For years, I've seen students study and study and yet still struggle to speak English fluently.
The truth is that many learners are working too hard on the wrong things.
After two decades of teaching, I've learned that fluency comes from doing a few key things right, not necessarily doing more.
So in today's episode I'm going to be sharing here some uncomfortable truths with you, but I believe that will help you learn English faster than you ever thought possible.
So I'll be listing seven reasons why this happens, why some people, despite studying for many years, still cannot become truly fluent in English.
Let's get started.
Hey there, how's it going?
Thiago here and welcome to another video.
I am a certified Cambridge English teacher and I have been teaching this language for 20 years.
Welcome to the channel.
So the first reason why some learners never become fluent in English despite years of study is the discomfort of feeling funny.
The discomfort of feeling funny.
That is the first obstacle.
The moment speaking starts to feel uncomfortable.
You start feeling funny or silly or stupid doing it.
You give up.
Or you don't try as hard.
You know, I had a student once, let's call him Alex.
He was super dedicated and wanted to sound more natural in English.
So, I suggested shadowing a scene from the office.
The other day in class he came back and he told me that he felt so silly repeating the lines from the show.
It was like he was putting on a performance, a show.
He felt fake.
He couldn't get past that feeling so he stopped doing it.
But look, this is just like learning to dance.
When you first start learning to dance, your movements feel awkward and unnatural.
You might even feel a little embarrassed, but that discomfort is a sign that you are growing.
You are developing.
If you stop the moment you feel a little silly or stupid, you will never learn the steps.
You have to push through that initial awkwardness to find your voice, to find your rhythm in English.
And remember this, I've already shared this before.
Whenever you are trying to improve your pronunciation or speaking in English, if it feels uncomfortable, if you feel fake, if it doesn't feel like you, that's good.
That's good.
You are developing your own persona in English.
I'm not saying that you're going to lose all your essence and identity.
That's not going to happen.
Don't worry.
But also embrace some of that new you when you are shadowing, improving your speech.
That is a good sign.
Don't stop.
But many learners, when they start experiencing that discomfort or that fakeness, They give up.
That's one of the reasons why they never become fluent in English.
The second reason is the yeah but excuse-a-thon.
The yeah but crowd.
Oh yeah.
There is a specific group of people, a specific group of learners, who I call the yeah but learners.
These are people who always have a perfect excuse, ready to go.
Yeah, Thiago, I know I have to improve my English.
I know this is important, but I'm too busy with work.
Yeah, but I don't have anyone to practice speaking with.
Yeah, but my memory is terrible.
Yeah, but I'm too old to learn English.
Yeah, but I don't have the skill or the natural gift to learn languages.
Yeah, but that's not how I speak in my first language, so why would I learn that in English?
And on and on and on.
I could list here hundreds, thousands of reasons that usually learners give as excuses not to take their English to the next level.
This is the equivalent of a cyclist who wants to win a race but keeps saying yeah, but my bike isn't expensive enough.
Yeah, but the road is too bumpy.
They focus on the obstacles instead of finding a way to ride around the obstacles.
They're so busy explaining why they can't improve that they never actually try to.
And that is a huge deal, guys.
Listen to this closely, okay?
Whatever you focus on expands.
Whatever your brain or mind gives more attention to expands.
So if you spent...
All this creative energy and brainpower you have been spending with excuses.
If you directed that energy to actually productive steps and study and practice to get you into the next level, you will be at a different level nowadays, for sure.
But you are just directing your brainpower, your energy to the wrong thing.
I mean, human beings can be incredibly creative when coming up with excuses.
We can come up with thousands of excuses not to do something.
But keep in mind that while our brain is busy coming up with those excuses and justifications, we are not doing the work because we are not dedicating enough brain power to productive things that will actually move the needle, that will actually make you progress in any way.
So think about that.
If you are one of the yet-but type of learners, Time to change that, because I would say that if you are like this when it comes to your English learning, chances are you also have that same attitude in your life and that might be holding you back in many areas.
The next reason, relying solely on work motivation.
This one is huge and to those of you who have been following me here for a while, you know my take on this.
Many people learn English because they feel like they have to for their job.
But think of it this way.
Your motivation is like a car's fuel.
If the only fuel you have is the requirement to use English for work, you're going to run out of gas pretty quickly.
Work can be draining.
And if your only reason to learn is tied or connected to something you might not even enjoy, like work, the learning process will feel like another chore, like another obligation.
I mean, many people do not enjoy their jobs.
There are people who love what they do for work, yes, but many people don't.
If they had a choice, They would do something different.
So why would you associate learning English, which is something so cool, so fun, with something that is a chore, is an obligation, to you like work?
To go the distance, you need a different kind of fuel.
You need to connect English to something you are genuinely passionate about.
A hobby, a movie, a personal goal.
Something that makes the journey enjoyable, not just a means to an end.
So I see that over and over and over and over again.
Most learners who come to me for classes are adults, adult professionals, whose primary motivation is education work.
They want to improve their english for work, they want more money, they want a better paycheck, they want a promotion.
That is fine.
I'm not saying that these reasons are are wrong, you know.
They are valid reasons, but Don't have that as your only motivation to learn English.
Otherwise, you're gonna burn out very quickly and you're gonna give up, right?
Find something that you generally care about and connect that with English learning.
You will see that not only is the learning process gonna be much more enjoyable for you, but you're gonna learn the language much quicker, because now you are investing in it deeply, truly investing in it.
So keep that in mind.
Next reason, confusing motion with progress.
This is a subtle trap, but I observe that a lot as well.
This is the mistake of confusing motion or movement with progress.
Just because you are moving, you are doing something, you are making progress.
I've had students who have been taking English classes for years.
They're always on the go, always doing something like attending every class, buying all the new books, but they never actually improve, or they never actually improve as fast as they would like to.
So this is just like a hamster on a wheel.
You know the hamster on a wheel?
The hamster is moving constantly, but it's not going anywhere.
You can attend class and passively absorb information.
Yes, but if you don't actively practice and review what you learn, you're just in motion, not making progress.
True progress comes from applying what you've learned and making it a part of your life.
For example, last night I was teaching a group class focused on business English English for work and in last night's class We learned a lot of useful phrases you can use to politely disagree with people at work.
For example, I see what you mean, but I know where you're coming from.
But Can we look at it from another angle?
You see, phrases like that.
Very useful phrases that you can use in your everyday conversations at work.
Yeah?
But here's the thing.
Just coming to the class and being exposed to that set of phrases won't be enough.
Now the learners need to review those phrases and actively try to incorporate them in their own English in their own daily routine.
Otherwise, they're going to forget it.
You see?
So remember this, okay?
Motion is not the same thing as progress, all right?
True progress comes from applying what you've learned and making it a part of your life, all right?
A similar thing can be said about YouTube.
If you only spend hours on YouTube watching English learning videos and jumping from video to video, from teacher to teacher, from channel to channel, It makes you feel like you are doing something.
Oh, I am learning English.
I am making progress because I'm watching all these YouTube videos about English learning and getting all these tips.
But you're not really learning.
Yes, you are absorbing useful information.
But what you do with that information after seeing the video, that counts.
All right.
So ask yourself this question.
How many YouTube videos have you already watched about English learning?
And how much of the advice, the tips, the information have you actually applied so far?
Think about it.
Motion is not the same as progress.
Next reason, not connecting English to your interests.
This is a little bit connected to only studying English for work.
Here's a simple fix that so many people miss, making learning English enjoyable.
I once had a student who was obsessed with basketball.
He'd watch games and analyze player stats for hours.
That was his hobby.
Once he started reading basketball articles in English and watching interviews with his favorite players in English, his vocabulary just exploded, because he was so engaged that it didn't even feel like he was studying English at all.
So if you can find a way to make your language enjoyable, you'll be much more likely to stick with it and improve faster than you think.
The next reason is over-dependence on external tools.
We live in an age of amazing resources, but that can also be a trap.
Many people become over-dependent on external tools.
They're always waiting for the perfect teacher to come along, or the magic horse, or the next breakthrough in AI that's going to enhance English learning.
This is like a chef who blames a dull knife for a bad meal.
A good knife helps, for sure, but a great chef can make a fantastic meal even with a basic knife.
The real power is in their hands, not in the tool itself.
I am a musician as well, as most of you know, I play guitar, right?
So a true musician is able to make music, to play good music with any instrument, regardless of how expensive or how cheap the instrument is.
A true guitar player is able to play well on a cheap guitar. and on an expensive guitar.
It doesn't really matter, all right?
Because the music comes from you, all right?
So think about it this way.
Your teacher, the books you use, the apps you use, the AI tools you use, they are just that.
They are tools.
The real work is on you.
You have to take ownership and responsibility for your learning.
Just having the latest tools won't be enough.
And that actually connects to reason number seven, why some people never become fluent in English despite years of study.
Not getting the basics right.
Some people get so busy or trapped with worrying about resources and methods and tips and hacks that they're not even getting the basics right.
So if you don't get the basics right, it doesn't matter what the latest hack for language learning is, what the latest YouTube channel tells you to do.
It's not going to work.
That's the most fundamental mistake, not getting the basics right.
What are the basics?
Let me tell you.
Regular exposure, active recall, active practice.
That's it.
If you're not getting these three pillars right, these three basic things right, you will never become truly fluent in English, right?
Think about it like building a house.
You can have the best blueprint and the most expensive materials, but if you don't build a strong foundation, the whole house will fall apart.
So that is the foundation to language learning.
Regular exposure.
That is about listening to English and reading English every single day, regular exposure to the language.
Have you been listening to English everyday?
Have you been reading English everyday?
If not, you are already failing at the basics.
The second pillar, active recall.
This is about actively trying to remember new words and phrases, not just reread them.
Yes, it's okay for you to reread them on a list and review them, but not just that.
It's also about actively trying to remember them without looking at the list.
What was that word that Thiago used in the last video again?
What was that question that I learned?
Last class, you see, actively trying to remember the information you are exposed to.
And the third pillar is active practice.
That's extremely important.
You have to use what you've learned by speaking it and writing it.
Information for information's sake won't serve you.
You have to apply the information you acquire.
And how do you apply it?
By actively producing something with it.
So if you learn a new expression, actively speak using that expression.
If you learn a new word, actively use that word when you write your next text.
You see?
It's about production, not just passive consumptions.
These three pillars aren't optional steps.
They are the foundation to fluency.
So if you're not getting these right, go back to the basics.
Make sure you are gaining regular daily exposure to English.
You are actively trying to remember useful information you've been encountering and you've been actively trying to use, practice that information by creating something with it, either through speaking or writing.
So there you have it.
These are the most common reasons I have identified that get people stuck on their English journey.
Despite studying for many years, they never seem to reach that elusive fluent English that they so want.
So now i want to hear from you which of these seven points resonated with you the most.
Let me know in the comment section below, and if you are looking for some extra 101 help with some of this stuff, you can book a 101 call with me.
This is a 90 minute session on zoom where you and i will talk.
I'll be listening closely to you and i'll be helping you diagnose your current level of english.
Then I will send you a personalized action plan with the steps and the points you should focus on the most if you really want to see improvement.
So if you need one-on-one help, book a one-on-one call with me, a Fluency Discovery Call.
The link in the description is going to be great to talk to you and meet you.
All right?
Thank you so much for hanging out with me today.
Make sure you like this video.
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And if you're looking for more tips to become fluent in English faster, I highly recommend you watch this video here, because I share some valuable insights in this one as well.
Do check it out.
