Can you trust your English?

Hello!

Many of the people I teach are nervous about speaking English, especially outside our lessons, because they aren’t sure whether their grammar and vocabulary choices are correct.

They worry that the other person won’t understand them if they make a mistake. Or they’re afraid that they’ll be judged or even laughed at if they get something wrong.

During an English lesson, you know that the teacher will help you to correct them (without any judgement). But what about in real life? How can you know if you’re getting it right?

Here are a few things to think about:

⭐ Speaking English isn’t about perfect grammar. It’s about communication. You can usually tell if you’re communicating effectively or not by the way people respond to you.

If people understand what you say, give you the kind of answer you were expecting or do the thing you asked them to do, then your English is working!

⭐ Native speakers don’t always have complete confidence either—we simply don’t let that uncertainty stop us speaking.

If we’re not sure if we’ve used the right word, how do we handle it? Well, we either ignore it and carry on with the conversation because the other person knew what we meant. Or we say something like “I’m not sure if this is the right word but…”

⭐ Confidence doesn’t come from knowing all the grammar and all the words before you speak. It comes from speaking before you feel 100% sure – and discovering that you can still have successful conversations.

Every time you speak, you’re collecting evidence that you can communicate, even if your English isn’t perfect. That’s how confidence grows.

⭐ Very often, your sentences are correct but you just don’t trust them yet.

One of the hardest parts of learning a language is that you don’t always know if what you said was right. That can feel uncomfortable. But as long as the conversation continues and the other person understands you, you probably don’t need to know.

Learning to tolerate that uncertainty is part of becoming a more confident speaker.

⭐ Of course, you still want to improve your grammar and vocabulary, and you should! This is something you can work on in lessons and self-study time, but not in the middle of a conversation.

Try writing a journal or recording yourself speaking. This will help you notice gaps in your knowledge and things you want to improve. A teacher can also give you feedback in a more structured way.

⭐ Finally, remember that you don’t have to fix everything at once. Improving accuracy is a gradual process.

Every conversation teaches you something. Every mistake gives you information. Every time you speak, you become a little more experienced than you were before.

The next time you’re wondering, “Was that the right tense?” or “Did I use the right word?”, remember this: if the conversation carried on, you probably communicated much better than you think.

See you next week!

Katie 💙

Thank you for reading! I’m Katie Salter and I help adult learners – especially women – feel more confident using English.

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