How I Fixed “I Can Understand But Cannot Speak English”

Let me begin by sharing my strange experience:

I learned English at school for many years from middle school and passed my TOEFL and IELTS exams. But when I studied for graduate school in the USA, even though I could understand almost all the lecture content, I cannot speak in complete sentences. In the beginning, I shy away from daily topics in a restaurant or grocery store; even needed to think twice replying to a simple “How are you” and “thank you”.

It has been pretty painful, and I was so confused about my language capabilities. If you have a similar experience, I’m here with you.

0) “Passive” vs “Active” Language Skill:

A huge number of countries had English as a mandatory subject in school. Counterintuitively, my travel experience showed me that most people cannot speak English. Especially, people who understand what I’m saying but cannot reply in complete sentences.

We can roughly divide language learning into two distinct skills: passive and active. Passive language skills refer to the ability to comprehend and understand a language, such as listening and reading. In contrast, active language skills involve producing, such as speaking and writing.

In school, language learning often focuses on developing passive skills through reading and listening activities. But active skills do not come naturally; it requires practice and repetition through speaking and writing exercises. Therefore, it is important to engage in activities that promote both passive and active language skills to achieve fluency in a language.

So here comes my first tip.

1) Practice “Output” More Than “Input”

Of course, language input is also very important. The good news you have already encountered it so it will be faster to advance the language. Be confident!

Writing: One way to practice output is by writing in the language. You can start by writing short paragraphs, or journal entries, or even practicing your grammar by writing sentences.

Paraphrase: At the time I don’t have opportunities to talk with real people, I self-talk to describe things that happened in my life, or rephrase a movie, book, a YouTube video I had just consumed.

Make Social Media Content: Another perk is that you can record yourself speaking and then listen to the recordings to identify areas that need improvement. It is easier for me to “open my mouth” where I can share my ideas and edit unwanted clips/mistakes.

2) Remove “Hurdles” We Get From Traditional Learning:

This is my experience: during the English learning experience, we got a lot of rules, grammar, and translation practices. It gives me the impression that I need to overcome a lot of hurdles to start to speak.

But language is not a hard science. It is more than just a set of rules, but a means of communication, which means the rules are not super important (of course those definitely help), but you need a set of more comprehensive skills to learn the language.

3) Raise your mind like a kid:

Like small kids picking up their mother tongue, we get speaking skills more natively by immersing in the language and using it. When we use language, we focus on the idea itself we want to convey, rather than the language we use.

By embracing imperfection and making mistakes, we can gain confidence, learn from our errors, and improve your English skills.

4) Find the “Support Group” That Suit you:

Even after I lived in an English-speaking country, I still very shy away from real speaking in the first few months. I often felt self-blame for not seizing the opportunity to practice English but instead “hiding in a corner”. At the moment I felt talking to a native speaker was intimidating; they can speak very fast :)

Find a native tutor (that do not speak your native language): A language tutor is a great idea where you can practice regularly and get your mistakes fixed in time. I was experiencing more shyness when speaking to other people with that I can speak my native language with, and we have more tendency to switch back to Chinese to communicate.

Try some language clubs: I feel much less shy speaking English when with other non-native speakers. For example, joining a language club or group is a great way to practice output. You can meet new people, practice speaking, learn from others, and get to know people at the same stage as you.

5) Last But Not Least…

Remember people are kind: I speak English quite slowly, and I never get any criticism from others. Instead, they usually say “Your English is very good”. And even if people say mean words (I mean, not constructive criticism) it is not your fault.

We can also think like this — if we meet someone speaking our language, polite and willing to communicate, I would really like to help them. And the imperfection in their speaking is very minimal.

Remember that practice makes perfect, and the more you speak in English, the more confident and fluent you will become.

Here is the video version of the article: