Why comparing yourself to native speakers of English is not a good idea.

Okay, let’s be honest: Are you comparing yourself to native speakers?

You're probably listening to a lot of English every day: series, podcasts, videos, maybe your colleagues. Getting a lot of English input is great, but when you're listening to a lot of English native speakers, remember that the way they speak does not need to be your standard. In fact, it shouldn't be.

Native speakers are not gods.

They are just lucky that they grew up speaking the most prestigious language in the world. Though actually, what you know as "Standard British" and "Standard American" represent only a thin slice of all of the native varieties of English in the world. Many native speakers of English are actually discriminated against because their accent is not posh enough, or because their variety of English is considered to be too far from the standard. So why should that be your ideal?

You're multilingual – be proud!

On top of that, most of the native speakers you admire don't speak any other languages beside English!

62% of Brits and 75% of Americans don't speak any foreign language.

Compare that to the millions of Europeans (not to mention the plurilingual rest of the world) who are apologising for their "bad English" every day!

Here's a cute quote from DER SPIEGEL*:

It's from an article called "Those Lying Germans":

"Why, then, do almost all Germans insist that they don't speak English when asked? [...] 'I learned English in school, but it's not so good,' you'll hear. They will then begin discussing esoteric grammar points or American literature in educated, fluent, witty English."

Is that you? ;)

So if you're feeling ashamed about your English, stop it.

First of all, if you're still reading this post, your English is advanced. (congratulations!)

Second of all, I guarantee you that the native speakers you're meeting are impressed by your language skills. Most of them couldn't even imagine speaking a foreign language half as well as you speak English!

And finally, you should never be ashamed because shame is a useless emotion. It freezes you in place and doesn't let you move or do anything to improve what you're unhappy about.

And if you want support, you can find it:

If you feel that something is holding you back from being your wonderful self in English, working with a coach can help you break through these limitations. You deserve to feel authentic and powerful, whenever, wherever, and no matter what language you're speaking. If you think that’s you: book a call with me here and let’s see if I can help.