The reason why most native English speakers aren’t particularly impressed when you speak English is because… they just don’t care.

It’s exactly the same reason why they’re not that impressed when you manage to get dressed in the morning or tie your shoelaces.

Speaking English to most native English speakers is just something that you should do.

Even in other countries where English is widely spoken, it’s just generally accepted that you speak English. They won’t look at you, thinking, “Oh wow this person speaks English very well. They achieved something incredible!”. No, they won’t. They’re just looking at you, thinking, “I’m going to talk to this person.”.

Most native speakers just don’t think of speaking English as an impressive thing. It’s because, in native English-speaking cultures, language learning is not something we do.

Again, speaking English is just the normal thing to do. And you can be critical of this and think what you want, but this is neither negative nor positive. That’s just how native English culture is.

But of course, it’s different when you’re in a non-native English country. People in countries where they put a great time and effort to learn English tend to see proficiency in English with a sense of achievement. Again, that’s because it’s a part of your culture doesn’t mean it’s a part of native English culture.

If you need some help in speaking English the way native speakers do, you can start with the one-hour free training that I created. You’ll learn the 5 key changes my best clients make to improve their English as higher-level English learners. You can go to this link if this interests you.

Hope this helps.

Best,
Dr Julian Northbrook