I remember the day that I finally felt "fluent" in Russian. I had been in Russia for about 3 months and I could hold conversations, but they weren't great. I remember talking about this to the person that I was assigned to live with (who had been there for over a year). He said something that struck a chord with me: I already spoke Russian, and the only reason I wasn't speaking fluently was because I didn't view myself as someone who spoke Russian. Instead, I viewed myself as someone who was learning Russian, and there was a big difference.

He challenged me to change my perspective. From that day forward, I needed to view myself as someone who speaks Russian right now, but is also trying to improve, not someone who is trying to speak Russian. This mental shift is where the actual feeling of fluency came from. I felt better speaking, reading, and listening, which gave me the confidence to do it more, and that helped me improve much faster.
I still don't know Russian as well as English, but I feel comfortable reading just about everything and speaking about everything, even though I might fumble here and there (but I do that in English too). The key lesson is that even if you have the knowledge, if you don't have the confidence, you will be too scared to even use the language in real life.

So, thinking about that, how can we inspire confidence in language learners and encourage them on their journey? How can we change their internal dialogue to be positive, encouraging, and willing to take on challenges?

By nurturing a positive self-image and celebrating small victories, we can empower learners to embrace their new linguistic identity and embark on a transformative journey of fluency. It's a simple shift in mindset, but it can make all the difference in unlocking one's true potential as a language learner.

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Ian Schoenrock is the Founder and CTO of Culture Shock AI.