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LIFE IN KOREAPosted by Klara 🇨🇿 Czechia · 1 month ago
Terrified of speaking in class. does that go away?
i freeze when i have to speak a language i'm bad at. in school i'd rather take a zero than speak.
is language school going to be constant speaking from day 1? how did you get past this
is language school going to be constant speaking from day 1? how did you get past this
9 comments
OFFICIAL ANSWER
EvanALLO TEAM
English desk · Seoul
Yes, it is constant speaking from day one, and yes, it does go away — usually faster than people expect, and for a specific reason.
What the classroom is actually like: a lot of pair work, a lot of repeating after the teacher, a lot of short questions round the room. You will speak in your first hour. That sounds like the worst possible news for you, and it is actually the thing that solves it.
Why it works differently from school:
1. Everyone is bad. In a level 1 class, every single person is at the same level of incompetence. There is no one to be embarrassed in front of, because the person watching you struggle is about to struggle in exactly the same way.
2. There is no grade attached to speaking badly. School language classes punished error; language school treats error as the material. Teachers correct constantly and unemotionally, and it stops feeling personal within about two weeks.
3. The pair work format means you are speaking to one person, not performing for a room. Most of your speaking time is not public.
4. Your classmates are strangers who will still be strangers if it goes badly — and they will not, because they are busy panicking about their own turn.
What actually helps, from students who came in with the same fear:
- Sit near the front. Counterintuitive, but the back row waits longer and the dread builds.
- Prepare one sentence about yourself before day one. Having something ready for the inevitable first question removes the worst moment.
- Tell your teacher in week one. Say it plainly. Good teachers adjust how they call on you, and every teacher at these programs has taught anxious students before.
- Choose the lower level if you are between two. Being comfortably able to say things beats being technically capable of understanding them.
The honest timeline: most students describe weeks 1 and 2 as horrible, week 3 as tolerable, and week 6 as fine. The dread is worse than the thing.
What the classroom is actually like: a lot of pair work, a lot of repeating after the teacher, a lot of short questions round the room. You will speak in your first hour. That sounds like the worst possible news for you, and it is actually the thing that solves it.
Why it works differently from school:
1. Everyone is bad. In a level 1 class, every single person is at the same level of incompetence. There is no one to be embarrassed in front of, because the person watching you struggle is about to struggle in exactly the same way.
2. There is no grade attached to speaking badly. School language classes punished error; language school treats error as the material. Teachers correct constantly and unemotionally, and it stops feeling personal within about two weeks.
3. The pair work format means you are speaking to one person, not performing for a room. Most of your speaking time is not public.
4. Your classmates are strangers who will still be strangers if it goes badly — and they will not, because they are busy panicking about their own turn.
What actually helps, from students who came in with the same fear:
- Sit near the front. Counterintuitive, but the back row waits longer and the dread builds.
- Prepare one sentence about yourself before day one. Having something ready for the inevitable first question removes the worst moment.
- Tell your teacher in week one. Say it plainly. Good teachers adjust how they call on you, and every teacher at these programs has taught anxious students before.
- Choose the lower level if you are between two. Being comfortably able to say things beats being technically capable of understanding them.
The honest timeline: most students describe weeks 1 and 2 as horrible, week 3 as tolerable, and week 6 as fine. The dread is worse than the thing.
Was this helpful?Updated 1 month ago
9 comments
Sign in to join the conversation.
You can still post anonymously after signing in.i had exactly this. genuinely considered not going. week one i wanted to die, week six i was volunteering answers. the fact that everyone else is equally bad is what fixes it, nothing else
31
thank you for writing this out. this is the first thing i've read that actually helps
10
week 1 horrible, week 6 fine is exactly my experience too. it's a really consistent curve
7
tell your teacher. i did, in bad korean, in week one. she started giving me a heads up before calling on me and it made an enormous difference
18
they've all taught anxious students. it is not a strange thing to say
6
take the lower level. i tested into 2, took 1 on purpose, and being the person who could actually speak did more for my confidence than anything
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most of the speaking is in pairs, not in front of the class. that surprised me and it's much less scary than it sounds from the outside
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yeah the "whole class listening" thing is maybe 10% of the speaking time
5
sit at the front. i know. but the waiting is the worst part and the front row waits least
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