Table of Contents
With every new year comes new goals – and, for many people, a whole new set of related fears and challenges. From losing weight to nailing down personal finances, any goal that’s worth doing inevitably brings some anxiety.
Language learning is no different.
Starting to learn a new language is a big undertaking. Whether you’d like to learn a new language to advance your career, connect with friends & relatives, or simply learn more about a particular country’s culture and history on a deeper level, your best chance at success means putting a workable and achievable plan in place. Trying to learn another language by simply winging it won’t get you very far.
Not having clear goals or blueprints for how to learn a new language causes much of the fear associated with learning a new language. Here at Pimsleur, we love helping beginning learners – those with little or no experience speaking their target language – learn to speak another tongue with confidence.
Our unique learning techniques are based on the Pimsleur Method which helps foster self-confidence through a dynamic, listen and speak-aloud approach that’s helped millions of curious learners acquire new languages.
Ultimately that self-confidence you build with steady progress is key to overcoming anxiety associated with learning a new language. That inner can-do attitude is crucial in conquering these concerns, and our proven process has helped people just like you rise to the challenge when picking up a new language.
Why Self-Confidence Matters when Learning a New Language
While some goals are team-oriented, language learning is highly personal. In other words, it’s all about YOU. If you’re set on learning a new language, you already have enough self-confidence to start!
The key is to grow this internal drive as you’re learning. This is where some learners are sabotaged from within…after the first few grammar lessons or while trying to learn too many new words too quickly, doubt sets in. Once these reservations or hesitations start, it becomes harder to stay on track with your learning goals.
That’s why it’s critical to have a proven language learning tool like Pimsleur at your disposal. We not only provide the method and resources to help you speak a new language conversationally, but our measured approach centers around building confidence with every lesson. We help new learners build their speaking skills and train their ear for the language all while helping them to understand the grammar and the culture! Nothing builds confidence like understanding and responding in a new language.
If you’re having a blast while learning – and many Pimsleur customers absolutely do – self-confidence builds organically. Once you’re confident, you’re more likely to keep plugging away, even in the face of the numerous challenges that come with acquiring a new language.
Specific Fears that Face New Language Learners
With any significant learning challenge, fear leads to doubt…and as you know, doubt can quickly send language learning goals into a downward spiral. The key is to identify the actual types of dread that new language learners face. Here are some of the most common fears associated with learning a new language:
- Fear of embarrassment. Reading words silently in a new language is one thing – speaking them aloud is quite another. The goal of learning a new language, after all, is to be able to speak it well enough to be understood. Many new learners are afraid of saying the wrong thing or botching the pronunciation. In our research, this is by far the most common one fear learners have, so if it happens to be one of yours, know that you’re not alone!
- Fading motivation. Many new students will start off with a bang, acquiring new words & phrases right away, only to have their drive and sense of purpose slowly fade away as it starts to get harder. This is especially true while learning alone, and why it’s so important to have a system in place (like Pimsleur). We keep you motivated, invigorated, and moving steadily toward your goal with new conversations every day that build on what you’ve already learned.
- Stalling progress. As with all worthwhile endeavors, progress doesn’t happen in a straight line, and learning plateaus are inevitable. After an initial explosion of learning, it’s common to feel overwhelmed; that you’re stuck in a rut and not making progress. Aside from the difficulties that come with proper pronunciation (see above), this is one of the most frequently cited fears that new learners encounter.
- Information avalanche. With many language learning approaches, the sheer amount of information you’re expected to process can feel overwhelming; like too much is being thrown your way. New sounds, new word order, impossible pronunciations, and different cultural norms are all hitting at once. With Pimsleur, you get a measured daily dose – enough to challenge you, but not so much that you have to fight to keep up.
How to Overcome Obstacles & Doubt With Your Studies
The fears listed above are just some of the anxieties and doubts that creep in when you’re learning a new language. So how can you stay on track and ensure steady progress? The first step is to realize that these fears are natural (sometimes inevitable); they happen with every goal worth achieving, and you’re not the first person to deal with them.
Once you’ve acknowledged these facts, here are a few strategies to help allay learning anxiety:
- Turn obstacles into opportunities. Nobody learns a new language without a few bumps in the road. When you’re first acquiring new vocabulary and pronunciation, it’s easy to overthink it. What separates successful learning from a “give up” mentality is realizing that every challenge is a learning opportunity. Stay focused, and envision yourself having that perfect conversation, and your new language will start clicking before you know it!
- Celebrate the small wins. At times, it’ll seem like you’re not accomplishing much, or not fast enough. If your latest lesson yielded even one or two new words and phrases you’re now familiar with, give yourself a pat on the back. Or if you just learned how to say a complicated phrase in your new language, take a minute to realize you’re chipping away at your goal.
- Get in a routine. It takes about three weeks to establish a new habit. Set aside 30 minutes every day (or more) for 21 straight days, and you’ll be amazed at how much you can learn. You’ll find that your confidence builds as you progress through your lessons. A consistent learning schedule and a sense of adventure are great ways to overcome doubt and anxiety.
- Embrace informal learning. To supplement your regular studies, make it fun! Try watching a movie in your new language, following news stories from the country where the language is spoken, or enlist a friend and try your hand at an authentic recipe. Match these informal learning sessions with your own interests; if you’re a movie buff, take in a foreign flick. If you’re more of a foodie, the recipe route is probably your best bet. This is also a great way to break through a learning plateau.
New Year + New Language = New You!
Now that you’re aware of the most common fears associated with language learning, along with some strategies to keep your goals on track, it’s time to put your plan into action! Every new year brings boundless opportunities to turn a proverbial page – and with your language learning goals fully in focus, you have the chance to seize this opening and run with it.
Think of learning a new language as the ultimate journey AND destination. Once you start speaking, you’ll enjoy possibilities you never thought possible. You’ll have more interesting travel experiences, a greater cultural understanding, and a lens with which to see the world around you. These benefits are a result of the work you put into learning a new language. But the work itself – the journey you take to better yourself – should also be rewarding and enjoyable in its own unique way. Confidence is the route to competence, and competence in learning a new language is built one day and one lesson at a time..
Your self-confidence will grow steadily if you have the patience, time to practice, and a proven learning structure to help along the way. Pimsleur’s unique method and collaborative approach lets you learn at your own pace.
