Why Spanish Professionals Think Their English Is Worse Than It Is

The Woman at the Pool

It was my second summer in Spain, and my Spanish at the time was, shall we say, un poco básico!

I was at our communal pool, deep in conversation with a neighbour I’d spoken to many times over the past couple of years. Not massively deep and meaningful stuff, just idle chitchat and polite exchanges to pass the time. Where I’m from, it’s called ‘small talk’, whereas in Spain, they call it ‘conversación del ascensor,’ regardless of whether you’re in a lift or not.

Anyway, this was different.

We were talking about parenting, which I care deeply about, so I was doing my absolute best to find the words I needed to get my point across and be understood.

Then it happened.

I was mid-search for a particular phrase (you know that feeling, when it’s right there on the tip of your tongue but your brain refuses to cooperate) when suddenly, she started speaking English.

She suggested the exact words I was looking for.

In absolutely flawless English!

I couldn’t believe it.

Looking back, I think I was part amazed and part angry. Amazed at how good her English was. And angry at the fact that she’d never once mentioned she could speak it.

There I'd been for the past two years, crossing paths with this woman at the butchers, the playground, and yes, even in the lift - flailing around like an upturned beetle, trying my best in pigeon Spanish. Yet she could have bailed me out in English all along.

¡Qué rabia! As we say in Spain.

When I said, “Thanks so much, your English is really good,” she immediately replied with something I would hear often during my time living here:

“No, it isn’t. My English is terrible. Sorry about my accent, sorry for my mistakes. I can’t speak English well at all.”

Then she went on to have a full-blown conversation with me. In English!

And really good English at that.

I remember saying to her, “If my Spanish was as good as your English, I’d be thrilled.”

But she didn’t agree. She just couldn’t see it.

Her self-perception of her English communication skills was brutally negative. She was blind to what anyone listening could clearly recognise: she spoke fluently, confidently, and with hardly any mistakes.

Peeling Back the Layers

I knew exactly what she meant because I felt the same about my Spanish. I had a complex about my accent. I hated the face of confusion I was met with whenever I mispronounced a word or got the verb conjugation wrong, which, if I’m honest, was pretty much all the time.

But then, slowly, I came to realise something: it wasn’t all down to the way I spoke Spanish.

There were so many more factors and variables involved in the communication process. At the core of them was how I felt when I was speaking. What I was saying to myself on the inside. The voice that decided whether I was brave enough to try, or whether I'd stay silent and let the moment pass.

Deep beneath the surface of my ability to roll my r’s when I said ‘perro’, was my internal voice telling me about how well (or not) I could speak this language? And that’s when my journey of self-discovery truly began.

It started with taking a long, hard look at where the roots of my fears came from.

Why was I so afraid of making mistakes when I spoke Spanish?

Why did I believe the looks of doubt on people’s faces meant they thought I was stupid?

Why did I even care?

What was it about my opinion of myself and my abilities that was getting in the way of me jumping in the pool of this language and making any real progress?

After a lot of soul searching, self-reflection, and a sh*t load of euros spent on well-meaning therapists, I eventually worked out where all this fear and self-doubt was really coming from. And in doing so I slowly started to feel free, liberated from the self-perpetuating frustration that often comes with trying to gain confidence in another language later in life.

Once I’d found the answers for myself, I knew I could help others overcome the same challenges I had faced.

These struggles weren’t unique to me. The woman at the pool was proof of that.

So Here's What I Do Differently

And therein lies the truth that no standard English course ever tells you: it’s as much about how you feel when you speak as it is about the technicalities of the language itself.

Of course, grammar and accuracy are fundamental to building language skills, but if you can’t get past the high, debilitating standard of only speaking when your language production is PERFECT, you’ll never say a word.

That's why my work focuses on the gap between knowing English and speaking it. Grammar matters, absolutely. But without the confidence, mindset, and self-expression to back it up, technical knowledge stays locked inside. My job is to help people bridge that gap.

And that’s how I help my clients take the advanced English skills they already have and transform them into a fluid, usable toolkit for self-expression, strong leadership, and authentic connection.

I guide them to embrace the truth that ‘lo importante es comunicarse’ and ‘tú puedes’.

And I can honestly say that my approach has changed my life as a Spanish speaker, language coach, father, husband, friend, salsa dancer, cat owner, and podcaster. And it's helped countless Spanish professionals break free from the prison of perfection that has held them back for years.

- Richard