Everyone says learning a language is supposed to be fun and easy.

Just immerse yourself, use the right app, and you'll be fluent in no time.

Right?

Well, here's the truth no one tells you.

It's not that simple.

And that's exactly why most people quit.

In this video, I'm going to break down the harsh realities of language learning that no one talks about, but every single language learner has to face.

The first uncomfortable truth is language learning isn't always fun.

And that's okay.

If this is the first video you're watching about language learning, maybe it's going to make you feel a little bit sad.

But that's the reality.

I feel like some people who are learning foreign languages tend to romanticize the process.

Like learning a foreign language is always exciting.

It's always fun.

But the reality is it can feel monotonous.

Just like every single skill that you're acquiring.

Sometimes it's fun.

Sometimes it's boring.

And when it becomes dull and monotonous, it doesn't mean that you have to quit.

It doesn't mean that language learning isn't for you.

That's the reality.

Like sometimes it happens and that's okay.

It happens to me right now.

It happened to me in the past with English, Spanish, Chinese, and all the other foreign languages I was learning.

I think the key here is to accept that not every single aspect of language learning is going to be fun.

For example, to me, I would say learning grammar right now is not that fun.

It just isn't.

It's monotonous.

It's boring.

It's dull.

And that's okay.

And the real progress happens when you push through these boring parts.

When you find a way to make these boring things less boring, I would say less monotonous.

I know that deep down I don't enjoy grammar that much.

But I know that if I'm watching a YouTube video about a specific grammar rule, I'm going to enjoy it a lot more.

Like instead of being this boring, it becomes this boring.

Which is already a lot better.

The next uncomfortable truth about language learning that I want to talk about in this video is that fluency is a moving target.

Many people think that once they reach fluency, they're done.

I'm fluent.

Woohoo.

Success.

But fluency is fluid and your language skills change all the time, depending on your environment, depending on how much you practice, depending on your confidence levels.

One day I'm in a good mood.

I feel super confident.

And my English is amazing.

The next day, all the words I have in my brain are just in Russian.

It happens.

And also different levels of fluency are required for different situations.

We were talking about fluency at work.

If you are a doctor, a surgeon, let's say, obviously your English skills will have to be a lot higher for you to be truly confident and professional when it comes to your job.

Like speaking English at your job.

But if your goal for learning English is to talk to your friends in English, you will reach fluency a lot faster this way.

When I was in high school and in college, I wanted to become fluent in English so bad.

Like when I first heard this word, I was like, yes, this is my goal.

I want to be fluent in English.

But like, what is fluency?

You know, for different people, for different goals, for different situations, fluency is going to be a different thing.

And so now when I'm a more experienced language learner, if I can call myself that, I don't want to be fluent in Spanish.

I have my goals in Spanish and I want to reach my specific goals in Spanish.

When I do these specific small actions every single day, I know that I'm getting closer and closer to my goals.

Some people are going to say, oh my God, you're already fluent in Spanish.

Other people are going to say, uh, you still need to work on your grammar.

But I know what my goals are.

And I know when I reach a certain goal that I set for myself in this language.

Uncomfortable truth number three is that a lot of people give up language learning because of a lack of emotional resilience, not intelligence.

A lot of language learners quit because they say that they're not smart enough or that language learning is just not for them or that they're just not naturally gifted at language learning.

But I honestly think that the main reason why people quit language learning is because they can't handle the emotional rollercoaster of language learning.

Yes, sometimes you're going to feel frustrated and that's okay.

That's a part of the journey and a lot of people can't fully come to terms with it.

And that's why they quit.

And so training the skill of emotional resilience when it comes to language learning is going to be key.

Being in those situations where you forget a word, where you make a mistake, where you say something stupid is going to build your emotional resilience.

And instead of giving up, quitting immediately and saying that it's too hard, it's not for me, you know, I'm not naturally gifted at language learning, try again and you will succeed.

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Let's move on to uncomfortable truth number four.

You will never speak perfectly and that's perfectly okay.

It happens to all of us language learners, to me too, even when I record these YouTube videos.

I want to speak perfectly.

I don't want to make any mistakes.

And honestly, this pressure to be perfect can be paralyzing.

Because you're so afraid to make a mistake or mispronounce something, you're going to be less likely to want to actually speak the language, to want to actually share your perspective with others.

And yes, while this idea that even native speakers make mistakes can help you, and if it helps you, that's amazing.

I also think that when native speakers say something and they know they made a mistake, they don't really care.

Like their confidence level is so high just because it's their native language.

And generally, language learners really struggle with their confidence levels.

Usually we think that, you know, when we make a mistake, because our confidence level is already here versus a native speaker is going to be up here.

When a native speaker makes a mistake, they're like, whatever, nothing will change.

I'm still a native speaker.

I still know that I know the language.

I can speak the language well.

But when we non-native speakers of English make a mistake, our confidence was here.

And when we say something incorrectly, it goes here, here, here, here.

So it's really important to work on your confidence levels when you are a language learner.

And honestly, those people who have higher confidence levels, they learn foreign languages faster just because they don't care that much.

Not because they have a mysterious, unique language learning ability.

No, it's because when they make a mistake, when they mess up, when they say something incorrectly, they just don't care.

They learn from that mistake and they move on.

Their confidence, it was here, it stays here.

Maybe it decreases a little bit, but then, you know, they learn from their mistake, it's back to normal.

The next uncoverable truth is that your native language can really hinder your progress if you're not managing it correctly.

There is a term in linguistics called cross-language interference.

It's basically where your native language's grammar and structure influence the way you talk and write in a foreign language.

And for many of us, this cross-language interference is a serious challenge.

But instead of fighting it, instead of feeling sad when you have it, because we all do, all language learners are going to experience that at some point, we should just be aware of it and know how to navigate around it.

So for you to better understand what this linguistic term is and how it shows in practice, I'm going to give you a few examples.

If your native language is Russian or if your native language is Spanish, because I'm quite familiar with both of these languages.

So the Russian language doesn't have articles.

And for Russians who are learning English, it becomes very hard to grasp the idea of when they have to use a, an, or the.

Honestly, me being a native Russian speaker, I struggle so much with just the pronunciation of all of these articles, let alone how to use them grammatically.

In Russia, it's totally okay to say, I have car.

But in English, you absolutely have to say, I have a car.

You can't just say, I have car.

It's going to be a grammar mistake.

And these little mistakes can help you understand what the native language of the person you're talking to is.

Because when I talk to a person and they always admit articles, I can understand why they are doing that.

Because my native language is Russian.

And for the longest time, I struggled with a, an, and the as well.

I live in Mexico and I speak Spanish.

And because of that, I can already notice the cross-language interference that happens to Spanish speakers.

In Spanish, people often use double negatives for emphasis.

For example, no veo nada.

I don't see anything.

Even though, like, the direct translation to English is going to be, I don't see nothing.

And so exactly because of that, a lot of people who speak Spanish as their native language, once they start speaking English, they continue using double negatives.

They continue saying, I don't see nothing.

I don't know nothing.

Even though in English, grammatically, in most, okay, in most situations, it's going to be incorrect.

And so again, understanding that this cross-language interference happens to every single English learner, every single language learner out there is going to help you navigate around all of these challenges and all of these problems.

Is it a feeling like you will never understand English grammar?

Yes, the pattern is different, but you can understand this new pattern.

Now let's move on to uncomfortable truth number six, the myth of immersion.

It's often not enough.

Immersion is often seen as this ultimate hack for language learning.

Everyone talks about immersion online, and I support it 100% because it's an amazing principle when it comes to language learning.

However, being surrounded by the language doesn't necessarily mean that you will learn it because you have to be active.

You have to be actively engaged with the language to be able to successfully learn it.

There are so many people who move abroad, let's say to an English-speaking country like the USA.

And then what happens is because they are immersed in the language in terms of, yes, they live in the United States of America, but they're not actively engaged with the language, their progress is very slow, even though, yes, technically they live in an English-speaking country.

And that's why I often say that just moving to an English-speaking country is not enough.

I mean, I can learn a language to a very good level without actually being in that country.

It's 100% possible.

And if you move to the country where your target language is spoken, it's not a guarantee that you're going to become fluent in this language.

Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, intentional and focused learning are important, even in those immersive environments.

Again, I'm highlighting it here because I've noticed that a lot of people think that immersion just means listening to music in your target language, somewhere in the background while you're driving, singing along, and that's it.

I mean, it can be a part of the process, but if you never look up the words, if you never actively engage with the language, I don't think your language skills are going to improve fast.

You know, sometimes when you listen to music, you understand the lyrics and you can sing along, but you don't actually know what that means.

And it happens to a lot of us.

And so if that happens to you, and if you consider that immersion, it's not going to be good quality, engaged, active immersion.

Okay, now let's talk about language learning apps.

I personally think that language learning apps are a tool, not a solution.

I know we're all looking for a magic pill, an app that is going to make us miraculously fluent.

I know that you guys want that, and I know that I want that too, but unfortunately, it's just not realistic.

There are so many amazing language learning apps out there, and they should be just a part of your toolkit.

You know, sometimes you get bored, and so you use this app.

Sometimes you start using a different resource.

It all depends on how you feel.

You know, if you're a little bit bored, like your language learning has become monotonous or dull, you can give this one app a try, or maybe this other resource a try.

But I really don't want you to think that one app is going to become the solution for you, is going to make you fluent just by using this one single app.

Real-life practice with a teacher or a friend is important, especially if you're working on developing your speaking abilities.

Okay, and the final uncomfortable truth about language learning is that you can learn a language without becoming fluent.