Stop for a second.
Not forever. Just long enough to actually notice what you’ve already done.
Learning English well is an enormous task. Thousands of hours of listening, reading, speaking, getting things wrong, trying again. Most people never attempt something this big and this slow, and you’re in the middle of it right now. That’s worth a moment of credit before we get back to the climb.
This is a long climb, and you’re already partway up
Think of it like climbing a mountain. Somewhere near the bottom, everything feels hard and the summit is impossibly far away. You put your head down and just keep going, step after step, day after day.
But every good climber eventually stops, turns around, and looks at how far below the trailhead is. Not because they’re done. Just because it’s worth seeing. Then they turn back around and keep going.
That’s what this post is. A chance to turn around for a minute.
What to actually look for
Don’t just tell yourself “I’ve improved.” That’s too vague to feel like anything. Look for something specific instead.
Think of a conversation you had recently that would have completely overwhelmed you a year ago. A show you watched without subtitles, or with subtitles you barely needed. A moment where you understood a joke the instant it landed, before you’d even had time to translate it in your head. A word that used to send you reaching for a dictionary and now you don’t even notice you know it.
Find one specific thing like that. Just one. That’s the real evidence, and it’s worth more than any vague feeling of “I think I’ve gotten better.”
Why this pause actually helps
It’s easy to assume that being kind to yourself is the opposite of pushing forward. It isn’t.
Learners who notice their progress tend to keep going longer than learners who only ever notice the gap between where they are and where they want to be. Constantly measuring yourself against the version of yourself you haven’t become yet is exhausting, and exhaustion is what makes people quit. A moment of genuine pride isn’t a distraction from the work. It’s fuel for the next stretch of it.
This doesn’t mean stop
To be clear, this isn’t permission to coast. It’s permission to breathe.
Climbers who never pause to look back tend to burn out faster, not because the pausing slows them down, but because relentless forward motion without any acknowledgment of progress starts to feel pointless after a while. A short pause, done properly, actually makes the next push easier.
So take the moment. Really take it. Then get back to your reading, your listening, your next conversation. You can find a teacher on iTalki, or book a session directly with me, whenever you’re ready to keep climbing.
Try This
Right now, before you do anything else, think of three things in English that feel easier today than they did a year ago. Write them down if you can.
Read them back. Let yourself feel proud for exactly as long as that takes.
Then close the tab and keep going.
If you have a question about your English, something you have been stuck on or curious about, let me know in the comments. I read every one, and I might turn your question into a future post.
If this post helped, a like lets me know and a restack helps it reach another learner who might need it.
Richard, English fluency coach in Auckland, New Zealand, who still stops to notice his own Spanish wins more often than he used to.
Some links in this blog are affiliate links. I earn a small commission if you sign up, at no extra cost to you. I recommend these products because I believe in them.
Tools I recommend:
Flexling — sentence based speaking practice for when you’re ready to keep climbing
LingQ — build real depth through reading and listening
Lingopie — real TV shows and films with interactive subtitles
StoryLearning — compelling, story driven English listening at just the right level
iTalki — real conversation to put your progress to use, or book a session directly with me