Fluency Fades Fast... Unless You Do This

Have you ever felt like your brain just deleted everything you worked so hard to learn?

After quite a few months back in England, I felt confident. My Spanish was fine, right? I had studied it for years, lived in Mexico, and reached a good level.

Then, I landed in Mexico City.

I opened my mouth to speak… and nothing. I mean, I could say words, but they didn’t come out naturally. The pauses were long. I hesitated. I couldn’t find the words I knew I once had.

Well, that’s weird! I was living here and everything started to feel easy. I was joking with the Uber drivers, having long conversations with my Spanish teacher and using the language effortlessly. I wasn’t translating in my head. I wasn’t overthinking my sentences. I was just speaking.

But being back in Mexico, I thought I understood everything… until I didn’t.

Before we dive in, let me quickly introduce Beyond English Fluency.

This isn’t just about learning English. It’s about mastering the skills that high-performing professionals need to communicate with confidence, clarity, and impact.

I help ambitious professionals stop overthinking, start speaking with authority, and use English as a tool to thrive in their careers. Because fluency isn’t just about words. It’s about being heard, understood, and respected in global business.

The First Sign I Was in Trouble

Somewhere over Mexico, a flight attendant came down the aisle, handing out drinks. She smiled and asked me in Spanish what I’d like to drink.

I smiled back, ready to reply. I had plenty of time to decide as she was attending to the other passengers. I was thinking I’d like some apple juice.

But wait…

I froze.

I wanted apple juice. Apple juice. The most basic drink in the world.

But my brain completely blanked. I could see the word in my head. I knew I knew it. But it just wouldn’t come out. I even remembered the word in German (which is funny because I haven’t studied German since I was a kid).

All I could think to ask for was Manzanita, which is a brand of apple juice but it’s a fizzy drink, not the still juice I wanted.

The flight attendant gave me a polite but slightly amused nod. ‘Jugo de manzana?’

YES! That’s it!

I laughed, nodded, and took the drink, but inside, I was mortified.

I had literally been speaking Spanish fluently before I left. And now I was struggling to remember basic words?

Okay, I told myself. It’s just one little slip-up. Nothing to worry about. But deep down, I already knew.

This wasn’t just about apple juice.

And I was right.

The Moment I Knew Something Was Wrong

A week later I was in a café, trying to order something simple. The waitress asked me a question. I nodded confidently. ‘Sí, sí, claro.’

A minute later, she came back with something completely different from what I expected. I had no idea what I had just agreed to.

This kept happening.

I’d respond quickly, thinking I understood, but then I’d realise I missed a key word or misinterpreted the whole thing.

My Spanish hadn’t disappeared, but it was rusty. My brain felt like a dusty storage room full of words I couldn’t reach.

I knew what was happening. It wasn’t the first time this had happened to me. And it wasn’t just me.

I have heard this same story from so many English learners in my community. People who studied for years, took courses, even worked in English-speaking environments, only to feel like their fluency vanished after a break.

They tell me:

"I used to be so confident in English, but now I hesitate all the time.”

"I feel like I lost all my vocabulary.”

"I go blank when I try to speak. It’s like my brain refuses to work.”

I get it.

Because I’ve been there.

And I spent a lot of time and money trying to figure out why this happens.

That’s why I studied Applied linguistics and earned my Master’s degree from The University of Oxford.

And that’s when I discovered something that changed the way I think about fluency forever.

Why Fluency Fades: The Science of Language Attrition

There’s a name for this phenomenon.

It’s called language attrition, and it happens when your brain starts to ‘prune’ a language you don’t use regularly. Your brain is efficient. It constantly evaluates what information is important and what can be stored away.

If you go long enough without speaking a language, your brain labels it as “not needed” and starts pushing it into the background.

You don’t lose the language completely. It’s still there. But it’s harder to access.

And here’s the part that shocked me when I first learned about it:

There is no exact level where this stops happening.

Many linguists suggest that if you haven’t reached a high enough level of fluency, your brain will deprioritise the language over time.

For some people, this happens at a B2 or upper intermediate level. Others need to reach C1 or C2 (advanced) before their second language becomes “stable” enough to resist attrition.

But even at advanced levels, fluency can still fade if it’s not actively used.

What This Means for English Learners

If you’ve ever struggled to remember words you know you’ve learned before…

If you’ve ever felt confident speaking English, only to go blank after a long break…

If you’ve ever thought, "Why does my English feel so unnatural now?”

It’s not because you’re bad at languages.

It’s not because you didn’t study enough.

It’s because your brain is doing what it’s designed to do. Prioritising the language you use the most.

And the good news?

There’s a way to wake it up again.

The Trick That Brought My Spanish Back

I could have jumped back into courses. I could have crammed vocabulary lists or forced myself through hours of listening practice.

But instead, I did something much simpler.

I talked to myself in Spanish.

All day, in small moments.

While making coffee: "Hoy tengo que responder algunos emails… espera, ?cómo se dice ‘deadline’ otra vez?”

On the way to the store: "Ok, ?qué necesito? Ah sí, pan, aguacate, huevos…”

In the mirror: "A ver, cómo explicaría mi trabajo si alguien me preguntara?”

At first, it felt weird. But within days, my fluency snapped back.

The hesitation disappeared. The words flowed again.

I know it seems strange. The first time I did this I remember thinking ‘I’m not sure if this is really going to work. I mean, could something this simple really bring my Spanish back?'

But within days, something shifted.

I noticed it one morning while making coffee. I wasn’t hesitating anymore. The words were coming faster. I wasn’t searching for how to say something. I was just saying it.

The real test came when I was out and about. I walked into a shop, asked a question, and the words flowed so naturally that I barely noticed.

And then it hit me.

I had stopped thinking about Spanish and was just speaking.

I remember laughing to myself, thinking, Wait… did that just happen? Did I actually say all of that without pausing?

By the time I was leaving Mexico, my Spanish was fully back.

I turned to my boyfriend, shaking my head in disbelief.

"It’s so funny. Now that I’m leaving, my Spanish is finally back!”

I felt weightless, like I had unlocked something that had been hiding in my brain the whole time.

I was on cloud nine.

The frustration I had felt just weeks earlier, the hesitation, the blank moments, the feeling of my Spanish slipping away… was gone.

Instead, I felt powerful. I felt like myself again.

Because fluency isn’t just about knowing words. It’s about feeling at home in a language. It’s about being able to express yourself freely, without overthinking every little word.

And that’s when I knew I had cracked the code on how to bring fluency back fast.

And the best part?

I could teach my English learners how to do the same.

How to Stop Language Attrition in English

Studies on active recall show that retrieving words without external help strengthens your ability to access them.

The more you force yourself to recall words, the stronger those neural pathways become.

Psychologists also talk about inner speech. That’s the little voice in your head that helps you think in a language. The more you talk to yourself, the more your brain stays activated in that language.

This is exactly why many learners struggle with fluency. They focus on input (reading, listening) but not output (actually speaking).

That’s why I created The Fluent English Toolkit.

It’s not just another course or guide. It’s designed to help you train your brain to recall, speak, and think in English, so fluency becomes effortless.

If you want to stop hesitating and start speaking naturally, you’ll love The Fluent English Toolkit.

The best part? It’s completely free.

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If you’re ready to reactivate your fluency and stop hesitating when you speak, get your free access to The Fluent English Toolkit today.

This toolkit will help you:

? Think in English instead of translating

? Find the right words faster in conversations

? Speak with confidence, without overthinking

Let’s make 2025 the year you stop second guessing yourself and start speaking with confidence.

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