The language barrier is the lack of a student studying a foreign language and trying to speak it, the ability to understand and spontaneously respond to the speech of the interlocutor, even though he owns the necessary arsenal of language tools. This problem can be attributed to the problem of the language barrier.

It is impossible to talk about a language barrier, when a person cannot speak, just because he has not developed any language skills, when there are no necessary grammatical structures, when there is ignorance of one or another vocabulary to display a particular topic, it is impossible.

Reasons and ways to overcome the language barrier when learning English

To talk about ways to overcome the language barrier, you need to understand the reasons that cause it:

Psychological uncertainty

Speaking about the reasons for the language barrier, it should be noted that one of the main reasons is the psychological insecurity of a person, the fear of making a mistake, the feeling of discomfort when communicating in English. In order to overcome the language barrier caused by this reason, it is necessary to create such conditions in English courses in which a person would feel comfortable, in which the potential internal capabilities of a person would be revealed, so that a person would psychologically relax and speak spontaneously on a particular topic. If such conditions and a student-centered approach are observed, accordingly, part of the problems causing the language barrier will be removed.

The fear of making a mistake may develop due to improper teaching or improperly created conditions for teaching English. Often this is the fault of the teachers with whom the student once studied: perhaps the teachers constantly corrected the student's mistakes, preventing him from expressing his point of view, which is wrong. Speaking about correcting mistakes and removing students' fear of mistakes, one should take into account the psychological characteristics of each student as much as possible. Accordingly, some errors can be corrected in the course of speech, while some errors can be corrected only after the person has finished his statement.

Negative previous experience of learning English

Another problem that can cause difficulties in spontaneous speaking is the previous learning experience, the rejection of new teaching methods, this is the habit of the grammar-translation method of teaching. Difficulty arises when a person comes to learn a language in English courses, and because of negative previous experiences, perhaps unpleasant associations that appeared due to the fact that a person studied the language at school or university according to some other approach.

In this case, the task of the teacher is to conduct a conversation with the student, to show that the communicative technique is more effective, to show that any material learned in the lesson can be used at the same moment, and also to show the practical applicability of everything that students do in the lesson. In such ways, it will be possible to remove the psychological difficulties and the language barrier, which are caused by the negative study of the English language, or attachment to the grammar-translation method of teaching a foreign language.

Lack of student motivation

Another problem that can cause a language barrier is the student's lack of motivation. Motivation is very important and the desire to speak, the desire to communicate, the desire to express one's ideas is the main point for a person to be able to speak calmly and not feel any language barrier. In an English lesson, it is necessary to create such communicative situations that will be of interest to the student. This is especially important when studying business English: the teacher must be very well versed in the specifics of the activities of their students.

It is also necessary to emotionally influence, appeal to emotions, to the feelings of a person, create such situations of communication in which a person wants to express his opinion, agree or disagree, argue. When an emotional background is involved, a person begins to speak spontaneously: he begins to forget that he speaks a foreign language. For him, the very goal of communication and the goal of expressing some idea, and not the means by which one can express one or another thought or solve one or another communicative task when learning English, is of paramount importance.

Lack of communication practice in English

A person may know grammatical structures, may have a good passive vocabulary, but due to the lack of speech practice, a person cannot use them in spontaneous speech. There should be automation of both language skills and speech skills so that a person can apply in real life everything that is studied in English lessons.

In connection with the issue of communication practice, it should be emphasized that the entire learning process in English courses should be built in such a way that situations are created as close to reality as possible. It is necessary that all speech patterns, language skills, and abilities be introduced, trained, practiced in conditions as close to reality as possible. A person must understand that he needs each specific word, each specific situation, each specific structure to solve a particular communicative task both in the classroom and later in real life.

Training the language in situations close to reality allows a person to quickly transfer everything that was covered in English classes into real life as quickly as possible. If the lesson trains the situation at the airport, then a person, being in real life at the airport, will be able to respond faster if this situation has already been played out in the lesson.

Tips for overcoming the language barrier from our students and teachers

findings

Summing up, it is worth saying that the main tactic for overcoming the language barrier is the teaching methodology and the approach that this or that school of English uses.

The most effective way to remove the language barrier is a communicative approach to learning English, which allows you to take into account the personal characteristics of students, allows you to give maximum practice of all language skills and speech skills, which allows you to set situations close to reality, allows you to influence the emotional world of students, cause and encourage students to communicate.

Another way to remove the language barrier is intensive courses with a native speaker. Such classes can be held in English so that a person feels that he is communicating with real people, that he can speak fluently. This removes the language barrier and enables a person to communicate freely in English.

Probably, all of us have at least once been in situations where it was not possible to convey our thoughts to the interlocutor. “It’s like we speak different languages,” you might think, although you communicated in your native language.

But what if you can't speak German fluently? There is self-doubt, embarrassment, all words are suddenly forgotten, and you are involuntarily lost. This phenomenon is called the language barrier. How to fight him?

It may seem strange, but the reason for the emergence of a language barrier should be sought not in the level of your knowledge of the German language, but in the ability to communicate.

Someone likes to be the center of attention, someone prefers to remain silent even in a noisy company. Some people find it easier to send text messages, while others spend hours on the phone. Such features are not very noticeable in everyday life, but can cause some difficulties in communicating with the Germans.

Do not forget that communication includes not only oral speech, but also gestures with facial expressions. A sociable person easily uses these tools, compensating for a lack of knowledge, and a shy person can not only become silent in the middle of a conversation, but also get a negative experience of communicating in German.

Children overcome the language barrier more easily. They like to learn new things, make friends, and they perceive learning German as a game. Children are not afraid to ask again, they know how to be attentive and, most importantly, they are not afraid to make a mistake.

In contrast, adults perceive their own mistakes much more painfully. We prefer not to ask again, so as not to seem stupid, and we approach the study of the German language with all the seriousness that we are capable of.

Because of this, it can be difficult for adults to start learning German, and when meeting a German, there is a feeling of insecurity in their abilities.

Our Skype German teachers work to reduce the communication and language barrier in each lesson, provoking the student to use their knowledge not only in writing tasks, but also in oral speech.

Communication barrier and how to deal with it

With the active use of the German language, four communication barriers are distinguished. Let's consider them in more detail.

barrier of understanding - Difficulty understanding German speech by ear. It may appear partially when the listener does not understand individual words or phrases, but intuitively captures the essence; or completely, when the meaning of everything heard escapes.

The barrier of understanding most often arises in the initial stages, when German speech seems foreign to the ear. However, this problem does not bypass students with a good level of language.

To overcome the barrier of understanding, attention should be paid to listening: listening to German songs and radio or TV shows. The speech of each person is individual and unique, therefore, the more you listen, the easier it is to perceive by ear.

speaking barrier - that's what we mean when we talk about the language barrier. This feature can manifest itself at the initial stage of learning the German language, when the speaker does not have enough knowledge to express his thoughts, or with a good level of German language proficiency, when some external or internal factors prevent him from expressing himself freely.

At the initial stage, the speaking barrier can serve as a motivation for further study, but when the speaker has sufficient vocabulary and grammar, but communication does not occur at the proper level, some psychological problems may arise.

The first thing to remember is that no one will consider you stupid if they hear that you made a mistake. It is impossible to speak German immediately and without mistakes. Try to express yourself in short sentences, communicate slowly.

Speak clearly all the words, do not be afraid to correct yourself. If you forgot a word, try to replace it with a synonym or explain the meaning of this word in a few sentences.

Exchange students often ask their new German-speaking friends to correct them if they hear a mistake. This approach will not only make it easier to perceive a conversation in German, but will also help even the most shy to speak.

If you do not have the opportunity to talk with a native speaker, try to practice speaking as much as possible in your German lessons via Skype. If you add watching films in German to this, you will not only be able to freely express your thoughts, but also begin to think in this language.

It occurs when a student begins to encounter phenomena and concepts that are not in their native language. Fortunately, when learning European languages (German in particular), the cultural barrier appears extremely rarely.

However, it can occur when directly exposed to a foreign environment. In order not to get into awkward situations, you should take the time to study the life, traditions, worldview of the Germans. You can get acquainted with all this in our online lessons via Skype, because regional studies are an obligatory part of learning the German language.

The school barrier is a kind of “residue” that could remain after learning German at school or in language courses. A negative attitude to the subject often prevents you from quickly learning the language in adulthood, when, for example, it becomes necessary to learn German and go abroad.

Such sediment also interferes when it enters a German-speaking environment; a person involuntarily, almost subconsciously, rejects the language.

In order to cope with the school barrier, you should be clearly aware that now you are learning German not because it is written in the school curriculum, but of your own free will. There is no longer a class where your mistakes will be exposed to the public, and there are no grades for which parents can scold.

Our highly qualified teachers apply an individual approach to each student, thanks to which German lessons via Skype are easy and relaxed.

It doesn't matter if you are a "mathematician" by ability or a "humanist". Learn, practice, surround yourself with German, and no barriers will come between you and fluency.

What is a language barrier and how to overcome it when learning a foreign language.

Imagine for a moment the situation - you have a long-awaited trip to another country. You are a person making progress in learning a language, feeling confident in the walls of the classroom with your classmates, suddenly find yourself alone with the inevitable need to talk to a stranger. A foreigner! I am sure that until the last moment you will wander in three pines, download maps on your phone, but will not come up to ask a passer-by how to get to the library. I remember myself like this, and I smile.

Do you want to speak, read, write and listen fluently in English? Then we are pleased to offer you private lessons with a professional teacher via Skype. We have developed a universal course «» so that at the end of the course you can feel confident in oral and written communication with foreigners, work colleagues and friends, click on the link above to learn more and sign up for a free trial lesson.

Everyone knows what it's called, and everyone is afraid. The Great and Terrible "Language Barrier" follows us on our heels while we learn languages and try to apply them. Moreover, the most offensive thing is that immediately after you frantically searched for the right word and worried whether the interlocutor understood you correctly, the right words and a sense of self-confidence instantly come to mind, but, as a rule, it’s already too late ...

So what is the language barrier?

Wikipedia gives a very indigestible explanation of this phenomenon:

The language barrier- a phrase used in a figurative sense and denoting the difficulties in communication of people associated with the belonging of speakers to different language groups.

As a rule, we are talking about a language barrier if the communicator has difficulty in explaining his position or the listener has difficulty in understanding the position of the communicator. From this point of view, the barrier of speaking and the barrier of understanding another person are distinguished separately.

But does this problem really exist, or is it not at all that we are afraid to communicate in a non-native language? Let's try to figure it out.

Why is there a language barrier?

it's all in the head ... Stereotypes that prevent us from speaking.

As everyone knows, all our problems come from the head. But it’s true - as soon as we drive something into our heads, it immediately finds a use for itself, grows on us and becomes familiar, especially to our brain, which loves convenient, knurled combinations so much. All that we are afraid of in the process of ANY communication is exclusively psychological, invented problems!

For example, we are very afraid not to understand, what will this terrible man on the street tell us if we ask for directions to the hotel. But what is so terrible that can actually happen if we fall into a stupor and forget all the words, and a person picks up and draws the road on a piece of paper or even gives a lift? The world will definitely not collapse, but we are just afraid to look stupid (more on that below).

Or vice versa - we are afraid that we will not be understood because we speak like Neanderthals and our speech bears little resemblance to civilized? Say what you like - who cares? When you are talking in your native language, do you think about how it sounds from the outside? No. So here. Remember that people, by and large, do not care how you express yourself in everyday life. Especially if you are traveling and the main task is to enjoy the trip.

And now our crown - Russian people have an accent. From school, I remember, we were taught that the Russian accent in speech is the most terrible phenomenon, for which we should be ashamed! Can you imagine this? What kind of cocktail of complexes sits in our people - it is even difficult to assess the scale. I, too, was one of those who was ashamed of myself, and resented the Italians, who are not embarrassed to say that they are not going to get rid of their melodious Italian in English, because they are attention! They are proud to be Italians! And we were ashamed of it. The good news is that more and more people are freeing themselves from the captivity of delusions and complexes and embodying the direct function of language - communication.

However, everything is much deeper, and all these half-joking reasons for our inability to speak are the fear of error, fear of looking stupid. Guess where it comes from? That's right, from childhood. We are sure that in case of a mistake, someone will come and punish us, and even worse, we will have to admit defeat, our own alleged failure. And even if we were told in childhood that the one who does nothing is not mistaken, in practice it did not work at all. We got hit on the head for our mistakes - blurted out the wrong thing, wrote the wrong thing, ended up in the wrong place - you have to pay for everything. A wonderful motto that accompanies us through life ... We were not taught that it is necessary to make mistakes, and it’s possible not to be ashamed at all, but normal. We were not taught that being natural is normal, and not normal to constantly live in the framework and stress of feeling that I will definitely do something wrong.

And some more moments that prevent us from talking calmly ...

So, we concluded that the root of our fear of the Language Barrier lies in our brain. But still, there are situations when we experience difficulty not at all from the framework imposed by the school teacher.

For example, the number one problem we all have is vocabulary. It may turn out to be quite poor for a given situation, both for explanation and for listening.

On the other hand, creeping up on us grammar, knowledge and ignorance of which binds us hand and foot. Here it is important to understand what your goal is in communication, because even a few simple tenses can be enough to feel comfortable when communicating in a foreign language. But, if your task is not just to order coffee in a cafe or find out the price of fruit at a local market, but to strive for more, then more varied grammatical variations will be required, and much more effort in learning will have to be applied.

And for a snack the scourge of our generation - lack of time. Most often, we are adults, we go to learn the language out of “need”: the boss forces us to improve our level, we got a new job in a company with foreign partners, and we need to attend conference calls or, even worse, go on business trips. Without a translator. Having started to study a foreign language, we literally step on our throats in order to set aside these two or three hours a week for classes. And, leaving the class, we exhale with relief and forget about the language until the next lesson. What additional time for communication with foreigners for practice or even elementary viewing of a series in English can we even talk about?!

But in order to communicate comfortably in the language being studied, you need to let this language into your life, make it a part of it. Therefore, you need to crash against the wall, but find time for language in addition to the class. It is possible, after all, to take additional lessons with a private teacher in addition to classes at work in groups. For example, the teachers of our school, knowing some of the weaknesses of their beloved students, additionally encourage them to do something other than homework from the textbook: follow the news and retell it, keep a diary of daily listening to the BBC, tell a joke, etc. See how cool and interesting everything can be? And as always, everything ingenious is simple.

How to overcome the language barrier?

Keep calm

There is nothing worse than being nervous. Remember at least one exam in your life when you were nervous and forgot everything you learned the day before. The first attempts at unprepared communication in the target language will be just such an exam. But if you give yourself the attitude that communication is not always easy, even in your native language, that anything can happen, then the chances of succeeding are much higher.

I really want you to be sure that your potential interlocutors will always be happy to help, listen patiently and generally treat you with great sympathy, since you are already a great fellow, because you are learning his language.

Haste in our case, only a hindrance.

In our daydreams, we walk the streets of New York City and, rustling leaves in the park, skim through a gripping story about a terribly funny incident at work. However, at first, our speech will not be so fast and uninhibited, for which you need to be prepared and not reproach yourself for being slow. Your task is not to learn to speak quickly! Your task is to learn how to speak correctly, using modern expressions! Remember successful people - they never speak quickly, but do it slowly, emphasizing intonation certain words, making pauses. Perhaps this is how at first you can smooth out your shortcomings in speech, and then completely make it a style. Who knows how much weight it will gain in the future.

Don't try to understand every word.

We are responsible people. We always want to understand everything, find out how each word is translated, diligently enter it into the dictionary, but ... There comes a moment when it becomes impossible to grasp everything at once. Here you have to overcome yourself a little and stop trying to understand everything thoroughly. Take this test with yourself - turn on the BBC live and listen for 10 minutes. You will catch yourself in the fact that despite the chaos, you are able to snatch out words and phrases. Now put it all together and you get the meaning of what the hosts are talking about.

Why am I? There is nothing wrong with the fact that your interlocutor uses words unknown to you. You get the basic message, and great. Even teachers who work with the language every day cannot know all the words - because languages are constantly changing, moreover, on different continents, people who speak the same language (English and Americans) often cannot understand each other due to different expressions that some use it and others don't.

4. Don't be afraid to ask questions.

And yes, don't be afraid to ask. Let your interlocutor explain - what kind of interesting word did he use or what did he mean by that? And if you turned out to be too complicated for him, just repeat for him what you wanted to say. The reverse is also possible - a good way to practice paraphrasing and simplifying sentence structure. Take note!

5. Practice more.

You can prepare for a meeting with your future interlocutors. It's like a long-awaited, long-planned date - you can do everything possible to make it as successful as possible. How can this be done?

You can train your ear. I have already mentioned the experiment with the BBC - listen and understand what is happening in the world. Do this daily, turn it on in the background. You will quietly move to a new level - in addition to a general understanding of any interlocutor, of any nationality with “his” language, you will begin to write down useful phrases in your secret vocabulary book. Do not be lazy and feel free to memorize them - write them a hundred or two hundred times, come up with a sheet with stupid sentences - whatever your creative soul desires. Read more about that in our article.

6. Make mistakes and smile.

And finally, give yourself the opportunity to be yourself, allow yourself to make mistakes and analyze them. Mistakes are our way to knowledge and perfection, long in our interest.

Think of our parents who tell us not to do something because they know the danger. Often we do not listen to them, doing as we see fit. So what? Yes, something could go wrong, an error occurred. For the most part, it does no serious harm and serves us only as an experience. While we are afraid to take a step, something eludes us.

Learning a language is a huge world that opens up to us. We don't want to miss it, do we? No. Allow yourself to try to be natural - ask again, think, speak slowly and look for words that will accurately convey the state of mind. You will see yourself from a different side, because by doing all this you will re-know yourself.

And also, smile. It irritates and attracts everyone)))

P.S. I really want you to smile and feel a little more confident after reading this article at the end. And I am sure that the next conversation with a foreigner will go much easier for you.

LF school warns: language learning is addictive!

Learn foreign languages via Skype at LingvaFlavor School

Instruction

It is worth remembering that the impossibility of overcoming the language barrier is, first of all, a purely psychological problem that arises for various reasons, the main of which is the fear of looking ridiculous.
To overcome such a phobia, you can deliberately laugh at it by saying something like “Yes, I misused this word - everything, everything is gone and life is over” or “Yes, I could not pronounce this word correctly - now they will throw stones at me and start watering dirt."
By uttering such phrases, a person brings the problem to the point of absurdity and, as a rule, this helps to get rid of the root cause of fear.

If the first method is not, the language barrier can be broken down by practicing in front of a mirror.
To do this, you need to come up with some kind of problem situation for yourself (for example, you don’t know how to get to street N) and think through in detail all the phrases and appeals that you could use in the dialogue. After you can recite them confidently and with the correct intonation, you need to demonstrate your skills to someone you know - for an honest, objective assessment of your emotional state during a conversation.

If this did not help, then you can play on honesty - honestly admit to your interlocutor that you are very worried. Thus, you will win over the foreigner and, having spoken the problem out loud, relieve your tension.

Before the trip, try to immerse yourself in the language environment you need as much as possible by asking relatives and friends to communicate only in the foreign language that you need.

The most ideal way to quickly and easily overcome the language barrier is to listen to songs and watch movies in the foreign language you need. The brain itself will remember the correct pronunciation, and when you hear an unfamiliar word in the speech of the actors, you can independently find the translation in the dictionary.

Advice 2: Which pilot was the first to break the supersonic barrier

To overcome the sound speed, not only skill was required, but also personal courage - no one knew how the aircraft would behave in extreme conditions, what loads the pilot would experience. The American pilot was the first to break the sound barrier in level flight and return to base.

Officially, the first pilot from the USA, Chuck Yeager, overcame supersonic speed. The record was set on 10/14/1957 on the Bell X-1, which was specially designed for this purpose in early 1946 by Bell Aircraft. The aircraft was manufactured by order of the military, but had nothing to do with the conduct of hostilities. The car was literally crammed with research equipment. Outwardly, the Bell X-1 resembled a modern cruise missile.

Test pilot Chuck Yeager

Pilot in 1923 February 13. After graduating from school, the young man immediately entered the flight school, after which he had to fight in Europe. At the very beginning of his flying career, the pilot managed to shoot down the Messerschmit-109, but later he himself was defeated in the French sky and was forced to parachute.

The pilot was picked up by partisans, but counterintelligence removed him from flying. Outraged, Chuck secured an appointment with Eisenhower, who commanded the Allied forces. He believed the young man and, as it turned out, not in vain: the brave pilot managed to shoot down another 13 aircraft before the end of the war.

Yeager returned home with an excellent track record, characteristics, awards, in the rank of captain. This contributed to the inclusion of the pilot in a special team of testers, who at that time were selected as carefully as astronauts. Chuck's plane became the Captivating Glenys, in honor of his wife. The aircraft was equipped with one jet engine and was launched from a B-52 bomber.

On a winged car, the pilot set speed records more than once: at the end of 1947, he first broke the previous height (21372 m), and in 1953 he managed to accelerate the device to almost 2800 km / h, or 2.5 M (the speed of sound is measured in “max”, named after the German philosopher, ; 1 M is equal to 1200 km / h). Yeager retired as a brigadier general in 1975, having managed to take part in the Vietnam War and the fighting in Korea.

The USSR could not stay away from attempts to overcome the sound barrier; several design bureaus at once (Lavochkin, Yakovlev, Mikoyan) participated in the preparation of an aircraft that was supposed to be faster than sound. Such an honor fell to the La-176 aircraft, from Lavochkin's "company". The car was fully prepared for flights in 1948, in December. And on the 26th, Colonel Fedorov overcame the notorious barrier, accelerating in a dive. Later, the pilot received the Hero of the Soviet Union.

One of the most common problems that arise in the way of learning a foreign language is the language barrier. Sooner or later, most people who study English face this problem. In this article, we'll show you how to deal with it!

What is a language barrier or fear of communication?

Imagine this situation: you start learning English at school, then continue at the institute, maybe in courses or even on your own. And now you know the rules, have a large vocabulary, read, translate and write letters. It would seem that everything is going well, you speak the language well, but then you realize that you are completely unable to express your thoughts in a conversation. This problem is the language barrier or fear of communication: the inability of a person who knows the language at a certain level to communicate in it.

Reasons for the language barrier:

Lack of conversational practice and difficulty in understanding English speech.
Basically, when learning a language, we are taught first of all grammar, reading and writing, forgetting that we learn the language in order to speak it.
Fear of making a mistake in conversation and lack of confidence in their knowledge.
A person is guided by the principle: if I do not say anything, then I will not make a mistake.
Shyness in dealing with people.
For some people who have little contact even with their surroundings (family, colleagues), it is difficult to communicate in Russian.

7 tips to help you overcome the language barrier:

1. Start talking in English

This is the most efficient way! Talk, talk and talk again. Think about how you learned to swim. At first you felt uncomfortable, swam only near the shore, afraid to swim into the depths. But the more you practiced, the freer you felt in the water. And soon all your fears passed, and nothing prevented you from swimming as far as you want.

The same will happen with your communication skill. The more you have speaking practice the more confident you will feel. It is better not to start with native speakers. Try to start practicing with those for whom English is also not their native language. This will help relieve stress and fear.

2. Stop being afraid of mistakes

The main thing to understand: all people make mistakes, and there is nothing wrong with that. Only those who do nothing do not make mistakes. If you allow yourself to make mistakes, you will improve your English communication skills much faster.

3. Relax and smile

Communicate in a positive way. After all, a smile is a universal tool that will help you in any dialogue. Show goodwill, and the interlocutor will only be happy to help you, even if you make a mistake when trying to formulate your request.

4. Don't be shy

Do not be afraid to admit that you do not understand the interlocutor well enough, do not hesitate to ask again or ask him to speak more slowly. Of course, he will begin to express himself more simply, because it is also important for him to be understood. In the end, your interlocutor is the same person as you, and also often worries and thinks about how to say his thought so that it is understood.

5. Read aloud

Read books, articles, magazines in English exactly aloud: learn words and expressions - repeat them in full voice. Such an exercise will help you get used to the pronunciation of these words and not be afraid to do it already in a dialogue with the interlocutor.

6. Use your knowledge

Use what you already know every day. Remember that the sooner you start practicing English communication, the better. No need to get hung up on a thorough study of grammar and rules. It is enough to learn some words and phrases and start using them, learning additional words along the way. By the way, you can subscribe to our newsletters in the form after the article. There we send 1 word and 1 expression once a week. Learn and immediately apply in life!

7. Get rid of the fear of looking stupid

In most cases, our interlocutors think about our English better than we do. Many often underestimate themselves. So why not cast aside those unnecessary fears?

Remember - all your fears can be overcome. The main thing is to start communicating in English!

How did you overcome your fears of speaking a foreign language?