It takes ages to reach a point where you can express yourself or describe anything as easily as you would in your native language. And to be fair, sometimes we get stuck in our native language too, trying to find the right words or expressions.
Do not believe those who say "I speak English better than my native language". Most of them are lying. They just do not know what it means to really understand the intricacies of a foreign language and how to navigate them. Yes, sometimes they can remember a particular English word but forget the equivalent in their native language, but that happens to most people who speak a foreign language. It says nothing about their proficiency. It's possible that sometimes they use some unnatural or unidiomatic phrasing when speaking even though they can still get their message across.
The better question is, to ask yourself whether you can get by in an English speaking country where no one knows your language. And if you can, how easily can you do it without translation software?
I still sometimes feel like words are on the tip of my tongue when I try to speak only English. There's still so much I want to learn and a lot of gaps in my speaking skills, vocabulary and grammar. As a fellow non-native speaker, I wish you good luck in your journey.
Really good points! Honestly, as a native English speaker I didn't realise how difficult expressing yourself was until I started learning another language. It's hard not knowing how to say exactly what you mean the way you want it to come across. It gave me a lot of perspective and a lot of respect for the many non-native speakers I interact with daily who still manage to communicate what they need to with me, even if it's difficult for them or even if they can't express it exactly how a native would
Thanks. Yeah, it's tricky because knowing grammar isn't enough. What you're saying can be grammatically correct but that doesn't mean it's idiomatic, doesn't mean that is how a native speaker would say it. Talking about that, do you think my post sounds natural with correct grammar? And what language are you learning?
Your post is near-native sounding and I like the phrasing such as "it takes ages" and "it's on the tip of my tongue". There are a few things that I would do differently, which I'll list:
* The first paragraph, I'd use "sometimes we get stuck when trying to find the right words or expressions in our native language too", as it flows a little better
* I would use "don't" instead of "do not" in all places, maybe excluding the first "do not" in the second paragraph if you wanted to emphasise it
* In the third paragraph I would use "the better question to ask yourself is...", again because it flows better
* "when I try to speak only English", this makes sense and I think it's fine, but I think that "when I try to only speak in English" sounds a little more natural
Your English is really good though, so keep going! And to answer your question I'm learning German
Edit: Formatting
Thank you for the compliments and suggestions. Good luck with your German.