Nearly half of Americans have talked louder to someone who doesn’t speak English. A new survey explains why.

Searches for “foreign language anxiety” just hit an all-time high in the U.S. A survey of 1,046 Americans found the nodding, the fake deafness, and the volume are all connected.

You know the move. Someone asks you a question in a language you don’t speak, and instead of admitting it, you repeat yourself in English, slower this time, and considerably louder, as if volume were the barrier.

According to a new survey from the language learning app Promova, 48.9% of Americans have done exactly that. About 29.3% say they feel no shame about it. Another 19.6% still cringe thinking about it. And 31.1% have never done it themselves but have watched someone nearby do it and absorbed the secondhand embarrassment in real time.

The survey of 1,046 U.S. residents, conducted in June 2026, arrives as Google searches for “foreign language anxiety” hit their highest point ever recorded in the United States. Interest in the term hovered near zero from 2022 through most of 2025 before spiking in the spring of 2026.

What people actually do when they don’t understand

Most respondents (65.9%) say they simply admit when they’ve lost the thread of a conversation. The rest have developed workarounds, and some of them are familiar enough to sting:

• 52.3% have secretly hoped a non-English speaker would give up and switch to English. Roughly 29.4% felt genuine relief when it happened; 22.9% felt guilty about wanting it and wanted it anyway.
• 37.6% have pretended not to hear a question in a foreign language to avoid answering it. About 28.1% have done it more than once. Another 22.8% say they wouldn’t do it personally but completely understand people who do.
• 32.7% have nodded along and pretended to understand something they absolutely did not.
• 19.5% have laughed when everyone else laughed, purely as a defensive measure.
• 15.7% have said “yes” to everything, just in case.
• 14.7% have used every one of these tactics at once.

I’ll own mine: I’m a nodder. While I am doing my best, piecing together the words I recognize and hoping the gaps fill themselves in, but sometimes the thread slips, and instead of stopping the conversation, I keep nodding and let it go. Which works fine right up until the part I missed turns out to be the important one.

Why now

Foreign language anxiety isn’t new. Researchers Elaine Horwitz, Michael Horwitz and Joann Cope formally described it back in 1986 as the specific fear people feel when speaking, listening to or being exposed to a language they haven’t mastered. What’s new is how many people are searching for a name for it.

A few things converged. More Americans are looking at life outside the country. By November 2025, one in five told Gallup they’d move abroad permanently if they could, the second straight year at that level.

International travel has also started to feel heavier. The State Department has kept a worldwide caution alert in place through 2026, advising Americans everywhere to exercise increased caution and warning that periodic airspace closures may disrupt travel. Costs have climbed, too; an April survey from U.S. News found 65% of Americans had changed their summer travel plans because of rising prices. That same survey found 51% were worried about how they’d be received abroad as an American, up from 47% the year before.

Then there’s the phone in everyone’s pocket. Asked what’s driving their anxiety upward, respondents pointed first to social media: 44.5% said watching other people speak fluently online makes them feel worse about their own ability. Global instability came second at 31.3%, followed by a recent bad experience speaking a foreign language (29.6%), pressure to travel or work internationally (25.2%), and plans to move abroad (23.8%).

“One of the reasons for travel anxiety is the fear of interaction with another culture: accidentally causing offense or misreading a social cue, feeling vulnerable in a communication situation, or not being able to ask for help in a foreign language, along with the shame of being misjudged or considered not clever enough,” said Nataliia Afonina, a language learning specialist at Promova who holds an MA in psychology.

Confidence is rare

Only 6.1% of respondents described themselves as genuinely confident in a foreign language. About 42.4% said they try but are a nervous wreck about it, and 30.8% feel mild discomfort and push through. Another 20.7% avoid foreign language situations entirely.

Overall, 42.1% say they feel more anxious about speaking a foreign language than they did a year ago, while 35.1% say they’ve made real progress and 22.8% have never felt anxious about it at all.

The outlook is mostly optimistic: 59.4% expect their anxiety to decrease over the next year, mainly because they plan to practice more. But 16.1% expect it to get worse, citing a world that feels too unpredictable to plan around.

What actually helps

Afonina’s advice starts with lowering the bar. “When you’re just starting out, perfection isn’t the point — communication is. Say it anyway, and credit yourself for making the effort,” she said. “And keep in mind that most native speakers are incredibly welcoming to foreigners who make an effort. They’re usually just happy you’re trying to engage with their culture.”

A few of her practical suggestions:

Memorize three phrases, not thirty. A politeness pair (“please” and “thank you”), a distress signal (“could you repeat that more slowly?”), and a backup plan (“do you happen to speak English?”). Those three cover most high-anxiety moments travelers describe. The middle one is the nodder’s antidote, and the only reason I don’t use it more is that asking feels like admitting defeat, which is the instinct the survey suggests is making all of this worse.

Rehearse the specific interactions you dread. Ordering coffee, checking into a hotel, asking for directions. Write out how the exchange might realistically go and say it out loud a few times. When it happens for real, your brain treats it as familiar rather than threatening.

Start with conversations that have no follow-up. Say goodbye to a shopkeeper. Nod back at a neighbor. These cost almost nothing if they go badly and prime you for bigger exchanges.

Use your surroundings. Point at the pastry while attempting its name. The visual context guarantees the transaction works. That’s not cheating; it’s how communication works everywhere.

Watch before you speak. Give yourself 10 minutes in a new place to observe how people order, how they pay, how they get someone’s attention. Mirroring what you see is one of the fastest ways to feel less exposed.

“Every awkward exchange or mispronounced word actually helps your brain map the language better,” Afonina said. “In linguistics, we treat errors as essential stepping stones, not defeats.”

And the anxiety usually starts long before the trip does. A separate survey of 3,600 adults across six countries found nearly one in five are too embarrassed to speak a new language out loud at all, which is how you end up nodding your way through a conversation years later.

A New Study Reveals What’s Really Stopping Adults From Learning a New Language — It’s Not Time or Talent

A global survey uncovers the hidden fears, myths, and confidence traps that keep so many adults from ever becoming bilingual.

Read more: A New Study Reveals What’s Really Stopping Adults From Learning a New Language — It’s Not Time or Talent

10 Foreign Slang Words That Sound Childish To Most Americans

Speech experts often say that how you speak can be just as telling as what you say. When we encounter a language we’re unfamiliar with, it usually feels like a fun puzzle. The unfamiliarity can make certain words sound amusing or even a bit silly…Check out these favorite non-American words that sound especially funny to Americans.

Read more: 10 Foreign Slang Words That Sound Childish To Most Americans

11 Things Europeans Do That Americans Find Really Weird

Every country has different cultures and traditions. One thing that is normal in one country might be weird in another. On an online platform, Americans shared what they find weird in Europeans.

Read more: 11 Things Europeans Do That Americans Find Really Weird

12 Things Americans Say Foreigners Get Wrong About American Culture

In a recent message board thread, Americans shared some of the more amusing or puzzling things foreign visitors have done. These stories are not only entertaining, but they also remind us how cultural differences can create both misunderstandings and hilarious situations.

Read more: 12 Things Americans Say Foreigners Get Wrong About American Culture

10 Things You Do That Instantly Give Away That You’re American

With over 300 million of us spread across 50 states, you’d think we’d be more different (and we do have our differences, of course), but when compared to other countries, American culture is undeniably unifying. We show up in the world in surprisingly similar ways, often without even realizing it. Here are a few tell-tale behaviors according to message board users that might give you away as an American—see if any sound familiar!

Read more: 10 Things You Do That Instantly Give Away That You’re American