A question I recieve often from students, has often been all too easy to answer: "Is my English good enough to speak?"

They usually means: Is it correct enough? Native enough? Safe enough?

Lately, I’ve found myself thinking about Donald Trump when I answer.

Not because he is a model speaker. He certainly isn’t. But listening to his spoken English over the last few months has been a reminder of how language actually functions once it leaves the textbook and the classroom.

Trump’s use of English is not highly polished; but it is purposeful. He relies on short, sharp sentences, repetition, and engaging emotional force. In one familiar stretch of rhetoric, he says: “We’re going to make our country strong again. We’re going to make it proud again. We’re going to make it safe again. And yes, we’re going to make America great again.” The grammar is simple. The vocabulary is disarmingly basic. But, the message is unmistakable.

Students will understand every word of it.

That matters, because many learners treat English as though it's delicate—one mistake and the whole phrase collapses. Trump, however, treats it like a blunt instrument. He uses what he has and keeps pushing on. He once announced, “I’m very highly educated. I know words. I have the best words.” Now, it’s easy to laugh, but hereinlies some useful classroom conversation. He doesn’t wait for perfect phrasing. He uses the words he knows, repeats them, and trusts his own confidence to carry it off.

Another favourite line of mine —“A lot of people are saying…”—is highly linguistically vague but communicatively it is clever. It suggests authority without detail, consensus without proof. Students can recognise it immediately and learn something important: English is THE international tool to persuade as well as inform. Trump’s language is also soaked in emphasis, often crossing into exaggeration. Success is “a total, total success.” Failure is “an absolute disaster.” Plans are “going to be huge—believe me.” This is spoken English in its most natural habitat, repetition and exaggeration are doing the heavy lifting.

And here’s the key point: people understand him. Internationally.

I would never suggest students imitate his style wholesale. English needs tact, nuance, and restraint. But Trump’s English offers a vital lesson: caution doesn’t make your English better. Just speaking what you know does.

Too many learners wait until their English is perfect before opening their mouths. They stay quiet for too long. Trump never waits. He speaks, repeats himself, corrects himself mid-sentence, and carries on. When a student hesitates, searching for the more perfect, flawless phrase, I sometimes think of his line: “We’re going to win so much, you’re going to be tired of winning.” His grammar may wobble, but the confidence doesn’t.

And that, in the end, is what I want my students to learn.

English isn’t asking for perfection. It’s just asking to be used.