July 9, 2025
I moved to the U.S. permanently when I was 10 years old. As a newcomer in America, it was distressing to see how others perceived me: less intelligent and less capable because I couldn’t speak English all that well. I remember being laughed at because I couldn’t properly enunciate my words and because my accent made it difficult for others to understand me. I remember not doing well academically because I couldn’t make out what the instructions were telling me to do and because I didn’t know how to ask questions to help me with my classwork. I couldn’t put it together then, but I realized something later on: Not speaking English well will limit you from sharing your gifts and talents with the world.
So….don’t limit yourself from sharing your gifts and talents with the world.
I look at my parents—two intelligent and competent people— who’ve been held back by their lack of English language skills. They’ve said to me on multiple occasions, if only I spoke English well….
What they’re really saying is, if I spoke English proficiently:
I could get the job I want
I could achieve more
I could fulfill my potential
Once I realized that speaking English well could take me places, I started to look beyond school. I experimented with non-traditional methods to improve my English language skills and committed to improving how I spoke and how others understood me. One of my favorite shows at that time was Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. I liked the show for several reasons: it was funny; it was engaging; it was instructive, and most of all, it had a ton of expressions that I didn’t know. I could follow the story well enough to make sense of the dialogue. I took a notepad and scribbled almost every word and phrase that I didn’t know using the closed caption option in the tv settings. I figured if I wanted to learn English, learning only what I was being taught in school alone wouldn’t be enough. I realized that: Vocabulary and grammar are not enough to gain fluency and proficiency in any language.
In addition to watching tv shows, I wasn’t afraid to make mistakes when I spoke. I spoke whenever and to whomever I could so that I could practice my English. I got my hands on as many books as I could find, I watched documentaries and movies. I asked teachers and friends for feedback. I wrote whenever I could. I believed that I would eventually speak like a native speaker. It would just be a matter of time. I still have essays I wrote in my English as a second language class with misspellings, missing words, and bad grammar. To get better, I knew I needed to keep going. I realized that: Learning another language requires a variety of immersive actions and a high degree of intense effort.
Just how much immersion is needed to learn a language varies, but for me I was learning English in class, learning it at home, learning it by speaking with friends, learning it as I was teaching others to speak it. I was reading children’s books that were beneath my comprehension level, watching the news, listening to the radio, listening to music. In other words, I did everything I could think of to expose myself to the language. What I learned is: The more ways you can expose yourself to a language, the quicker you’ll become proficient.
Once I started feeling more comfortable speaking English, I started volunteering in school activities where I was given responsibilities. I signed up to do morning announcements in my video production class. I went way outside of my comfort zone to do something I knew would push me to improve my English language skills. I practiced and practiced and worked hard on enunciating my words in addition to working on my accent. That period helped me understand: To accelerate your ability to speak English, participate in an activity or work on a project that requires you to communicate solely in English.
I went from being a timid student in middle school to being the master of ceremonies at my high school graduation where I was in the top 1% of my class. I graduated from two of the most prestigious universities in the world—Harvard University and Columbia University. I’ve been published in reputable newspapers and journals, I’ve worked in the corporate sector, and I’ve been a consultant on some significant research projects.
Language is powerful. It forms the basis of reading, listening, speaking, and writing. If you can do those things well in addition to understanding the cultural nuances of the English language , then I believe you can achieve anything you set out to achieve in an increasingly English-speaking world.
Patrick Jean Baptiste is the creator of U.S. English Course. The course is a product of his experience going from a non-native speaker to a proficient speaker and what he sees as wasted potential in people whose lack of English language skills is holding them back.
