You DON'T want to be like a native speaker

Almost everyone learning English has one goal: to be like a native speaker, but in this video I want to explain why you don’t want to be like a native speaker.

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00:00 What is a Native Speaker?
02:08 The Native Speaker & Identity
04:49 Reality of Modern English
05:50 English belongs to everyone

[Canguroenglish]

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[hassanachahboun]

''Good English users are not born, they are made''
What an incredible sentence!
Thanks a lot CHRISTIAN

[Clodd]

I don’t want to hide my origins, I just want to be understood. Thank you for these words!

[norikosato]

When I was being trained as a teacher of Japanese, a senior lecturer of applied linguistics in an Australian university told us "Be a communication teacher, not a language teacher." He always emphasised that it is neither right nor realistic to try to become like "a native speaker".

[yurirodriguez]

"English chooses communication over correctness"...I love this

[yourlifeinenglish]

As a non-native English teacher, I once again thank you for your words. Thank you for everything you do for us non-native teachers as well as for the whole community of students who deal with misconceptions and end up feeling ashamed.

[jillp]

I have a Ukrainian mother and her teenage son staying with us (in the UK). I remember when she first arrived, she was excited to improve her English so that she would 'sound English'. I told her she will never sound British, although her son might. She was upset with me, but I tried to explain that as an adult she might not be able to replicate all the British sounds - and in any case are we talking SSE like I speak - or West Country, or Brummie, or Welsh, or Scottish (etc). There is no 'one' English / British dialect or sound. What is more important is the ability to communicate, and to be understood. And in any case, an accent is charming to our ears. What's wrong with the following sentences: 'We was there the other day.' 'She done that well good'. 'I could of been an astronaut'. Someone born in the East side of London / Essex / Kent would see no problem with any of those sentences. We Brits don't always speak 'proper' English. Be proud of who you are, and your ability to converse in English. If anyone in an English-speaking country criticises your English, just remember you're able to speak at least two languages. How many languages do THEY speak? ;-)

[joaolavoier]

Thank you for this video! It blowed my mind. I've been studying English for more than 4 years and I don't feel confident speaking with natives. I struggle in listening them a lot, and when I try to speak ordinary stuff that I don't need to think in Portuguese that is my native language. This video made me a little bit emotional, because I wonder how much effort I spent studying and how long I try to improve my communication skills in English, and sometimes I only need to accept and feel that I don't need to speak perfect like a native. Maybe, if I relax a little bit more, I can enhance my communication seamlessly. Thank you again for this video!

[doctorgalan]

With your classes, I am learning not only about English but also about Public Speaking

[larryjones]

I am a native English speaker, and I find your videos so inspiring and meaningful. I feel as though you are talking to me about Spanish and German, the two languages I've been learning. At least, I hope to apply what you are saying to my learning. Thank you so much for doing what you do!

[leonardogibo]

I am a foreign English teacher and I have to give you my compliments. Honestly, it was the best video I've ever seen. Your worlds are wise and thoughtful. When I was younger and I moved abroad, I felt everything you said. I was frustrated, I felt that I was a dump student, embarrassed until I found out that there was nothing wrong with me. I realized that making mistakes is part of our lives. I am 40 years old now, and I am still studying English and helping people not to learn English but to enjoy the process of learning. Learning a second language is not just about speaking but also to understand other cultures. And the funny thing is when I go to London the native speakers always say I speak well, my brother in law call me the Brazilian cockney. Although in Brazil I have difficulty to get a job in some schools because of my accent. I had 2 experience that I wasn't hired because they said they were looking for teachers that speaks american English. Which is sad. Because students should learn a global English and understand all kind of accent.

[qnarowzaq]

Thank you Christian for not losing hope in inspiring and giving hope to learners.
“Look at that jaw line”😂 you killed it😂

[MsOlgasofia]

No Chat GPT or any A.I. will ever be able to substitute a teacher like you. Thank you a million times

[documentosdocumentos]

Dear Christian, I'm a Latin Man I have been listening to your videos for 2 months, And believe me, they have been useful for Learning English and understanding it, your focus is simple but straightforward Thanks for your time, I appreciate it.

[abnertorres]

Thank you so much for this video, I’m Mexican and have never been to an English speaking country but learned the language by myself, I’ve had interactions with English Native Speakers and married one three years ago, and it has been hard to realize the power English has in so many levels, it’s not just a language but a social tool to discriminate, in my city we are very welcoming but more and more the people use English to escalate in society or to look “fancier or better” unfortunately the world has given too much power to accents, to being “native” and even we replicate it when we prefer to have classes with native speakers, it’s good to improve I can confirm but it also leaves us non native English speakers somewhere below, being less paid even tho we are bilingual or multilingual, so videos like yours help to spread the knowledge that English is evolving but needs to be taken with responsibility

[Cygnus]

I'm a non native English teacher. I spent years studying and training in the language and every aspect of it. I have an excellent level and yet, I'm not hired abroad because "we only want native speakers from the USA, UK, Australia, South Africa and NZ". And that's the way it is, even if they're smiling at a camera from a very poorly written sign.
Thanks for your video 😊

[ricardoarmas]

I'm from cuba, now i live in england and i need learn english... never before i had a nice class like with you.. thanks.

[levtigrov]

Very encouraging speech. It's does much more for non natives' confidence than any classes.

[fabiolimadasilva]

All my life I felt stupid not to learn enough English for communication. Thank you for your gentle words! Greetings from a proud Portuguese language native speaker!

[professorsilva]

I love your message! But first you have to convince employers of that. Statistics: candidates with a British accent have better chances. Most employers admit they discriminate on accent. Language can often dictate your social mobility, and when teachers tell students "keep your accent, don't try to imitate natives", even though they have good intentions, they are helping throw their students' job applications in the trash. The academia is also very hypocritical: they repeat everything you've said here... in theory... but in practice, they choose educators with "the best accent". Working at job recruitment, I've heard numerous times from employers: "We can't hire someone with that accent". I think learners have the right to know that: the better you can imitate the language of the elite, the better your chances are - perhaps in most societies, for any language.

Teachers must educate against discrimination... but they can't deprive students of tools they can use for social mobility and to avoid being victims of discrimination.