Being Shy Is VERY Expensive ☹️💬

Salut !!

I had a French professor who once said something like:

“Being shy is very expensive”

And it always stuck with me! 

I used to be so shy in all areas of my life and it cost me a lot of opportunities, relationships, and I missed out on a ton of other great things. All because I was too shy.

But then I decided one day in my mid 20s (I just turned 34 yesterday) that I didn’t want to live that way anymore. So I watched a bunch of YouTube videos and read a few books about it and I finally started to feel more confident.

I also started a YouTube channel partly because I wanted to get over my shyness!

All that to say, don’t let being shy stop you from creating the life you want! And it certainly shouldn’t stop you from learning French !!

As I say all the time, the only way to get good at speaking French is to practice having conversations with someone.

If you want to speak French well, you don’t really have a choice! You have to practice holding conversations in French.

A great way to do that is on apps like Tandem or HelloTalk(we’re not currently sponsored by them, I just love their apps and have met some amazing people on there).

These are apps where you can meet a French speakerlearning a language you speak. It’s a language exchange, so you’ll both help each other learn the other’s language.

It’s a great way to start using French in conversation and meet new friends all over the world!

You can learn how to start having conversations in French in our FREE French e-Course.

If you need some more help, this is what I tell my clients who are shy:

  • You can start the conversation w/ your language partner in English (or whatever your native language / the language they’re trying to learn is), it’s an exchange and they’d be glad to start the interaction off in their target language

  • You can text - this takes a lot of the pressure off, you can take your time to respond, look things up, etc.

  • Fill out your profile well, make it look it inviting! This will make people want to talk to you

  • Send meaningful messages ! Don’t just say “hi”. Comment about something on their profile or ask them some questions

  • Spend time on the app daily! 10-15 min a day will start to add up

  • Send like messages to around 10 people a day until you find someone you click with. It might take a while to find friends you have common interests with.

I hope that helps you! Be sure to spend time practicing conversing in French this weekend and let me know how it goes!

If you have any questions, please send me a DM on Instagram ! I’d love to help you

À bientôt !

Charlie

Charles Whitesides