Fear of speaking English: why it happens and what helps
Many people who say they can't speak English know more words than they manage to say. Researchers call this foreign language anxiety and have measured it since the 1980s. It eases with practice where a mistake costs little, with ready-made phrases, and with telling the same story more than once.
What a language barrier is
In 1986 Elaine Horwitz and two colleagues described foreign language anxiety as a fear of its own: the tension a learner feels when they have to use a language they're still learning. They built a questionnaire to measure it, the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale, and researchers still use it widely. Its first statement reads: "I never feel quite sure of myself when I am speaking in my foreign language class."
They linked it to three worries: about speaking to people, about being tested, and about being judged. The third is what most people mean by a language barrier, the fear that a mistake will make you sound less clever than you are.
Why you understand English but can't speak
Listening and speaking use the same words in different ways. When you listen, the words come to you and the context fills the gaps. When you speak, you have to find each word yourself, in order, while someone waits. Nerves take the attention that search needs, so even words you know well stop coming.
A 2019 meta-analysis by Teimouri, Goetze and Plonsky pooled 97 reports covering almost 20,000 learners and found a moderate negative link between anxiety and results (r = −0.36): the more anxious learners were, the lower they tended to score.
The link runs both ways. A 2021 study by Alamer and Lee found that better language skills came first and lower anxiety followed. So the fear shrinks as speaking gets easier, and speaking gets easier with practice.
Peter MacIntyre and colleagues call the moment you decide to speak "willingness to communicate". In their model it depends on the situation as much as on your level: who you're talking to, and how sure you feel right then. That's why the same person can chat with a friend and freeze in a meeting.
What helps, according to research
Six things that studies support, from the easiest to try.
Speak where a mistake costs nothing
Much of the barrier is the fear of being judged, so start where nobody judges: alone, with a friend, with an AI. In a study of 1,746 learners, Dewaele and MacIntyre found that people enjoyed their language classes more than they feared them, and enjoyment grew with a supportive teacher and group.
Learn whole phrases
Fluent speech leans on ready-made chunks such as let me think or what I mean is. In a longitudinal study David Wood found that learners who used more of them spoke more fluently over time, and later studies link them to fewer pauses. Sixteen to start with are in the next section.
Tell the same story three times
In the 4/3/2 activity you tell a story in four minutes, then again in three, then in two. Paul Nation, who described it in 1989, found that learners spoke faster on the later tellings, and De Jong and Perfetti later traced the gain to speaking becoming more automatic. You can do it alone: describe your weekend to your phone and time yourself.
Plan for a minute before you speak
In studies of planning, starting with Yuan and Ellis in 2003, learners who had time to prepare spoke more fluently. Before a call or a meeting, write down three things you want to say and the words you'll need for them.
Call the nerves excitement
Alison Wood Brooks asked people to say "I am excited" before singing karaoke or giving a speech. They did better than people told to calm down: the speakers talked longer and came across as more confident. A racing heart feels much the same in both states, so renaming it is easier than calming it.
Rehearse with AI, then talk to people
The evidence here is mixed. Some small studies found lower anxiety after a few weeks of talking to a chatbot, and others found no change. It works best as a rehearsal: you try a conversation where nobody is watching, then have it with a person.
Phrases that buy you time
Each one gives you a few seconds to think, or gets the conversation back on track. Every phrase starts chosen: untick the ones you know and add the rest to your dictionary.
| Play pronunciation | Phrase | Meaning and example | |
|---|---|---|---|
let me think said when you need a moment to decide Hmm, let me think about that. | said when you need a moment to decide Hmm, let me think about that. | ||
give me a second asking for a moment Give me a second, I'll find it. | asking for a moment Give me a second, I'll find it. | ||
that's a good question said to gain time before you answer That's a good question, let me check. | said to gain time before you answer That's a good question, let me check. | ||
how do I put it said while you look for the right words It was, how do I put it, a bit strange. | said while you look for the right words It was, how do I put it, a bit strange. | ||
what's the word said when a word won't come It's a kind of, what's the word, a tool for cutting. | said when a word won't come It's a kind of, what's the word, a tool for cutting. | ||
on the tip of my tongue almost remembered, but not quite His name is on the tip of my tongue. | almost remembered, but not quite His name is on the tip of my tongue. | ||
it's hard to explain said before something you can't easily put into words It's hard to explain, but it feels wrong. | said before something you can't easily put into words It's hard to explain, but it feels wrong. | ||
what I mean is used to explain more clearly What I mean is, we need more time. | used to explain more clearly What I mean is, we need more time. | ||
in other words used to say the same thing more simply In other words, we start again. | used to say the same thing more simply In other words, we start again. | ||
let me put it another way used before you explain it differently Let me put it another way: it's too expensive. | used before you explain it differently Let me put it another way: it's too expensive. | ||
could you say that again asking someone to repeat Sorry, could you say that again? | asking someone to repeat Sorry, could you say that again? | ||
could you speak a bit slower asking someone to slow down Could you speak a bit slower, please? | asking someone to slow down Could you speak a bit slower, please? | ||
do you mean checking that you understood Do you mean the meeting on Monday? | checking that you understood Do you mean the meeting on Monday? | ||
where was I used to get back to what you were saying Sorry, where was I? | used to get back to what you were saying Sorry, where was I? | ||
I lost my train of thought you forgot what you were going to say Sorry, I lost my train of thought. | you forgot what you were going to say Sorry, I lost my train of thought. | ||
as I was saying used to go back to your point As I was saying, the plan is simple. | used to go back to your point As I was saying, the plan is simple. |
Where to start this week
- Pick one situation you dread: a phone call, a meeting, small talk at work.
- Choose five phrases you'd need there and say them aloud until they come without effort.
- Tell one short story about your day three times, a little faster each time.
- Have that conversation with a friend or with Ami, where a mistake costs nothing.
- Then have it for real, and write down the words that were missing.
Studies cited
- Horwitz, Horwitz & Cope (1986) Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety. The Modern Language Journal, 70(2)
- Teimouri, Goetze & Plonsky (2019) Second language anxiety and achievement: A meta-analysis. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 41(2)
- Alamer & Lee (2021) Language achievement predicts anxiety and not the other way around: A cross-lagged panel analysis approach. Language Teaching Research
- MacIntyre, Clément, Dörnyei & Noels (1998) Conceptualizing Willingness to Communicate in a L2. The Modern Language Journal, 82(4)
- Dewaele & MacIntyre (2014) The two faces of Janus? Anxiety and enjoyment in the foreign language classroom. SSLLT, 4(2)
- Wood (2006) Uses and functions of formulaic sequences in second language speech: An exploration of the foundations of fluency. The Canadian Modern Language Review, 63(1)
- Nation (1989) Improving speaking fluency. System, 17(3)
- De Jong & Perfetti (2011) Fluency training in the ESL classroom: An experimental study of fluency development and proceduralization. Language Learning, 61(2)
- Yuan & Ellis (2003) The effects of pre-task planning and on-line planning on fluency, complexity and accuracy in L2 monologic oral production. Applied Linguistics, 24(1)
- Brooks (2014) Get excited: Reappraising pre-performance anxiety as excitement. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 143(3)