I wanted to discuss this topic as this issue I believe is quite frequent when students are learning a new language. The fear is quite real for many students learning a language.

I have been Teaching French for several years and I have been able to observe adults and children learning French. I have seen students trying to repeat words and try to make phrases and simply having a go. I have also seen several students telling me that they will try to repeat the words only when they know how to pronounce the words. The fear of speaking the language is often due to the fact that those students worry about what other people might think or say. Overcoming that fear is very important in the acquisition of a language.

I do believe that when a student tries to say the words in a foreign language out loud they get a mental memory of the sounds of the words. The sound of vowels that you will say might not be exactly like a French native speaker but as long as you are able to say the words and being understood that is the first step to be able to communicate. The student does not need to learn the correct spelling at first but should try to hear and repeat the sound. You will learn to speak French in trying to speak French. This article is written based on my own personal experiences as a French teacher.