Of all the awkward comments that students make, the one that most concerns me is: “well, I can understand everything that you say but I just can´t talk that well.” Well, Duh! I believe that our greatest enemy is ignorance for it will convert lies into truth and will turn naiveté into downright ineptitude. Well, it`s okay to know that you don´t know-there´s hope. But, to not know that you don´t know, now that´s catastrophic! When students say that they understand or can read better than they can speak, that let´s me know that they don´t realize that this is completely normal and natural…that’s the way it should be! This is the state in which most literate and college students find themselves when studying another language. I have never known an educated woman who actually spoke better than she could read, or spoke better than she could understand…does this make sense? Speaking IS our weakest skill, unless we are illiterate! This is normal, don’t freak out as if you`re a freak. So, please don’t let ignorance detain you from venturing in the speaking forum. So, the next time I hear this, I will throw a book at the brick wall and hope that it is thrown back at me!
Student, understand that speaking is your weakest skill. And, as soon as you become aware of this, you will lose this fear of speaking since you’ realize that speaking well is a life-long task. Nobody is worse or better, the other student who you perceive as cuasi-fluent is really not. They speak just as bad as you do. So, please, go ahead and speak. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes. If children can do this, you should be able to, as well! Let the mistakes roll off your tongue.
And, there’s nothing worse than a student who is afraid to speak. Why? As an language instructor, I can’t assess your level unless you speak. And, now that I find myself in Valladolid with these 20 or so students who said that they want to be able to speak it better, they need to accept the fact that they aren´t any less competent than anybody else with regard to this skill. Speaking IS an innate characteristic, exclusively human. But, Good Speaking is NOT! This has to be rehearsed. In order to learn a language, one must first listen to it, a lot, and then little by little begin to produce it, by speaking first and then by writing. Writing, as I’ve mentioned in “oral communication…” is helpful after you’ve begun to speak and after having been exposed to it a bunch! When instructors distort this natural order, language learning becomes unnatural and students begin to realize that they can definitely read, understand and write, but can barely say “*me llamo es Sonia.” Get beyond this ignorant and erroneous idea and for goodness sake, let’s cultivate the most beautiful and primitive of art forms: speaking.

Posted in pedagogía