My English was good on paper but I froze every time I had to speak at work
I work at a company where most meetings are in English. My reading and writing are fine, I can write emails, understand documents, no problem. But the moment I had to speak in a meeting my mind would just go blank. I'd know exactly what I wanted to say in my head but the words wouldn't come out right. I'd either stay silent or say something so broken that I'd feel embarrassed for the rest of the day.
The problem was I had never actually practiced speaking. All my English learning was through textbooks, grammar exercises and watching shows with subtitles. I was consuming English but never producing it.
A few months ago I started using Issen which lets you have real conversations in English and corrects your mistakes in real time. No judgment, no pressure, just talking. I used it every day for about 15 minutes before work.
The difference it made was not instant but after a few weeks I noticed:
• I stopped freezing mid sentence as much • I started thinking in English instead of translating • I became more comfortable with making mistakes because I was used to being corrected • I actually spoke up in two meetings last week
If you are in the same situation I was, the gap is almost always speaking practice. Not more grammar, not more vocabulary. Just actually talking out loud every single day.