“영어 잘해야 돼, 잘해야 돼”라고 계속 생각하면… [영어 고급자를 위해]

It’s Josh from SplashEnglish. First of all, I just wanted to say what’s happening in Ukraine is tragic and heart-wrenching. I only hope this stops as soon as possible because nothing good comes out of innocent people dying.

Okay, onto today’s topic.

One of my coaching students has a full-time job at a Korean company and runs her own side business. She’s an advanced speaker of English and she asked me:

“I want to use English more in my daily life, but I don’t have time. I know I should study more. I want to improve my English! What should I do?”

I wanted to share the voice message I left for her with you. My answer might surprise you.

Here’s the short version of my answer:

“It’s okay to feel like you’re not doing much. You’re already doing enough. Don’t give yourself too much pressure and be kind to yourself.”

What do you think? Did that surprise you? I might give a different answer depending on your English level and time schedule, but too often I see smart, ambitious advanced-level English learners being harsh on themselves. Maybe you are too. I know you want to achieve excellence, and I love that you want to raise the standard for yourself, but if you’re being overly critical of yourself you have to stop and relax.

Listen to the 7-minute voice message I sent to her → josh-coaching-feedback-speakmore.mp3
(click the link and it’ll start an mp3 download).

And here’s the transcript, in case you prefer to read it.

Also another thing: Try to define and describe what “good English” looks like to you. I have my own definition of what “good Korean” is, and I practice my Korean toward that. Instead of saying, “I want to improve my English!” Imagine and describe what that means to you.

Listen to my voice message. I’d love to know what you think.

If you have any reactions, or if you have other thoughts or ideas, I’d love to hear from you.

Best,
Josh