Anyone had or have trouble speaking fluently or thinking straight?

[stevow7]

English is my second language, I have an accent and I make content mostly on English. I think my english is alright.

I noticed something while editing clips. due to me not probably thinking straight I don't finish sentences many times without pausing and say a lot of ummmm ammmm stuff like that. sometimes I start a sentence, stay quiet thinking and then continue after.

How can I practice to speak fluently and better?

I keep blaming it's due to things that are happening in my life right now, especially health.

 

[Dorado]

This sounds like classic anxiety. I have a tendency to combine words (think “grool,” like Cady from Mean Girls says), lose my train of thought and not articulate myself as eloquently, and stutter when I’m anxious. It’s important for me to not beat myself up over it. I have to view it as a sign of anxiety and remind myself that managing my emotions in that particular moment - not perfection - is what I must focus on. Self-compassion is critical.

Why does this happen? Distractions. It can be difficult to accurately or fully express my thoughts when I’m in fight-or-flight mode. That only makes me more human!

It doesn’t matter how long you’ve mastered a language - anybody who is dealing with strong emotions can experience this. Remember to be kind to yourself.

 

[JanAtheCPA]

My personal trainer moved back to the Czech Republic in 2020, and now she's encountering Ukrainian refugees, some of whom speak English, but with others she's trying to communicate using the German she and they learned years ago in school. So that's Czech, English, and German she's currently using, and she's super-stressed out, clearly taking on the trauma of the women and children she is interacting with, on top of the fear everyone there has about Putin being so close by.

So it's not really surprising that when we've had our recent weekly video training sessions, she's been almost incomprehensible in English, whereas normally I have no problem understanding her, as she spent many years in the U.S. It's all about her level of stress.

 

[stevow7]

This sounds like classic anxiety. I have a tendency to combine words (think “grool,” like Cady from Mean Girls says), lose my train of thought and not articulate myself as eloquently, and stutter when I’m anxious. It’s important for me to not beat myself up over it. I have to view it as a sign of anxiety and remind myself that managing my emotions in that particular moment - not perfection - is what I must focus on. Self-compassion is critical.

Why does this happen? Distractions. It can be difficult to accurately or fully express my thoughts when I’m in fight-or-flight mode. That only makes me more human!

It doesn’t matter how long you’ve mastered a language - anybody who is dealing with strong emotions can experience this. Remember to be kind to yourself.[/QUOTE let me see if I understand you. mostly its because of anxiety? I have been feeling like shut down for some days now cant even think straight. idk if its due to low testosterone.

 

[stevow7]

My personal trainer moved back to the Czech Republic in 2020, and now she's encountering Ukrainian refugees, some of whom speak English, but with others she's trying to communicate using the German she and they learned years ago in school. So that's Czech, English, and German she's currently using, and she's super-stressed out, clearly taking on the trauma of the women and children she is interacting with, on top of the fear everyone there has about Putin being so close by.

So it's not really surprising that when we've had our recent weekly video training sessions, she's been almost incomprehensible in English, whereas normally I have no problem understanding her, as she spent many years in the U.S. It's all about her level of stress.

so its stress shutting down our brain?

 

[Sita]

so its stress shutting down our brain?

In a way...yes. I understand your problem since English is not my native language and I live in the US now.

I went back to school when emigrating here. At that point, I just emigrated to the US, coming from Germany. German is not my native language either. I studied foreign languages in the US. Two other different languages. And these two languages are not my native languages either.

I used to work as a tutor when in school (in US), tutoring German, the two languages that I was majoring in, ESL and sometimes volunteering to tutor Logic.

It was a very stressful period in my life. New country here, no family except my husband, no friends at that time (here in the US). I had students coming for tutoring that were not fluent in English yet (international students for example). And I had to explain to them the German grammar ... in English. Or the types of arguments (Logic)... in English. I had a student once, he was from South America, spoke little English. He had a handicap and was difficult for him to articulate words. He needed help for his German class. For grammar. Imagine teaching him about der, die, das and dative case! He was very intelligent and driven so...we made progress.

Yes, stress is going to mess up with your brain. You start to mix up the languages, the words, the grammar, you need more time in your head to find the right word while in conversation etc. It happened to me in the past and even now sometimes. When I'm ill or in pain or very stressed out. It can be funny sometimes, ha ha.

I used/use meditation a lot to relax. Also having a clean diet and exercising in nature. Hobbies (I knit) and not watching the news daily also...are very very helpful.

Take good care of yourself.

 

[stevow7]

In a way...yes. I understand your problem since English is not my native language and I live in the US now.

I went back to school when emigrating here. At that point, I just emigrated to the US, coming from Germany. German is not my native language either. I studied foreign languages in the US. Two other different languages. And these two languages are not my native languages either.

I used to work as a tutor when in school (in US), tutoring German, the two languages that I was majoring in, ESL and sometimes volunteering to tutor Logic.

It was a very stressful period in my life. New country here, no family except my husband, no friends at that time (here in the US). I had students coming for tutoring that were not fluent in English yet (international students for example). And I had to explain to them the German grammar ... in English. Or the types of arguments (Logic)... in English. I had a student once, he was from South America, spoke little English. He had a handicap and was difficult for him to articulate words. He needed help for his German class. For grammar. Imagine teaching him about der, die, das and dative case! He was very intelligent and driven so...we made progress.

Yes, stress is going to mess up with your brain. You start to mix up the languages, the words, the grammar, you need more time in your head to find the right word while in conversation etc. It happened to me in the past and even now sometimes. When I'm ill or in pain or very stressed out. It can be funny sometimes, ha ha.

I used/use meditation a lot to relax. Also having a clean diet and exercising in nature. Hobbies (I knit) and not watching the news daily also...are very very helpful.

Take good care of yourself.

thanks! you as well!