Have You Experienced Language Anxiety? (Conversation Club)

This week the ‘Thinking in English’ Community is talking about their experiences with language anxiety!

Language anxiety is a feeling of worry or nervousness that we can feel because we are in a situation where we need to speak a language that is not our native one.

Sometimes we are scared of making mistakes, forgetting simple words and phrases, or we worry other people will judge us or even laugh.

Here are 10 conversation questions to get you talking about your experience with language anxiety!

The Thinking in English Conversation Club takes place every TUESDAY and THURSDAY at 12pm, 6pm, and 9pm UK time!

You can find more details on how to participate on Patreon and Discord!

Conversation Questions: Have You Experienced Language Anxiety?

1. Have you ever experienced language anxiety? What happened?

2. Why do you think people get language anxiety?

3. How can we deal with language anxiety?

4. What are the most common symptoms of language anxiety?

5. Do you experience much anxiety in different parts of your life?

6. Do you worry about making mistakes in English?

7. Do you have a funny or lighthearted story of a time you had language anxiety?

8. What expectations do you have for yourself? Do you have the same expectations for others?

9. How often do you reflect on your language learning journey?

10. “Do you know what a foreign accent is? It’s a sign of bravery.”

Amy Chua

What do you think of this quote?

Vocabulary List:

• Experience
  • If you experience something, it happens to you, or you feel it
• Language anxiety
  • the feelings of worry and negative, fear-related emotions associated with learning or using a language that is not an individual’s native language
• Deal with
  • to take action in order to achieve something or in order to solve a problem
• Symptom
  • any feeling of illness or physical or mental change that is caused by a particular disease
• Lighthearted
  • amusing and not serious
• Expectation
  • the feeling or belief that something will or should happen, how you think you should behave or what you should accomplish
• Reflect
  • to think carefully, especially about the past
• Accent
  • the way in which people in a particular area, country, or social group pronounce words
• Bravery
  • showing no fear of dangerous or difficult things

Model Answers:

B1 (Intermediate) Model Answers

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B2 (Upper Intermediate) Model Answers

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C1 (Advanced Level) Model Answers

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See you all at this week’s conversation club!

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