I would like to encourage you dear students and everyone who studies Russian! I would like to tell you that you can be proud of yourselves because studying a foreign language and taking an interest in another culture is very appreciative.
Here are some tips which will help you not to be shy and not to fear of speaking Russian.
A lot of people say they can learn a foreign language for years and do exercises but they are afraid to speak to native speakers. I do understand it ,I share this fear! They don`t want to make a mistake or to say something incorrectly ,something ridiculous because a native speaker can start laughing and ask you : ‘Sorry? What did you say?’ Another fear is to get a reply because you can make a grammatically correct phrase and explain him what you need but there is always a risk that a native speaker can say something unclear with an accent using a slang which you have never heard before .
This fear is unreasonable and real. I know what I am talking about. I didn`t get rid of this fear at once in order to speak English and Spanish and I didn`t immediately stop making mistakes because you have to take into a consideration all cases word endings( flexions of the words),prefixes before making a phrase.
Begin to attend Conversation Clubs. It is easy to organize! Start it online once a week, meet people and initially ,if you are too shy do not switch on the camera . When you feel comfortable with partners and a teacher you can relax and you will not even notice how you started speaking Russian. You can get monthly subscription to a Conversation Club and practise your Russian with a tutor discussing different topics on the platform ALL RUSSIAN SCHOOL.
Watch Russian movies and listen to Russian music as much as possible . What is it for? It will help you to get used to Russian speech the way it sounds, to get used to a different tone of voice ,accent, pronunciation. Gradually, you will notice that you are not so much stressed when you are going to speak to someone. This will make you more confident because listening and speaking are closely connected processes.
Forget about cases and word endings ( flexions of the words)! It is impossible to memorize all word endings (flexions of the words ) of all cases of each part of the speech! And if you are a beginner probably you have not studied all the system of cases. So what? It does not mean you can`t speak Russian! Use a nominative case. May be a native speaker wants to help you then he will tell you which word ending ( flexion of the word) to use. Anyway don`t be afraid.
Learn the following phrases which are useful and use them : «Я только недавно изучаю русский язык, поэтому говорю не очень хорошо», «Помогите мне правильно сказать это слово», «Я медленно читаю по-русски, помогите мне», «Пожалуйста, повторите еще раз, медленно», «Пожалуйста, скажите это простыми словами и медленно». Russians appreciate it when someone tries to learn their language and takes an interest to their culture. They will be glad to help you and do not be afraid to ask for help.