Full transcript
0:00Today, I have a bit of good news for
0:01you. Your English is probably better
0:04than you think. If you're somebody who's
0:06ever wondered if you have a strong
0:08accent or you don't have a large enough
0:11vocabulary to speak with people, then
0:14listen carefully because in today's
0:16video, I'm going to share something with
0:17you that might surprise you. You see,
0:19I've worked with thousands of students
0:22over the last few years and I've spoken
0:24to them directly. And one of the things
0:26that almost all of them tell me at some
0:28point is "My English is bad." And at
0:32first, I would look at them confused
0:35because they were having a conversation
0:37with me in English. I could understand
0:39them. They were articulating themselves
0:42well enough, yet they still thought
0:44their English was bad. But as time went
0:46on, this became such a common pattern
0:49that I had to look into it more. Why
0:52were so many students telling me that
0:53their English was bad when it actually
0:56wasn't? And what I found made total
0:59sense. This is actually a psychological
1:02phenomenon. It's called the
1:04Dunning-Kruger effect. Maybe you've
1:07heard of this before. The Dunning-Kruger
1:09effect is when less-skilled people
1:12overestimate their abilities and those
1:15who are more capable underestimate
1:18theirs. That sounds crazy, I know. That
1:21almost sounds counterintuitive. What the
1:24Dunning-Kruger effect is saying is that
1:26if you're better at something, you're
1:28actually more likely to think you're bad
1:30at it. Once I learned about this, it
1:33allowed me to help my students much more
1:35effectively because language is so
1:37psychological. Language is not just
1:40grammar, it's not just vocabulary, it's
1:43not just how you move your mouth to
1:45pronounce sounds correctly. No, it's
1:47confidence. It's how you feel about
1:50yourself, what kind of image you project
1:53to other people. And ever since
1:54realizing this, I focused a lot more on
1:56the psychological aspects of learning a
1:58language. Another common theme that I've
2:01noticed is that students often compare
2:03themselves to native speakers, but not
2:06just any native speaker, the best and
2:10most well-spoken native speakers. They
2:12watch a Hollywood movie, they see an
2:15actor delivering their lines perfectly,
2:19and of course movies are scripted and
2:21they're not representative or reflective
2:23of real life. And you see that and you
2:26think, "Wow, my English is nowhere near
2:29that level. I must be bad." But if you
2:32think about it for a moment, the average
2:34native speaker doesn't speak like that.
2:37Native English speakers use filler words
2:40all the time like um, uh, like, and they
2:44even use incorrect grammar or spell
2:47things the wrong way. I'm guilty of
2:49this, too. I'm not perfect. So, stop
2:52comparing yourself to an impossible to
2:55achieve ideal. Another exercise you can
2:58do is to take a step back and to
3:01disconnect from yourself. Imagine you're
3:03a fly on the wall and you're watching
3:06yourself communicate with other people
3:09in English. But instead of just focusing
3:12on you, you're watching the other people
3:14speak, you're listening to what they
3:16have to say, and you're disconnecting
3:20from your thoughts and your feelings in
3:23that moment. I want you to treat
3:25yourself like you would treat anybody
3:27else in a conversation. You probably
3:30don't judge other people. You probably
3:33aren't as focused on their mistakes,
3:37their pronunciation, their vocabulary as
3:40you are on your own. So, take a step
3:42back and try to disconnect from that.
3:44Lastly, if you can understand what I'm
3:47saying in my videos, your English is
3:49good. You have a strong foundation. You
3:52might not be perfect, and I know I speak
3:54a lot more slowly than many native
3:56speakers, but if you can understand what
3:59I say, your English is good. Real-world
4:02conversations are naturally messier. You
4:05have distractions, you have background
4:07noise. So yes, if you're watching me
4:09here on YouTube, you might be better
4:11able to understand me than if we were on
4:14the street or if we were in a different
4:16environment. But that doesn't change
4:18anything. If you can understand me, your
4:21English is good. You have a solid
4:23foundation, and you need to stop
4:26underestimating your abilities. I hope
4:28this video could serve as a little bit
4:29of motivation. If you found it useful
4:32and you haven't yet subscribed, make
4:34sure to subscribe to English at the
4:35Ready here on YouTube, leave a like, and
4:37let me know in the comments if something
4:39I said resonated with you. If you want
4:41to study English with me and my team of
4:43experienced teachers from the US and the
4:45UK, click the link in the description
4:47below to apply. We have several programs
4:50available if you're looking to improve
4:51your English in more depth. Hope you
4:53found this video useful, and I'll see
4:55you in the next one.