Seven Seconds of Silence

Seven seconds.

That's how long Nika stays silent.

Seven seconds might not sound like much, but when someone is standing in front of you, waiting for an answer, seven seconds can feel like forever.

The question was simple.

“So, what do you like doing in your free time?”

Nika knew exactly what she wanted to say.

She loved reading.

She enjoyed going to cafés.

She had recently started learning photography.

She had so many things to talk about.

But instead, she smiled nervously and said, “Umm… I watch movies.”

And that's it.

The conversation moved on.

Nobody laughed.

Nobody judged her.

But on her way home, Nika couldn't stop thinking about those seven seconds.

Because something didn't make sense.

She had been studying English for years.

So why couldn't she answer such a simple question?

This is RAVA Listen.

Good stories.

Better English.

Now, here is what makes Nika's story interesting.

She wasn't a beginner.

Not even close.

She watched English-language movies, listened to podcasts and followed international creators.

Her phone was full of English content.

Sometimes she'd watch an entire interview and understand almost everything.

She knew words like “overwhelmed”, “disappointed” and “misunderstanding”.

She understood jokes that were difficult to translate into Persian.

And when her friends asked her what an English sentence meant, she could usually explain it.

But there was one thing she avoided: speaking.

Not because she didn't want to.

She actually wanted to speak English more than anything.

She imagined herself traveling, meeting new people, making friends and having long conversations.

In those imaginary conversations, she sounded amazing: confident, funny, relaxed.

But in real life?

Well… “I watch movies.”

The strange thing was that Nika had spent so much time preparing to speak that she rarely actually spoke.

She collected vocabulary.

She watched videos about pronunciation.

She saved grammar lessons, expressions.

She even had a notebook titled “Useful English Expressions”.

It had 137 expressions in it.

And do you know how many she regularly used in conversations?

Almost none.

Let's go back to those seven seconds.

What was happening in Nika's mind?

The person had asked, “What do you like doing in your free time?”

Nika's first thought was, “I enjoy going to cafés.”

Then another thought appeared.

Wait, should I say “I enjoy going” or “I enjoy to go”?

Then another: maybe “I like visiting cafés” sounds better.

And another: what if my pronunciation sounds strange?

What if they ask me another question?

What if I don't understand?

All of that happened before she had even opened her mouth.

The conversation in her head was much longer than the conversation in real life.

And there is something almost funny about that.

Nika was trying so hard to avoid making a mistake that she barely said anything at all.

She wasn't really having a conversation.

She was taking an exam.

An exam nobody else knew about.

Here is the thing.

When we speak our first language, we don't usually plan every sentence.

We hesitate.

We change our minds.

We forget words.

Sometimes we start a sentence and have absolutely no idea how we're going to finish it.

And somehow, we keep talking.

But in a foreign language, we sometimes expect every sentence to be perfect.

We want the right grammar, the right pronunciation, the right vocabulary, and preferably all of that in less than two seconds.

That's quite a lot to ask from one brain, isn't it?

A few days later, Nika decided to try something different.

Not another course.

Not another vocabulary book.

Just something small.

She opened her phone and recorded a voice message.

Nobody was going to hear it.

The question was, “What was the best part of your day?”

She pressed record.

“Today was pretty good.”

“I went to…”

She stopped, deleted the recording and started again.

“Today was good because…”

She stopped again.

This time, she laughed.

She realized she was doing exactly the same thing: trying to sound perfect.

Even when nobody was listening.

So she made herself a rule: no deleting.

For thirty seconds, she would speak.

If she made a mistake, she would continue.

If she forgot a word, she would describe it using other words.

If she got stuck, she would take a second and keep going.

Her first recording was terrible.

At least, that's what she thought.

There were long pauses.

She repeated the same words.

She said “you know” about eleven times.

But she finished thirty seconds.

The next day, she tried again.

And the day after that.

Some days were easier than others.

Sometimes she still couldn't find the right words.

But something had changed.

She wasn't waiting for the perfect sentence anymore.

She was learning to work with the English she already had.

A week later, Nika met the same group of people again.

And yes, someone asked her another question.

This time it was, “So, what kind of places do you like visiting?”

For a moment, she felt the same familiar fear.

Her mind started searching for the perfect answer.

But then she remembered those thirty-second recordings.

She took a breath.

“To be honest, I really like quiet cafés.”

“I love sitting by the window, drinking coffee and reading something interesting.”

It wasn't perfect.

It wasn't a complicated sentence, and she spoke a little slowly.

But this time, she didn't stop.

The other person smiled.

“Oh, me too!”

“Do you know any good places around here?”

And just like that, they were having a conversation.

Not because Nika had suddenly learned a thousand new words.

Not because she'd mastered every grammar rule.

But because she had finally given herself permission to speak.

Now, don't get me wrong.

One week of practice didn't magically make Nika fluent.

She still made mistakes.

She still got nervous.

And there were still days when she couldn't find the words she needed.

But those seven seconds?

They didn't control every conversation anymore.

So, here is what I'd like you to try.

Remember the question Nika couldn't answer?

“What do you like doing in your free time?”

I'm going to ask you the same question.

And this time, I don't want you to prepare a perfect answer, just to speak.

You can start with, “To be honest, I really enjoy…” and then continue.

Talk about a hobby, a place you love, something you do every weekend… anything.

Give yourself thirty seconds, and don't worry if you make a mistake.

You know, sometimes we think we need more knowledge before we can do something.

One more book.

One more lesson.

One more tutorial.

And sometimes, we really do need those things.

But sometimes, what we need is a little more practice using what we already know.

Because knowing what to say and actually saying it aren't always the same thing.

And maybe the next time someone asks you a simple question in English, you won't need seven seconds of silence.

I'm Amir Ahmadgoli, and this was RAVA Listen.

Good stories.

Better English.