How to gain confidence with speaking?!

[Miyu_Aizawa]

皆さん！こんにちは！
私が本当に恥ずかしがりやだから、全然日本語を話して練習しない。ずっとはなしたいけど。。。
Yeah. because I'm really shy I never practice speaking out loud...with people...
How does everyone else get the confidence, 自信, to practice your speaking?

I really love japanese and really wish I wasn't so worried to try speaking.  

[xiankai]

You WANT to make as many mistakes as possible so people can correct you and give you examples on how to remember to say things the right way.

The times where I royally messed up because markers in my mind of how to say a phrase or something correctly. It is those times I am grateful for because if someone had been "nice" and let me muddle through my crap skills at the time I would continue to speak incorrectly.

Don't worry about messing up. Since you are learning the language you have this wonderful pass called "STUDENT". You can get away with some much and learn a lot.

Do or say whatever it takes to get your point across. People will help you and will teach you new words.

There is a website called MeetUp.com See if there are Japanese speaking groups in your town. As you already know speaking the language is important. Find others who want to speak it to.You might get lucky and find a Japanese person who is willing to help you with speaking skills smile