Experienced English students often reach a plateau, and the tendency is that they think they haven’t worked hard enough or practiced enough. But stagnation is not always from a lack of effort but may be due to underlying obstacles (language that has not yet been mastered) that they are unconsciously avoiding.

An Example

This past weekend I was assessing an intermediate student. His English was quite good, but he strategically chose his words to avoid making certain statements. As the conversation went on,  it was clear he was doing this because he  had difficulty constructing reported speech. 

It’s a common tendency. A student is speaking smoothly, and then they begin to move into unmastered territory. They turn towards familiar language, combine two sentences awkwardly, and then the conversation continues.

In essence, there’s nothing wrong with this technique. Done now and again, it works well. It maintains rhythm and flow, and keeps the conversation going. The thing is, many students do this for years and never address the areas they are avoiding.

Over time, their ability to communicate often improves, and they become more adept at expressing complex ideas. But because they are speaking around unlearned language, instead of addressing the issue, they reach a plateau that they cannot surpass by sheer effort and will.

A Few Reasons 

There can be two reasons for this. The first is the fear of making mistakes. When you’re learning a second language, it’s fundamental that you allow yourself to make mistakes. If you are afraid of speaking incorrectly, you will inadvertently avoid language that you find challenging, which  hinders your progress in those problem areas.

The second reason is that the more experience you have learning a language, the more challenging it is to admit that you have not mastered the basic skills in that language. This is  understandable; acknowledging where improvement is needed can sometimes feel like taking a step backwards. The thing is, it’s only by accepting the obstacles that you can do the work necessary to go beyond them.

Some Ways to Work with This  

A sure-fire way to uncover language skills you are avoiding is to work with a good teacher, but there are a couple of things you can do on your own to help.

1. Try Not to Treat Yourself Harshly 

When you beat yourself up over mistakes, it tends to make you hesitate when you talk. You remember the harsh self-criticism, and in your desire to avoid it, you avoid making mistakes at a cost to your language proficiency.

When you make a mistake, take note, learn to correct it and apply the correction. That’s it. There’s no changing the fact that you made a mistake. All you can do is learn the language necessary to fix it and implement that in the future.

2. Be Aware 

A lot of the time, language learners don’t realize that they are avoiding making mistakes. Recognizing that it’s possible will help bring your attention to it when it happens.

Catch it when you can, take note and address the issue.

3. Patience

Patience is key. Be willing to take a step back, even if it means your language goals will take longer to achieve. With patience and willingness to do the work necessary, you will make more progress than you ever could by continuing to push forward relentlessly, without addressing the underlying issue.

An Important Skill

Recognizing the language you are avoiding is easier said than done. It takes honesty to accept when you have work to do. It requires patience to do that work even when it means your goals are further away than you thought. And it demands the humility to admit that even advanced learners must sometimes work on the fundamentals. It can be challenging, but recognizing and accepting the areas you need to work on are integral skills on the path towards fluency.