In fact, when I recently asked a lot of self-directed learners what made them choose the Do-It-Yourself approach over a language class, the answers repeatedly mentioned being able to work at your own pace, choosing your favourite activities and staying motivated as a result.
But I also spot a bit of a dark side to self-directed learning.
Many self-directed learners will put their passion and energy into an exciting new learning method like flashcards, software or language exchanges for years, just to feel a sudden confidence crush when they’re asked to perform an unfamiliar task.
Your confidence level can suffer massively from those little challenges – they feel like setbacks, like you’re caught out as a cheat who thought they were at B2 just to find themselves stuck on an A1 task. You need to be aware that even if you’re making massive amounts of progress, it’s pretty normal to be caught out like that.
This is why well-organised language classes and tests take into account so many different skills.
Your language level is a composite of all four core language skills: listening, reading, speaking and writing. Before proclaiming fluency, make sure you have checked yourself in all four skills.
As a teacher, I find these so important that I wrote a guide about them and in this article, I’ll share a few specific signs that show up in your learning process when your core language skills profile is a little bit askew.
This article is not designed to make you doubt all your language learning methods – instead I will give you easy suggestions to try something new and tweak your current methods to reap more benefits.
Sign #1
I study 30 new words a day BUT could not tell you what any given train announcement saysWow, first of all well done on such discipline. It’s more than I manage on Memrise, that’s for sure. But with such a strong focus on vocabulary, it’s important to make sure that you also focus on learning in context.
Many language teachers will actually ensure that you role play and study through critical situations by using whole sample sentences. For example, it’s great to learn all the words related to transport and train stations. But the way to take it one step further is to ensure you know common phrases that are repeated day-in-day-out in specific situations.
Suggested Fix: Grab a classic textbook from your local library or ask at the nearest adult/community college for their recommended option. Even when you’re not in a group class, studying the example situations and dialogues in these learning-focused environments will go a long way. It’s best if the book comes with a CD of natural language content, so you can listen to native speaking actors read out the dialogues. If you are more advanced than A1, seek out a TV show you like and watch the foreign language version to work on your listening skills.
Sign #2
My reading level is extremely high BUT I couldn’t say more than 3 sentencesThis problem is not uncommon with self-directed learners who work a lot with texts, news articles and software but have got limited access to obvious speaking opportunities. While immersion might be what you crave to build up your speaking confidence, it’s not necessary to wait until your next big trip abroad.
Suggested Fix: You have to start speaking your target language as soon as possible – not because it would necessarily teach you a lot more on the linguistic side, but because the levels of confidence and quick thinking that are a key part of fluency just won’t come otherwise. Speaking is never an entirely comfortable thing when you do it first. But you can go about it a lot more easily by sticking to controlled situations (weather reports, hotel receptions, bookings, appointments..) and practicing those first. Most towns have a few ethnic shops and restaurants – can you find your nearest?
Sign #3
I always listen to audiobooks and radio in my target language BUT I’d struggle to pronounce the words I see on a pageWriting is actually more important than you think. Firstly, because it’s been proven to boost memory and recall in learners (especially when you write on paper). But secondly, there is also an important link between knowing how a word is spelt and how it is pronounced.
Suggested Fix: Start by revising the pronunciation rules in your target language, and learning what they look like in spelling. As a second step, you could then practice either by taking notes on audio recordings and checking your spelling with a dictionary or the original transcript otherwise. It’s a great exercise if you love a lot of music.
Alternatively, read out loud and have your language corrected by a native speaker who is willing to listen to you. This could be anyone – recording a little mp3 of your voice is very easy, for example using Soundcloud.
Sign #4
I do hours of learning every day BUT I forget it all way too quicklyUh oh!
This is a case of shallow engagement with your material, I’d say. You can spend hours immersing yourself in natural language content, but if you don’t engage with what you want to learn it will not become familiar and comfortable to you.
Suggested Fix: Try taking visual notes, for example in the shape of a Mindmap or drawing. Anything that makes you engage with what you are hearing and seeing around you is good. If you have a study buddy, it’s a great idea to exchange the notes afterwards and get a sense of how they understood the material.
Sign #5
I speak to a language exchange partner regularly BUT we ran out of topics to talk about a long time agoThis last problem is not so skill-related, but perhaps a sign that you need to shake up your routine.
Even though that conversation with a new friend from another country is always going to be fun, the nature of language exchanges also requires that you get serious now and then. So just for an hour a week, my advice to you is to banish the banter and focus on getting better at your two languages.
For fun and friendship (which is so important too!), you can always email each other cat pictures later on.
Suggested Fix: This here requires some discipline. Make sure that you agree on set limits for switching between your languages, and experiment with exploring new topics. These can be easily researched by looking through the table of contents of any language textbook, and you should prepare a few questions before the lesson to help your exchange partner take the conversation where you need it to go.
Another helpful place to assess yourself is to work though a preparation book for a specific language test, for example the Goethe Zertifikat, IELTS and the Instituto Cervantes test. Every language and every country has an official test that this is your language skills, and you will find that the structure of these tests doesn’t really vary, each of them takes into account listening speaking reading and writing.
Core language learning skills are an absolute key to fluency, but it’s not impossible to make small changes and “right the ship”, so to speak.
Wishing you good luck in the self-directed learning adventure, and as one last tip: Don’t think that asking for help when something isn’t crystal clear means you’re not a cool kid anymore.
You don’t have to be the smartest person in the room, but you can definitely use them.
Am I fluent in English? How Will YOU Know When You Are Fluent in English?
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People that are learning English always say they want to be ‘fluent’ in English, but what does ‘fluent’
According to the dictionary, ‘fluent’ means to be able to express oneself easily and articulately.
Most likely you will never speak English as fluently as a native speaker but people that learn to speak English can come close. A native speaker is someone who has spoken a language since birth, meaning it is their mother tongue. It is nearly impossible for an English language learner to sound ‘native’ unless they were immersed in the language when they were a child. This could mean they immigrated to an English speaking country at a young age or maybe had all of their education in English and extensively interacted with native speakers.
Social, Academic and Professional English Proficiency
Social English or Conversational English:
When learning English, this is the area that you will most likely become proficient in first. You will be able to talk about yourself and have conversations with a variety of people in English in a social or informal setting.
Academic English:
Your academic English may be strong because you went to an English high school or university. To become proficient in English academically takes more time. The vocabulary is more complex and it takes more time and practice to be proficient in as an English language learner. Many English language learners (and native speakers) struggle for many years to become proficient in academic English.
Professional English Fluency/Proficiency:
This English is what you become proficient in if you use English for your job or profession. You may know how to speak extensively about law, engineering, medicine, tourism or education in English if that is your profession. You most likely will know a specific technical vocabulary that relates to your profession. You will know how to speak about topics that many native speakers would struggle to speak about because they do not have an education or experience in that profession.
For example: I am a native English speaker. I am college educated. I have a background in Education. I would struggle or even be unable to have an in depth conversation with someone about engineering. This is not because I do not speak English. It is because I do not know this information or have the vocabulary to completely understand the ins and outs of it.
Fluent English Speakers…
• Think in English
If you can speak in English and rarely have to translate words or phrases to your native language to understand and speak than you might be fluent.
• Speak English Confidently
Do you feel good and confident when you speak English? Some people are nervous and scared to speak English. They worry that they are going to make mistakes or that no one will understand them. They often worry about speaking in the right tense and some people hesitate to speak at all. You should be able to speak English confidently and naturally without feeling nervous and afraid.
• Use Contextual Clues to Fill in What you don’t Know
You can continue a conversation and use contextual clues (infer the meaning or guess) when you don’t know what something means. So, basically you don’t stop a conversation to look a word up in a dictionary. You can understand majority of what is being said and can fills in the blanks or gaps later.
• Can Code-switch
This means you can speak in your native language and then switch to English and vice versa without getting confused in a single conversation. This is what you commonly see many bilingual (or bi-cultural) children doing. They learn to speak to one parent in English and their other parent in a different language.
• Dream in English
Some people say that once you dream in a language you are ‘fluent’. This will obviously be different for all people. Many people start to dream in a language when they start to internalize the language and start thinking in it.
Ask Yourself…
Can I speak English all day? Can I do my normal routine only in English?
Can I watch the news or listen to the radio or a podcast and understand (almost) everything?
Can I understand English speakers from more than two countries or regions?
Can I give a presentation in English about a topic of my choice?
Can I speak on the phone in English?
Do native English speakers understand me when I speak English?
Your English fluency is subjective; which means it is really based on how YOU feel; unless of course, you want to base your ‘fluency’ on an exam.
Conclusion: YOU can decide when YOU are fluent in English.
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