Afraid to make mistakes in English? WATCH THIS

- Hey guys, it's Hadar

and this is the Accent's Way.

Today, I want to talk to you about

the power of communication.

And why it is so important to speak up

and express your opinion and thoughts,

even if you're making mistakes.

Even if you're not perfect.

As non-native speakers,

we are always afraid to speak and make mistakes.

We are afraid that whatever we're gonna say

is not gonna be right,

it's not gonna be perfect,

it's not gonna sound great,

and people are going to judge us.

These are the things

that go through our minds every time we speak.

Sometimes it's on the back-burner

and the need to communicate is stronger

than the need to get it always right.

But sometimes, the need to be perfect,

the fear of making mistakes is stronger

and then it prevents you from communicating.

I want to read to you a line

from a letter I received from one of my followers.

"My problem is that I'm very shy

and if I cannot do something perfect,

it feels like a failure."

So Rika, this is my answer to you

and to all of you who suffer

from the 'being-perfect illness'.

So, the first thing is perfection is overrated.

Sometimes, people don't even notice your mistakes.

Sometimes, native speakers make mistakes as well

because that's just how they speak.

Well, you know what, that's just how we,

non-natives speakers, speak.

With slight grammar mistakes here and there

and that's okay.

Or even bigger grammar mistakes.

The most important thing is to speak,

is to communicate.

Now, I want you to visualize this.

Think of this idea of perfection,

of perfection as your worst enemy,

as your biggest competitor,

as your nemesis, who is standing there around

the corner just waiting, waiting for you to fail.

Because every time you feed that monster,

every time you decide not to speak,

not to express your thoughts

because it's not fully articulated.

Because every time you say no

to an interview, or a job offer,

or an invitation, because it requires English,

and you are just not sure if your English is good enough

or you're just afraid to speak,

then you're biggest enemy is winning,

and you are losing.

This is failure.

Not trying to say something and making a mistake.

Not saying something and getting stuck.

That's not failing, that's just practicing,

that's just living.

Even native speakers make mistakes, okay.

And then it's okay,

because that's your native tongue.

Stop being so judgemental, let go,

lose this idea of perfection,

stop feeding the monster

because then you are the only person who

is going to pay the price.

Let's say you're in a meeting

and you're sitting there

and you have something to say

but you don't say it

because there is a word in it

that has an R and you're not sure how to say it.

Or you know how to start

but you are not sure how to finish

and you keep quiet.

What's gonna happen?

Who's losing from this situation?

You are.

Who's winning?

Everyone else.

Their shining, their expressing their thoughts,

their advancing.

If you don't speak up, if you don't speak out your thoughts,

your opinions, your heart,

then you'll stay behind.

Now look, I'm a non-native speaker

and I know what it's like.

I judge myself all the time.

I always listen to myself from the outside

and I'm like, Mm, you made a mistake here,

Mm, that wasn't good enough.

But had I let this affect me and control me,

I would've never made so many videos teaching you.

I would've never had a YouTube channel.

I would've never succeeded as a speech coach,

as an English coach

because I don't care about that.

I don't care about the mistakes I make.

I mean, sometimes I get a comment

and I get offended a little bit,

and I was like, I get all defensive,

but that lasts, I don't know, two seconds,

and then I'm like F that, I don't care.

Like, the large majority of my students

and my followers appreciate what I have to say

and they respect me

and that's what matters.

And it's the same thing for you.

People are more interested in what you have to say

than in the mistakes that you're making.

And if you come across a person who makes fun of you,

who is judging you, who keeps pointing out

at all your mistakes,

then maybe that person shouldn't be around you.

Maybe they're not a good friend.

So think about it.

Choose the people who you surround yourself with.

You only want people who support you,

who empower you and who encourage you.

So, Rika and all of you friends,

let's take action.

This week I want you to observe yourself

and every time you find

a situation where you're about to speak

but you hold yourself back,

or when you're about to say,

no, I'm not gonna do that

because you're afraid of speaking,

then I want you to say, yes.

Yes, to communication,

no, to perfection.

No, to being afraid.

No, to hiding.

And when that happens, I want you to share it with us.

So I want you to post on Instagram what happened,

what you did, how you overcame the fear

and I want you to hashtag it, #CommunicationOverPerfection.

And tag me as well at accentswaybyhadar.

'Cause I want to make sure I see it

and I'll feature it in my Instagram stories.

Okay, that's it.

I hope this was helpful.

Please share it with your friends

and your family who are also non-native speakers

and might prefer perfection over communication.

So we need to change it up.

Communication over perfection.

Thank you so much for watching,

don't forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel,

and I will see you next week

in the next video.

Bye.