The one thing that prevents learners from speaking, despite being bright and applying themselves, is their perfectionism.
They’re waiting for the perfect sentence to speak, not realising that you learn a language by speaking and making mistakes, which is what I keep reminding them.
In fact, I also tell them that their mistakes help me teach them, because they highlight the grammar or vocabulary points which need consolidating.
Making mistakes is an integral part of the language learning process but, of course, we’re not meant to ever make any, let alone acknowledge them. Society tells us so repeatedly and from a very early age.
While you can read every book written about a specific topic before talking confidently about it, with language learning, you have to interact, expose yourself to potential misunderstandings/mistakes and figure out a way to make yourself understood.
Language is not about perfection, it's about communication. The more you speak, the more you will know and the more confident you will feel. All you need to do, is get started!
Don't hesitate to send me your questions.