I see this often among Spanish-speaking professionals listening to English: they want to understand everything.
Not just the main message, but the same level of detail they believe they would catch in Spanish.
Recently, a CEO told me:
“I’m thinking that perhaps I don’t even catch every detail in Spanish, but in English I become obsessed with doing so.”
Exactly. That realisation is key. That is where something changes.
Communication doesn’t depend on catching every single detail. Not even in our native language.
When we listen, we constantly interpret, infer and fill in gaps. Our brains don’t process every piece of information with the same level of attention. We use context, expectations, experience and what we have already heard to make sense of what comes next.
Most of the time, we don’t even notice we’re doing it. In our native language, this feels natural.
In English, however, we can suddenly become much more conscious of what we might be missing.
- Was that the exact word?
- Did I understand that sentence correctly?
- Did I miss something?
- What if there was an important detail?
The more we monitor our understanding, the more attention we take away from the conversation itself. And this can create a strange situation:
You may actually understand enough to follow the conversation, but still feel that you are not understanding enough.
Once you become aware of this, your relationship with English can change.
You don’t stop listening carefully. You allow context to do some of the work. You allow yourself to miss a detail without immediately treating it as a problem.
And then listening becomes more natural. You feel more “inside” the conversation rather than standing outside it, constantly checking whether you have understood everything.
Sometimes, part of becoming more comfortable in English is not learning more. It’s giving yourself permission to understand differently.
Do you need help communicating clearly in English?
I help senior professionals who want to communicate with greater clarity and confidence in English.