In Christina’s country, many learned English for decades but did not dare talk to native English speakers. They always thought they were not prepared enough. One time, she heard about a similar story from a language instructor. The story was about two members named Jim and Tom, who joined a Japanese homestay scheme.

Jim barely understood Japanese but actively interacted with Japanese people in person. Tom’s Japanese was much better than Jim’s. However, he chose to study Japanese alone, because he lacked confidence in his Japanese ability. Jim ended up learning and carrying much more natural Japanese conversation than Tom, although his Japanese was worse. The instructor concluded that learners would never be prepared well. Perfectionism is an obstacle when learning languages.

Christina recalled that an American had mentioned his tip to sound like a native Chinese speaker. He said he would imagine that he were a native speaker when speaking Chinese. He never felt prepared, but this tip worked well. She had doubted this American’s method until she read studies which suggested that it makes people’s new habits stick if they change their identities. In other words, fake it until you make it.