hi bree, your name actually sounds close to 'brave'... live by it.... anyway, equiped with good knowledge would probably make you brave. if for instance you are a soldier and you face your foe equiped with advanced deadly weapon and you only got a pisol, would you be brave enough to face him? certainly not... try to turn your weakness into strength.... if you're not that good in oral english, practice more and make it a point that this skill (oral english) will be your weapon in facing the war (class studies).

well for my own opinion you should try the best that you can.for the first time you feel nervous but if do it that feeling of your will decrease until it will be nothing at all. As i remember to myself i was like you before i try the best that i can i don't mind people around when my teacher said that i have mistake in some words i say.i said yes i do have but will learn it time to time i answered that feeling was gone after a while.so yiou should have what we called self confidence. if you don't try i will say even you know how to speak very well.still that feeling inside will made you speechless not unless to try it... before you do it practice inside your room imagine that your in the class then take a very deep breath before you start.

be confident , seize every chance to speak in class , it is hard at first maybe , but it needs time

Hi Bree, everyone suffers from nerves especially in front of the class. I understand that you might feel embarrassed. Even if you just say one or two words, it will be easier as you find more courage. Repeat this before each class: I am willing,capable and I will succeed. These sites are also good for listening and pronunciation practice that Italki members recommend. http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/
 http://www.elllo.org/ http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/ http://news.bbc.co.uk/ http://www.usingenglish.com/
 http://www.englishpage.com/
 http://www.tolearnenglish.com/
 http://www.oup.com/elt/global/products/headway/
 http://www.flo-joe.co.uk/
 http://wordweb.info/free

You mean you don't have the courage to speak in class? Hey don't worry about it. Everybody is nervous when speaking another language in a group setting. So what can you do? Well always remember this, learning a foreign language requires you to make mistakes. Without making mistakes you'll never learn, simply don't worry about it, it's a class setting which means none of you (other than the teacher) are fluent in the language and it's a learning process. Just do your best. If you want to practice with others before your class check out this website www.sharedtalk.com it's free and created by Rosetta Stone you can speak and write with many different people.