Learning Mandarin Chinese can be exciting yet overwhelming. Unlike Spanish, French, or German, where an English speaker can correctly guess the meaning of a few words, Chinese uses a different system of writing and pronunciation. Chinese presents a challenge to the native English speaker. It is not surprising that one can run into mental resistance to learning Chinese. There are several barriers that can cause one to quit or become frustrated with Chinese. One such barrier is the fear of failure. When we fear failure, we are basically saying that we are afraid of letting ourselves or other people down. Fear of failure is being afraid of not living up to other people’s or one’s own expectations. We harshly and unjustly criticize our abilities by saying that we are not good enough.

It is easy to forget that all people had to start somewhere. Nevertheless, the fear of failure or of negative criticism can cause perfectionism to rear its ugly head. Perfectionism distracts us so that we either don’t finish that big project or we don’t even start. We want to speak perfect Chinese with perfect pronunciation and perfect grammar. Even native Chinese speakers do not always speak perfect Chinese. They make mistakes in their language just as native English speakers make mistakes in English grammar. Still, that inner critic says, “Who are you? Who do you think you are? That’s right! You’re just a nobody! You’re never gonna speak no good Chinese.” I hope the irony of that last statement did not escape the reader.

How do you deal with your inner critic? How do you deal with an entity that is as much a part of you as your own skin? Denial is a sure way to failure. Rather than deny that the inner critic exists, acknowledge and accept the fact that this person is real. This person is the part of yourself that is afraid of change. Learn to stand up to that person, and you may very well be amazed at the results in your life.

Frustration is a natural part of any learning process. Sometimes, we hit a snag or we plateau. The inner critic will be there shaking his or her finger telling you I-told-you-so. That point of frustration can actually mean that you are on the verge of a breakthrough. For example, one of my hobbies is learning how to draw. During one of my classes, the teacher gave us a drawing of half a vase. She instructed us to draw the other half as symmetrically as possible. Halfway through the drawing, I became confused and stopped. It took a few moments, but I completed the drawing. The teacher then went on to explain that most students stop about halfway through the drawing. Without going into all the detail, she stated that it is the mind trying to reconcile the actual drawing with the attempt to draw the other half symmetrically. In other words, the confusion was coming from the mind trying to figure out which way the pencil should go in order to complete the drawing. When the mind figures it out, the student finishes the piece. I never would have believed that had I not experienced it myself. For the purpose of this article, the frustration in studying Chinese, or anything else, can be our vast subconscious mind trying to figure out a solution to a problem. During this time, press on and keep your inner critic in check.

There is a little known saying that life’s real failure is when you give up when you are so close to success. Chinese is indeed a challenging language to learn. You can find a good amount of advice on how to deal with the fear of failure but it all comes down to doing something. It all comes down to action, not over thinking or over analyzing the Chinese language. This involves going to Chinese meetups in your local area. If none are available, there are several programs online that allow you to interact with native Chinese speakers. Sign up to take the Chinese Proficiency Test (HSK). One cannot stress enough the importance of listening. Listening to any language for the first time sounds like one giant mass of garble. However, as your brain forms new neural pathways and begins to interpret sounds, you will begin to hear certain sounds being repeated. You will recognize these repeated sounds as common words. Once you learn the words, you will build your vocabulary and listening comprehension skills. Learn one more word, one more sentence structure. The key is progress, not perfection. If you focus on progress instead of perfection, you can learn to silence your inner critic and conquer your fear of failure.

The next part of this series to mental barriers that affect learning is the fear of success.

To learn more about barriers to learning Chinese and tips on how to study Chinese effectively, visit LearnChineseFastOnline.com

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