January 17

Tsukino661

today

Today I was overwhelmed with a sense of failure. I’ve been practicing spoken English with my language partners for half a year. Even though I talk to them 2 or 3 times a week, I feel like my English still isn’t at the level I want. I’ve been getting frustrated more and more, and ended up bursting with emotion earlier, while talking to one of my language partners.
“When will I be able to speak English naturally without freezing?”
“Am I never going to be able to speak English fluently?”
These words were running through my mind.
Then, I came across a YouTube video where Japanese interpreter explains how to speak English more naturally. Her strategy was not that new but the way she spoke inspired me.
At first she explained the reason why we often freeze when we speak in English. We tend to translate what we want to say from our mother tongue before we speak in English. It prevents us from speaking fluently because structures of each languages are different. Actually this is what always happens to me. Japanese words often come to my mind when I try to speak English. Therefore she suggested that we should practice until our native language stops coming to our mind when we speak English.
So she highly recommended that we should always ask ourselves how we’d say things in English with curiosity. We should also try to imagine a situation/picture where we use a certain word in our real life without Japanese. It’s like connecting a word and a picture.
I think this is one of the methods I’ve been avoiding, but definitely I need to do that. Her strategy literally opened my eyes. This video really helped me bounce back from a setback.

en 3

Correct

Corrections

the_amazing_pingu

January 17

Today I was overwhelmed with a sense of failure.

I’ve been practicing spoken English with my language partners for half a year.

Even though I talk to them 2 or 3 times a week, I feel like my English still isn’t at the level I want.

I’ve been getting frustrated more and more, and ended up bursting with emotion earlier, while talking to one of my language partners.

“When will I be able to speak English naturally without freezing?”

“Am I never going to be able to speak English fluently?”

These words ~~were running~~ran through my mind.

"Were running" is fine too;
The nuance here is that past progressive ("were running") implies a continuous action at some point in time, while simple past ("ran") merely describes a completed action. Past progressive usually fits better when you use certain words to describe the time period (i.e. during, throughout)
Example: These words were running through my mind *throughout the conversation*)

Then, I came across a YouTube video where a Japanese interpreter explains how to speak English more naturally.

Her strategy was not that new, but the way she spoke inspired me.

At first, she explained the reason why we often freeze when we speak in English.

It prevents us from speaking fluently because the structures of each languages are different.

Using "the" highlights the subject of the subordinate clause ("the structures of each language are different")

Actually this is what always happens to me.

Japanese words often come to my mind when I try to speak English.

Therefore, she suggested that we should practice until our native language stops coming to our mind when we speak English.

S~~o s~~he highly recommended that we should always ask ourselves how we’d say things in English with curiosity.

"So" can feel a little heavy-handed here considering the last sentence started with "Therefore" (a word with a very similar function).

We should also try to imagine a situation/picture where we use a certain word in our real life without Japanese.

It’s like connecting a word and a picture.

I think this is one of the methods I’ve been avoiding, but I definitely I need to do that.

"Definitely I..." is grammatically correct but "I definitely" is more natural.

Her strategy literally opened my eyes.

This video really helped me bounce back from a setback.

Feedback

good work!
That's a good idea for learning English! Wishing you the best of luck as you try it out.

Anonymous123456789

January 17th, 2026

Today, I was overwhelmed ~~with~~by a sense of failure.

I’ve been practicing spoken English with my language partners for half a year.

Even though I talk to them 2 or 3 times a week, I feel like my English still isn’t at the level I want.

I’ve been getting frustrated more and more, and ended up bursting with emotion earlier, while talking to one of my language partners.

“When will I be able to speak English naturally without freezing?”

“Am I never going to be able to speak English fluently?”

These words were running through my mind.

Then, I came across a YouTube video where Japanese interpreter explains how to speak English more naturally.

Her strategy was not that new but the way she spoke inspired me.

At first she explained the reason why we often freeze when we speak in English.

We tend to translate what we want to say from our mother tongue before we speak in English.

It prevents us from speaking fluently because structures of each languages are different.

~~Actually this is~~This is indeed what always happens to me.

Japanese words often come to my mind when I try to speak English.

Therefore, she suggested that we should practice until our native language stops coming to our mind when we speak English.

So, she highly recommended that we should always ask ourselves how we’d say things in English with curiosity.

We should also try to imagine a situation/picture where we use a certain word in our real life without Japanese.

It’s like connecting a word and a picture.

I think this is one of the methods I’ve been avoiding, but definitely I need to do that.

Her strategy literally opened my eyes.

This video really helped me bounce back from a setback.

dieseljbaer

January 17

Today I was overwhelmed with a sense of failure.

I’ve been practicing spoken English with my language partners for half a year.

Even though I talk to them 2 or 3 times a week, I feel like my English still isn’t at the level I want.

I’ve been getting frustrated more and more, and ended up bursting with emotion earlier, while talking to one of my language partners.

“When will I be able to speak English naturally without freezing?”

“Am I never going to be able to speak English fluently?”

These words were running through my mind.

Then, I came across a YouTube video where Japanese interpreter explains how to speak English more naturally.

Her strategy was not that new but the way she spoke inspired me.

At first she explained the reason why we often freeze when we speak in English.

We tend to translate what we want to say from our mother tongue before we speak in English.

It prevents us from speaking fluently because structures of each languages are different.

Actually this is what always happens to me.

Japanese words often come to my mind when I try to speak English.

Therefore she suggested that we should practice until our native language stops coming to our mind when we speak English.

So she highly recommended that we should always ask ourselves how we’d say things in English with curiosity.

We should also try to imagine a situation/picture where we use a certain word in our real life without Japanese.

It’s like connecting a word and a picture.

I think this is one of the methods I’ve been avoiding, but definitely I need to do that.

Her strategy literally opened my eyes.

This video really helped me bounce back from a setback.

January 17