No, You DON'T Need to Live in an English-Speaking Country to Become Fluent! Here's Why.

If you’re like many students, you might believe that you NEED to be in an English-speaking country to become fluent.

Well, I have good news for you: you don’t!

Can visiting an English-speaking country help you improve your English? Of course!

Is it necessary? Not at all.

At least not in 2024. Maybe in 1924 it was… but thanks to today’s technology, it’s 100% possible to become fluent in English WITHOUT being in an English-speaking country.

And believe it or not, many students move to Canada, the UK, or the US, expecting to magically become fluent. But they only spend time with people from their own country, and they only speak their own language, so even though they’re in an English-speaking country, they still don’t become fluent!

It doesn’t matter where you are in the world. It matters what you do.  

I want you to imagine something.

How does a young child learn their first language?

They don’t study textbooks. They don’t memorize vocabulary lists. They don’t write out verb conjugation tables.

They learn in a much more natural way.

Their environment is entirely in their native language. They hear it from their parents, on TV or at school.

The learning process is never “forced”. It’s completely natural.   

And yes, even though you’re an adult, it’s 100% possible to achieve similar results.  

You just need to create the right type of environment.

Sit down and ask yourself this simple question: “What percent of my life do I spend in my native language, and what percent in English?”

If you answered anything less than 50% in English, you have some changes to make!

In fact, if you want to become fluent quickly, you should spend at least 50% of your life should be in English. Ideally, you should spend more: 70%, 80%, or even 90%, if possible.

So, how can you increase the percentage of your life that you spend in English?

There are lots of things you can do, but here are some small changes you can make right now:

• Set your phone and computer into English
• Read the news in English, not your native language
• On the drive to work, listen to the radio in English
• Cook from recipes in English
• Talk to friends online in English 

Yes, on their own, these might seem like small changes. And making one small change won’t make much of a difference.

Making these small changes in combination will help you achieve your goal of fluency. 

The key is to change the percentage of your life that you spend in English.

So, if you now you spend 30% of your life in English, try to get that up to 50% or higher.

Now for a little story…

A friend of mine has a 6-year-old daughter who is fluent in English.

She hasn’t studied English at school yet, she lives in a non-native speaking country, but she somehow became fluent in English. Even I was surprised by her level when I met her!

So, how did she become fluent?

By mindlessly scrolling through TikTok for at least 5 hours every day over the last 4 years.

Now, I don’t personally recommend spending that long on social media every day. (It’s not exactly a healthy habit...)

But it just shows what’s possible in today’s connected world.

And it shows how even the youngest generation is taking advantage of modern technology and the digital revolution to improve their English.

So, if even a child can do it, why can’t you? 😉