Is it ever too late to become a fluent English speaker?

[00:00:00]So many of the women inside our community have children who have grown up and they've left home and they might be studying abroad or they've met partners and started families of their own and often those families are in English-speaking countries. And that creates a really important motivation to speak, right? To connect, to build stronger, closer relationships. So today, let's talk about why it's absolutely not too late at any age and how you can use that motivation to finally take you forward because you're further along than you think.

[00:00:53]>> [music] >> Hey ladies, welcome back and if you are joining us for the very first time, an extra big welcome to you as well. This is the Confident English podcast. I'm your host Emma and I'm also the founder of Hey Lady, an online community where women from all around the world come together to practice speaking English.

[00:01:20]Every week, right here, we help you to overcome the barriers that stop you from speaking with confidence, whether that's at work, while you're traveling, or in everyday life. If you've been learning English for years and you'd like to be fluent before the year 3000, then you are in exactly the right place. Let's get into today's episode.

[00:01:50]>> [music] >> This week's episode was inspired by a comment sent by Bea, a listener from Hungary. She says, "Emma, I feel ashamed to say that I've been studying English since I was a child, and still I cannot speak.

[00:02:12]I understand almost everything. Reading, yes, but for me, speaking has never been good.

[00:02:20]Both my sons speak well.

[00:02:23]I am 55 years, but in English I feel old, so behind. I will be a grandmother soon. When I visit the UK, I want to be able to speak with people.

[00:02:36]Do you think I can?"

[00:02:39]Bea, thank you so much for your question. I'm guessing that someone you love, someone in your family, has made a home in the UK. And of course, you want to be able to communicate and to really connect with your family, your extended family, and to be able to be independent in a country where English is spoken.

[00:03:04]You don't want to just nod and smile and wait for someone to translate for you, right? Now, first of all, my answer is no. You are not too old, not at all. But you are also not alone. So many of the women inside our community have children who have grown up, and they've left home, and they might be studying abroad, or they've met partners and started families of their own. And often, those families, or their extended families, are in English-speaking countries. And that creates a really important motivation to speak, right? To connect, to build stronger, closer relationships.

[00:03:53]So today, let's talk about how you can use that motivation to finally take you forward because you're further along than you think.

[00:04:04]>> [music] >> If you're wondering whether it's already too late for you to be fluent, I'm going to guess that perhaps you're probably not part of the new generation, the young things who are TikToking their way to fluency, right? Now, they missed out on some really good things, the glamour of the '70s, the glitter of the '80s, and the I'm too cool to care fashion of the '90s. That is the world that we grew up with, right? But the language tools and the opportunities that younger people have today are probably very different to the ones that you got exposed to when you were learning English. I know exactly what your classes looked like. They looked like mine, where you sat in rows with textbooks open, and you conjugated verbs, and you memorized vocabulary lists, and forgot most of it by Friday. Your teacher may not have actually really spoken much English outside of the classroom.

[00:05:17]And at no point ever did anyone suggest that the goal of what we were doing in those classes was to actually have a real conversation with real people. The goal was to tick a box and to pass the exam, which you probably did, and then promptly forgot it all. Life happened, and English really became less important. Now, you know that I love to lean into research, and the research tells us that adults can learn almost any part of a new language to near native level. The one exception is your accent. And we've talked about this.

[00:06:01]Your accent is part of who you are.

[00:06:04]Nobody needs you to sound like a newsreader on C M N. You just need to be you. You need to speak clearly with your accent.

[00:06:16]The only thing that's standing between you and fluency is practice. And bear, if you're listening to this, the environment that you speak in matters deeply if you want to make progress quickly.

[00:06:34]>> [music] >> Now, I want you to meet Elizabeth. For years, she watched my videos on YouTube.

[00:06:43]She heard me talk about Hey Lady.

[00:06:46]And for years, she told herself she couldn't do it. She wasn't good enough.

[00:06:52]She wasn't ready.

[00:06:54]But last year, she finally joined Hey Lady, and she joined through our 12-week English fluency makeover.

[00:07:03]>> So, it's so different in 4 months that I decided and at least 15 minutes a day in a daily speaking practice, I feel much more confident. I almost can say that I'm fluent in English.

[00:07:23]Sometimes I don't find the word, but I I already uh think in English sometimes because uh I'm not looking for the words all the time. Just sometimes.

[00:07:34]Every day, when people are not home, I go to the computer and join some event. That's very nice and uh I I feel very happy being here with this community.

[00:07:53]I think mostly because of the type of this community. We meet so many ladies that have big problems and they're here trying and pushing themselves to to go ahead to improve their English and oh, if they can, I can do it also.

[00:08:16]>> [laughter] >> So, it's a motivating space. I think uh all women should try to have a their experience here because uh in life, I always believed that we learn with others. We can't learn studying hard at home by ourselves.

[00:08:42]I think everything we learn when we are in a group. We learn much easier and faster.

[00:08:50]So, that's why I still am here and I probably will be here for years.

[00:08:57]>> [laughter] >> 4 months. 15 minutes a day and she feels more confident now than she did as a teenager.

[00:09:06]Béa, I wanted to share Elizabeth's video with you, her story with you because you're both in a similar situation.

[00:09:17]And because the environment, the place that you practice speaking in, that environment, it matters deeply if you want to see results just like hers.

[00:09:31]Hey Lady is designed for women.

[00:09:34]It has given Elizabeth the environment that she needs to feel comfortable about speaking because when she first joined, she certainly did not feel confident.

[00:09:46]But it was the environment that gave her the chance to connect with people in groups, to practice listening and responding, collaborating with other women who are on the same journey that she is. And this helped her to make more progress in less time.

[00:10:06]Now, Elizabeth is proof that it's not too late. And I think she's a wonderful reminder that change doesn't happen when you wait, when you put things off. It happens when you take a step forward, when you take a chance, or you take a risk.

[00:10:26]>> [music] >> You know much more English than you realize. The only thing that is blocking you from speaking fluently is the chance to use it, to practice it, to feel it, to feel what it's like.

[00:10:49]Ladies, if you would like to see what it's like to practice in the same way that Elizabeth did, then I'm inviting you to come and join us inside Hey Lady.

[00:11:02]Inside our community is where you can connect with other women from all over the world, right from inside your home, on your own schedule.

[00:11:12]It's easy to jump into short conversations that sit around all of the things you need to do in life, but you've got the option to dive deeper into interesting discussions if you've got time.

[00:11:24]Now, if you're retired and you've got time to do conversation practice every day, absolutely you can. If you're busy and you can only manage it a few times a week, 15 minutes is all it takes. Many small steps take you a very long way.

[00:11:46]Now, how do you join? We've got a 7-day free trial so that you can come in and try it out for yourself and then decide if you'd like to continue as a paying member.

[00:11:58]You'll find the link down in the description below or if you're watching on YouTube, you can scan the code right here.

[00:12:06]And as always, if you have a question just like Bear did, a question that you'd like me to answer in a future episode, then please leave it for me down in the comments. I read all of them. I respond to as many of them as I can.

[00:12:22]Thank you for being here today and remember, it's not too late to become the fluent English speaker that you have always wanted to be. There is no better time to start [music] than right now.

[00:12:36]I'll see you in the next episode.