Fears and Myths about Learning English
| Myth | Fear |
| 1. Native speakers don’t make mistakes. | 1.I am afraid of making mistakes. |
| 2. Accent and pronunciation are the same thing. | 2.My pronunciation is terrible and it will never improve. |
| 3. I can’t learn English. | 3.Previous trauma, anxiety, insecurity. |
| 4. I have to study for many years to be able to communicate. | 4.Looking ahead instead of focusing on starting. |
- Especially adults, especially people in higher positions find it very embarrassing to make mistakes because they usually don’t make them in their mother language.
- It is very important to clearly understand the difference between accent and pronunciation. Pronunciation can be greatly improved through exercises.
- In many cases, the problem is not the difficulty in learning the language itself, but the difficulty in dealing with previous traumas in learning situations, insecurities and anxiety. These should be addressed before there can be any progress in the learning process.
- Have an action/lesson plan. Have an objective. Study what you need to learn. Study, practice. It’s amazing how much can happen in a few weeks!
Written by Sonia Assumpção
