"Why am I not making progress?"

Do you ever ask yourself, “Why am I not making progress?”
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If you’ve asked yourself this question, you’re not alone! It’s very common for learners to worry about their progress. I hope knowing that you’re definitely not the only one who feels like this might make you feel a bit better.

If you think you are stuck at your level, there are two possibilities:

1. You don’t think you’re making any progress but actually you are.
2. You really aren’t making any progress. Don’t worry! I can help!

Maybe you ARE making progress
A lot of learners ask me why they are not making progress when actually they are. I once knew a student who went from low intermediate (A2) to advanced (C1) and he was still convinced he hadn’t made progress! So why does this happen?

It’s often difficult to see your own progress. It’s a bit like when children get bigger. If you have children in your daily life, you don’t see them growing because the changes from day to day are too small to see. But if you don’t see a child for a year, you will notice a big difference the next time you see them!

It’s a bit like that with learning a language. Each day, you take tiny steps towards improving your language so you don’t notice the progress. This is especially true once you reach an intermediate (B1) level. It’s easier to see the progress when you’re a beginner because you can go from nothing to simple conversations quite quickly. 

It’s also possible that you think you are not making progress because you are underestimating how long it takes to learn or because you’re setting yourself unrealistic goals. If you say things like “I’ve been learning English for a month and I’m not fluent yet!” then you’re not being realistic. It takes time!

Maybe you’re NOT making progress
If you really are not making progress, here are some possible reasons:

⭐ You're not practising enough. Learning vocabulary and grammar, watching videos and reading English are great things to do but you have to practise speaking and writing too.

⭐ You’re not being consistent. If you stop and start all the time, you will keep forgetting what you’ve learnt and progress will be very slow. But if you spend a few minutes learning and practising English every single day, you will definitely make progress.

⭐ You don't review what you have learnt. You can’t learn a new word or a new grammar point once and expect to remember it. You have to review everything many times and practise using it before it stays in your memory.

⭐ You are using the wrong materials. Maybe you’re using something that’s too easy or too difficult. Maybe you’re learning vocabulary that you will never actually need. Or maybe your materials are too boring and you’re not motivated.

⭐ You’re doing the wrong things. I’ve seen students trying to learn English from just lists of words. You learn vocabulary better when it’s in context so reading is good. I’ve known students who watch movies and nothing else, and then wonder why they can’t speak. If you want to speak English, you have to practise speaking.

⭐ You’re not getting a good balance. If you study just grammar or just vocabulary or just reading, you won’t make much progress. You need to do a bit of everything: reading, writing, speaking, listening, grammar and vocabulary.

Tips and suggestions for faster progress
Here are some more things to try to get unstuck, make progress and see your progress:

💙 Try some new activities that you’ve never tried before. This could be watching videos on YouTube, reading the news in English, reading short stories, listening to songs, joining a Facebook group, finding a study buddy, or starting a journal, for example.

💙 Make sure your learning is fun. If it’s fun, you’ll be more motivated and then you’ll make faster progress.

💙 Try setting yourself some small and easy-to-measure goals, for example, getting to the next level on Duolingo, learning 100 new words, learning ten phrasal verbs or learning a new verb tense. With small goals like this, it’s easier to see your progress.

💙 Do you have negative thoughts about your English like “It’s too difficult, I can’t do it” or “I’m afraid of making mistakes”? Learn to recognise those thoughts and try to replace them with some positive thinking, such as “I can’t do it yet but I’m learning” or “Everyone makes mistakes and mistakes will help me to improve.” Negative thoughts keep you feeling stuck.

💙 Celebrate your wins and successes. It’s so easy to focus on the mistakes and the things we can’t do. Instead, every time you learn something new, have a conversation in English or understand a video, for example, you should feel happy about it! You could even write it down so you don’t forget about it. 
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If you do all the things I’ve mentioned, you definitely WILL make progress!


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