In the first of three posts, language hacker and author of Fluent in 3 Months Benny Lewis explains how getting things wrong means you’re getting better.
Embrace Mistakes
Making mistakes is not a sign that you’re progressing poorly in your language learning. In fact, I’d go so far as to say the opposite: the more mistakes you make, the better you’re doing.
When you’re speaking another language and you only stick with words and grammar that you know, you’re not learning anything new. But every time you make a mistake when speaking a language, you learn something. How to properly pronounce that word you read, or how to conjugate that irregular verb you weren’t sure of.
You don’t just learn it, you remember it. You can immediately use what you learned while still in conversation. This instant feedback will cement the new material in your memory, so you’ll never forget it.
And no, you won’t get laughed at for your mistakes. Trust me. So embrace your mistakes!
Benny Lewis’ new series of conversation courses for beginners are available now.
