Learning to Speak in a Different Language

I have to admit that speaking English is the most difficult task I have to endure. After learning English grammar, spelling and composition I thought I was ready to speak fluently.

When I came to live in the USA, I spent most of the time reading in English, watching shows in English and listening to the news in English. I was able to understand most of what was said, except for some idioms and slang. I thought that speaking in English would be a snap. I was so wrong!

The process of speaking in a different language is really complicated. English is a difficult language whose pronunciation rules are not consistent. There are more exceptions to the rule than the rule itself.

The first difficulty I had to overcome was the fear of speaking to other people and being misunderstood. I had to reassure myself that this was normal in the beginning and that things would improve.

I took a pronunciation course to learn the correct pronunciation of letters and their combinations. We used to record ourselves on tape and later we would listen to it. This made us aware of our weaknesses.

As a South American, I had a strong accent. No matter how hard I tried my accent was present and, it still is, in every conversation. I noticed that every time I spoke, people would make remarks about my accent, trying to identify where it came from. In the beginning it didn't matter. But after a couple of months it started to annoy me, because I wanted to be part of the American society and having an accent was like having a sign posted on my forehead saying: "I'm a foreigner".

As my pronunciation improved, I noticed during conversations that I wasn't misunderstood as frequently as in the beginning and this encouraged me to work even harder on my accent. I'm aware that I will never get completely rid of it, but it has improved a lot and not I feel more comfortable speaking with other people.

I still have black holes in my mind, there are words that I don't recall when I need them, but I try to look for synonyms and I am not afraid to ask for the meaning of a word in public. After all, I'm learning and the process of learning never ends.