Confidence
I’ve learned recently that confidence means being unafraid to make mistakes.
On Sunday, I visited a friend who has a son who goes to university. He will have a presentation on Wednesday, and my friend asked him to show me his presentation. He was embarrassed but he opened his PowerPoint presentation, stood up, and showed me his presentation from beginning to end.
He didn’t stop even when I laughed at his silly jokes and a word he kept mispronouncing. He laughed with me, practiced pronouncing the word until he could do it perfectly, and continued.
He was embarrassed and he made mistakes, but he kept going. I think it’s a great attitude, and it’s an attitude that any learner should have.
Some people are afraid to speak English because they don’t think their sentence is perfect or they’re unwilling to practice outside their classroom because it’s embarrassing; but I think if you stop speaking a language because someone laughs, you lose.
Mistakes are part of learning; they are important in learning. If you want to be more confident in speaking a language, don’t be afraid to make mistakes.