How to Feel Authentic in English
Speaking with a stranger in your second language is daunting – perhaps the most stressful thing you do for your job.
👉 Foreign Language Anxiety (FLA) is real!
Speaking English stresses a lot of people out – but it doesn’t have to.
👉 If you are that person now, it’s not a characteristic but just conditioning from your language experience – so far.
Authentic English is the Secret
This blog describes a mindset shift that can help you feel authentic in your second language.
We help people get it with our English conversation holidays – but a good online English coach will get results too.
Coaching Holidays for a Quick Transformation
I hope you can join Blue Noun Hub for a transformative and genuine English learning adventure. We get results quickly.
However, if you are not ready to travel, there are 3 coaching prompts to use at the end of this blog.
Let’s Talk!
Interested in a chat about our English coaching holidays in Scotland?
You’ll get to see our hub – and tell me (Ruth) 3 things you’d like to see/do when you are here!
Join Me Behind-the-Scenes of English Coaching
I’m going to share some behind-the-scenes moments from our language school holidays, to illustrate how you too can find authentic English.
This blog will help you to share your values with your clients and peers – and more importantly, listen and hear theirs.
Only then can you work out TOGETHER if you have compatible businesses that can help each other.
Hopefully, this blog also shows who I am – and if you would enjoy an authentic language school holiday with me.
Feeling Inauthentic is Your English Problem
Not your level.
For many, at least part of the stress is feeling like a fraud or imposter using their English.
They tell me, ‘I have to speak English in front of native speakers” – they tell me in panic.
As if the native speakers are going to know they are pretending to be someone else, and call them out.
About Being Brave
I ask my clients to be brave all the time:
- Brave enough to book a plane ticket for a language school holiday.
- Brave and trust that I’ll be at the airport waiting for them (I will be).
- Courageous enough to commit to working on their fear of English (often something they’ve been avoiding for years).
But right now, I’m working up the courage to cold-call international agents, to let them know about our unique holidays.
Holidays in which you can improve in English outside a classroom and by exploring Scotland and having fun.
(So many people – even ones in our industry – still believe one needs to suffer to make English progress, but thanks to all the alternative English learning options, that’s not the case anymore).
I’ll admit it.
I’ve been putting this task off.
The funny thing is that I’m so excited about our holidays I love telling strangers about them.
So I asked myself what was so hard about contacting travel agents?
I believed I HAD to do it (business advice form a reliable, professional source), but my values were dead against it.
It felt inauthentic.
What Does Authenticity really MEAN?
‘Authenticity’ is an overused word, everyone claims to have it,
As an English coach, a woman, a mum, a business owner and a Scot I show up in different ways for different people.
Does code-switching make me inauthentic?
(And how is everyone else managing to NOT code-switch?)
Everything’s Easy When it’s Aligned
What was holding me back was that I was struggling to work out which ‘me’ agents would need to see.
I haven’t seen enough of that professional me to trust it and believe in it myself.
And that’s the secret of how our holidays work on your English.
You’ve had a lifetime of being told to obsess with getting perfect at English, but the next step after learning the structures is not more language and structures – but using what you’ve got, building a strong and confident voice in English – whether you are perfect or not.
You need to use your English – not keep learning it.
Unpicking a lifetime of ulcer-inducing hangups takes time.
A great coach can speed it up.
Real-world English experiences prove to your brain that this version of yourself is you too.
Unlock confident English with real conversation. That’s the path to authentic English!
English learning, differently!
How our blend of real-world English unlocks authentic English speakers,
one voice at a time.
When you are clear on your values, answers are easy
Values empower you.
They guide you in every context and situation.
When you are clear on your values, answers become easy.
Code-changing isn’t inauthentic.
Value-changing is!
How Much Should a Language Coach Share?
I used to believe that my clients don’t need to see the whole of me, that they should only see the front-facing bits, without sacrificing any ‘authenticity’.
It took me gaining confidence in my power as a teacher to realise that this was doing their bravery and willingness to be vulnerable a disservice.
I can be a good English teacher AND lover of Scots language (and cheese and onion crisps) without contradiction.
I can share my life, my world and my emotions through English coaching.
It’s actually how I help. I give a personal language school holiday (not a corporate one).
This makes my client experience stronger and richer.
My ability to share authentically IS my superpower.
Share Honest Emotion
Sharing the Process | Behind the Scenes of our Language Holidays
I do it so you can get to know me.
I also do this because we are great believers in transparency.
It’s a core belief.
Another core belief is to be authentic as a teacher/coach.
When your experience is memorable,
Your English is memorable.
Authentic Language Learning
I hope you’ve enjoyed this glimpse into the thinking behind your language school holiday.
At Blue Noun, we emphasise the importance of authenticity and its values in teaching.
By sharing personal experiences and values, this independent language school offers a unique and enriching learning environment.
Embracing one’s true self and aligning with core values proves essential for both personal growth and effective teaching.
Coaching Prompts
Have you ever felt like an imposter when speaking English, even though you know the words?
What helped (or would help) you feel more confident?
Do you ever hold back from speaking English because you're afraid of making mistakes?
What situations make you feel most at ease using the language?
Have you ever surprised yourself by speaking more fluently than you expected?
What was different in that moment?
What’s Next?
👉 “If this resonates with you, our language holidays are designed to help you overcome these exact challenges—through real conversations, immersive experiences, and a supportive environment.
Help to Find Your Next English Coach
Find the RIGHT Online English Coach
Wrong turns can ultimately cost your English.
And they cost you that goal you were aiming for.
The job, career moment, conversation, presentation.
