Apoyan = they support (3rd person plural, present tense of apoyar)
Me = me (indirect object pronoun, “to me / for me”)
Putting them together:
Spanish normally uses an object pronoun like me even if it seems optional in English.
Without me, Mis amigos apoyan just means My friends support, but it doesn’t say who they support.
They’re very different in everyday use:
Apoyar (a alguien)
Soportar (a alguien / algo)
So in this sentence, apoyan is correct.
Mis amigos me soportan would sound like “My friends put up with me,” not “They support me.”
Spanish uses the simple present much more often than English for:
Here, cuando hablo español en público means:
Cuando estoy hablando español en público would sound more like:
For a general, repeated situation, cuando hablo is the natural choice.
In context, cuando hablo español en público usually means whenever / every time I speak Spanish in public.
The simple present + cuando often implies a general or habitual situation, not just a single event.
If you wanted to clearly refer to a specific occasion, you’d normally add more context, like:
En público literally means in public — in front of other people, not in private.
You can move it in the sentence:
The most natural options are the first and the last.
Moving en público to the very beginning (En público, cuando hablo español…) is possible but sounds more stylized.
Spanish demonstratives:
When you refer back to a whole previous idea or action, eso is the normal choice:
Esto here would sound odd; it usually refers to something very immediate, often physically present or about to be explained.
You can say:
It’s grammatically possible; Spanish can omit the subject when it’s understood.
But:
Using eso makes it explicit that that (their support) is what increases your confidence, so the original sentence is better style.
Confianza by itself means trust or confidence in general, without saying whose.
Mi confianza makes it personal and specific: my confidence.
Both tengo más confianza and aumenta mi confianza are correct in different sentences; here, mi confianza just makes the ownership explicit.
It’s optional from a purely grammatical point of view, but common and stylistically helpful.
Spanish often omits the comma before y (and):
Adding the comma:
makes the two parts feel like slightly more separate clauses, which can improve clarity and rhythm. Both versions are acceptable.