Beating Speaking Anxiety: 2. I’m scared of forgetting my words

Forgetting vocabulary during a conversation often stems from "processing overload," where the brain exerts so much conscious effort on grammar and word order that it fails to retrieve specific terms. Professor Alissa Melinger from the University of Dundee explains that bilingual speakers face unique challenges because their mental resources are split between two languages, leading to weaker representations and linguistic interference. This phenomenon affects both beginners, who may only have shallow "memorized sounds" rather than grounded experiences, and advanced learners like Maria from Ukraine, who struggles with simple daily terms despite mastering complex political topics. Managing this anxiety requires using "buying time" phrases such as "bear with me" or "my mind has gone blank" to maintain flow. Describing the forgotten object’s function or being vulnerable about the struggle helps enlist the listener's support, preventing the "vicious cycle" of stress that further inhibits memory retrieval.