{"id":2601,"date":"2014-10-15T09:05:13","date_gmt":"2014-10-15T13:05:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/language-news\/?p=2601"},"modified":"2025-09-18T06:22:37","modified_gmt":"2025-09-18T10:22:37","slug":"6-tips-on-learning-to-love-screwing-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/language-news\/2014\/10\/15\/6-tips-on-learning-to-love-screwing-up\/","title":{"rendered":"6 Tips on Learning to Love Screwing Up"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Itchy<\/a><\/p>\n

As I argued last week<\/a>, if you want to learn a language, you\u2019re going to have to learn to love screwing it up. As someone from the comments last time pointed out, you learn by making mistakes! It\u2019s the only way! So learn to be at ease with making a mess of things.<\/p>\n

But how?<\/p>\n

Easier said than done, right? Nobody enjoys acting and sounding like a fool (if you do, then you don\u2019t need any help from me<\/em>). So I came up with six tips for you to get comfortable with discomfort while learning a new language.<\/p>\n

1. Start with an easy language<\/strong><\/p>\n

Part of the difficulty with starting a new language is the steep learning curve. With most languages, you need several hundred words before you\u2019re feeling confident speaking about the most basic things. My solution: learn an easy language first, get used to making mistakes in that language, then learn something more difficult. By the time you graduate to harder tongues, you\u2019ll have no problem butchering it.
\n\u201cBut wait!\u201d you say. \u201cThere\u2019s no such thing as an \u2018easy\u2019 language.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wrong: there\u2019s Esperanto! It\u2019s so easy to learn, it\u2019s suspicious<\/a>. Benny the Irish Polyglot recommends learning Esperanto<\/a> for this very reason. I\u2019ve heard of people learning it fluently in months\u2014because it\u2019s constructed to be easy (if you\u2019re a western speaker, you point out. True, Esperanto won\u2019t be that easy for someone who only speaks Thai, for example. But this article is written in English, and you\u2019re reading it, so\u2026).<\/p>\n

Another reason why Esperanto is so great is that it\u2019s not a native language for anyone (okay, maybe like three people), or an official language for any country. That means you can\u2026<\/p>\n

2. Speak with someone for whom it\u2019s a second language<\/strong><\/p>\n

Learning a new language can be a lot harder if you have to communicate with native speakers all day long. As I\u2019ve mentioned before<\/a>, learning a language from people who\u2019ve learned it as a second language can be a great way to reduce stress on your end. You don\u2019t have to worry about your accent, or biffing the word order, or offending them by accidentally swearing. They don\u2019t care\u2014it\u2019s not \u201ctheir\u201d language!<\/p>\n

That said, remember that you only learn by speaking with someone who is better than you. You have to be okay being the one at a lower level, so perhaps you might as well\u2026<\/p>\n

3. Find a helpful native speaker<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve got a friend here in Berlin, a native Berliner. He speaks perfect English, as Germans tend to do<\/a>. But he knows I\u2019m learning German, and I\u2019ve asked him that when we hang out, we speak German together. This doesn\u2019t always work\u2014my own German father finds it really difficult to hold a conversation with me in German when we could just be speaking fluent English together!<\/p>\n

But if you can find someone who speaks your desired language as a mother tongue and will help you, you won\u2019t be worried about screwing up, because they\u2019ll be expecting <\/em>you to screw up. And if you biff it badly, they\u2019ll correct you. That\u2019s ideal.<\/p>\n

But you don\u2019t need to limit this to language learning. Why, if you\u2019re going down this road, why don\u2019t you just\u2026<\/p>\n

4. Practice screwing up in other areas of your life<\/strong><\/p>\n

We don\u2019t like messing up while speaking a language because we don\u2019t like messing up doing anything<\/em>. We like being competent! Well, if you can get comfortable making mistakes in every aspect of your life, you can get comfortable making mistakes in a new language.<\/p>\n

Ruined the roast for the dinner party? Laugh it off. Wore mismatched socks to work? Say it\u2019s what all the cool kids are doing (they probably are). Dropped your friend\u2019s guitar and broke it? Now you know what to get him for Christmas.<\/p>\n

Nobody\u2019s perfect, my friend, and that means you. So what if you make mistakes? As long as you can accept responsibility for them and get on with your life, you\u2019ll be fine. All you have to do is\u2026<\/p>\n

5. Love yourself<\/strong><\/p>\n

Speaking of easier said than done, am I right? But honestly, this is pretty much the key to success at anything<\/em> (who knew this article was going to be a pep talk on life?). Confidence, attitude, charisma, popularity, achievement, beauty\u2014all of these are aspects of love thyself<\/em>. And the best part? You don\u2019t need any tools, or anyone else, and you can start right now. Just think of all the aspects of yourself that you love. That\u2019s easy. Now start to love the aspects of yourself that you dislike<\/em>. Harder, but definitely possible. Practice makes perfect. If you can love yourself, warts and all, you will succeed in anything you put your mind to, and that\u2019s a fact.<\/p>\n

But let\u2019s say you can\u2019t manage to love yourself, or find willing native speakers, or learn Esperanto\u2014darn it, you just want to be a bit more relaxed when speaking a foreign language! Well, there\u2019s always\u2026<\/p>\n

6. Alcohol<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yep! We all know alcohol is a social lubricant. A little bit of beer or wine does wonders<\/em> for speaking a new language. As long as you can drink responsibly, the words will flow from your mouth like the wine flowing into it. It gives you the confidence to try new words, laugh off your mistakes, and just generally be easier on yourself. You forget that you don\u2019t know things, and you don\u2019t overthink it, which is key. Just know your limits\u2014if you\u2019re slurring your words, they\u2019ll be unintelligible and unattractive in any<\/em> language (if you\u2019re pregnant, or unable to drink, or a teetotaler, kindly see tips 1-5).<\/p>\n

Of course, while alcohol can sometimes feel like a confidence booster in social situations, it also has the potential to create unhealthy patterns when use shifts from occasional enjoyment to reliance. What begins as a tool for relaxation or social ease can gradually become a crutch, leading to dependency and the challenges that come with it. Exploring more about Sacred Journey Recovery<\/a> reveals how professional, compassionate care can provide a pathway out of these cycles, addressing not only the physical grip of addiction but also the emotional roots that sustain it.<\/p>\n

Through this holistic approach, individuals are given the opportunity to reclaim balance, build resilience, and move toward a life where confidence and connection are no longer dependent on alcohol. What about you? What tips do you have for those trying to be at ease making mistakes?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

As I argued last week, if you want to learn a language, you\u2019re going to have to learn to love screwing it up. As someone from the comments last time pointed out, you learn by making mistakes! It\u2019s the only way! So learn to be at ease with making a mess of things. But how?…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":115,"featured_media":4451,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[542801],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2601","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archived-posts"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/language-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2601","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/language-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/language-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/language-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/115"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/language-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2601"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/language-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2601\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9623,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/language-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2601\/revisions\/9623"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/language-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4451"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/language-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2601"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/language-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2601"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/language-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2601"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}