Want the secret to English fluency? The answer might surprise you.

Hi everyone!

Daniel Tanner here and welcome to my weekly newsletter that helps Italian professionals communicate more effectively with their English speaking colleagues and clients. 💼 

What’s the secret to learning a foreign language? The answer might surprise you.

I remember the exact date my language learning journey began. It was a summer’s evening in London, and in a twist of good fortune (prepare yourself for a soppy rom-com moment) I met a lovely Italian girl called Gisella, who after just 12 short years is now my wife.

I’d always wanted to learn a foreign language but being English comes with a double-edged sword (=un arma a doppio taglio). Yes, we are incredibly lucky to grow up learning the world’s most widely-spoken language, but this also means we’re rarely in a situation where we really have to learn another language, so we can fall back on the excuse of, “well, if everyone already speaks English, what’s the point?” 

Sad but true.

However, I did have a real reason to learn Italian. I wanted to understand Gisella when she spoke her own language, join in the conversions with her friends and family. I wanted to laugh, joke, live and be myself, all in Italian. 

Filled with enthusiasm, I got myself a grammar book for beginners and an Italian dictionary, and started studying as much as I could. Every new phrase, verb, and tense I learnt unlocked a new ability to express myself. I entered into a kind of upwards spiral. The more I learnt, the more I wanted to learn. 

My listening improved and I started reading some simple books as well to boost my vocab. I started reaching some really satisfying milestones like making someone laugh for the first time in Italian, being able to enjoy a film at the cinema, and holding my own during fast-paced conversations when out with friends. 

And then, after about a year, the process became much more difficult. My progress slowed down, I started to forget words, I felt frustrated and felt stuck in an awkward phase where I sometimes felt confident and other times I couldn’t find the right words. 

I’d reached what’s called the intermediate plateau. I’ll do a separate post dedicated entirely to this but, long story short, at the beginning of learning a new language you can see incredible progress in a short space of time but as you improve, your progress slows.

Was my desire to learn Italian really enough? Did I really want to put in all those hours? Did I really want to keep making mistakes and feeling embarrassed almost every time I tried to say something? 

I still had the same goals and dreams of speaking fluently but the enthusiasm I felt at the start wasn’t the same.

But it was too late. Italian was now a part of my life. I was constantly learning whether I chose to or not. And I think this is really the key to reaching fluency in a language. 

Now, my Italian is by no means perfect, but I can say that I speak fluently and the language has even become a key part of my teaching method. 

I help Italian professionals feel more confident when communicating in English with their international colleagues and clients, and I’ve seen first-hand the difference between my clients that exposes themselves to as much English as possible on a daily daily and those who don’t. They really progress so much more quickly at any level.

Now, I’m not suggesting you need to go and find a native English speaking boyfriend or girlfriend to reach fluency quicker (although it wouldn’t hurt!) you just need to find ways in which you could include more English into your daily life.

But I don’t have any time! 

Yes you do, let’s find some practical things you could do to add more English in your life right now.

What are you interested in?

Follow your passions, hobbies and interests to make your learning journey as natural and as fun as possible.

Do you love cooking? Great! Next time you’re looking for a new recipe, watch a YouTube video in English. Want to be a better pubic speaker? Awesome! They’ll definitely be a Ted Talk about that.

When do you consume content during the day?

We all enjoy a quick scroll on social media. Follow some people that create content in English to be automatically exposed to the language in your feed.  What about the TV series you’re watching at the moment? Could you watch it in English? 

(By the way, here’s a guide on the best way to learn English from TV and film. Enjoy!)

Do you listen you podcasts? Why not listen to a couple in English while you’re commuting to work.

Newsletters

If you’re reading this, you’re probably subscribed to my weekly newsletter and that means you’re awesome and you’ll already know the benefit of receiving content automatically on a regular basis. Could you subscribe to any others?

News

If you like to keep up to date with current events, (as depressing as it may be recently, but let’s not get into that here) you can download the BBC news app and even get notifications for breaking news. 

Join English learning groups online

Facebook, Linkedin, Reddit. You name it, and you can find an English speaking group to suit your interests and goals. Join in the conversation and practice some English.

These are just a few ideas to get you started, but I’d love to hear from you. What is your language learning journey and how do you include English in your everyday life?

Reply to this email or comment below and let me know.

Grazie mille and see you next time!

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