Don't be afraid of farangs

At first you feel very motivated and energetic. But when the time comes to actually speak to a Westerner, your lips tremble and your legs go weak. You cannot think of the right words to say, suddenly too afraid to open your mouth and speak.

Rookie talks to Simon Buckland, academic advisor and director of curriculum for Wall Street International, on how to be brave when speaking with foreigners.

When people make mistakes, they often feel guilty. But in practising to speak a language, Buckland says, mistakes should be seen as just a simple part of the learning process.

"Think about toddlers when they start walking at one year old: they keep falling over but no one punishes them for that," he says. "Similarly, if parents yelled at their baby, he might never walk and lay on his back for the rest of his life."

It is the same when you are practising to speak English. No one will be mad at you for any mistakes.

According to Buckland, everybody can learn to become a good English speaker as long as they keep a good attitude about themselves.

"A positive attitude is the most important thing when you are learning a language," says Buckland.

So when you approach a foreigner to speak, you should really see mistakes as simply a part of the process.

"Foreigners are not going to shout at you if you speak a wrong English word. They're never going to say: "You just spoke an incorrect past tense and I'm not going to talk to you anymore".

It's most important that you have a forgiving attitude toward yourself.

The more you speak, the more you improve. If you want to speak with foreigners on the street to improve your listening and speaking, go ahead and take a chance.

"You are not in school where a mistake in speaking could lead punishment or a low grade make your parents mad at you," says Buckland.

Don't be afraid to speak English with foreigners, he adds.

"Sometimes you might find that the person you approach doesn't speak English as well as you do. A long nose does not mean I speak correct English. Though I'm a foreigner, I might not be a native speaker of English. I might be French, Italian or German."

According to Buckland, what usually happens when you're speaking to foreigners and they don't understand you is that they simply say: "Oh, I don't understand what you are saying. Please say it again.'"

"Just relax," he says. "You've got nothing to lose but everything to gain."

By Watchara Saengsrisin

The Nation