You were super confident in your speaking and listening skills before you started talking to a native speaker. I’ve been there. I know your pain and frustration. It’s also a little embarrassing, isn’t it? It’s embarrassing because you spent years in English classes growing up, or in English courses.
I know you know English. You know this, too. So why, for the love of God, are native speakers of English so darn hard to understand?
The answer may shock you.
Last month I received an e-mail from iTalki. For those of you who don’t know, iTalki is a language learning website. In this e-mail that I got, the author listed reasons why French speakers are difficult to understand and it reminded me of how difficult it is for you to understand Native English speakers in English, too. Though the email had a great title, and the author made a good point or two, he was mostly dead wrong about many things.
Listen, here is the real reason you can’t understand native speakers when they speak in English.
Just a heads up, this blog post goes along with episode 68 of my podcast. Have you subscribed to it? You should. It’s awesome. In that episode I give you more details on this topic. You can listen to it below.
How long Does it Take?
I will never tell you that learning a language is fast and easy. It is not. If someone tells you that, they’re lying and trying to steal your money. However, it is a good question, how long does it take to learn a language?” The answer isn’t that simple. It depends what your first language is—your native language. If it’s similar to English, has a similar structure, or is in the same language family, then it will be easier for you to acquire it. If not, it will take a bit more time.
Interestingly, some linguists and language specialists have concluded that it takes 10,000 hours to learn a language. You can read Dr. Elaine Eaton from the University of Calgary in Canada’s paper about the 10,000 hours theory here. I’m not sure about that number, but speaking fluency certainly won’t happen over night. Similarly, you also have to factor in your experience learning other languages, too. If you already know how to learn a language, it will be easier for you to learn another.
In the e-mail that I got, the author said that it “takes 16 years” to learn a language, at least for him when he was learning French. That’s ridiculous! There is no specific amount of time for this. It takes as long as it takes. Also, it depends on your goals. For some of you, you don’t plan on studying at a North American or U.K. university, so you don’t need to learn this type of English. (It’s called English for Academic Purposes, or EAP, by the way.) For most you that don’t take this path, you only need to learn about 3,000 – 4,000 words to be conversationally fluent in English. Sadly, the author of the e-mail got it completely wrong! In fact, that wasn’t all he got incorrect.
Going to Class
There are more non-native speakers of English than there are native speakers of English. Think about that. Let that fact sink in. You can read more about National Public Radio’s (NPR) findings here. It’s safe to say that most of the non-native and native English speakers in this world have learned English in a classroom at some point. When I was learning French, Spanish, English, German, Japanese, and Georgian, I sat in a classroom.
You know what’s interesting about going to class to learn English? That’s really all you’re doing in many cases: learning English in class. Teachers are busy. They have many things to teach you. Some teachers aren’t doing a good job either. Sometimes you’re not doing what you should be doing. Look, here’s the truth: sitting in English class doesn’t mean that you will learn English. It doesn’t meant that you will learn to speak English. Often times students are very glued to the idea that because they are sitting in an English class or course that they will or should automatically be able to speak and produce English. Sorry, that’s not how it works. In my Fluency Academy I teach you how to go about the business of speaking and communicating in English. You practice what you learn instead of learning a ton of new things that you never practice using.
Don’t be fooled. Being in an English class doesn’t mean you can speak. Don’t be a “lazy” student. You must practice using your English. It’s the only way to be able to speak English AND understand native speakers. The e-mail actually got that part correct.
If I’m being completely honest, you will most likely not learn how native speakers actually speak in these classes. Why? Some teachers don’t know themselves. Sometimes, it’s too difficult to teach this. Schools and parents don’t want teachers to spend time on teaching. They see it as “incorrect” English. This is wrong, in my opinion.
Teachers should spend time educating students on the ways that the language is used by the people who speak the language. Having said that, I’m a descriptive linguist/educator, not prescriptive. This means that I focus on describing the language how it is used and don’t focus on telling you old rules that people don’t use (and frequently break). You’ll learn some of these in my Fluency Academy Courses.
Fortunately, not all classroom learning is bad or unhelpful (obviously). If you’re not improving, many of you begin to think that the only way for you to reach your language goal and understanding native speakers is to go live in a place that only speaks English. Is this correct?
Travel Abroad & Full Immersion in English in the U.S.A., Canada, U.K., etc.
I’ve done full immersion many times in several different countries: Mexico, Puerto Rico, France, Italy, The Republic of Georgia, Turkey, etc. I’ve had basically the same time studying abroad. I have not become fluent just by living in a country. I may write a blog post about my experience with this in France and Mexico. You can read one learner and English teachers story here. Of course this may depend on many things, for example, how long did you live there.
Truthfully, my goal in saying this is that just because you’re living in a country that speaks your target language doesn’t mean that you will automatically reach speaking fluency in the language. In fact, what I often see happen with students in full immersion settings is that their listening and/ or reading skills improve, but their speaking is weaker. Why? Because if you want to speak, you must speak. There is no substitute.
Interestingly, the author of the e-mail agrees with me. However, everyone’s situation is different. So, though I am saying that this won’t make you fluent, it can depending on your personality, your fluency level when you arrive, etc. Just living in, say, North America and thinking that you will improve your speaking because of that won’t happen. You have to be active. If your skills are too poor, improve them. There will only be so many times that you can say “I don’t understand, could you please repeat?” in a conversation before the speaker or you decides that this conversation is too much work.
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Conclusion and Action Steps
Improve your speaking takes time, but after a little bit, it becomes easier. It’s fantastic that in 2021 we have many options to help with that. You can check out Interpals, Verbling, and iTalki, to name a few. However, I want to make clear that you must be active in your speaking. Sitting and “practicing” by only listening or watching isn’t going to work. For many of you, myself included, we need to lower our expectations. We must stop being perfectionists. Native speakers aren’t something to avoid. They’re only difficult to understand at the start. Once you understand the techniques and patterns that they’re using, all will be easier and less frustrating for you.
What’s the most difficult part of listening to speak English?