— Now, how I regret so much to have said this when I was young. —

At the same time, my parents had always the preoccupation: How can Tim learn English? To help me they paid for many courses with different private teachers. I was so lucky to have this, because, honestly, it’s really expensive.I didn’t want these courses because I was so young and I didn’t see it as an opportunity, but as a punishment.

A few months ago, I was feeling so sorry and so foolish when they told me the price they had spent on me — Mom and Dad forgive me. —

In High school, I was lucky to have the opportunity to visit London for three days with my school friends. It was so great and it’s a beautiful city, but it was a big slap because I didn’t succeed in speaking with two English boys in an English Pub.

When I came back to France, I was motivated to progress seriously in English, though after few weeks my good intention left and I said “I will be better when I will live in Hong Kong”.

I learned many words with Duolingo because I wanted to travel around the world but it was not enough to become fluent

After few years, I had a dream to travel around the world to see beautiful places that I saw in movies, pictures, and documentaries, but how can I visit and travel around the world if nobody understands me?

I signed up for Duolingo and since then I practice my English everyday with this intuitive mobile app, but my experience showed it’s not enough to become fluent.

I launched a Business and I spent more than €3 500 in English lessons and correction.

With my business partner, we were Student Entrepreneurs. We are high tech fans. Our dream was to create an object and we wanted to sell it in the international market, but we already didn’t resolve our best problem; to be great in English enough to sell, speak, explain, and pitch our project in English.

In August of 2015 my partner and I had decided to have intensive English courses with an American teacher. During that month, each morning we had 4 hours of courses. It was a great decision for our business and our life because it was necessary. This decision costed us 2 000 € (~ $2 100).

When we had launched our product we had decided to showed our product on Kickstarter. After our intensive month we had bettered our English, but not yet enough to write all our campaign alone. Because we needed descriptions, videos, infographics, press, social networks, all communication was in English. We always had some mistakes that were not acceptable when you have a business. We had to spend another ~ €1 500 (~$1 600) to help us with the writing.

If I had learned English seriously when I was school and had private teachers, I wouldn’t have spent more than €3 500 (~$3 700) to create our English Campaign and I could have visited Asia with this money.

I visited Barcelona in Spain but I didn’t succeed in integrated English conversation with expatriates.

This summer I invited my girlfriend to go to Barcelona in Spain because we needed sun and beautiful weather ;)

I loved this city but one night I didn’t succeed in integrated English conversation with expatriates when we were waiting on the bus for two reasons:

• First, because my English speaking and listening wasn’t fluent
• Second, they didn’t want to spend time to explain to me the language and its subtleties.

I was persuaded after having learned with Duolingo, a private teacher, and having watched many movies and series fully in English. I thought I was fluent in English but the reality is I was not at all and my holiday in Barcelona showed me the reality.

I’m improving my English because I’m speaking with the Don’t Need To Travel community everyday.

• So, how can I become fluent in English?

The answer is really simple; I need to practice what I have learned with other people.

• How can I practice the English I learned with Duolingo?

I need to find serious language partners with whom I will speak and write in English everyday and everywhere.

• How can I find serious language partners ?

In the great community where people have the same objective as me.

• How can I find a real community who wants to improve their English together?

It’s simple, I didn’t find it. With many people we have created Don’t Need To Travel: the serious community. We don’t need to travel to improve and become fluent in English.

NB : Special thanks to Leah Naylor for your corrections and your help. She can’t wait to speak with you

How joining a community helped me to become fluent in English. was originally published in Don’t Need To Travel on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.