When I was in school, I remember standing in front of the class, reading a passage in English. My voice shook, my tongue slipped, and I said, "He don't like cricket." My class laughed and I felt extremely embarrassed. However, as I saw my teacher, she just smiled and said, "That's okay, mistakes should not stop us from trying harder."
That moment inspired me for realizing that mistakes are not my enemy—they are, instead, my helpers. Today, I want to share a similar story with you, a story about Ali, Sana, and Bilal—three friends who dreamed of speaking English fluently and then achieved this goal successfully.
They had high personal goals for their future; Ali wanted to be a pilot. Sana dreamed of becoming a writer and Bilal hoped to study abroad. But like many other Pakistani students, they kept on making small mistakes and getting embarrassed. Here the significant thing was that instead of giving up, they decided to team up and list their mistakes, laugh at them, and learn together, and that was how they grew. And that is how you all can grow too.
Ali often mixed up "doesn't" with "don't," Sana used to write "I am agree" instead of "I agree," and Bilal was always confused about words like "advices" or "advice" and "return" or "return back."
These are just a few examples—but here is a bigger list of mistakes non-native students often make, along with the lessons they teach us:
| Mistake | Correct Form | Growth Lesson |
|---|---|---|
| He don't | He doesn't | Grammar matters, but practice fixes it |
| I am agree | I agree | Keep it simple |
| Advices | Advice | Some words are uncountable |
| She go | She goes | Small "-s" makes a big difference |
| I didn't went | I didn't go | Past tense doesn't double |
| Much peoples | Many people | Choose the right quantifier |
| Discuss about | Discuss | Don't add extra words |
| Return back | Return | Avoid repetition |
| I am studying since 2 years | I have been studying for 2 years | Tenses show time clearly |
| He is my cousin brother | He is my cousin | English avoids extra labels |
| I am liking it | I like it | Some verbs don't use "-ing" |
| She is elder than me | She is older than me | "Elder" is for family |
| I am going to home | I am going home | Prepositions matter |
| He is good in cricket | He is good at cricket | Use the right preposition |
| I prefer tea than coffee | I prefer tea to coffee | "To" is correct |
| He is married with her | He is married to her | Prepositions change meaning |
| I didn't knew | I didn't know | Past tense already shown |
| He is my real brother | He is my brother | English doesn't use "real" here |
| She is more better | She is better | Avoid double comparison |
| I am waiting since two hours | I have been waiting for two hours | Continuous tense shows time |
Later on, Ali, Sana, and Bilal realized something powerful: mistakes are not failures. They are proof that you are learning. Every time you say "I didn't went" and someone corrects you, you've taken one step closer to fluency. We all should think of mistakes as seeds, when you plant them in the soil of practice, they grow into confidence.
Dear student, if you are 12, 14, or 16, remember this: languages are not about perfection, they are about courage, the courage to speak, to write, to try again even when you stumble. Ali became a successful pilot because he kept practicing for all his mistakes and corrected them. Similarly, Sana became a writer because she turned her mistakes into stories and Bilal, he acquired admission in MIT because he never stopped learning. And you? You can be the next success story.
So the next time you make a mistake, smile because that mistake is going to help you move ahead.
English is not just a language—it's a bridge. Every mistake you make is a brick in that bridge. Keep building, keep growing, and one day you will walk across it with confidence.