How I Started to Speak English
Many people ask me why I write so much about learning English. The answer is simple: It took me a very long time to finally speak English confidently. In this story, I share how I kept trying again and again-how I eventually found a place where I truly dared to use the language every day.
Today, English fills a huge part of my life. I learn not only music theory, practice guitar and piano but also I build my website, read, and even scroll Facebook. Of course — all in English. I often joke that my cat is the only one I don’t speak English to!
My Early Attempts
As a teenager, I loved studying English. I started in high school with a wonderful Hungarian English teacher. She never spoke Hungarian in class. I definitely learned a lot from her. Unfortunately, she left after a year. No one with the same passion replaced her.
At that time, of course, there were no apps or internet.
I bought cassette tapes with songs and stories. It was fun entertainment. But looking back, I realize I never managed to form a single proper sentence by myself.
Schools, Textbooks, Courses
Later, I enrolled in language schools. There were textbooks, workbooks…again the same thing happened. After a few months, I reached a level, then lost motivation. Speaking practice always came last, while vocabulary and grammar came first.
At the university, I studied medical English too, because of my job. It helped my medical vocabulary but didn’t improve my everyday speaking at all.
When Apps Arrived
The internet and smartphones changed everything a little . First came Duolingo. I never knew my real level, so I started from Basic. I repeated funny sentences about monsters and queens, but still couldn’t hold a real conversation. After two years, I stopped. Later I started again. Nowadays, I’ve been using it daily for 633 days. It’s fun and motivating. Honestly, the Duolingo alone didn’t make me speak.
I also tried Busuu for six months. I even got a B1 certificate. But I still couldn’t speak. Since it required payment, I didn’t continue.
Then came Synthiai.app. Its advantage is AI chat. I can “talk” to the bot freely. But back then, I didn’t dare to say a word aloud. I only typed. It was interesting for a while. Soon I noticed, it had no real memory. It kept asking the same questions as if it didn’t remember me. I rarely use it now.
EWA app was another experiment. It lets us read ebooks and listen to movie quotes. It’s good for listening practice if we watch movies often. However, I usually don’t. In fact, I have never heard these phrases in the Vig-Village.
Praktika app is perhaps the best for me. It’s speech-focused and gives you a logical daily lesson. It remembers what you did the previous day. The structure makes sense. Its only weakness. No real human partner-just the system.
Two years ago, I also tested Gyakorlatiasangol.hu, which covered travel topics. It started well but had too much Hungarian explanation. It slowed me down.
Then came Beszéljangolul.hu. A one-year course I bought fully. It used only English audio. I listened, repeated sentences. But they became longer and more complicated. I got tired. Something was still missing:real dialogue.
Turning Point — Mr. Vig and Vig-Village
Finally in January 2025, a totally new chance appeared. I found Mr. Vig’s advertisement by accident. Since then, I have been “living” in Vig-Village.
Here, every day from 7 AM to 11 PM I can talk to real people online. Native speakers guide small-group chats. They give topics, and 2–3 of us discuss them. Or we can just talk freely. Here, you must speak English!
At first, my voice was shaking. But nobody laughed at me. Nobody corrected me harshly. Instead, they encouraged me: “Just say something“. And I did. More and more. Braver and braver. Now, half a year later, I can say: I speak English. Not perfectly, but independently and with courage.
And One More Thing…
I still use some apps. Duolingo is now my daily fun warm-up. Praktika is my practice companion. But the real breakthrough came from speaking with real people about real things. If I could start over? I’d do exactly this — just much earlier. I’d find real people to speak with.
Music & English Combined
Almost forgot! About a month after I joined Vig-Village, I also started learning guitar. I bravely bought the GuitarTricks app — in English, of course — and an acustic guitar. But I had no music theory background. So I realized it might be easier to learn it with a piano keyboard. I got a foldable piano and found the Simple Piano app.
Then I discovered a complete music bundle — guitar, piano, and ear training in one — called Worship Music Academy.
Books
Every week, there’s a Bookworm chatroom too. We read books together. Right now, we’re reading Awaken the Giant Within by Anthony Robbins. This is a classic motivational book. It’s deep psychology-how to change your life, even by changing a single word. It was so hard for me that I even bought the Hungarian version! Now I translate some parts back into my “own” English.
After learning Anthony Robbins’ name, about a month ago I joined a three-day webinar with Dean Graziosi (Thrive in 2025). I wanted to test how much I could understand in real time. I think I understood about 70%. It was about launching a business. They offered a program with AI support. I didn’t plan to change my life completely. But I was happy I could follow most of it.
Website
Later, I got email offers for the paid program, which I didn’t buy. But then came a $1 offer for one month’s access. So now I’m in-listening to the lessons, learning more about AI tools… And now here I am: building my own bilingual website! All by myself, with the help of arteficial intelligence. Not just in English, but in Hungarian too.
