𝙄 𝘼𝙨𝙠𝙚𝙙 𝙈𝙮 𝙎𝙩𝙪𝙙𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙨 𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙞𝙧 𝘽𝙞𝙜𝙜𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙁𝙚𝙖𝙧—𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙎𝙖𝙞𝙙 𝙎𝙪𝙧𝙥𝙧𝙞𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙈𝙚

I recently asked a simple question during a class:
“𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙞𝙨 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙗𝙞𝙜𝙜𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙛𝙚𝙖𝙧 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙞𝙩 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙖𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙀𝙣𝙜𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙝?”
I expected the usual answers—grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation.
But what I got instead was something far deeper.

❝ Ma’am I feel people will laugh at me if I speak wrong. ❞
❝ What if I forget everything while talking? ❞
❝ I know the answer, but I’m scared to raise my hand. ❞
❝ I feel like I’m not smart enough. ❞

And just like that, I realized:
𝙄𝙩’𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙪𝙖𝙜𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩’𝙨 𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙥𝙥𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢. 𝙄𝙩’𝙨 𝙛𝙚𝙖𝙧

𝑭𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒐𝒇 𝑱𝒖𝒅𝒈𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 > 𝑭𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒐𝒇 𝑮𝒓𝒂𝒎𝒎𝒂𝒓:
Most of these students are bright.
They know the answer.
They understand the question.
They even practice at home.

But the moment they face the world—
𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇-𝒅𝒐𝒖𝒃𝒕, 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒐𝒏, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒑𝒂𝒔𝒕 𝒉𝒖𝒎𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓.
This isn’t just an English problem
It’s 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒇𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒊𝒔.

𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑺𝒕𝒖𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔 𝑵𝒆𝒆𝒅 𝑴𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒏 𝑮𝒓𝒂𝒎𝒎𝒂𝒓 𝑹𝒖𝒍𝒆𝒔:

• A safe space to make mistakes
• Encouragement when they try
• Someone who believes in them, especially when they don’t
• Practical speaking opportunities, not just worksheets

❤ 𝑻𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑬𝒏𝒈𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒉 𝑰𝒔𝒏’𝒕 𝑱𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝑨𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝑳𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒖𝒂𝒈𝒆:
It’s about 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇-𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒉.
It’s about 𝙩𝙚𝙡𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙞𝙧 𝙫𝙤𝙞𝙘𝙚 𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧.
It’s about 𝙧𝙚𝙬𝙞𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙮𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙛𝙚𝙖𝙧 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙤 𝙖 𝙛𝙚𝙬 𝙢𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙖𝙜𝙚.

And sometimes, all it takes is one teacher, one moment, one kind sentence
𝙄𝙩’𝙨 𝙤𝙠𝙖𝙮 𝙩𝙤 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙢𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙚𝙨—𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙣 𝙄 𝙙𝙤. 𝘽𝙪𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪’𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙧𝙮𝙞𝙣𝙜. 𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩’𝙨 𝙗𝙧𝙖𝙫𝙚.

🌱 𝑭𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝑻𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒔:

Whether you’re a teacher, parent, or just someone who wants to help—
Remember this: Your words have power.

Sometimes, the right words at the right time can turn fear into fuel.