nod my head and say “okay” or “yes” (P.S. don’t ever do this! Never be afraid to say you don’t understand what is being said!) and I think that when I did this some people would think that I just wasn’t interested in talking to them or did not care about what they were saying. Which definitely was not the case AT ALL, I simply was too embarrassed to ask them to repeat themselves so I would stay quiet.

3. Can make a person sound uneducated

In the beginning of language learning there are two main aspects that can make a person sound as if they are uneducated: pronunciation and vocabulary. In the beginning, many struggle with overcoming their natural accent in a new language and some never overcome it. It would occur to me sometimes that maybe I sounded stupid because I struggled to pronounce certain words correctly.
Along with this, in the early stages of language learning a person’s knowledge of vocabulary words is extremely limited. Rather than describing my day as “wonderful” or “fantastic”, I would simply say it was a “good” day or that the view was “pretty” rather than “breathtaking” or “incredible.” As someone who loves writing and usually over describes everything, it was difficult not knowing the words to be as descriptive as I would have normally.

How to Help those Learning a New Language:

1. Don’t judge their personality right off the bat

Remember that they may appear shy, rude or uninterested because they are afraid to initiate conversation or they are afraid to speak the language and embarrass themselves.

2. Don’t treat them like a child just because their vocabulary may sound childlike!

One of the most demeaning things you can do is talk to someone as if they were unintelligent or a child. Remember that just because they may sound silly because of their accent or the words they use does not mean they are not a well-educated person. In fact, they are clearly attempting to learn another language which already says quite a bit about their personality and ability to learn. Take the time to ask them about their past and learn their history and I’m sure your opinion of them will quickly change.

3. Speak slowly and ENUNCIATE

One of the things that constantly frustrated me in Spain was how fast the girls on my team spoke. If the population of Madrid spoke at light speed then the girls were speaking at double light speed. Naturally, we all tend to blend words together or shorten them or use local slang, but all of this is incredibly hard to understand in the early stages of language learning.
So when you find yourself trying to communicate with someone who is new to your language try to remember to slow down your speech and pronounce words fully. It’s funny, but it will actually feel quite strange to speak slowly and enunciate; I’ve become so used to it that I just speak slower in general now and people are always asking me if I am from another country because of my accent lol

4. Do your best to INCLUDE them

Say hello, ask them about their day, include them in the conversation with friends, EXPLAIN the joke that was just told, INVITE them to other events. I can’t even tell you how much it meant when one of the girls would start a conversation with me or when they would invite me to movie night or dinner with the rest of the team. I did not always attend, but it meant the world nonetheless.

For those of you currently learning a new language I have some tips for you as well, but I wanted to dedicate a whole post (which actually turned into two posts) on this topic. You can find Part 1. of “Overcoming the Language Barrier” by clicking here 🙂

I would LOVE to hear what your experiences with language learning! What do you struggle with most? What do you wish people understood about the language barrier and language learning? Do you know anyone who is a foreigner learning your language? If so, what can you do this week to show them your friendship and support?

If you enjoyed the article click the heart at the top right of the page and share! Unless otherwise noted, all photos and content have been taken and written by myself.

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