Newsletter 6 - Silence

I don’t know why, but when I was deciding what my next newsletter would be, the word silence resonated very loudly in my mind (pun intended).

After writing (in last week's newsletter) about the importance of silence for the brain, today I'm sharing part of my latest blog post about the importance of silence in Language learning.

Did you know that when learning a new language, people (children and adults) go through a "silent period"?

"The silent period is a phase reported to have been observed in second-language acquisition where the learner does not yet produce but is actively processing the second language." (Wikipedia)

I’ve had someone tell me once “but if I don’t talk during meetings, they’ll think I’m stupid because I have nothing to say’. That’s a loaded sentence. The type of sentence that I, as a coach, absolutely love.

Until you have enough language skills and/or confidence to speak up, use silence to your advantage:

• Use your silent listening during meetings to really focus on the language instead of being frustrated with yourself. Make it an opportunity to learn. (more details on how to do that in my blog post)

• If you work on Teams or Zoom, ask the meeting organizer if they can record the meeting so you can listen to it afterwards.

• Ask a colleague that speaks more fluently if you can talk together.

• Prepare a few sentences ahead of time.

• Easier said than done : always remember that nobody worthwhile will ever think less of you because you don't speak a second language as well as they speak their first language.

• Easy to do : Sit in silence for a few minutes before your meeting. Breathe calmly. Everything is going to be ok.

blog Silence and language learning (englishwithferiel.com)