S6E32: It really is a numbers game in languages too

Full transcript:

Good morning, happy Tuesday and welcome to the Language Confidence Project, the daily dose of language courage for people who love languages and those who really don’t, but have to learn one anyway.

We hear it all the time when we’re job hunting: it’s a number game.

But the thing is, language learners, it’s the same in your language life too.

Getting better at speaking, getting better at writing, it’s the same. But unlike applying for stuff, selling stuff, you’re not just waiting for that one yes. Everything you try will pay you back.

The best way to get good at having conversations in our new language, is to have a lot of conversations in our new language. The best way to get really good at expressing ourselves in writing, whether that’s creatively, professionally, or anything else, is to practise writing a lot, in as many different scenarios as we can.  

And it’s the same process whether we’re beginners in the language, or whether we’re advanced speakers approaching a new topic that native speaker us is really knowledgeable about for the first time.

The first time we have a conversation,, it probably is going to feel simplistic and two dimensional, and the more it’s a topic we care about, the bigger the gap will feel between what we know and think in our minds, and what we can express. Native Speaker Us will be able to think of so much to say on the subject, but just like our first time at an ice rink, we’ll cling onto the sides a bit, patchworking together phrases that we know, words that are good enough, and we’ll get our point across but it’ll probably feel like a bit of a compromise.

But then, with time, and with repetition, that topic will really start to evolve.  

The more times we have that conversation, plan that conversation at home, journal about that topic, watch or listen to things on that topic, then have that conversation again, the more we’ll have to say. The more we’ll stumble across phrases that we like and think “yes, I’ll keep that”. The more we’ll be used to the sorts of questions our speaking partner might ask in response, and the better our questions will be to them. With practice, our replies will get closer and closer to what Native Speaker Us wants to say. 

It's iterative. It’s not about planning the one true conversation, or the one perfectily curated anecdote, from the very start. Start small, start simple, whatever that looks like at your language level and in the topic and context you’re working in, and go from there.

In all likelihood, you won’t find yourself insightful and articulate the first time. It’s okay. Because every time you go back into that conversation, you make a new connection. You say something just a little bit more persuasively. You make points that feel, just a little bit more … you.

Just let it evolve, language learners, and you will get there. Have a wonderful day, and I’ll see you back here tomorrow.