You Don't Have to Be Perfect to Become Fluent

CC subtitles available in multiple languages.

This week’s video is all about perfectionism. I talk about why, where, when and how language learners should or shouldn’t pursue perfection.

⏲️ TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 Perfectionism in language learning
0:25 Is perfectionism always bad?
1:36 Where should we pursue perfection?
3:10 When is perfectionism more important
4:43 How to continue improving

📺 WATCH NEXT:

🎙️ LISTEN TO MY PODCAST:

💡 LEARN MORE:

✅ FOLLOW ME:

[Thelinguist]

❓Does perfectionism hinder your learning progress? Tell me in the comments!

[JC_Musician]

Learning a second or more language should be the same as learning our first language. We listen and then we try to communicate, perfect or not. As we practice and are corrected we get better. The same is with learning to play music. We don't have to learn all the technicalities of reading and playing music. We start by making a sound. As we play and practice more, our sound improves over time. Excellent tips!

[denisemoore]

Ah Steve, just the encouragement I needed after a hard class today when I was corrected numerous times - you are always a wise comfort
thanks!

[okladoma]

I really appreciate your style of teaching and encouraging people to just quit procrastinating and start speaking as soon as possible. I am a big proponent of vocabulary over grammar in my journey to learn Russian. There is just so much there concerning grammar, that I think I would just give up if I felt I had to be perfect all the time. Keep doing what you do.

[themorningimage]

Just stopping by to say your videos helped me become more fluent in French and Japanese than I was previously. You're a legend in the language learning community, Steve. Cheers!

[ysato]

I quite agree that perfectionism does not go well with language learning. Despite this, especially in my country, students are not expected to make any minute mistakes in exams, regarding grammar, spellings and translation; and in such educational process, teachers unconsciously indoctrinate students with the norm of perfectionism, forcing them to believe that making mistakes is an embarrassing thing in any case that should be avoided, and that they would soon be scolded if they do so.
(It’s a pity that there’re actually still a lot of teachers in Japan who often give students unreasonable scoldings.)
I would clearly have to say that social norms and educational environments should be changed and revised so that language learning will become a more flexible and enjoyable one.

[Via-Media]

All of the general advice in this video can be applied to learning music too. Music is not technically a language, but learning it is very similar to language learning.

[toms]

Thanks, Steve! This has been a constant struggle in language learning to reconcile these two. When getting frustrated, it helps to calm myself, breathe, and just keep going. In casual settings, conveyance of information is more important than absolute perfection.

[maciek]

Thank you for this video. I'm a native English speaker learning Italian my first foreign language and I struggle with ocd. Especially on pronunciation. I will literally listen to how a word is pronounced on a translator 30 plus times and get so frustrated. This eases some of that stress.

[WesLyot]

Agree 100%.. as an 8 languages polyglot I must say that my number one priority has always been, being able to communicate as fast as possible.. it's what brings me joy and motivates me to keep learning the language.. I recommend everyone to do the same.. find out what brings you joy and stick to it :)

[Arabic_Flashcards]

Thank you! I hope we don't have to be perfect to be relatively fluent! That's encouraging!! 🤩

[annettemcnabb]

Another wonderful message Steve!! I wanted to say thank you! I have followed you for many years now, i am a member of lingq and i have found a fantastic tutor there for my french and recently i have started Spanish🙂

[gabrielterenziomusic]

You were integral in igniting my interest in learning languages, thank you for devoting your time so that we have these videos to use for improving Mr. Kaufmann!

[for-real-tho]

Absolutely agree with the title of this video. I work in English - which is a foreign language to me - and even though my vocabulary and understanding is far better than that of my colleagues, they are still more fluent than me. I never seem to find the right words to use in spoken English and I always make basic grammar mistakes that I would never do in writing.

[fluencylabco]

Forget and re-learn, that's a great summary of how a language is built in our brains. Thanks for this video.

[victorrychkov]

Sir, you're a national canadian treasure!

[Sprsa]

Perfectionism in learning English has slowed down my progress and left me feeling disappointed. Thank you for discussing such an important topic in language learning. You are a role model to me. Thank you, Steve.

[mariagraziapirrello]

Thank you so much!! I couldn’t agree more!

[Carol]

Thank you Steve as always, agree re frustration, you are always such a help to keep motivation levels up, joined LingQ last week and it amazing 👌

[travis]

Thanks again, coach Steve. Now I'm motivated to read some more stories on lingq.