“Come on, don’t be shy!” This is probably one of the most common comments you would hear from an English foreign teacher encouraging Taiwanese students to speak up in class. 

Shyness is definitely the most typical characteristic you will find in Asian students, at least in Taiwan(😅). Fear is the annoying friend who always comes along with shyness so I put them together. I would say they are rather difficult for us to overcome, but it is not impossible to overcome as long as we take time and find the proper solutions.

Here again are the six mind monsters that I consider are holding us back from better learning English:

• Perfectionism
• Shyness & Fear
• Comparison
• Environment
• Fixed Mindset
• A Lack of Constant Input & Output

Shyness & Fear

With our society and education that have been greatly influenced by Ruism, or Confucianism, we are expected to comply with the ethics and social morality that to a certain extent maintain our society’s harmony. I am grateful that we are living in a beautiful culture where I get to experience people’s friendliness and politeness every day. However, it could also turn into the cause of unnecessary obedience and shyness that get in the way of learning. 

Take me for example. I was a shy person since I was a kid. In school, we normally sit and listen. I got butterflies every time I was called by teachers in class. I was terrified to speak up in class even though I had questions. From what I can recall, the majority of the students, including myself, were shy and quiet in class.

The Turning Point

However, my mindset took a turn when I was 17. I took the challenge to run a school club with my fellow school members and managed to organize activities and present performances now and then. I couldn’t remember how exactly we managed to do it, but from that experience, I came to realize that speaking up to get your ideas across makes a major difference in whether or not we can accomplish a task successfully. 

Little by little, I felt more confident and less fear in me, and I grew into a more extroverted person when it is necessary. Fortunately, I found it helpful to my English learning. For the very first time, for instance, I asked my English teacher an English question that year.

Anecdotes

Aside from my school experience, I would also like to share two stories.

In 2018, Bruno Mars held a tour concert in Taipei. I was lucky enough to be there witnessing his charm. He raised the spirit of the crowd like magic simply through his music and charisma. During the show, you would notice that some audience screamed and shouted with excitement, and you would also find a larger part of the audience sat calmly (although you know deep down their hearts were already on scorching fire). I remember after one song, the singer smiled and commented something like “I love that you enjoyed my song quietly.”  

A year later, Ed Sheeran had a concert in Taiwan. The show was phenomenal. Likewise, the singer said something alike. “You listened and appreciated my music quietly. I love that. I love that.” 

I love that they both appreciate and respect different cultures. However, from the two simple examples, you can sense that our shyness, fear, and reservedness, which might usually be presented as politeness and quietness, can be observed from the air in a dark high-spirit English concert, let alone in an English conversation course. 

Increase Familiarity Reduces Shyness and Fear

Despite all the above, I do not think shyness or fear is a problem at all. The truth is we open up quickly with friends, and we go extremely crazy and loud when we are at Taiwanese singers’ concerts, for example, concerts of A-mei, Mayday, or Jolin Tsai, where there is no language barrier. Hence, I believe the answer is just a lack of familiarity with the language and its culture. Increasing familiarity with the language will definitely help increase your confidence and relieve shyness and fear.

But how?

The first step is absolutely to conquer the fear of stepping out of our comfort zone. Our native language, Chinese, is out of the question in our comfort zone. If you find the phrase “stepping out” of your comfort zone fearful, try to think of it as “expanding” your comfort zone. I find it helpful to tell myself “I want to include English in my comfort zone” instead.

Next, we can see what we can do to increase our familiarity with English. 

One way is to learn or share with friends who also strive to advance in English learning. Learning or sharing with friends whom we are already familiar with makes us feel safer and more comfortable about the learning adventure.  

Another is to utilize available tools and resources that suit you most on a regular basis to increase your time exposure to the language. Thanks to modern-day technology, many online tools and resources can assist us in forming a higher level of familiarity with English. I would like to share some in the tools and resources section later on. 

Both Bruno Mars and Ed Sheeran had some small talk and asked the audience some simple questions in English between songs, and I as an audience could feel the air filled with both excitement and hesitation. We were unsure how or when to react. I believe once we gained a higher level of familiarity with the language, we will be able to respond more intuitively and confidently. The shyness and fear will then gradually subdue. All it takes is a little time and courage to grow familiar with it.

How to Overcome Shyness and Fear

• Expand your comfort zone (Include English in your comfort zone)
• Learn or share with familiar friends
• Use English learning tools and resources that suit you most on a regular basis to increase familiarity with English