Learning a new language has made me realize I'm still learning my native one

English has so many words that I have encountered probably hundreds of times and never looked up. I just skip past them or use context to understand.

What the fuck is a cantilever? What is a yeoman? And why do people insist on bringing in Frnch words like rapprochement?

So if I’m still learning English, despite decades of practice… then I shouldn’t be embarrassed about learning a language that I just encountered a couple years ago.

I felt relieved to realize that no one 100% masters a language. You just reach a point where some % of mastery is enough for what you need to do. So I don’t need to worry about being fluent, if that even has a precise meaning. Every little improvement helps.