DEWJ17 - Why "I need native speakers to practise my English!!" is just stupid and irritating

Why "I need natives speakers to practise my English!" is just stupid and irritating
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I'll be honest.
Today's podcast might be offensive.
One of the really common challenges was “I don’t have any native speakers to speak to.”

 
Now, I’m going to be honest.
 
I don’t get this.
 
I really don’t.
 
People who answered this - do you REALLY believe that’s a problem? Or is it just an excuse?
 
I guess this attitude comes from advertising.
 
Japan’s full of this shit.
 
“You’ve learned grammar - now just chat with a native to make you fluent!!”
 
Riiiiight.
 
Because what you REALLY need to master English is some spotty westerner who is paid minimum wage to sit pretending not to be board while asking “what did you do last weekend?”
 
If you didn’t know that these “teachers” have no qualifications, or idea how to teach, you do now. And yes, schools do lie about how qualified teachers are and how much training they have. The place I worked at said I had a degree in TEFL (I had a degree in oil painting).
 
The idea that you can’t learn English because you don’t have natives to speak English to…
 
… is frankly ridiculous.
 
It’s so stupid that even Mr. Bean doesn’t believe it.
 
I’m learning Chinese.
 
Guess how many Chinese people I talk to in Chinese?
 
Go on, guess?
 
I’ll wait.
 
If you said ZERO, well, you’re a good guesser.
 
Now, don’t get me wrong.
 
Generally speaking I don’t want to work with people who never use English. Doing English, is, after all, primarily for people who live in English speaking countries and/or use English in their daily lives (whether business, or for personal growth).
 
But none, and I mean NONE of the super successful English learners I’ve know have needed to rely on native speakers.
 
And anyway, nobody likes being used for language practice.
 
In this podcast I'll tell you about some of the experiences I've had where people have tired to use me for English practise.
 
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