Speech problem.............

Question

Hello,

I am 21 years. I have a speech problem I don't know exactly how it's called or even if there is a term about it. I have realized that I have a problem myself,but until now I haven't really tried to find a solution.

I understand that sometimes I speak kind of too fast. Thus it is usual I cut some words. Most of the times, I know that I will not speak correctly before I actually speak. I think of what I have to say, then I think that I will not say it correctly and sometimes I choose to say the same thing in other words or even put the words in a different row . That helps. But I still have the problem. It is like my tongue is stuck in some cases and to be more specific like I tend to speak in a wrong way.Like I do it to myself on purpose. I can't explain else the fact that I realize I will make a mistake before I speak out.

And something remarkable: I also noticed that this problem only occurs when I am speaking at my country's language (Greek). When for example I speak English I don't have such problems.

Thanks

Answer 1

You may just have a problem with articulating specific word or phrase sequences which require a specific roll of the tongue or lip movement.

You may have failed at this specific type of sequence before, so you now try to avoid the problem by using other phrases which get your point across just as well.

The English language may not utilize these specific word sequences, so you don't have a problem when you speak that language.

Answer 2

I have a friend for whom English is her second language and she has this same problem.  You speak slower in English because you must  convert the word from Greek to English, thus think of each word.  You may not even realize you are doing this.

When you are planning what you want to say, put pauses in your plan and regular spaces, that way you can stop speaking and take a deep breath and tell yourself to slow down.  One great way to do this is to practice your conversation in front of the mirror.  Another is to make a recording of your conversation so you can see where you speed up and what words you cut off.  Practice often.  

Good luck to you.