English Podcast For English Learners | Why You Understand English But Can’t Speak | Learn English

Added: 2026-05-22

[00:00:06]Hello everyone, I'm Ryan. Welcome back to the English Cast.

[00:00:11]>> Hello listeners, I'm Emma. We are thrilled to have you here with us today.

[00:00:17]>> Our goal is to help you build your confidence by listening to real everyday conversations without any stress.

[00:00:25]>> Exactly. Just relax, listen, and let the language come to you.

[00:00:31]>> Have you ever watched a movie in English or listened to a podcast and you understood every single thing the people were saying, but then when it is your turn to speak, your mouth completely freezes?

[00:00:47]>> Oh, that is such a powerful question.

[00:00:50]Have you ever sat with a group of friends laughing at all their jokes, understanding the entire conversation, but when someone asks you a simple question, your mind goes completely empty?

[00:01:02]>> It is one of the most frustrating feelings in the world, you know the vocabulary, you know the grammar, you can read a book in English without any problems. But when you try to open your mouth, the words just refuse to come out. If you are nodding your head right now, we want you to know that you are not alone. This is actually the number one struggle for language learners all over the world. Today we are going to explain exactly why this happens and more importantly, how to fix it.

[00:01:38]>> This is going to be a highly practical episode. We are going to give you simple tools you can use today to unlock your speaking voice. And if you find this conversation helpful, please take a quick second to like this video and subscribe to the English cast.

[00:01:57]>> Thank you so much for your support friends.

[00:02:01]So let us talk about the science of language learning for just a moment. Do not worry, we will keep it very simple.

[00:02:09]Your brain has two different jobs when it comes to language.

[00:02:13]>> That is right. The first job is understanding. This is what happens when you read a book or listen to this podcast. Your brain receives the information and translates it. It is very fast and it is usually the first skill you develop.

[00:02:31]>> The second job is producing.

[00:02:34]This is what happens when you write an email or speak out loud. Producing is much harder because you have to build the sentence from zero. You have to find the right words, organize the grammar, and physically move your mouth to make the sounds.

[00:02:50]>> Exactly. So, when you feel frustrated, remember that understanding and speaking are two completely different skills.

[00:03:00]>> We actually have a great idiom in English to describe this exact feeling of freezing. Have you ever heard someone say they draw a blank?

[00:03:12]>> Yes. To draw a blank. It means you try to remember something but your mind is completely empty. It is like looking at a blank piece of white paper. There is nothing there.

[00:03:25]>> When someone asks you a question in English and you panic, you can say I am so sorry. I am drawing a blank right now. It is a very natural phrase.

[00:03:37]Another very common phrase is saying a word is on the tip of my tongue. The tip of your tongue is the very front part of your mouth.

[00:03:47]>> We use this when we know the word. We can almost see it in our minds, but we just cannot say it out loud. You can say, "Oh, what is the name of that movie? It is on the tip of my tongue."

[00:04:04]I use that phrase at least three times a week. So you understand the words but when it is time to speak you draw a blank. Why does this happen? Let us use a very simple example from daily life.

[00:04:20]Let us talk about cooking.

[00:04:23]>> I love talking about cooking.

[00:04:26]Imagine you are sitting on your sofa reading a cookbook. You read a recipe for a beautiful tomato soup. You understand every single step. You know you need to cut the tomatoes, boil the water, and add the salt.

[00:04:42]>> Reading the recipe is very easy. You feel like a professional chef. But then you walk into the kitchen. You pick up a real knife. You try to chop a real tomato. Suddenly it is not so easy. The knife slips. The tomato rolls off the table. The water boils too fast.

[00:05:07]>> That is exactly what happens. Reading the recipe is like listening to English.

[00:05:13]Actually chopping the vegetables is like speaking English. You cannot learn how to chop a tomato just by reading a book.

[00:05:22]You have to physically practice moving your hands.

[00:05:26]Speaking a language is a physical activity. Your mouth, your tongue, and your breath all have to work together to make new sounds. Your brain knows the recipe, but your mouth has never chopped the tomato.

[00:05:42]>> That makes so much sense. Your mouth simply lacks muscle memory.

[00:05:47]Muscle memory is when your body remembers how to do something because you have done it so many times like riding a bicycle. You do not think about it. Your body just knows what to do.

[00:05:59]>> So the big question is how do we build muscle memory for speaking English? How do we train our mouths to catch up with our brains?

[00:06:09]We have three excellent low stress solutions for you today. The first solution is incredibly simple, but it works like magic. You need to read out loud.

[00:06:23]When you read a book or an article silently, you are only practicing your understanding.

[00:06:30]But when you read it out loud, you are forcing your mouth to make the physical sounds of English.

[00:06:37]>> I love this method. You do not have to think about grammar or vocabulary because the words are already written on the page for you. You just focus purely on the physical movement of your mouth.

[00:06:52]>> It is like going to the gym but for your tongue.

[00:06:56]If you spend just 10 minutes every day reading a news article or a short story out loud, you will feel a massive difference in your confidence.

[00:07:06]>> It is so true. The first time you do it, your mouth might feel tired. You might make mistakes, but that is completely normal. You are building those speaking muscles.

[00:07:19]>> Let us move to the second solution.

[00:07:22]This one is very popular with successful language learners. It is called shadowing.

[00:07:29]>> Shadowing is a fantastic technique. A shadow is the dark shape your body makes on the ground when the sun shines on you. Your shadow follows you exactly. It does whatever you do.

[00:07:45]>> When you use the shadowing technique in language learning, you become the shadow.

[00:07:51]You listen to a native speaker and you repeat their words exactly slightly after they say them. It is exactly like singing along to your favorite song on the radio. You do not just listen to the singer. You sing the words with them to learn the rhythm and the melody.

[00:08:10]>> That is a beautiful way to explain it.

[00:08:14]English has a very specific rhythm and melody. Some words are loud and some words are quiet. By shadowing a native speaker, you learn the natural music of the language.

[00:08:27]Let us give you an example of how to do this. You can use this exact podcast to practice shadowing. You can listen to Emma say a sentence. Then you pause the audio and you repeat the sentence exactly how she said it.

[00:08:45]>> You try to copy my emotion, my speed, and my pronunciation.

[00:08:50]You are borrowing my voice until you feel comfortable using your own voice.

[00:08:56]Let us practice this together. Right now, I will say a simple sentence and I want you to shadow me. Are you ready?

[00:09:06]Here is the sentence.

[00:09:09]I would like a cup of coffee, please.

[00:09:12]>> Now you try it at home. Say it exactly like Ryan.

[00:09:17]I would like a cup of coffee, please.

[00:09:20]>> Let us do one more. The weather is beautiful today.

[00:09:24]Now you shadow him.

[00:09:28]The weather is beautiful today.

[00:09:30]>> When you shadow sentences like that, your mouth gets used to the physical feeling of English.

[00:09:37]When you actually go to a coffee shop in real life, your mouth will already know how to order the coffee because you have practiced the physical movement.

[00:09:48]>> You will not draw a blank because your muscles will remember the recipe.

[00:09:54]Now let us talk about our third solution. This is my personal favorite because you can do it anywhere at any time. It is called daily narration.

[00:10:06]Narration means telling a story. When you watch a nature documentary on television, there is usually a person talking in the background describing what the animals are doing. That person is narrating the story. When you use daily narration, you become the narrator of your own life. You talk to yourself out loud about the simple things you are doing throughout the day.

[00:10:33]>> This is so powerful because it trains your brain to create sentences in real time, but you do it when you are completely alone. So there is zero stress and zero pressure. Nobody is judging you. Let us give you some examples of how to narrate your morning routine.

[00:10:54]Imagine you are in your kitchen. You can say out loud, I am walking to the kitchen.

[00:11:01]I am opening the refrigerator.

[00:11:04]I am taking out the milk.

[00:11:07]>> I am pouring the milk into the cup. The milk is very cold.

[00:11:13]I am putting the milk back into the fridge.

[00:11:17]It sounds a little bit silly, but it is actually brilliant. You are forcing your brain to find the English words for your daily environment.

[00:11:28]>> And if you are driving your car to work, you can narrate the journey. You can say, I am stopping at the red light. The car next to me is blue. It is raining outside. I need to turn left at the next street. When you do this, you will quickly discover which words you know and which words you do not know.

[00:11:52]If you are narrating your grocery shopping and you do not know the word for a specific vegetable, you can look it up later.

[00:12:00]>> Exactly. You are finding the gaps in your vocabulary in a safe way. When you practice narrating your life, you are training your brain to switch from the listening mode to the speaking mode.

[00:12:14]>> You are actively moving the words from the back of your brain to the tip of your tongue.

[00:12:20]And because you are practicing with very simple everyday situations, you build a strong foundation of confidence.

[00:12:29]>> Let us talk about one big fear that stops people from speaking. Many learners feel that if they cannot speak perfectly, they should not speak at all.

[00:12:39]They want to wait until they are completely fluent before they open their mouths.

[00:12:44]>> That is a very common trap. But waiting for perfection is like refusing to walk until you can run a marathon. It is impossible.

[00:12:55]You have to take messy, imperfect steps first.

[00:13:00]Native speakers do not care if your grammar is perfect. They do not care if you use a simple word instead of a complicated word. They just want to connect with you. They want to understand your message. When you are ordering food in a restaurant, the waiter is not giving you a grammar test.

[00:13:25]They just want to know if you want chicken or fish. If you say I want chicken, they will be happy. The communication is successful.

[00:13:35]>> Exactly. Communication is about connection, not perfection. If you make a mistake, you just smile, correct yourself if you can, and keep going.

[00:13:47]>> Let us do a quick review of the three tools we discussed today.

[00:13:52]If you understand everything but cannot speak, it means you need to build your physical speaking muscles.

[00:13:59]>> Tool number one is reading out loud.

[00:14:02]Take 10 minutes a day to read an article or a book with your voice. Let your mouth practice making the sounds without worrying about the grammar.

[00:14:13]>> Tool number two is shadowing.

[00:14:16]Borrow a native speaker's voice. Listen to a podcast or a video. Pause it and repeat the sentences exactly as you hear them.

[00:14:26]>> Tool number three is daily narration.

[00:14:30]Talk to yourself when you are alone.

[00:14:33]Describe your actions in the kitchen, in the car, or at the grocery store. Become the narrator of your own life.

[00:14:41]>> If you practice these three simple tools, you will start to see a massive difference in your confidence.

[00:14:48]You will slowly move the English language from your brain into your mouth.

[00:14:54]>> You will stop drawing a blank and you will start enjoying real conversations.

[00:15:00]We know you can do it. You already have the knowledge inside your head. You just need to practice chopping the tomatoes.

[00:15:10]>> Exactly. And we are not just going to give you the recipe and leave you alone in the kitchen. We are going to practice together right now. Welcome to part two of today's episode, the speaking gym.

[00:15:24]>> Yes, welcome to the speaking gym. In this section, you are not just a listener. You are an active participant.

[00:15:33]Wherever you are right now, in your car, in your room, or walking outside, get ready to speak out loud.

[00:15:41]Today's workout is called shadowing at the coffee shop. We are going to practice a real everyday conversation.

[00:15:51]Ryan will play the role of the barista, the person making the coffee, and I will play the customer, but you are going to be my shadow.

[00:16:01]>> Emma will say her sentence to order coffee.

[00:16:05]Then you will hear a few seconds of silence. During that silence, you must repeat exactly what Emma said out loud.

[00:16:16]>> Do not worry about reading or grammar.

[00:16:20]Just listen to the music of my voice and try to copy my rhythm and my emotion.

[00:16:26]Are you ready? Take a deep breath. Let us step into the coffee shop.

[00:16:32]>> Hello. Welcome to the daily roast. What can I get for you today?

[00:16:38]>> Hi there. Can I get a large cappuccino, please?

[00:16:42]>> Sure, a large cappuccino. Would you like that hot or iced?

[00:16:47]>> I will have it hot, please.

[00:16:50]>> Hot cappuccino. What kind of milk would you like with that? We have whole milk, skim, or oat milk.

[00:16:58]>> Oat milk, please. Oh, and can I add an extra shot of espresso?

[00:17:04]>> Of course. One large hot oat milk cappuccino with an extra shot. Would you like anything to eat with that? We have some fresh croissants.

[00:17:15]>> No, thank you. Just the coffee for today.

[00:17:18]>> No problem. Is this for here or to go?

[00:17:22]>> To go, please.

[00:17:25]>> All right, that will be $5.50.

[00:17:28]Cash or card?

[00:17:30]>> I will pay with my card.

[00:17:33]Here you go.

[00:17:35]Thank you. Your order will be ready at the end of the counter. Have a great day.

[00:17:41]>> Thanks. You too.

[00:17:43]>> And stop. Fantastic job everyone. How did that feel?

[00:17:48]>> If your mouth feels a little bit strange or tired, that is a great sign. It means you are waking up those speaking muscles.

[00:17:58]>> Notice how Emma did not use perfectly complete grammar book sentences. She used natural native phrases like can I get and to go please.

[00:18:10]>> By repeating these chunks of words out loud, you are building muscle memory.

[00:18:16]The next time you walk into a real coffee shop, your brain won't have to draw a blank. Your mouth will already know the recipe. Well, that brings us to the end of today's episode. We hope this topic gave you a lot of confidence and fresh ideas.

[00:18:34]>> Now it is your turn. Tell us in the comments. What is your biggest struggle with today's topic? Let's talk about it down below.

[00:18:43]>> If you found this podcast helpful, please make sure to like the video and subscribe to the English Cast so we can keep growing together.

[00:18:52]>> Keep learning, keep speaking, and keep connecting.

[00:18:57]Thank you for spending your time with us and we will see you next time.