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A few days ago I found a video of myself from about 17 years ago. I was in college, still learning English, and I decided to watch it.
It was very funny, but also super cringy.
Back then, I remember thinking that my English was perfect, that I was basically a native speaker. LOL. When I watched this video, I got shocked.
But again, it was also super funny. But I learned a lot from it and
I will share some techniques I used to become fluent and get where I am now.
17 years later, I am here thinking, "Who is this person, and what language is he speaking?" hahaha
I couldn't understand half of it. Not because the audio was bad. Because I was chewing my words, speaking way too fast, and honestly just speaking gibberish.
I learned the accent before the language as they say.
Here's the thing though. At the time, I thought that speed meant fluency.
I thought that if I spoke fast, I would sound fluent. That was the whole strategy.
I was completely wrong. And if you're doing the same thing right now,
I want you to stop wasting your time and finally become fluent.
So here's what actually worked, once I figured it out.
Fake it until you make it
No matter how rough your accent is right now, speak like your English is already great. Confidence is not the reward for fluency. It's the fuel for it. Hold back and you'll never get the reps in.Speak, speak, and then speak some more
Every single day, find a reason to use your English. Talk to friends. Record yourself. Talk to a wall if you have to. Fluency is a workout, not an app download.
If you skip the daily reps and nothing happens.Repeat until it's boring
Back then, my friend and I would pick a scene from a TV show, a movie and would act it out together, probably 20 times, until we basically had it memorized.
Copying tone, emotion, and rhythm from a show or movie you like is one of the fastest ways to sound natural and become fluent.
Slow down This is the one that actually changed everything for me. I thought fast meant fluent. It doesn't. It means sloppy. The moment I slowed down and focused on pronouncing words clearly, instead of rushing through them, everything clicked. My accent improved. My confidence improved. And people actually understood me.
I put the full video on YouTube, sharing techniques and things I did to finally become fluent in English. And also, I included the cringy video clip of me from 20 years ago acting out a Prison Break scene. It's funny, it's honest, and it might be exactly what you need to hear if you feel like your English is bad.
👉 Watch the full video here: https://youtu.be/jGMAGmcQJ-A?is=j9OEdpQp1wOL7PR9
And if you watch it, please leave a comment and tell me something you learned from it.
If you've ever felt embarrassed about your accent, I promise you, I've been there too. Probably worse.
See you in the next one,
Ziyad The English Zone