I want to talk about some thoughts I’ve had about learning English—or you could generalize this to learning any language.
Who is this article for? It’s for anyone who wants to learn real, natural English, rather than just textbook English—someone aiming for a near-native level.
I started learning English many years ago in primary school. Back then, I knew almost nothing—just basic words like ‘hello,’ ‘he,’ ‘she,’ and ‘I.’ I couldn’t even tell the difference between ‘am’ and ‘is’. I had zero knowledge of the language, and my test scores were terrible—for example, I once got only 22 out of 100.
That score means I was just guessing the answers.
In middle school, starting from seventh grade, I started to listen to what the teacher said in English class—but I didn’t pay much attention. I just learned what the teacher said during class and did my homework, which basically just meant memorizing the vocabulary list at the end of the textbook and studying some basic grammar.
Then gradually I realized—maybe it’s about computer programming which I became very interested in, and I realized I didn’t actually dislike English. So I had a slight desire to study it—almost like a little crush on the language—though I don’t think I realized it back then.
So I didn’t struggle much with learning English. Gradually, I just found that my English level was first in the class, and I gradually became more confident about English.
so many years past and I can confidently say I have the experience to learn the English, from the worst to maybe, the upper-intermediate
There’s only one requirement to learn a new language: which is you enjoy the learning process then your brain do not reject to resort the inputs.
Plus, there’s a theory called comprehensible input, and I think most of you have heard of it at some point.
You should build a solid foundation through comprehensible reading and listening first. According to the theory, However, speaking is not learning — but in my opinion, speaking is the validation of your current English level.
You will certainly reach a level where the bottleneck comes in — and that bottleneck is how to speak like a native.
And the bottleneck isn’t about the vocabulary, nor is it about grammar — it’s about information structure and collocations.
Organize the sentence the expressions just like a native speaker that’s the native speaker cannot tell that you are not a native.
I can give a simple example. Could you tell the difference between make this work and get this working? Which one do you think sounds more natural?
So when we fix a problem, maybe from a broken code or machine. The make this work sounds more natural but when set up a new system, the get this working sounds more natural.
And also a sentence can be grammertically corrected, but doesn’t sound native.
To attain this level of perceptual awareness is the most important thing—and if you can actually bring it to life in real-time conversation, then you can truly say you have reached native-speaker proficiency.