Uploaded April 2021 | Updated September 2026, 3 days ago
Julian Northbrook is on a mission to change the way people learn English for the better. Subscribe to this channel for videos about learning English and the psychology of the "Good Language Learner": doeng.co/SUBSCRIBE
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Transcript:
"Why aren't people impressed when I speak English?" someone cries. Hello, I'm Dr. Julian Northbrook from https://doingenglish.com. And this is another question which came up on Quora recently, "Why aren't people impressed when I speak English?" the asker asked.
The reason why English speakers, and I'm talking about native speakers here, but also people from countries where English is just widely spoken, for example, Denmark, or the Netherlands, or Sweden, or somewhere like that. The reason English speakers aren't particularly impressed when you speak English is exactly the same as the reason why they're not particularly impressed when you manage to get dressed in the morning, or tie your own shoelaces. We just don't think of speaking English as an impressive thing. It's just something that people do. And that's because, in the native English-speaking cultures, especially language learning, is just not something which we do. We just don't have that as a part of our culture. We are not a language learning species as native English speakers.
And again, even in other countries where English is very widely spoken, it's generally accepted that you speak English, and that's that. It's not considered a particularly impressive thing. Because of this, when you speak to an English speaker, they're not looking at you and thinking, "Wow, this person speaks English as a second language. This person's achieved something incredible. They've learned English." No, they're just looking at you and thinking, "I'm going to talk to this person."
Again, speaking English is just the dumb thing. And you can be critical of this and think what you want, but it's neither negative nor positive. That's just how our culture is. And it's only really people from countries, and to be fair, this is part of the majority of countries, where people do have to put in the time and effort to learn English or another second language and struggle with it and get good at it, that people tend to see proficiency in English with a sense of, "Oh, wow, this person has really achieved something."
But again, that's because that is a part of your culture, but it's not a part of our culture, necessarily. This, of course, is not to in any way diminish your achievement, because it is an incredible achievement, and you should be proud of it, just don't be surprised or upset if native English speakers don't really think of it in that way. It's just, once again, not something we think about. It's not on our radar.
Of course, if you've done fairly well in English so far, but you're not quite there yet, I can help. The first protocol is doingenglish.com/freetraining. Sign up for the free one hour training, and I will teach you the five key changes that you need to make to see the fastest possible improvement as a higher-level speaker of English, who is okay, but wants to be awesome when they speak.
This is me, Dr. Julian Northbrook, once again, signing out from another video. I'll see you soon, guys. Bye-bye.
#DoingEnglish #JulianNorthbrook #learnEnglish
Julian Northbrook is on a mission to change the way people learn English for the better. Subscribe to this channel for videos about learning English and the psychology of the "Good Language Learner": doeng.co/SUBSCRIBE
Go here to get the free training:
doeng.co/FREETRAINING
Sign up for daily email tips:
doeng.co/EMAILS
Read the Good Shadowin Guide:
doeng.co/SHADOWING
Transcript:
"Why aren't people impressed when I speak English?" someone cries. Hello, I'm Dr. Julian Northbrook from https://doingenglish.com. And this is another question which came up on Quora recently, "Why aren't people impressed when I speak English?" the asker asked.
The reason why English speakers, and I'm talking about native speakers here, but also people from countries where English is just widely spoken, for example, Denmark, or the Netherlands, or Sweden, or somewhere like that. The reason English speakers aren't particularly impressed when you speak English is exactly the same as the reason why they're not particularly impressed when you manage to get dressed in the morning, or tie your own shoelaces. We just don't think of speaking English as an impressive thing. It's just something that people do. And that's because, in the native English-speaking cultures, especially language learning, is just not something which we do. We just don't have that as a part of our culture. We are not a language learning species as native English speakers.
And again, even in other countries where English is very widely spoken, it's generally accepted that you speak English, and that's that. It's not considered a particularly impressive thing. Because of this, when you speak to an English speaker, they're not looking at you and thinking, "Wow, this person speaks English as a second language. This person's achieved something incredible. They've learned English." No, they're just looking at you and thinking, "I'm going to talk to this person."
Again, speaking English is just the dumb thing. And you can be critical of this and think what you want, but it's neither negative nor positive. That's just how our culture is. And it's only really people from countries, and to be fair, this is part of the majority of countries, where people do have to put in the time and effort to learn English or another second language and struggle with it and get good at it, that people tend to see proficiency in English with a sense of, "Oh, wow, this person has really achieved something."
But again, that's because that is a part of your culture, but it's not a part of our culture, necessarily. This, of course, is not to in any way diminish your achievement, because it is an incredible achievement, and you should be proud of it, just don't be surprised or upset if native English speakers don't really think of it in that way. It's just, once again, not something we think about. It's not on our radar.
Of course, if you've done fairly well in English so far, but you're not quite there yet, I can help. The first protocol is doingenglish.com/freetraining. Sign up for the free one hour training, and I will teach you the five key changes that you need to make to see the fastest possible improvement as a higher-level speaker of English, who is okay, but wants to be awesome when they speak.
This is me, Dr. Julian Northbrook, once again, signing out from another video. I'll see you soon, guys. Bye-bye.
#DoingEnglish #JulianNorthbrook #learnEnglish
