You don’t need to “speak like a native”. It’s possible to be very articulate and speak perfectly while sounding foreign.

I’d like to preface this with the fact that I am an english speaker who learned a foreign language. As a native english speaker, I know what it’s like to be spoken to by someone who speaks another language and be impressed and grateful they even know my language. <br><br>The reason I bring this up is because I don’t think anyone cares if you sound foreign when you speak to them in their language. I’d honestly laugh at the idea of speaking a language I know absolutely nothing of and sounding like I’m natively from that country. It feels like a fetishization of a culture. So many people want to fit in with natives and be able to go up to them and they not know that they’re not from the country. If someone asks me where I’m from, I tell them - and the natives are grateful I know their language. <br><br>I’m trying to learn Hmong language and culture right now and while there’s a huge resources available, there’s not many people that go out and try to speak to people in the language, because they don’t sound native. You don’t have to sound native. Go out and speak, listen to people, learn. Life is so much easier when you can communicate with someone easily, and if you can’t communicate properly that’s fine. You’ll get there. As long as you’re putting in the work, you’ll be able to speak the language in a year or two. <br><br>Don’t be afraid to mispronounce or mix up phrases. You will. Everyone does, even native speakers. They mix up words, mispronounce, forget things, it’s okay. There aren’t rules on how to speak a language. There are guidelines. A lot of people also get upset with themselves when they don’t sound like a native speaker when speaking a new language. Guess what? You’re not native. So don’t be upset. The amount of people who can learn a new language is insane. They should be proud. Life is so much easier when you can communicate with people, and it’s also so much more enjoyable. <br><br>I’d also like to add that natives are NOT normally angry at you if you can’t speak their language. They’re more often confused, but grateful you’re trying to learn. It’s not like they’re mad at you. That’s a common misconception. I’ve been thanked so many times by different people for trying to learn their language. When will we realize that natives don’t hate us for not speaking their language? <br><br>I’m sorry this post was all over the place. I just wished more people would go out and speak the language they’re trying to learn. It’s not about being a native speaker. It’s about communicating properly.