Welcome to part two of “How to overcome the language barrier” article. In it I will give you some practical tips on how you can become a better communicator in English.  

The way I see it, it has two parts: the methodology part and the mindset part. The more important of the two is, of course, the mindset part.  

First of all, find your motivation. Think in detail of how your life will improve when you are fluent in English. Keeping that in mind, set your goals.  

Another good idea is to regularly do things that are out of your comfort zone, this way you will practice first the feeling of inadequacy and then the joys of overcoming, a useful skill in life in general, but especially in language learning. 

Also, allow yourself to be imperfect and make mistakes. Realize that mistakes are just a part of the learning process and there is nothing embarrassing about being a learner. Remember, you don’t owe perfection to anyone. 

Now let’s talk about the methodology. If you want to overcome the language barrier, the main skill you need to concentrate on is speaking. And I don’t mean speaking in your head, you need to actually say the words aloud so that your mouth can get used to pronouncing the words in a foreign language.  

Even if you don’t have anyone to speak English to, there is one person who is always with you and won’t mind you making mistakes, and that person is… you! Speak to yourself in English! You speak to yourself all the time in your mother tongue, so why not do it in English instead? You can run a commentary of what you are doing at the moment, sort of like what YouTubers do in their vlogs. 

Another useful tip is to sing songs in English. Even if you don’t have any musical talent, even if you sound like a frog, just do it. By learning the lyrics, you “download” into your brain whole chunks of language, and you do it for fun, which dramatically improves your retention rate. 

Speaking of fun, you can also maximize your Netflix series watching experience by pausing the video and repeating aloud the last phrase you’ve heard. Try becoming that movie character in your mind and pronouncing that phrase copying the intonation and the passion of the actor. This exercise works wonders if you are willing to work on it. 

That was all for today. Have a great day and a great life, because we all deserve it.