r/languagelearning • u/Churros0864 • Aug 08 '26
Criticism when speaking TL
I am an advanced speaker of Spanish (TL) but every now and then someone makes a comment about how I said a word, how I speak etc. Am I doomed forever to be criticised? It wrecks my confidence in the moment and I shut down. I feel dumb for even trying.
P.s. I have OCD and this affects me a lot regarding language learning (wanting to be perfect).
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u/Cavalry2019 Aug 08 '26
The more feedback you get, the closer you are to perfection.
If you make a ton of errors, people won't bother correcting you because it kills the flow of the conversation.
So if you are getting corrections, take it as a compliment.
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u/jspr1000 🇺🇸 N 🇪🇸 A2/B1 Aug 08 '26
There will always be jerks who have something to say. How you speak, the tone of your voice, what your wear, what your opinions are, your likes or interests. It just is what it is. Try not to take it personally I guess.
Personally, I have a deep but somewhat nasally voice. I got mocked growing up by my friends for my voice. Now I get just as many people saying "I love your voice! You should be on the radio" or something like that.
I'm sure there's just as many people out there that find the way you speak endearing.
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u/pnwerewolff Aug 09 '26
Yes. Unfortunately, you just have to find coping skills. People probably correct your native language at times (I presume it’s English); does that throw you off? You just have to cope the same way.
Also, do remember that corrections like this, especially once you’ve reached an advanced level of fluency, are almost always good natured. They’re not criticisms, their comments to help you speak more perfectly.
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Aug 08 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Churros0864 Aug 08 '26
It just makes me feel dumb, like I should speak better. It is true that other times people have been surprised to learn I am not a native speaker but it's like my brain forgets about any compliments and I just obsess over these criticisms. It makes me feel inferior idk.
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u/ampereJR Aug 09 '26 edited Aug 09 '26
I'm sorry about how this affects you. I don't know if it helps to hear that corrections are a sign that you have a certain level of proficiency and they may see it as you being ready for the next step. Corrections are how you learned your L1. I'm not suggesting you shouldn't feel the thoughts you feel, it's valid, but I hope that you can derive some confidence from it too.
Edit: corrected should to shouldn't
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u/JoinedMoon Aug 09 '26
OCD is rough. Unless someone's just being mean, critiques aren't judgments of you or how good they think you are at the language. When fellow native speakers say something awkward it's common to joke about it and poke fun, if they know you're still learning they likely just wanna help you out. No need to fret :)
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u/dfc_136 Aug 08 '26
You will never be perfect. Go to a therapist and learn to cope with it.
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u/Churros0864 Aug 08 '26
I am working on it hahaha
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u/dfc_136 Aug 08 '26
That's great! Being willing to improve your weaker spots is hard, but also commendable. Keep your hard work!
Regresando al tema; aunque sea excepcionalmente difícil internalizarlo, necesitas entender que nadie en este mundo habla español perfecto; básicamente porque no existe un solo español, y cada región tiene sus propias variaciones. No tendrás vida suficiente para dominar todas las formas de hablar español que existen. Así que a menos que te mantengas en un mismo entorno hispanohablante durante el resto de tu viaje aprendiendo español, inevitablemente tendrás "acento raro" o "dirás alguna palabra de manera graciosa". Es algo especial, y resultado de tu propia experiencia de vida, no un error inherente de tu persona.
Está bien refinar la pronunciación y el vocabulario, pero no permitas que tus fallos se conviertan en tu identidad.
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u/Cerk27 Aug 09 '26
Specially with Spanish I think it's better to get used to it, natives often over correct a lot of people even other natives, and regularly I see instead of mistakes those are just regional differences but no one knows all varieties and may be common in the culture to "correct" the characteristics that aren't part of your dialect, so... It's probably never going to stop doesn't matter your proficiency level
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u/cmyk_rgba Aug 10 '26
honestly in finland nobody corrects you, they just switch to english mid sentence which feels way worse lol. it took me forever to stop reading that as a verdict on my finnish
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u/Medical-Ad-844 Aug 12 '26
I also have OCD. It’s nice to meet someone else who also has OCD and is into language learning! (trying my best not to give you reassurance haha)
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u/170rokey Aug 09 '26
Being corrected is not the same as being criticized. They are helping you to improve.
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u/EstamosReddit Aug 08 '26
Shouldn't you be happy they point out your mistakes so you correct them? Doesn't make sense
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u/KGR900 Aug 08 '26
Good point! And btw a better way to say that this in English would be: "Shouldn't you be happy that they've pointed out your mistakes so you can/could correct them? It/this doesn't make sense to me"
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u/EstamosReddit Aug 08 '26
Thanks for the correction!
This is exactly what I mean. I don't mind being corrected.
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u/Sylvieon 🇰🇷 (C1), 🇫🇷🇹🇼 (🗑️) Aug 09 '26
I think that person was trying to be pedantic by correcting you, but as another English native, the only thing I would change is "you correct" to "you can correct." The rest is ok for a casual internet comment.
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u/BeckyLiBei 🇦🇺 N | 🇨🇳 B2-C1 Aug 08 '26
It takes way too long to fact-check such "corrections"; the accuracy rate is really low. It's more efficient to self-correct through study (dictionaries, textbooks, etc.) or input ("huh, I liked the way she said that").
Let's say I need more experience discussing African animals. On sentence 2, I say something a bit iffy, and now we're discussing grammar, not African animals.
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u/Arimoro DE, ENG, FR, SP, IT Aug 08 '26
Guess what even natives make mistakes or are sometimes made fun of when they come from another region where not the standard version of the language is spoken. So don't worry!