Hello Christiana, The language barrier would be an obstacle making your communication with the foreigners difficult, but being shy is another story. If you mean by shy not knowing how to communicate and getting upset therefore then it is the language barrier and you should work on improving it. However if you are shy anyways then it could be due to lack of communication skills with diverse cultures than your own. It is a good idea if you could travel and meet people from different cultural backgrounds so that you become gradually less shy and more outgoing.

I'm kinda going through this too but from the other direction. I speak English natively, but I am learning Mandarin. I became shy trying to speak Mandarin to others - "Can I say everything right? Will I remember the words?". That was until a tutor told me to mix English with my Mandarin - just to get used to saying something, even in short phrases in Mandarin - eventually as you get used to the langauge you will start to replace your native words with the foreign language words. It has helped me to "break out" of the shell ;)

Christina, Remember that many people have tried to learn a foreign language, and they know how hard it can be. They may be be impressed that you are trying to learn their language, and may be patient with you.

Hello Christiana, The best way for you to "overcome"this problem is to practice your speaking with someone you don't see in front of you. Here on Italki you can take some sessions with a teacher of your choice and quickly you'll be able to say few sentences without shyness. To contact a teacher you need to have "skype" or "MSN" to talk to and to check his/her schedule. Thank you

Hi Christiana, this is a normal feeling, most people feel shy if they have to speak to someone in another language. I suggest that you practice a short sentence everyday if possible. Even at the bus stop you can say, 'Nice weather isn't it? or This bus/train is taking a bit long isn't it or What's the time please, my watch has stopped 'etc