If you lack the courage to speak in French, here’s why — and what to do about it (#661) | OffQc

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If you lack the courage to speak in French, here’s why — and what to do about it (#661)

7 August 2013 by Polesello

If you lack the courage to speak in French, it’s not because your accent is wonky.

It’s not because your grammar is off.

It’s not because you’re short on vocabulary.

When you’re at home speaking in French to the cat, none of these things hold you back.

If you lack the courage to speak in French, it’s because you worry about how other people will react to your French.

You’re worrying about things you can’t control.

Worrying about things you can’t control is stupid.

This is where an “oh well, whatever” attitude helps.

He didn’t understand me.
Oh well, whatever.

She switched to English on me.
Oh well, whatever.

I forgot how to say it.
Oh well, whatever!

You can fix what needs fixing later.

The “oh well, whatever” attitude works after you speak. Before you speak, you need to silence the thoughts in your head.

Your thoughts are screaming: “Oh my God. My accent is so bad. I can’t speak. I just can’t do it.”

You can’t control other people’s behaviour, but you can control your own.

Now is not the time to be a sissy.

You need to take that inner voice and slap some sense into it.

“Hey there, Inner Voice. You’re right. My accent isn’t so hot. But someday it will be. Oh, and by the way bitch, fuck you.”

Now speak, dammit.

If you lack the courage to speak in French, your priority right now shouldn’t be to learn more French.

It can wait.

Close your books.

Stop studying.

I don’t mean that learning French isn’t important.

What I mean is that worrying about other people’s reactions to your French is the best way to prevent yourself from feeling at home in it.

Make adopting a new mindset your priority instead.

If what you really want is to make French yours, this can’t wait.

Posted in Entries #651-700 | Tagged accent, by the way bitch fuck you, courage, français québécois, grammar, oh well whatever, Québécois French, sissy, speaking, vocabulary | 8 Comments

8 Responses

on 7 August 2013 at 20:14 | Reply Nicolaas

Great article! Just what I needed to read.
on 7 August 2013 at 21:19 | Reply Matt

Well said!!! Needed to hear that too!!!
on 7 August 2013 at 21:24 | Reply Zhu

Spot on! I had the opposite problem, I was very shy at first when speaking in English. But Canadians are super nice regarding language abilities and they made me feel confident. Practice really is everything…
on 7 August 2013 at 23:19 | Reply Holly

Thank You for this, I actually have a degree in French and am so rusty I think some people doubt if it’s really true.
on 7 August 2013 at 23:55 | Reply sepehr hedayat

Real nice article! Thanks!!
on 8 August 2013 at 07:35 | Reply Janet Lingel Aldrich

Thanks — will keep this in mind!
on 8 August 2013 at 11:55 | Reply Jacqueline Stach

Thank you Felix. I needed that.
on 9 August 2013 at 16:15 | Reply Dejah Léger

Thanks! You’re such a great cheerleader. Thanks to your blog and all the resources you provide, I was able to carry on an entire weekend in French with three Quebecois musicians whom I idolize. Yes, I made many, many mistakes (was asked if it was windy outside, but I heard “vin” instead of “vent” and insisted for the next five minutes that the “wind” was really inside the refrigerator); the worst is that I rambled, seemed to pull conversation out of absolutely nowhere, and couldn’t make jokes or puns or, really, any interesting conversation at all. But I remembered your advice and just laughed it off, promising myself that I *WILL* improve if I just keep at it. MERCI! Tu es super!!!