The intermediate TRAP

And most importantly, we're going to uncover why we're more likely to refer to ourselves as intermediate speakers when we might actually be close to advanced or already advanced. Is it a skill thing or a social thing? So let's jump in. You are listening to episode 9 of season 2 of English with Dame. Hit it. Okay, I want to first talk about why so many people consider themselves to be intermediate level users of English.

This is something I've been thinking about for a while because when I ask people what their level is, 99% of the time they say intermediate. The first thing that comes to mind is, well, what even is intermediate? I don't think anyone really knows. There are some guidelines, directrices, some guidelines that you can find online that delineate what an intermediate speaker is able to do, lo que escapas de hace, and what they are not able to do.

But the problem with these guidelines is that they've been established by the big players in the game, let's say. So the CEFR system, LA1AC2, and then the Cambridge framework, lose the ILs y to FL. The Cambridge system also aligns their test scores with the CEFR levels, but each has their own like wording, rubrics, and focus areas.

The problem, as I'm sure you're aware, if you listened to the episode about why your level is a lie, is that these measurements or classifications, despite being organized and clear, which we love, are not good indicators in my opinion. Let me quickly summarize the main problems. The CEFR system was made for standardization, but we know that real-world English use is messy.

Also, one person's B1 might look like another's B2, especially across different skills, like someone might speak at a B2, but their writing is at a B1 or even C1. There's also cultural and educational contexts that shift things too. So an intermediate in Spain might mean something different than a South Korean intermediate or a Brazilian intermediate. And lastly, there is huge variance between different people at the same level.

You don't just wake up one morning knowing one more word and then you push through that limit and you're an intermediate speaker. It doesn't work that way. So there's actually no real consensus. It's not a science. It's mainly a mix of checklists, gut feelings, and vibes. And although intermediate can feel like a useful label, it's also vague, inconsistent, and is often based on how insecure or confident someone feels, not how they actually perform.

So, why do most people consider themselves to be intermediate speakers or users of English? The first thing that came to mind was a normal bell curve distribution, because it makes sense. In case you don't know what a bell curve is, it's a type of graph that shows how something is distributed across a group. This could be something like test scores, height, intelligence, or in this case, English ability. It's called a bell curve because it's shaped like a bell, como una campana.

So the middle of the graph is tall and round, and the sides slope down on both ends. A slope is una pendiente, by the way. To slope down just means to go down at an angle. I'm sure you have this image of this style of graph in your head right now. This curve represents what's called a normal distribution, right? Which means that most people are average and fewer people are at the extremes. That makes sense.

So I thought, a ver, se entiende, most people are intermediate speakers because most people are average. Agreed. But the sentence, most people are average, while true, doesn't take into account that everyone is also unique. But let's work with that for now. So most people are average or intermediate in this case, and then fewer people are beginners and fewer people are advanced. Cool. But the question I'm asking goes beyond this, Bamasaya, it goes beyond this.

I want to know what factors are at play to make you come to this conclusion. I did some research and here's what I found. Let's call this section the psychological trap of intermediate. So there was a study done in 2017 by Saeed Hattam Tamimi titled Foreign Language Learning and Identity Reconstruction: Learners' Understanding of the Intersections of the Self, the Other, and Power. It's a long title, I know. But this study explored how learning English influences learners' identities.

The research found that many intermediate learners view English learning as a transformative process that reshapes their self-perception. However, some learners resist this identity shift, preferring to maintain their existing self-concept. This resistance often leads, Les Yeva'a often leads them to adopt the intermediate label as a comfortable middle ground, avoiding the pressures associated with being a beginner or an advanced speaker. That makes total sense.

Learning a new language, especially one like English, isn't just about grammar or a vocabulary. It actually messes with your identity, like who you are. Some learners felt like learning English gave them a new, more global version of themselves, and they could access new ideas, cultures, and even express different ideas or show different sides of their personality. But not everyone loved that.

Some people resisted that shift and they didn't want to feel like they were becoming less Iranian or too westernized. So what did they do? They stayed in the middle. They stayed intermediate, not beginners because they'd already put in the work, but not advanced either, because going further meant crossing into an identity that felt unfamiliar or uncomfortable. In other words, calling yourself intermediate became a kind of safe zone.

Like you get to say, I know English, without fully stepping out of your comfort zone or changing how you see yourself. Okay, right off the bat, the primeras, and in the spirit of not blindly taking what a study says and giving it a place in our heads, we should also take into account that Iran has a very different relationship with English than Spain does. For Iran, English is a symbol of the West, and that is loaded, cargado, loaded with political and cultural baggage.

There's been a lot of tension between Iran and the English-speaking world, especially the US and the UK, so it makes sense that English is often seen as a symbol of Western power and influence. So I understand that your average Iranian English learner is maybe more prepared to resist that identity shift, let's say, in comparison to your average English learner here in Spain. In Spain, English is largely seen as a practical skill, right?

A key to getting a better job, maybe to travel, and just modern life in general. I feel like there's little cultural resistance to English, and I don't think that many people see it as a threat to Spanish identity. That said, I see how this shift in identity can affect any English learner. I just wanted to get that out there because sometimes we read studies and are suddenly convinced of something without taking into account the potential, let's say, cultural nuances.

It's very difficult to carry out Yaracabo, to carry out a language-related experiment or study in a vacuum because language is culture and language is identity, which are two vastly abstract and ever-changing concepts. But you get what this study is saying. Not changing is comfortable. Something I also find interesting about this is that this ties in with something I've recently looked into that I've felt my whole life but never really articulated or never really talked about.

If you speak more than one language, your personality changes in each language. I'm sure this is more about fluent and native speakers, but you get where I'm coming from. It's not that you become someone else, but different languages activate different cultural norms, tones, and even emotional registers. For example, in one language you might be more direct, while in another you might be more polite or playful. Your voice changes, your humor changes, even your body language can shift.

It's not like you're faking it though. You're just tapping into different versions of you. Different languages also express reality in different ways. So it makes sense that there would be a slight shift or a change in how you express your reality, and that of course means that people, including yourself, will perceive you differently.

I feel like a lot of you have heard me speak fully in Spanish before in my other podcasts, and I'd actually be really curious to know how your perception of me changes. Actually, write it in the Spotify comments. Feel free to say negative stuff too. I'm genuinely curious. I think this is all so interesting. Sorry if I lost some of you, but I think this is something that I think about a lot. Okay, back to it. So there was another study, this time taking heritage Spanish language learners.

So people who grew up with Spanish-speaking parents but in a different country, who know some Spanish but not nearly as much as their parents. Think of maybe a Latin American family who moved to the US and had kids, and they're very much like American English speaking kids with maybe a low intermediate level of Spanish.

So this study by Luis Miguel dos Santos, which again was conducted on heritage Spanish language learners, revealed that learners' social identities significantly influence their motivation to learn a language. The research indicated that learners often align their language proficiency with their social group identities, claiming an intermediate level allows learners to feel competent without overstepping perceived social boundaries, thus maintaining harmony within their social circles.

Basically, people often say they're intermediate when it comes to English because it feels socially safe. If you say you're too advanced, it might come off as showing off. You'll feel more judged and more closely examined if you don't meet these high expectations. So it's like anxiety of being overscrutinized. In contrast, if you say you're a beginner, you might feel embarrassed. Like you're not good enough. Nobody wants to feel that way. But intermediate, that's the sweet spot, right?

You sound competent without making anyone, including yourself, feel uncomfortable. It keeps things equal and chill in your social circle. I think that's interesting, right? So safe feels good. I sense a pattern. And that's the perfect segue to get into this next part. So we've established why we think of ourselves as intermediate most of the time. Safety. And real quick, I'm fascinated by how much we're wired for safety.

The more I learn about human psychology and not just like language learning, but body language and confidence and public speaking, whatever, the more I realize how much we're fighting this like evolutionary trait that we all have to feel safe.

You don't use your English as much as you could because you don't take advantage of the opportunities that present themselves, because you've for some reason decided that your English isn't good enough, so you're scared to open yourself up to even the smallest dose of ridicule, whether it be supplied by friends, colleagues, or even strangers. I think this need for safety isn't serving us as much anymore in today's world, but we still have it in there because we're all human.

But I understand that it's not as easy as just deciding we're not gonna be embarrassed or scared anymore. So in the meantime, mientras tanto, in the meantime, let's use this need for safety to our advantage. Let's talk about how to break yourself out of this intermediate funk you might be in mentally. There's been a ton of research done regarding the idea of safe spaces in second language learning. Now, some of you heard me say safe space just then and just shut down, but hear me out.

It's much harder to speak English in front of a group of friends who never hears you speak English than it is in a private class with an English teacher, right? It's easier to speak to a random person when you're drunk on holiday than it is to defend an idea on a Zoom call with clients. It's because you don't feel judged. Research has shown that emotional safety enhances participation, right?

When learners feel emotionally secure, they're more likely to take risks, make mistakes, and engage actively in language learning. A study published in FlowSpeak emphasizes that emotionally safe environments encourage students to express themselves, collaborate, and build meaningful connections, which are crucial for language development. So the best thing you can do is find places to practice where you're comfortable.

Yeah, I know it's easier said than done, but you can join a conversation club or a language exchange. I'm sure there are some in your area. You can try doing that shadowing thing I was talking about in the TV episode. So walking around your house doing that shadowing thing like a crazy person, but which works. You can talk to friends on the phone. Maybe you have a friend that also wants to practice, and you can set aside 10 minutes a week to talk to this person on the phone in English.

Maybe it's super awkward at first, but you'll quickly get used to it. I don't know. Find your version of this safe space. You know yourself best. Maybe it's talking to Chat GPT during the day. I don't know. I was doing that the other day to learn about editing, and that might actually be good advice. Try it out and let me know. I just wanted to share a quick thought. I feel like we get really demoralized when we're not improving as fast as we want to or as fast as we did when we started.

But the reality is that learning slows down the more you know. It's like when you start going to the gym and you start to see a lot of progress because you hadn't been lifting weights before, and maybe you gain a good amount of muscle or lose weight or whatever the case may be. And then after six months, it's harder. It takes more time to put on that same amount of muscle, and it takes more time to lose the weight, and you kind of plateau, right? You're kind of stuck. That's just what happens.

Newbie gains, they're called in gym culture. It's drastic and it's impressive and good for your confidence and momentum, but it gives you a false sense of reality because real progress after that takes much more time and dedication. But you should see this as being on the right track. That stuck at intermediate feeling is completely normal and it shouldn't deter you from working at it. It's a sign that you're moving in the right direction.

All right, lastly, I wanted to talk quickly about imposter syndrome when you're learning a language. And I'll make it quick. I feel like some of you are calling yourselves intermediate and not advanced because you maybe make some small grammatical mistakes here and there. Your accent isn't that of a native speaker, you don't understand a hundred percent of everything, and that that's the trap. That's it. You're probably advanced and you should feel like you are.

I think we see advanced as this exclusive club with a line outside that goes around the block and they probably won't let you in. I think we keep moving the line for what advanced is as we keep learning, right? Those goalposts just keep shifting and getting further away in our heads, and instead of feeling like we're getting there or that we've already arrived, they just keep getting further and further because you decided you're intermediate. So, final thoughts and takeaways from this episode.

I'm just gonna go through them, and if some of these help, great. So don't confuse fluency with perfection. Advanced does not mean flawless. Comfort with mistakes is funnily enough a sign of fluency. So, you know, relax. Don't downplay your abilities for fear of being judged. Stop moving the bar for what an advanced speaker is, and the intermediate plateau is a sign that you're headed in the right direction. Quick vocabulary check before we go. Only three words today.

So let's start with the one you just heard. To downplay, tolo junto, down and play. I said, don't downplay your abilities for fear of being judged. So to downplay means to make something less important than it actually is. Restar l'importancia algo. Next up, the phrasal verb to tie in, tie de atar. The sentence was something I also find interesting about this is that it ties in with something I've recently looked into.

To tie in means to fit, so to tie in means to fit, engajar, or harmonize with something. It's kind of like saying that's something balirado algo or que tiene que ver con algo. And lastly, we have to be at play. At play. The sentence was, I want to know what factors are at play to make you come to this conclusion. So if something is at play, it is in action, it is influencing something. You get it. Alright, that's it for this episode of English with Dane. I really liked this one.

I don't know about you. If you made it to the end of this episode, you must have liked it at least a little bit. And if you liked it, I'm sure that someone else you know would like it, so send it to them. I feel like a lot of people are stuck and like stranded on that intermediate island. So hopefully this episode gave you some relief and maybe a new perspective. Let me know your thoughts in the comments, and don't forget to tell me if I feel different in English and in Spanish.

So follow the show and all of that. Love you, thanks for listening, etc. Alright, later.