Steve Kaufmann's 5 Secrets to English Fluency: What I Wish I Knew 60 Years Ago
Steve Kaufmann speaks over 20 languages. After more than 60 years of language learning, he recently shared five things he wishes he’d known from the very beginning—insights that challenge almost everything traditional schools teach about fluency.
I came across his video recently, and what struck me most wasn’t just the advice itself, but how closely it matched what I see working in my own lessons here in Fujieda. The students who make real progress aren’t the ones grinding through grammar tables. They’re the ones who’ve figured out—often without realizing it—the same principles Kaufmann describes.
Below, I’ll walk through each of his five points and add my own observations from teaching in Japan. What becomes clear is that fluency doesn’t come from what most people think of as “studying harder”. It comes from doing almost the opposite.
1. Stop Believing It Is Difficult
The biggest barrier to your fluency isn’t vocabulary or pronunciation—it’s your own anxiety.
Traditional school education builds obstacles: tests, red pens, strict grammar rules, and the constant fear of giving the “wrong answer.” This approach destroys confidence systematically, and when you believe English is impossibly hard, your brain essentially shuts down. You stop taking risks. You stop speaking. Learning grinds to a halt.
The strange sounds and grammar patterns of English will become familiar in time—that’s simply how the brain works when given enough exposure. You don’t need to force this process. Relax, be patient with yourself, and trust that you can learn. Confidence accelerates everything.
2. Embrace Repetition
Many textbooks jump too quickly from topic to topic. Monday you’re at the airport, Wednesday you’re at the doctor’s office, Friday you’re ordering at a restaurant. This approach feels productive, but it actually works against how your brain builds lasting connections.
To create strong neural pathways, you need massive repetition—especially at the beginning:
- Don’t just listen once. Kaufmann suggests listening to the same short content dozens of times.
- Combine reading and listening. Follow the text while you listen.
- Cycle back. After finishing a unit, return to it a week later.
You aren’t trying to memorize anything. You’re exposing your brain to patterns until they feel normal, until correct English begins to “sound right” without conscious analysis. This is the foundation that deep consolidation builds upon.
3. Forget the Grammar Rules
This advice is the hardest for my students to accept, but it may be the most important: stop obsessing over grammar tables.
In school, you probably spent hours memorizing verb conjugations and worrying about prepositions. You can likely recite rules about tenses and articles. But knowing a rule intellectually doesn’t mean you can use it in conversation—not when someone is standing in front of you, waiting for your response.
Exposure works better than memorization. If you listen and read enough real English, the grammar will eventually “sound right” naturally. You’ll feel when something is wrong before you can explain why. This intuitive sense is what fluent speakers actually use; they don’t parse grammar rules while talking.
If you review a grammar point and forget it the next day, that’s fine. Keep listening to authentic English. The patterns will sink in through repetition, not through conscious study of rules. This is why traditional studying often fails—it treats language like a subject to memorize rather than a skill to develop.
4. Be an Explorer, Not a Student
Once you move past the beginner stage, you must take responsibility for your own learning. You cannot rely only on a textbook.
To make real progress, you need to find content that genuinely interests you. Don’t read boring textbook dialogues about fictional people in fictional situations. Instead, find YouTube videos about topics you actually care about. Listen to podcasts on subjects that fascinate you. Read articles or books about your hobbies, your work, or current events.
When you care about the content itself, you forget you’re studying a language. That’s when real acquisition happens. Your brain processes English as a tool for accessing interesting information rather than as a subject to be tested on. Building a sustainable learning system matters more than any single study technique.
5. Be Like “Tank the Dog”
When should you start speaking? Only when you’re ready—and that timing varies for everyone.
Input drives output. If you listen enough, your speaking will naturally improve over time. You don’t need to force yourself to produce English on day one. But when you do feel ready to speak, you must change your mindset completely.
Kaufmann tells a story about his dog, Tank. Tank would chase squirrels through thorny bushes. He’d emerge scratched and bleeding, but he didn’t care—he just wanted to catch the squirrel. Nothing could stop him.
Be like Tank.
Don’t worry about mistakes. Don’t obsess over corrections. Don’t fear looking foolish. Just communicate. Get your message across. The scratches and stumbles are part of the process, not signs of failure. Every fluent speaker went through this stage; the ones who made it through were the ones who kept chasing despite the thorns.
What This Means for Your Learning
The message for all current and future students is simple: relax.
Your path to fluency shouldn’t involve stress, test anxiety, or the pursuit of perfect grammar. It should involve repeated listening, genuinely interesting content, and the confidence to speak without fear. These aren’t just nice ideas—they’re how language acquisition actually works in the brain.
At Starfish English, I focus on this input-first approach. If you’re ready to stop studying like a test-taker and start learning like a future speaker, let’s get started.
Want to experience a different approach to English learning?
I’ll design lessons around your interests and current level—because the best learning happens when you’re genuinely engaged with the content.