Is it ever too late to become a fluent English speeaker?

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1. 0:00So many of the women inside our community have children who have grown up and they've left home, and they might be studying abroad, or they've met partners and started families of their own.
2. 0:15And often those families are in English-speaking countries, and that creates a really important motivation to speak, right?
3. 0:25To connect, to build stronger, closer relationships.
4. 0:30So today, let's talk about why it's absolutely not too late at any age, and how you can use that motivation to finally take you forward, because you're further along than you think.
5. 0:56Hey, ladies.
6. 0:57Welcome back, and if you are joining us for the very first time, an extra big welcome to you as well.
7. 1:04This is the Confident English podcast.
8. 1:08I'm your host Emma, and I'm also the founder of Hey Lady!, an online community where women from all around the world come together to practise speaking English.
9. 1:20Every week, right here, we help you to overcome the barriers that stop you from speaking with confidence, whether that's at work, while you're travelling, or in everyday life.
10. 1:33If you've been learning English for years and you'd like to be fluent before the year 3000, then you are in exactly the right place.
11. 1:43Let's get into today's episode.
12. 1:54This week's episode was inspired by a comment sent by Bea, a listener from Hungary.
13. 2:02She says, " Emma, I feel ashamed to say that I've been studying English since I was a child, and still I cannot speak.
14. 2:12I understand almost everything.
15. 2:15Reading, yes, but for me, speaking has never been good.
16. 2:21Both my sons speak well.
17. 2:24I am 55 years, but in English I feel old, so "behind." I will be a grandmother soon.
18. 2:32When I visit the UK, I want to be able to speak with people.
19. 2:37Do you think I can?
20. 2:39Bea, thank you so much for your question.
21. 2:42I'm guessing that someone you love, someone in your family has made a home in the UK, and of course, you wanna be able to communicate and to really connect with your family, your extended family, and to be able to be independent in a country where English is spoken.
22. 3:04You don't want to just nod and smile and wait for someone to translate for you, right?
23. 3:11Now, first of all, my answer is no, you are not too old.
24. 3:16Not at all.
25. 3:17But you are also not alone.
26. 3:21So many of the women inside our community have children who have grown up and they've left home, and they might be studying abroad, or they've met partners and started families of their own.
27. 3:36And often those families or their extended families are in English-speaking countries, and that creates a really important motivation to speak, right?
28. 3:49To connect, to build stronger, closer relationships.
29. 3:54So today, let's talk about how you can use that motivation to finally take you forward, because you're further along than you think.
30. 4:11If you're wondering whether it's already too late for you to be fluent, I'm gonna guess that perhaps you're probably not part of the new generation, the young things who are TikTok-ing their way to fluency, right?
31. 4:26Now, they missed out on some really good things, the glamour of the '70s, the glitter of the '80s, and the I'm too cool to care fashion of the '90s.
32. 4:37That is the world that we grew up with, right?
33. 4:41But the language tools and the opportunities that younger people have today are probably very different to the ones that you got exposed to when you were learning English.
34. 4:53I know exactly what your classes looked like.
35. 4:57They looked like mine, where you sat in rows with textbooks open, and you conjugated verbs, and you memorised vocabulary lists, and forgot most of it by Friday.
36. 5:11Your teacher may not have actually really spoken much English outside of the classroom, and at no point ever did anyone suggest that the goal of what we were doing in those classes was to actually have a real conversation with real people.
37. 5:30The goal was to tick a box and to pass the exam, which you probably did, and then promptly forgot it all.
38. 5:38Life happened, and English really became less important.
39. 5:43Now, you know that I love to lean into research, and the research tells us that adults can learn almost any part of a new language to near-native level.
40. 5:56The one exception is your accent, and we've talked about this.
41. 6:01Your accent is part of who you are.
42. 6:05Nobody needs you to sound like a news reader on CNN.
43. 6:09You just need to be you.
44. 6:11You need to speak clearly with your accent.
45. 6:16The only thing that's standing between you and fluency is practice.
46. 6:23And Bea, if you're listening to this, the environment that you speak in matters deeply if you want to make progress quickly Now, I want you to meet Elizabeth.
47. 6:39For years, she watched my videos on YouTube.
48. 6:43She heard me talk about Hey Lady! And for years she told herself she couldn't do it.
49. 6:51She wasn't good enough.
50. 6:52She wasn't ready.
51. 6:54But last year she finally joined Hey Lady!, and she joined through our 12-week English Fluency Makeover.
52. 7:04So it's so different in four months that I decided, and at least 15 minutes a day in a daily speaking practice.
53. 7:15I feel much more confident.
54. 7:18I almost can say that I am fluent in English.
55. 7:23Sometimes I don't find the word, but I, I already, think in English sometimes because, uh, I'm not looking for the words all the time, just sometimes.
56. 7:35Every day, when people are not home, I go to the, computer and, join some event.
57. 7:43That's very nice.
58. 7:45And, uh.
59. 7:48I, I feel very happy being here with this community.
60. 7:53I think mostly because of the type of this community, we meet so many ladies that have big problems and they are here trying and, pushing themselves to, to go ahead to improve their English and, oh, if they can, I can do it also.
61. 8:17So it's, a motivating space.
62. 8:22I think, uh, all women should try to have a, their experience here because, uh, in life, I always believed that, , we learn with others.
63. 8:37We can't learn studying hard at home by ourselves.
64. 8:42I think everything we learn when we are in a group, we learn much, easier and faster.
65. 8:50So that's why I still am here and I probably will be here for years.
66. 8:58Four months, 15 minutes a day, and she feels more confident now than she did as a teenager.
67. 9:07Bea, I wanted to share Elizabeth's video with you, her story with you, because you're both in a similar situation, and because the environment, the place that you practise speaking in, that environment, it matters deeply if you want to see results just like hers.
68. 9:32Hey Lady! is designed for women.
69. 9:35It has given Elizabeth the environment that she needs to feel comfortable about speaking, because when she first joined, she certainly did not feel confident, but it was the environment that gave her the chance to connect with people in groups, to practise listening and responding, collaborating with other women who are on the same journey that she is.
70. 10:00And this helped her to make more progress in less time.
71. 10:06Now, Elizabeth is proof that it's not too late, and I think she's a wonderful reminder that change doesn't happen when you wait, when you put things off.
72. 10:19It happens when you take a step forward, when you take a chance or you take a risk.
73. 10:32You know much more English than you realise.
74. 10:35The only thing that is blocking you from speaking fluently is the chance to use it, to practise it, to feel it, to feel what it's like.
75. 10:49Ladies, if you would like to see what it's like to practise in the same way that Elizabeth did, then I'm inviting you to come and join us inside Hey Lady! Inside our community is where you can connect with other women from all over the world, right from inside your home on your own schedule.
76. 11:12It's easy to jump into short conversations that sit around all of the things you need to do in life.
77. 11:19But you've got the option to dive deeper into interesting discussions if you've got time.
78. 11:25Now, if you're retired and you've got time to do conversation practice every day, absolutely you can.
79. 11:34If you're busy and you can only manage it a few times a week, 15 minutes is all it takes.
80. 11:41Many small steps take you a very long way.
81. 11:46Now, how do you join?
82. 11:48We've got a seven-day free trial so that you can come in and try it out for yourself, and then decide if you'd like to continue as a paying member.
83. 11:58You'll find the link down in the description below, or if you're watching on YouTube, you can scan the code right here.
84. 12:07And as always, if you have a question just like Bea did, a question that you'd like me to answer in a future episode, then please leave it for me down in the comments.
85. 12:18I read all of them.
86. 12:19I respond to as many of them as I can.
87. 12:23Thank you for being here today, and remember, it's not too late to become the fluent English speaker that you have always wanted to be.
88. 12:32There is no better time to start than right now.
89. 12:36I'll see you in the next episode.