Your English Isn't Bad, You're Just a 'Food Critic' Who Never Gets into the Kitchen

Sound familiar?

You've studied English for over a decade, amassed a massive vocabulary, and can pretty much get the gist of American TV shows without subtitles. But the moment you get a chance to speak, your mind goes completely blank. Those familiar words and phrases? They suddenly feel like they don't belong to you at all.

Don't despair, it's not your fault. The issue isn't that you haven't 'learned' enough; it's that you've never truly 'gotten stuck in'.

Imagine, learning English is just like learning to cook.

You've spent ages committing every recipe in the world to memory (memorising vocabulary, learning grammar), and watched Hell's Kitchen countless times (watching US shows, practising listening). You know the 'three Michelin star' standards inside out; you're practically a top-tier 'food critic'.

But here's the thing: you've never even turned on the stove in your own kitchen.

Your brain is like a library brimming with top-tier recipes, but your mouth and tongue are like novices who've never stepped foot in a kitchen. That's why we clearly 'understand' English, but just can't 'speak' it.

It's time to stop hoarding recipes, get into the kitchen, and actually cook a few dishes yourself.

Step One: Follow the Recipe, Get the Dish Cooked

No one's expecting you to invent new dishes right off the bat. The simplest thing to do is just follow existing recipes, step by step.

This is where 'reading aloud' and 'shadowing' come in.

Find an audio file you like – it could be a speech, a podcast episode, or even an interview with your idol.

1. First, understand the recipe (comprehend the content): Make sure you grasp what the audio is about.
2. Listen to how the head chef does it (listen to the audio): Listen repeatedly, paying attention to the native speaker's tone, rhythm, and pauses. It's not just a collection of words; it's a kind of music.
3. Turn on the heat (read aloud): Speak loudly and confidently. No need to rush, but try to mimic them as closely as possible. Your goal isn't to 'read it perfectly,' but to 'perform it authentically.'

This process is about training your 'oral muscle memory'. Just like a chef practising chopping vegetables – it's clumsy at first, but repeat it a thousand times, and it becomes instinct. You're not learning new knowledge; you're synchronising the knowledge in your brain with your body's 'hardware'.

Step Two: Experiment Boldly in Your Own Kitchen

Once you're comfortable with a few 'signature dishes', you can start to play around a bit. This step is called 'talking to yourself'.

Sounds a bit daft, doesn't it? But it's the safest and most effective step to becoming a 'master chef'.

In your own kitchen, no one will laugh at you. You can:

• Describe what's in front of you: "Okay, I'm holding my phone. It's black. I'm about to open the weather app." Just speak your inner monologue directly in English.
• Practise playing two roles: Simulate a job interview scenario, asking questions and answering them yourself. This will magically help you nail the trickiest 'question sentences'.
• Debrief your day: Lying in bed at night, use the 5W1H (Who, What, Where, When, Why, How) method to recount what happened that day.

The key at this stage is: shedding your reliance on text.

You're no longer cooking from a recipe; you're relying on memory and feel, organising sentences in your mind, and then outputting them directly through your mouth – your 'exit point'. So what if the grammar's wrong, or the wording's off? This is your kitchen, you're the boss. Keep making mistakes, keep correcting them, and your 'English brain' will slowly take shape in this process.

Step Three: Host a Real 'Dinner Party'

Alright, your cooking skills have improved a bit, so it's time to invite guests and host a real dinner party. This is 'conversing with real people'.

It's the most frightening, but also the fastest way to grow. Because real conversations come with pressure, surprises, and outcomes you can never predict.

"But I'm in Taiwan, where can I find foreigners?" "What if I don't speak well and they lose patience?"

These anxieties are completely normal. But luckily, we live in an era of highly advanced technology. You don't need to head to a pub or an international exchange event to easily host a perfect 'dinner party'.

Imagine if, while you're cooking, you had a little AI assistant next to you, who could instantly remind you when you forgot the next step, and help you smooth things over when you messed up? How good would that be?

That's exactly what tools like Intent can do. It's a chat app with built-in AI real-time translation. When you're chatting with friends from around the world and suddenly get stuck, or can't find that perfect word, the AI can instantly translate for you, keeping the conversation flowing smoothly.

It's like your 'secret weapon' for your dinner party, allowing you to enjoy the fun of real conversation without the embarrassment of messing up the whole thing due to rusty cooking skills. It lowers the barrier to 'hosting a dinner party' to the absolute minimum.

Stop being that 'foodie' who only critiques but never gets their hands dirty.

You already have enough recipes in your head. Now, all you need to do is step into the kitchen, light the stove, even if your first dish is just a simple fried egg.

Starting today, speak up. Your English is much better than you think.