Barriers To Effective communication

Being a linguist and an English language instructor, what I've noticed during my eight years journey of teaching is that effective communication, especially verbal communication, is marred by some sort of hurdles which are more of psychological than physical.

I, however, have pinpointed some factors here, which I'm sure, most of you have been facing every now and then. All of us must overcome and rectify them with positivity. 

Never Under-estimate yourself:

At times, it happens to most of us that we, as humans, are completely unaware of our strength and knowledge, because of which we feel low self-esteem. If you are one of such people, then my dear readers, it's just the fact that you are deluded. You must realise your strength and think positive about your knowledge and your position in a society. 

Not having enough opportunities:

Most of the times, it happens that in our real life situations, we don't have ample of opportunities to communicate in target language. In fact, people around us prefer to speak in native language, which eventually, tempts the listener to speak in the same language. So yeah, you can say language is like a viral. It's contagious. It influences both the speaker and the listener. But even then, you need to create an environment for yourself. You are the change! 

So be a trend setter, be a change. 

Think of alternative words:

Ever thought why, in a connected speech, there comes a point where you get stuck and you know things, but the right word's not popping up in your mind or you repeat the same two or three well beaten words over and over? Well, that's just because you have a limited vocabulary at hand. You probably know lot of synonyms along with their meanings but since you aren't using them, they are lying somewhere deep down in your subconscious. You should think of all such alternatives or synonyms you know of a single word. This practice will enrich your vocabulary and it will definitely enhance your communication skills. 

Code Switching:

Admit the fact that whenever we run out of sentences or words, we immediately switch to our mother tongue just to avoid the embarrassing silence or to conceal our weakness. In this kind of situation, I suggest you to stick to the target language, no matter how tempting it is to move on from one language to another that serves as crutches. This is not the way to combat the situation. We'll never be able to master our fears. So, learn to face the truth. Stick to the target language as if it's the only language you know or the only language that's spoken in your surroundings. Easy escape isn't the solution to a genuine problem.