대니얼의 영어 편지는 KoreanEnglish.org를 통해 매주 금요일에 발송됩니다. 쉬운 영어로 시작해 자연스럽게 우리말로 연결되기 때문에 영어를 배우는 분이라면 누구나 부담없이 흥미롭게 읽으실 수 있습니다.

Hey, Life Explorers!
I’m so pumped to deliver my message to you today!

I’ve asked my family and friends, “What are your wishes for this year?” “Do you have any New Year’s resolutions?”

“You don’t have any? Think about it for a moment. Just give yourself a direction to live a better year. Without any direction, you’re most likely to be influenced by others, which may lead you to an unfulfilled life in 2019.”

A little hesitantly, they tried to come up with their wishes or resolutions.

“I will lose 5 kg.”

“My wish is just that my family are all healthy throughout this year.”

However, no one around me wants to learn English up to the level I’d like to recommend.

Acquiring English fluency is one of the most valuable things we can achieve for sure. But in reality, it’s not for everyone, because you have to give up on other things that you might think are more valuable.

I’d say, “If you’re to quit before you reach your goal in learning English, it would be smarter not to start the journey in the first place. It’s because it leaves nothing more than just a few words or expressions in your brain that you wouldn’t know when to use.”

Let’s look a little on the bright side. “If you know the benefits of becoming a fluent English speaker and want to be one, you have to try hard to make it, no matter what obstacles get in the way.”

It’s often said that we can learn some things from our failures. But what can we learn from giving up on learning English? Almost nothing but the fact that learning English isn’t as easy as some people say.

Now, here comes one of my favorite English words, “Once”.

“If you think learning English is out of your league, it’s totally fine and you’re just good to go for whatever else you want to achieve. But once you make up your mind to invest your time and energy in learning English, you have to push yourself hard and persistently so you can see remarkable results down the road.”

Learning with lack of passion and commitment results in the average outcome called “Mediocre fluency.”

It’s different from the level “Intermediate” that you may be on or may have been on before. “Intermediate” is one stage we’re supposed to go through to get to the advanced level. “Mediocre fluency” is just perpetuating the condition where you hardly feel progress.

So remember, “Once” you’re on it, you’re on it.

Don’t look back, don’t ever think about quitting, don’t ever assume you’re going through an easy path that everyone could easily pass through.

새로운 길에 도전하고 발전을 위해 다짐하는 것은 우리 인간만이 할 수 있는 일입니다. 하지만 그런 도전에는 ‘처절함’이 필요합니다. 일단(Once), 하기로 마음 먹었다면 제대로 칼을 갈아 바위를 부수는 투지!

2019년의 시작, 밖으로는 큰 희망과 함께 안으로는 맹수 같은 투지를 간직하며 꼭 눈에 띄는 성과를 만드는 한 해가 되시길 바랍니다.