Blog · October 1, 2026

You know the words. You practised them. And then a real person says something to you and every one of them disappears. Freezing is one of the most common reasons people give up on speaking a language. The good news: it’s a skill problem, and skills can be trained.

Why you freeze

When you speak a new language you’re doing a lot at once: understanding what you heard, finding words, building a sentence, worrying about mistakes, and doing all of it in real time. The worry part takes up more space than you think. Less pressure means more room for the words.

7 tricks that actually help

1. Have a few “stall” phrases ready. “Hmm, let me think”, “How do you say…?”, “Can you repeat that, please?” Learn them first. They buy you time and keep the conversation alive.
2. Use simple sentences on purpose. You don’t need the subjunctive to order dinner. Short and clear beats long and perfect.
3. Talk around missing words. Don’t know “corkscrew”? “The thing for opening wine” works fine.
4. Rehearse the conversation you’re about to have. Ordering, checking in, introducing yourself: say the likely lines out loud beforehand.
5. Practise with something that can’t judge you. An AI tutor at midnight in your kitchen is a lot less scary than a stranger.
6. Get used to being corrected. Corrections are information, not a verdict. The more often you hear them, the less they sting.
7. Do it daily. Freezing fades with reps. A little every day is better than a lot once in a while.

Practise the hard part

Most of the freezing happens in the first few seconds of a reply. That’s exactly what live conversation practice trains. With Louddy you talk to Lou out loud, in roleplays like ordering at a café or asking for directions, and Lou keeps the conversation going even when you stumble.

And if you need a laugh to loosen up, switch Lou to Savage mode. It’s hard to be nervous while a speech bubble is roasting your verb endings.