Social anxiety+poor English=failure

   Share on Facebook  
akstylish  #532740  Thu, 26 Jun 08 08:44 AM
Hello there. Let me introduce myself first.

I'm an Asian-American who went to South Korea one month after I was born in the U.S. Then I came back 5 years ago when I was a high school freshman, so I had to learn English from scratch. For the first few months my English improved pretty well, but I hadn't made any close friend and things started going bad. I became more and more shy and was eventually diagnosed with social anxiety one year later. During my high school years I only made some acquaintances and rarely hung out with anyone. I slowly developed depression as well and once attempted suicide by taking 60 sleeping pills.

Fortunately I was still able to keep the GPA and SAT scores high enough to get into a moderate college(GA Tech). My parents and relatives kept telling me life in college campus is way better than high school life despite academic pressure and told me to rest assured everything will get better.

They couldn't be more wrong.

My anxiety was so bad at that point that I could barely breathe and my whole body became stiff wherever I could see someone or vice versa. And I had to walk around buildings and streets filled with hundreds of people everyday. Even in my dorm room I couldn't relax because I had a roommate. I got so depressed during the first week I just had to hide somewhere and cry, yet there was nowhere to. I also began to have difficulty concentrating, and it took me 5 minutes to read ONE page. On top of that my English skills were about the same as back when I was a high school freshman for the obvious reason(except grammar), so I got F's on every essay for English. After a month I lost my motivation to study and failed in other classes as well.

I eventually decided to withdraw from school and concentrate on treating social anxiety and improving English at home for the following semester. However, I've already been on therapy on medications for years and tried my best to get out of social anxiety. There's gotta be at least some improvement to keep me trying. So I've been wasting my life doing nothing but websurfing and sleeping at home this entire semester. Now it's time to go back, and my English and social anxiety got even worse.(I probably spoke to someone in English thirty times or so for the last 6 months)

Well, that's my story. Just venting here...I didn't really mean to write this for advice(I've already asked for help to so many people), but I'd appreciate it.

(By the way, you might be thinking my writing skills aren't so bad. Trust me, it is terrible. It's just that for some reason my first post on a forum is always the best. Plus, it takes me hours to write a post this long.)
  
Not Ranked
Joined on Thu, Jun 26 2008
New Member (08)
This is a live chat room, hosted on the chat page. You can also click here to see the chat in fullscreen.
Old Man Gordon  #532950  Thu, 26 Jun 08 03:56 PM

Welcome akstylish!

Venting is good sometimes.  I don't have any experience with either social anxiety or poor English, so I'll just say that some of us are listening, and we care.  We can at least help you with the English part.

omg

  
Top 500 Contributor
Joined on Fri, Mar 16 2007
Ypsitucky, MI, USA
Full Member (258)
Proficient Speaker
akstylish  #533081  Thu, 26 Jun 08 09:46 PM
Thank you. :) I'll ask questions as often as I can.
  
Tanit  #533086  Thu, 26 Jun 08 10:21 PM
Hi.

akstylish
By the way, you might be thinking my writing skills aren't so bad


Yep! That's exactly what I thought.  Your writing (both grammar and style) is much, much better than mine, and I (a non-native) earned my MSc in the UK.  Wink

So don't give up, go back to your studies and concentrate on them. I am absolutely positive that every little bit of success in your exams will help you regain self-confidence and get over your anxiety.

If you should need any help with your English, here there are a lot of helpful and supportive teachers and native speakers. As you have probably understood from OMG's post, you can count on their help.

Welcome to the forums!
  
Top 50 Contributor
Joined on Mon, Jul 31 2006
In the middle of the Mediterranean Sea
Senior Member (2,141)
Moderator
A man can do only what he can do. But if he does that each day he can sleep at night and do it again the next day. (A. Schweitzer)
Kooyeen  #533101  Thu, 26 Jun 08 10:42 PM
Hi, and welcome to englishforums.
akstylish
 However, I've already been on therapy on medications for years and tried my best to get out of social anxiety. There's gotta be at least some improvement to keep me trying. Now it's time to go back, and my English and social anxiety got even worse.

That takes a lot of time. And if you don't see a significant improvement, chances are you are following the wrong method. Finding what works for yourself is not easy. Improving English takes years, but I see from your level that you are at the right point... You don't use very basic English, so from this point on you can actually improve faster. Little by little, starting from this English you know now, you can go on and learn new words, new idioms, etc. Just keep learning, and practicing, trying to avoid mistakes, if you can.
You can always improve, it's just a matter of finding the right way. Even if you fail because of some mistakes, you'll gain experience.

And you can stay here on Englishforums, and ask questions, try to answer, just chat, practice, etc... read... see how others improve and learn... Trust me, this is probably the best online community for those who want to improve their English. Wink
And good luck.
  
Top 25 Contributor
Joined on Thu, Dec 22 2005
Italy
Senior Member (3,973)
Moderator
If you don't have a sense of humor already, it's about time you buy one.
akstylish  #533115  Thu, 26 Jun 08 11:12 PM
Thank you everyone. I feel a lot better now. :)
  
AddThis Feed Button RSS Feed: Foo community and anything-you-like-ness
© 2008 MediaCET Ltd.
Terms and Conditions & Terms of Service