Gerhard Helm says:
“I grew up in a village in Upper Franconia. English didn’t play a role back then, except for songs by Genesis or the Beatles.
But when I later studied philosophy and earned my doctorate, that changed. Anyone who didn’t converse and publish in English was meaningless. I could read and understand quite well, but I didn’t dare speak – although I would often have liked to take part in discussions about the content. But just the thought of reporting to conference talks and searching for words made me sweat. Whenever I did open my mouth, I felt like I was being stared at by the audience – like I was someone who hadn’t showered in two weeks. In the evenings I avoided going out to dinner with foreign colleagues.
I attended community college courses. If I knew English perfectly, I would lose my fear, I thought. In fact, my feeling only changed when another participant during my coaching training in the USA took me aside and said: ‘Your excuses for your English are annoying. We understand you. We don’t care whether the grammar is correct. Most people here don’t speak perfectly. Plus, your German accent sounds sexy because that’s how the villains talk in movies.’ I was amazed. I had never seen it like that before.
Will I ever speak perfect English? No. But I don’t think about it anymore. I now know that if I take breaks and simply formulate sentences, others sometimes understand me better than a native speaker.”
Dr. Gerhard Helm has been coaching managers, also in English, for 20 years
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