Foreign Language Class/Shyness Help

<p>Hi. I’m taking Spanish II next year, and a noticeable portion of my grade will stem from classroom participation and/or speaking.</p>

<p>Last year, I wasn’t very inclined to speaking, though I excelled at writing essays and vocabulary. Whenever I practiced speaking, I’d mumble the words out meekly, and, since my voice is kind of deep, it would often sound indiscernible. </p>

<p>When it came time to the speaking exam (respond to a written prompt orally), not only did I fail to talk for a full minute (I only did 25 seconds or so), the words I said came out pretty bad, which reflected my final exam grade. Although I should note, I talked for so little because my mind went blank (I don’t know what to attribute this to. Maybe lack of practice or nervousness). I was only able to talk I still did well in the class, just not as well as I wanted it to be. </p>

<p>I know my predicament is kind of jumbled so if you could, CC community, answer these questions that I feel are relevant to this problem.</p>

<p>1) How to study for a Spanish (or any foreign language class) oral exam?
1a) How does one speak a foreign language? Should I just formulate the sentence in English first and translate it into Spanish? Usually when I do that, it causes a pause/silence when I speak, and I want to be able to speak non-stop.
1b) When you run out of things to say, what do you do?
2) How to overcome shyness? I’m pretty sure my shyness exists because I feel like if I were to try, I might get laughed at from my failure to say my sentences cohesively and fluently. Or when I stutter when I talk. And in addition to that, people usually regard me as a smart person, so when I talk (in class for participation or oral exams), I feel like if I say something wrong, I’ll look stupid or change this perception.
3) How to speak publicly? (Not really relevant but it’s something that I wish I was able to do, I’d like to learn how)</p>

<p>I’ve been trying to talk to others more, and the more I talk the easier it gets. Thank you!</p>

<p>Practice. If you have to do an oral presentation, practice it a lot. An oral exam? Practice with likely questions. Get a study buddy in your class and try speaking to one another and helping each other practice for these oral presentations/exams. Learn to think in the language. Get over worrying about making mistakes. Even native English speakers make mistakes occasionally when speaking English. Your speech will get more correct over time and your teacher will be expecting mistakes in lower level classes.</p>

I’m in Spanish 2 also, and I’d say it helps if you pretend you are talking to just your friend. In middle school, a few people paid attention to what you say in presentations. In high school, basically nobody cares what you do or say.

My English teacher even says to us: “People don’t care so much about you to think about you twice”

Some sentences I say feel natural since I’ve said them so many times. Other times, yes I do translate my English thoughts to Spanish hehe. A few of my friends are also taking Spanish so sometimes we joke around and try to speak Spanish to each other. That’s how you can build up fluency. I am also struggling with being more outgoing but it helps when you feel like you are only presenting to get a good grade. A lot of people have a hard time trying to please their friends while not trying to offend their grades. I hope I’m making sense, but good luck!!

Also, have you heard of Coursera? They are doing a free course on Public Speaking online! I am doing it right now and it has helped a bit