Unlock Your English: Avoid the Most Common Language Mistake!

This past week, I had the opportunity to meet with several people that I hadn't met before in one of the locations where I work.

One lady in particular stuck out to me when I knocked on her door.

She was so happy to welcome me and to show me around her new home.

Her Ukrainian accent was strong, but she did an amazing job of talking with me as we went through her suite inspection together.

Now, what stuck out to me the most was that she was doing one thing that many English learners don't do, while at the same time she was also doing one of the most common mistakes.

Well, she was making one of the most common mistakes that I've seen newcomers to Canada make.

Would you like to know what they are so that you can make sure that you're doing the right thing while avoiding the most common mistake that can literally hold your English skills back for years?

Then listen in to today's episode to find out.

Well, hello there and welcome to the Speak English Fearlessly Podcast.

This is the podcast for motivated English learners who want to speak English fearlessly and learn practical tips and strategies to conquer the CELPIP exam.

I also love to feature encouraging interviews with regular people, people just like you, who are working towards becoming fluent in English so we can learn from their experiences together.

Who am I?

My name is Aaron Nelson and I've been an English teacher for over 17 years and I am a certified CELPIP trainer and I now help students prepare for the CELPIP exam through online classes.

So my new friend that I was telling you about in the intro has so much going for her that could help her dramatically improve her English skills.

She was incredibly friendly and immediately helped me feel welcome.

As we talked, it felt like we could have sat down and enjoyed a cup of coffee or tea together while chatting about anything and everything.

Have you ever been around someone like that?

You feel instantly comfortable with them.

What I especially noticed as we talked together was that her English was still very simple.

She understood almost everything I was asking her about.

As we talked about various things in her apartment, and when she wasn't sure, she wasn't afraid to ask me to repeat myself or to ask for some clarifying information.

She did that perfectly.

When she spoke, she used simple sentences to express her ideas clearly and effectively.

Nothing complicated.

It was enough to get our job together, done and done really well.

So did you notice what she did?

Well, it didn't have to do with her friendly personality.

While it helps to be naturally friendly and outgoing when you're learning English, not everyone has that kind of personality.

It does for sure help, as I said a moment ago, but what she was doing very well at is something everyone can put into practice to see impressive results with their English.

Simply use the English you have.

I've mentioned this in multiple episodes, I'm sure, but one of the most important things you can be doing to see dramatic improvement happen with your English skills or your celpip speaking skills, for example, is to be using the English you already have as frequently as possible with native English speakers.

When you use what you have, it becomes stronger.

Your confidence grows as you begin to have more and more conversations with people.

More conversations with people in English will naturally help you develop your speaking skills.

How?

Well, I promise you that you'll begin to hear new ways of saying things.

You'll hear new words and phrases being used that you will be able to pick out as being interesting or cool, and you'll figure out how to begin using those new words or phrases yourself.

This, and I've shared about it before, happens to me still.

Today, as I'm talking with someone either in English or in Spanish, I'll hear a new word or phrase and will think, hmm, I've never heard that before.

I want to try and use it too.

And when I do, my vocabulary and my speaking skills in Spanish, for example, which is my second language, grows.

That is something you should be doing, too.

Personality, for sure, helps, but it's not a requirement.

I'm an introvert.

For me, talking with new people is super challenging, but I've noticed that's when most of my Spanish skills have grown over the years.

The more I interact with native Spanish speakers, the more I learn new words and phrases that I try to use myself.

Using your English as much as you can is what will help you develop your skills past where they are now.

And that leads to the common mistake.

I see many newcomers to Canada, and English learners in general, make a mistake that has the power to hold your English skills back for decades if you don't actively work to change it.

My meeting with this lady was the first time I ever saw her, and she has been living in our facility for several months now.

She was kind, friendly, welcoming, easy to talk to, but she never comes out of her suite to interact with her neighbors.

The mistake she was making is isolating yourself or hiding.

Now, I didn't ask her why I never see her odin our community events, but I can guess based on 17 years of teaching experience and my own personal experience as an introvert, what has been keeping her from us.

I think she feels self conscious about her English, so she doesn't try to connect with others.

She tells herself that she won't understand what people are trying to talk with her about, so she should avoid those situations as much as possible.

And you know what?

I get that it does feel uncomfortable and embarrassing when you don't know what the other person or people are saying, and it's even worse when they're talking directly to you.

So I understand that line of thought very well.

I've thought it about myself, about my own skills in Spanish, and I've also hidden and isolated myself avoiding social situations with other Spanish speakers because of my own feelings of not being good enough with with my Spanish skills.

But here's the thing.

In all of my 16 years of living in Mexico, I never once had someone laugh at me or make fun of me for my developing Spanish skills.

Not even once.

I did make countless mistakes that I felt embarrassed about, and I did have countless times where the person trying to listen to me didn't understand what I was saying or which forced me to find other ways to explain myself which felt embarrassing.

I did have times where I didn't know how to express what I really wanted to say, which left me feeling very frustrated with myself.

But my greatest fears never came true.

Nobody pointed at me and laughed at my developing Spanish skills, ever.

But those frustrating and embarrassing situations that I experienced, while not something I enjoyed, helped me to build my skills.

Avoiding those situations may offer some protection, but at what cost?

I've mentioned some of our dear friends countless times on this podcast.

For them, isolating from native English speakers has cost them over a decade of English development and tons of money.

They live here and have lived here for well over 10 years, but they still have a beginner level of English.

It's cost them boatloads of money because they are only now trying to invest in learning English so they can complete their immigration goals of becoming Canadian citizens.

Isolating and hiding is terribly expensive, but is likely the most common mistake I see people making.

And you know what?

If that's something you're struggling with right now, I want to help you.

Joining the Celpip Success School will give you the opportunity to use your English on a regular basis.

You'll get unlimited access to me to practice your speaking and writing skills, as well as the opportunity to connect with other newcomers to Canada who are working to get ready for their CELPIP exam too.

On top of that when you join the CELPIP Success School, you'll also have access to courses to help you practice vital skills that you'll need to do well on the exam.

I build each course to help you avoid some of the most common mistakes Celpip test takers make, and I walk with you through them each step of the way.

Then join the Celpip Success School today.

Just go to celpipsuccess.com listener and join now.

That's celpipsuccess.com listener & join now.

Thank you so much for listening to today's episode.

I hope that you will come back and listen next week.

Bye.