Every dream has its cost.

Becoming fluent will have one too.

The cost of daily redirection of attention.

Let me explain.

When we pay attention to something, we attribute it value.

That is to say, our brains prioritize it over all other possibilities.

To become fluent in another language, you’ll have to do that every single day.

And that, my friend, is where the challenge truly lies.

Our jobs, families, social media etc. constantly reclaim priority status.

They do so through emails, messages, notifications and all sorts of stimuli.

If one is to learn a new language to fluency, this has to be in mind at all times.

I emphasize this given how language learning happens in the brain.

Think of it like a bucket.

Every time you learn something new, it’s like a new drop of water.

However, you can only truly learn if you spend enough time with it.

As time goes on and with the right intermediaries, you’ll get it.

You’ll fill up the “language bucket”.

Just like in life, if you wanna fill a bucket up faster, you leave the tap running.

For languages, that means constant contact it.

But not just having it around.

I mean constantly asking yourself a couple of things while you’re at it:

“Do I truly understand this?”

“Would I be able to use the same word?”

“Can I replicate the same pronunciation?”

That means redirecting your attention to the language.

It also means redirecting your attention to those questions.

It also means, however, redirecting your attention to actively looking those things up.

Training your memory.

Moving your mouth muscles.

Taking notes.

Translating.

In sum, going after it.

And that’s precisely what no one tells you about becoming fluent:

You have to go after it.

There’s not a teacher, not a show, not a course in this world that will magically do it for you.

It truly is up to you.

And believe me, I understand.

You’re busy.

You’ve got stuff to do.

I hear you, seriously.

But there’s no way around it.

Actually, if you think about it, that’s you learned everything you know.

You learned to walk by trying to do it.

Same with swimming.

Same with playing an instrument.

Same with literally everything else.

And all of them have something in common:

You failed forward.

Then again, failing means at least trying.

It means going out of your way and doing it.

What I mean by that is this:

You know that job interview you avoided because it was in the other language?

Or that video you stopped watching ‘cause you couldn’t care to put on the subtitles and translate?

Or even that song you like listening to, but for some reason don’t use to learn new words?

That’s what I mean.

And that’s what most people do.

Since it’s what most do, it is what is ordinary.

Which means, becoming fluent is an extraordinary thing to do.

‘Extraordinary’ meaning, quite literally, ‘out of the ordinary’.

That’s what no one tells you, my friend.

That becoming fluent requires doing things that aren’t “normal”.

It’s not “normal” to have lunch watching a video you can’t fully understand to learn from it.

It’s not “normal” to put your phone, computer, tv etc. in another language you don’t even speak yet.

It’s not “normal” to talk to yourself aloud making “weird” sounds your mouth is not used to.

But that’s exactly what will get you to fluency.

What no one tells you is that, at the end of the day, fluency is a choice.

A choice you have to make every single day.

And like I always say:

« Choisir c’est renoncer »

To choose is to renounce.

Renounce the mediocrity in your studies.

Renounce the things that won’t help you.

Decide it today.

Decide it now.

Move forward.