What Fluency Feels Like

hey what's up Stefanie the English coach here from EnglishFullTime.com

in this video I want to talk to you guys about what fluency feels like what it

feels like physically in your body and what it feels like emotionally now I

need to say the only reason I can even make this video and talk about this is

because I have learned a foreign language and I am fluent in a foreign

language so I learned Spanish I talked about that a little bit on my channel

and I have a video I will link it up here about my journey learning Spanish

and you guys can actually hear me speak in Spanish I speak in this video in

Spanish so yeah that's pretty much the reason why I can make this video if

someone's not fluent in a foreign language they really can't tell you what

it feels like to be fluent because they don't know right from experience this is

something you only know through experience so I'm gonna share my

experience with you guys I'm gonna tell you guys what it felt like for me to

feel to get to a point where I finally felt fluent and what that meant for me

and I actually need your help with this video because just because fluency feels

a certain way for me it might feel a little bit different for you or for

other people so in the comments if you guys could just start a discussion about

what fluency feels like for you for those of you who are fluent that would

be awesome because then people could learn not just from my experience but

also from your experience and I always learned so much from you guys in the

comments when you share your experiences so with that said I want to say that

describing fluency is not easy okay it actually took me a little while to think

about this so when I tried to think of one word that described the feeling of

fluency the word that I thought of was effortless right when you don't have to

put effort into something it's easy it comes to you naturally it's intuitive

it's comfortable it's just effortless and I remember the first time that I

caught myself speaking fluently in Spanish so here's the story I was living

in Argentina I was talking with a neighbor and I was really enjoying the

conversation we were talking about something that was super interesting and

I had a lot to share about my ideas and opinions and stuff like that and so I

just started going off and talking and sharing and I remember feeling like my

tongue was just flying around in my mouth and I was like how is this

possible it's almost like as I was speaking and as I was being present in

the conversation there was another version of me that was outside of myself

observing noticing what was going on and I just remember that feeling where my

tongue was just flying around in my mouth everything was coming out so

perfectly so effortlessly I had easy access to whatever word I was looking

for or I needed I was able to speak automatically I was able to match my

emotions feelings intonation etc perfectly and just communicate in a way

that felt so authentic I didn't feel like I was pretending to be anybody I

didn't feel uncomfortable and I think really my interest in the conversation

just took over my whole body and allowed me to produce the language so easily

okay I was in a very comfortable environment a comfortable situation and

I remember during this conversation I was having this realization like oh my

gosh I don't think I've ever spoken this fluently before it was crazy and my

friend stopped me in the middle of whatever I was saying is she put her

hand on me and she was like Stefanie do you hear yourself you sound just like me

you're speaking so fluently you're one of us now it was so funny I was like

yeah I actually feel it it was a crazy experience that was probably the first

time that I ever felt fluent when I was speaking however that's kind of like a

transition phase right when you go from that struggling intermediate learner to

finally speaking fluently but after you become a fluent speaker in a language

and you're able to just use the language automatically it becomes not that

exciting right it's just normal right in the beginning when you're fluent it

feels like wow I can't believe it and the emotions that come with that there's

so much excitement and then when you've been fluent for a while it's just like

no big deal I speak the language no problem and that's it

okay so a couple other things when you speak fluently words just roll off of

your tongue right it just like I said it feels effortless I'm probably going to

repeat that word too many times during this video because that's really how it

feels another thing is you don't get exhausted you can talk with somebody for

an hour or for two hours and it feels great and you enjoy the

conversation and when the conversation is over you just move on with your day and

you're fine right but when you are an intermediate learner and you're not

quite there yet talking in English or a foreign language for fifteen minutes or

half an hour or one hour it can be so mentally exhausting because there's so

much that your brain has to focus on and so after a conversation you might feel

completely depleted no energy exhausted etc and if you're in an environment

where you have to use English let's say for a week let's say you travel to the

US for business or something like that you might feel so mentally exhausted

during that week because of the amount of communication you're doing in English

whereas when you are fluent you don't really go through that you can use the

language you can switch it on and off you can use it for as long as you need

and you don't really go through those periods of absolute mental exhaustion

because of using the language another thing about fluency and how it feels is

it feels very intuitive okay it just comes out of you and sometimes you're

like I didn't even know that I knew how to say that or Wow

that just feels right I don't know how to explain the grammar I don't know why

that's correct but it feels right and it feels good maybe your grammar is

actually not correct I don't know but it just feels like the right thing to say

okay also when you're and everything just clicks in your mind

you don't have to put your sentences and ideas together before you say them right

you just react the same way you react in your native language and the words like

I said they just fall out of your mouth they roll off of your tongue again when

that first happens to you it's real exciting but when that's your reality

it's just normal does this mean that when you're fluent in a language you are

going to be confident in this language 100% of the time no absolutely not

just because you're fluent doesn't mean you will always be confident think about

it in your native language are you always confident no right let's say you

have a business meeting or an interview or a phone call or a date with somebody

who knows but just because you speak a language fluently doesn't mean you're

always gonna be confident because you might be in certain environments that

make you nervous and that's normal and it's really important to recognize that

because some people think that because they lack some confidence that means

they also lack fluency but it's not always the case and another thing to

really realize is that when you are nervous you are going to make more

mistakes you are probably gonna have a heavier accent and you might forget

words you might clam up and not be able to express yourself well but again that

is a result often of nervousness and lack of confidence and it's often

unrelated to your fluency and your ability because when you are in an

environment that makes you feel safe and comfortable and when you're enjoying

yourself the words just you know fall out of your mouth and you don't have

those problems with fluency okay so just really important to recognize that and I

wanted to say that because some people feel like oh well you know it's not

always effortless when I speak sometimes it's effortless and sometimes it's not

you really have to identify what is making you feel uncomfortable what is it

about the environment because again it might be about the environment and how

you are emotionally responding to it and not necessarily about your communication

skills and your level of English okay and the other

thing I want to say about fluency is you can be fluent you can speak effortlessly

but that doesn't mean that you won't still make mistakes

occasionally lack vocabulary mess up your grammar etc I think I said some of

that earlier but I just want to be clear on that because fluency is really the

ability to communicate continuously and effortlessly so if you're able to have a

conversation in English with someone for an hour and it feels pretty effortless

and you're able to communicate continuously and you're not exhausted at

the end of it then yeah that's fluency and you don't have

to have advanced vocabulary in order to be fluent think about this

five-year-olds are fluent in English they're fluent in the language but is

their level you know do they have a high level of vocabulary no but they're still

fluent they're able to share their ideas effortlessly continuously so think about

that when you are speaking and learning etc on your journey because you might be

fluent already and just not realize it and I know that as a language learner

myself it's always so empowering when you can realize oh my gosh I'm fluent

and having that realization builds tons of confidence okay sometimes it takes

one conversation for you to have where you realize I didn't know I was capable

of talking for two hours and I've gotten so many messages from my students where

they said just that they said Stefanie I joined one of your programs I ended up

completing this assignment or talking to this person and I couldn't believe it we

talked for a whole hour or two hours or three hours at this point I don't

remember what the record is but I think I'm pretty sure some of my students have

had conversations that were four hours or possibly longer and if you are one of

my students who has had a conversation that's a longer than four hours with

somebody else go ahead and let me know in the comments because I'd love to hear

more about that okay and if you are interested in learning more about my

programs I will leave some links in the description one that I recently launched

is called the daily English Program and this program is already

huge success every week I give a new lesson and tasks to my students and the

lessons are designed to teach you advanced English we actually focus on

improving every aspect of your English and then the tasks are designed to get

you to use your English and then analyze your English so you can start

self-correcting and of course we have an awesome community that you can interact

with so if you're interested in learning more about that I will put the link in

the description ok and my last example of fluency is it's just like turning on

a light switch right when you go into a room and the room is dark you just

switch on the lights and the light is on and that's it there's no fireworks it's

not magical it's not like wow it's just you needed light so you turned on the

switch and you made the light happen that's like fluency when you're fluent

in a language and then someone starts speaking to you in that language you're

like oh okay I have to use this language now and you

start communicating with them it's not exciting or Wow or anything it's just

normal and yeah it's just easy it's not like you're sitting there cranking out

the electricity generating it yourself and if you stop the lights gonna go off

or something right that's what it's like in the beginning when you're still not

fluent so anyhow this video is my ramblings about what fluency feels like

physically in the body and emotionally and I went all over the place you're

welcome no I'm just kidding I hope it wasn't too hard to get through

and I look forward to hearing your comments and feedback in the description

what does fluency feel like to you and if you feel like you're not fluent

describe that to me thank you so much you guys oh if you are not subscribed to

my channel and you enjoy rambling type videos like this feel free to subscribe

I have a lot of fun making these videos and yes if you guys want more from me

definitely check the links in the description where I share more about my

programs to help you improve your English and really get some

transformational experiences okay that is it I'll see you guys in the next

video bye it becomes what's the word I'm looking for they

roll off of your tongue and yes having a conversation that's an hour or two hours

oh how do I say this what does it feel like to not quite be fluent because no

that sounds stupid hang on I can't do this

sorry my toe is like I need to take care of this it's not exciting or Wow or

anything it's just normal and um what else was I gonna say I was talking with

a neighbor I was living in it okay might last forever in your native

language are you always confident no right we get in that week hang on and so

I actually run lots of well not Lots I don't hang on I just realized I have

these shadows on my shoulder and they look like tiger stripes that is so weird

oh if you are not subscribed to my channel and you enjoy rambling type

videos like this feel free to - can't talk feel free let me try again

can't stop laughing at myself