It's Not That Your English is Poor; You're Just a 'Food Critic' Who Observes But Never Cooks

Is this you too?

You've studied English for over a decade, with a vocabulary of over 10,000 words. You can watch US TV shows without subtitles and understand most of it. But the moment you get a chance to speak, your mind goes completely blank. Those familiar words and sentence structures seem to have never belonged to you.

Don't be discouraged; it's not your fault. The problem isn't that you haven't 'learned' enough, but that you've never truly 'gotten your hands dirty'.

Imagine this: learning English is like learning to cook.

You've spent ages memorising recipes from all over the world (learning vocabulary, studying grammar), and watched countless episodes of 'Hell's Kitchen' (watching US TV shows, practising listening). You can rattle off the standards for 'Michelin three-star' restaurants, making you seem like a top-tier 'food critic'.

But the problem is, the hob in your own kitchen has never even been lit.

Your brain is like a library filled with top-tier recipes, but your mouth and tongue are novices who've never stepped foot in a kitchen. This is why we 'understand' English perfectly well, yet can't 'speak' it.

It's time to stop collecting recipes, step into the kitchen, and cook up a few dishes yourself.

First Step: Follow the Recipe to Get the Basics Down

To begin with, no one expects you to invent new dishes. The simplest thing to do is follow existing recipes, step by step.

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

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

1. Understand the recipe first (comprehend the content): Make sure you know what the passage 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 music.
3. Light the hob and heat the pan (read aloud): Say it out loud, with confidence. Don't rush, but try to mimic it accurately. Your goal isn't to 'read it correctly,' but to 'perform it convincingly'.

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

Second Step: Experiment Boldly in Your Own Kitchen

Once you're proficient with a few 'signature dishes', you can start to get creative. This step is called 'talking to yourself'.

Sounds a bit silly? But this is 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." — Speak your inner monologue directly in English.
• Practice role-playing by yourself: Simulate an interview scenario, asking and answering questions. This will magically help you practise the notoriously difficult 'interrogative sentences'.
• Review your day: Lying in bed at night, recount the day's events using the 5W1H method (Who, What, Where, When, Why, How).

The key to this stage is: breaking free from dependence on text.

You're no longer cooking by looking at a recipe, but rather organising sentences in your mind based on memory and intuition, then directly speaking them, using your mouth as the 'outlet'. So what if your grammar's wrong or you use the wrong words? This is your kitchen; you're in charge. Keep making mistakes, keep correcting them, and your 'English brain' will gradually take shape in the process.

Third Step: Host a Real 'Dinner Party'

Alright, your culinary skills are coming along nicely; it's time to invite guests and host a real dinner party. This is 'conversing with real people'.

This is the most daunting step, and also the one that will help you grow at light speed. Because real conversations involve pressure, surprises, and directions you can never predict.

"But I'm in Taiwan; where can I find foreigners?" "What if I don't speak well, and the other person loses patience?"

These anxieties are completely normal. But fortunately, we live in an era of highly advanced technology. You don't need to go to bars or international meet-ups to effortlessly host a perfect 'dinner party'.

Imagine how great it would be if, while you were cooking, you had an AI assistant by your side, ready to give you real-time reminders when you forgot the next step, and help you smooth things over when you messed up?

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 the perfect word, the AI can instantly translate for you, keeping the conversation flowing smoothly.

It's like your 'secret weapon' at the dinner party, allowing you to enjoy the pleasure of real conversation without the embarrassment of ruining the whole thing due to your culinary shortcomings. It lowers the barrier to 'hosting a dinner party' to the absolute minimum.

Stop being a 'food connoisseur' who only reviews 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 hob, even if your first dish is just a simple fried egg.

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