Why Stress in Language Learning is Nothing to Be Stressed About
Emotional discomfort, when accepted, rises, crests, and falls in a series of waves. Each wave washes parts of us away and deposits treasures we never imagined.
Martha Beck
⏱ Reading time: 2 minutes
Everyone experiences stress!
Yet somehow, we are still surprised and even a bit ashamed when we encounter it. For some reason, we think that learning a language should be easy, so when it’s not we wonder if there’s something wrong with us. It may even cause us to want to back away.
This article is here to show you how normal stress is in language learning, explain a little bit about why we react the way we do, and give you some tools to help you deal with it when it comes.
Expect to be stressed!
Learning a language may uncover difficulties that you didn’t know you had! One student, during an in-country experience, said:
“Since I found myself feeling relatively comfortable in my surroundings, I was surprised when I did encounter real difficulties. Even though I’m an extroverted person, I had a hard time with speaking simply because I really dislike being obviously out of my depth. I tried to get this attitude out of the way, but I still found it difficult to approach people out on the street because I assumed they would not want to spend time humoring the stunted conversation of yet another tourist.”
Even though I’m an extroverted person, I had a hard time with speaking simply because I really dislike being obviously out of my depth.
Stress affects everyone, not just new language learners. It can cause a physical reaction that makes us want to flee what we perceive as a threat to our sense of self. One experienced Arabic professor emailed the following to students whose stress indicators he’d been measuring to help them grow in self-awareness about their stress response:
“You may be interested to know that I just had a painful encounter connected with language learning because I fell for comparing myself to another. I’m at the STARTALK Fall Conference in Orlando. We were all asked to attend a session where we learn some of a language we don’t know. I picked Hindi. I thought the woman sitting next to me and with whom I practiced was Arab but with a very good ear and memory. MUCH better than mine. I so much wanted to know what my H[eart] R[ate] V[ariability] and skin conductivity were. I was really stressed.”
Why?
When we feel threatened, our bodies naturally respond by producing hormones that raise our blood pressure and sweat production, preparing us to fight. These reactions are meant to increase our chances of survival, even though you’re unlikely to find a truly fatal threat in your language study.
Because learning a new language can be challenging, you’re going to experience stress reactions at some point, as seen in the examples above.
How to React
So if difficulties are inevitable, what should you do when you encounter them? With the right understanding, you can lean into the stress instead of walking away. This same student shared how he combats the stress that sometimes comes from conversation in a second language:
“If you find yourself in a stressful situation, find ways to gently help yourself engage. I found that taxi drivers were an invaluable way of helping myself to engage in conversation–even if it’s only pleasantries and listening to different accents. That way I’m less likely to avoid the conversation. I was also able to [create some] other productive speaking situations by giving myself a definite thing to talk about.”
The student was able to work through his stress by taking one small, active step, instead of letting himself be overcome by the situation. By proactively choosing to start a conversation with a taxi driver, or coming up with a specific topic to speak about, he started moving in the right direction and ended up having a positive, productive experience. Read more about beating the fight-or-flight response in our article on avoidance.
The student was able to work through his stress by taking one small, active step, instead of letting himself be overcome by the situation. By proactively choosing to start a conversation with a taxi driver, or coming up with a specific topic to speak about, he started moving in the right direction and ended up having a positive, productive experience. Read more about beating the fight-or-flight response in our article on avoidance.
Similarly, the professor from the first story said:
“I was eventually able to calm myself, fully engage, and see that she was a great resource and learn from her. She turned out to be an Urdu speaker and I was much relieved.” [Urdu is closely related to Hindi.]
Note: Many language learners will find themselves in a similar situation studying beside a heritage speaker who, at least initially, seems incredibly fluent. Over time though, the difference between hard-working true non-native speakers and heritage speakers will often diminish substantially.
The Main Takeaway
Stress is normal, and it affects everyone! Don’t let stress discourage you and keep you from persevering.