20 Random Thoughts on English Fluency, Foreign English Speakers and Life in General

By Robby

If you are new here please read this first.

Random Thoughts about English

Improve Spoken English

1. The English language is for everyone to speak. It transcends national boundaries, it’s become our modern day ‘lingua franca’, and no-one can really use the argument of ‘proper English’ because it is spoken differently in different places on the planet!

2. There are no quick-fixes or shortcuts when improving your spoken English. Contrary to what some English teachers will tell you, you can’t just listen your way to fluency; you have to SPEAK, SPEAK and SPEAK a lot!

3. It’s quite hard for the average foreigner to achieve a high degree of English fluency in the English language without living in an English speaking country.

4. It’s very difficult to improve your English effectively if you don’t enjoy life through the English language.

5. You may be saying it every once in a while that you’d like to improve your English but you can’t really do it because you haven’t got enough time, money, whatever. The truth is – it’s almost impossible to learn how to speak English fluently if you’re not REALLY MOTIVATED ❗

6. For the average foreign English speaker English improvement is down to practicality. They’ll do it if it’s necessary for their work and social life, and they won’t do it if they can comfortably live in their own language bubble.

7. The day I realized I don’t have to translate word to word from my native language into English was my first big step towards natural English fluency.

8. Conventional wisdom can always be questioned. Oftentimes ideas are held true only because of tradition and have nothing to do with how things actually work!

9. Reversing premises leads to logical fallacies. “All fluent native English speakers speak with native pronunciation” is a valid statement, but we can’t reverse it. “Only those speaking with native English pronunciation are fluent English speakers”, for example, is a logical fallacy because it disregards a large number of fluent foreign English speakers who speak with their own native accents.

10. A person’s ability or inability to speak a certain language doesn’t make him or her more or less intelligent.

11. The English language is constantly developing, just like any other language in the world. What’s considered bad grammar today may very well become a norm in a hundred years!

12. “How many words do I need to learn to become a fluent English speaker?” is the wrong question. “How many phrases and word combinations I need to know to be considered fluent?” makes more sense.

13. Ability to communicate with other English speakers is a social skill and as such can be honed to perfection only by interpersonal contact.

14. Speaking with yourself isn’t a sure sign of insanity.

15. Perfection and mistakes are concepts you’d better not think about when improving your English. Just give it your best shot every time you speak, and you’ll get there eventually!

16. It’s possible to explain the most complicated concepts using simple, basic vocabulary.

17. Perfection is unattainable; it’s merely a standard by which you can measure your performance. If you’re striving for perfection by all means, it may have a detrimental effect on your English fluency!

18. English improving and learning isn’t the same exact thing. I like to think of English learning as the basic language acquisition stages and improving as more advanced studies.

19. It is possible to change your personality, become more extroverted and open yourself up for real when you speak with other English speakers if you REALLY put your mind to it. And you know what? Even if you can pull it off only occasionally, it will make a big difference to your spoken English improvement!

20. EVERYTHING IS POSSIBLE. EVERYTHING! 😉

Robby

P.S. Would you like to find out why I’m highlighting some of the text in red? Read this article and you’ll learn why it’s so important to learn idiomatic expressions and how it will help you to improve your spoken English!

P.S.S. Are you serious about your spoken English improvement? Check out my English Harmony System HERE!

 

English Harmony System

P.S. Are you serious about your spoken English improvement? Check out the English Harmony System HERE!

English Harmony System
  • Thanks Francisco! 😉

  • Francisco Javier

    Great stuff.