I used to work for a boss who returned from a trip out of the country and told me what he sort of learned in Spanish: “A beer, Miss.” Una cerveza, señorita. I repeated the sentence with Spanish pronunciation, and he said, “Oh, you’re just being technical.”

He wasn’t interested in saying even one sentence right. People who want to be fluent in a language usually want to sound like they’re speaking the actual language instead of a distant imitation of it. If you feel that fluency comes with difficulty, it’s because so much has to happen in the brain to get those words rolling out.

I tell students to be patient with themselves for at least three reasons when they are working toward fluency:

1. Fluent speakers have their mouths two or three syllables ahead of what they say at the moment. It takes time to rewire your head to process another language that way, but you most definitely, without question, certainly, no doubt can. If you will be patient.

2. Fluent speakers have learned to think in ways that a given language requires. They don’t put a new language into all the old patterns. Be patient with yourself while you rewire your brain to think new ways.

3. Fluent speakers master small amounts of vocabulary at a time. They may pound their head with more, but they master a small amount at a time, using it in daily life.

Language learning is not easy or fast or always fun, but it’s always good.