How to Develop a Growth Mindset When Learning English (And why some learners progress faster than others)

Earlier this week, a student told me: “I’ll never be fluent. I’m just not good at languages.”

This annoyed me a little 😠because I found it defeatist. ( Sorry if she’s reading 😁)

In all my personal “language journeys”, I never once thought that. It just never entered my head !

What’s more, she said this after giving a clear, confident presentation in English. Her colleagues understood her. She had prepared well. She delivered calmly.

But in her mind, it wasn’t enough. Why? Because she believed capacity for learning a language was something you’re born with. A talent .

And to be honest I hear this often.

Some people seem completely convinced that being “good at English” is something you either naturally have, or you don’t.

Almost like eye colour.😀

And because of that, many learners approach English with a kind of hidden fear:
👉 fear of making mistakes
👉 fear of sounding stupid
👉 fear of not being “naturally gifted”

But the more I teach, the more I notice that, most often, the students who progress the most are not necessarily the most gifted, but the ones who are least afraid to struggle.

And this reminds me of the psychologist Carol Dweck’s idea of the “growth mindset”.

🧠 Fixed Mindset vs Growth Mindset

Carol Dweck explains that people generally tend to see abilities in two different ways.

❌ Fixed mindset

This is the belief that: “I’m either good at languages or I’m not.”

People with a fixed mindset often think:

• “My accent is terrible.”
• “I’ll never sound fluent.”
• “I’m too old to learn.”

😞 Mistakes feel like proof of failure.

So naturally, these learners often avoid speaking, and panic when they make mistakes.
They lose confidence quickly.

✅ Growth mindset

A growth mindset is different.

It’s the belief that abilities can improve through:
✔ practice
✔ repetition
✔ feedback
✔ experience

Instead of thinking you’re bad at English, you think you’re improving.

Or even better “I’m not comfortable with this yet.” That small word changes everything.

And every little thing you learn is building your knowledge. You don’t think about all you have to learn but you think about everything you have already learned .

😅 Why This Matters So Much in Language Learning

Learning a language is uncomfortable.

You constantly:
• make mistakes
• forget words
• misunderstand people
• struggle to express yourself

If every mistake feels like a disaster, learning becomes exhausting.

But if mistakes become information and feedback and part of the process, something changes completely. Treat it as a challenge 💪

🧠 The Students Who Improve Fastest

In my experience, the students who improve the fastest are often not the “perfect” students. They’re the ones who aren’t afraid.

They are usually the ones who:
✔ speak before they feel ready
✔ take risks
✔ tolerate discomfort
✔ keep going after awkward moments

In other words: they don’t treat mistakes as identity.

They treat them as practice.

⚡ Perfection Is Often the Biggest Block

Many learners secretly believe they should speak correctly before they speak naturally.

But real fluency doesn’t work like that. Look at how little children learn. They don’t wait to speak perfectly. They experiment constantly. Sometimes only their parents understand them 😀

And adults actually learn languages in a similar way.

How to Apply Growth Mindset in English 🚀

Here are four simple shifts you can make:

👀 Reframe mistakes Instead of “I embarrassed myself”, think: “I learned something new.”

🧩 Add the word yet  “I can’t understand native speakers… yet.” That one word changes the story.

🎯 Set process goals “I’ll speak English for 10 minutes today” is more powerful than “I’ll be fluent in six months.”

🗣️ Seek challenges Talk to stronger speakers. Watch harder content. Stretching yourself accelerates growth.

💡 What a Growth Mindset Looks Like in Practice

✅ 1. You stop seeing mistakes as humiliation

Instead of:
❌ “That was embarrassing.”

You think:
✔️ “Okay… now I know.”

✅ 2. You focus on consistency, not perfection

❌Language learning is not one big breakthrough

✔️It’s hundreds of small repetitions

✅ 3. You stop comparing yourself constantly

One of the worst habits learners have is comparing themselves to:
• bilingual people
• fluent colleagues
• confident speakers

But you never see how long it took them to get there, or how many mistakes they made, or even how uncomfortable they felt at the beginning.

✅ 4. You become more willing to stay in difficult situations

Growth-minded learners don’t escape discomfort immediately.

They stay in the conversation a little longer.
Even when it’s difficult.

And that’s where real progress happens.

😶 The Problem With “Talent”

People often say: “She’s naturally good at languages.”

But often what you’re really seeing is:
✔ confidence
✔ persistence
✔ tolerance for mistakes

Not magic talent.

💭 A Final Thought

Your English level is important. Of course !

But your relationship with mistakes may be even more important.

Because fluency is not built by:
❌ avoiding discomfort

It’s built by:
✅ surviving it repeatedly 😀

You don’t need to feel confident before you speak English. Very often confidence comes because you spoke English.

👉 If you’d like help developing more confidence and fluency in real-life English conversations, I can help.

I’m Liz Aldam, an English teacher with more than twenty years of experience, having worked with companies like Yamaha, Faurecia and others. I live in the Val-d’Oise region in France and I teach online.

📲 Click the WhatsApp icon below and contact me 😊