Bilingual news and shares about the brain, languages and coaching
Newsletter #17 - Fall (Autumn)
The L in NeuroLanguage Coaching
"I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers."
— L.M. Montgomery (Anne of Green Gables)
If you're anything like me, and based on most people I'm working with at the moment (and by most I mean all), you're tired - read about it in last week's newsletter here.
You're tired because your body is getting ready for hibernation but also because "back-to-school" is also "back-to-intense-work" and we all get slammed by work.
I'm ready to bet a fair amount that many of you who were on vacation in August, are ready for another vacation right now.
So what of learning a language? Where could you possibly find the energy, in the midst of all the energy you're already spreading thin, to do something that is not absolutely indispensable?
Easy answer: you chunk, you focus and you chunk.
Frustration
Don't be frustrated with yourselves. Frustration is absolutely counter effective when we learn.
Don't waste precious time being frustrated or angry with how slowly -you think - you're learning.
You don't have that much spare time to work on your language learning so when you do, do it.
Chunk
5 minutes, you've got 5 minutes laying around somewhere not doing much. Find those precious minutes, don't underestimate them. They're all you've got for your language learning so use them wisely.
Eat the language, one small bite at a time. Don't think of the whole cake, think of that one delicious, succulent bite.
Enjoy it and then move on.
Reinforce
Maybe this is the season when you give yourself a break. When you acknowledge that you're a mere human and that you can't do it all.
Maybe you won't learn a million new things right now, but you can strengthen what you already know.
And if focusing even for 5 minutes is just not on the agenda right now, admit it to yourself and do some "passive learning".
Music
Listen to songs, figure out the lyrics, sing out loud, surround yourself with the sound of the language.
It actually might not be a song at all. It might just be podcasts, youtube video, whatever, playing in the background.
If nothing else, get the sound - the music - of the language in your ears.
Rugby, soup, X (twitter)
You can also watch your favorite sport being commented in your favorite new language.
Or look for the perfect soup recipe in that magic language (French onion soup anyone?)
Or follow someone or something on twitter - it's written, that could be a nice change from videos and podcasts
I wrote this newsletter with me in mind.
What am I doing for my Spanish at the moment? I paused my coaching, I have too much work and I'm just so tired, I always am at this time of year. So what do I do?
I have a long playlist of Spanish language songs that I'm constantly adding to, fine tuning, adjusting
I'm watching a series I don't love at the moment. I like the story line, but I don't think the actors are great. I do however love the accent and it's a good show to put as background noise when I'm doing some mindless work - administrative work and what not.
I've signed up on an online course and am doing it in Spanish instead of English. The video are 15 minutes max and I work on it a couple of times a week and I listen to them when I go for a walk in the park in between coaching sessions. I let it play in my ears (and obviously being in the park I'm not super focused so I listen to it again a 2nd time some other time)
I follow some Spanish language professionals on Linkedin and sometimes read a post here and there.
Oh and newsletters of course, every now and then I open a Spanish language newsletter I subscribed to.
That's it. I'm not up for more right now. When I'm finished with the online course, I'll pick up a book. Or maybe, it'll be time to call my coach and get back on the wagon!
If you want to go back on my other newsletters that cover all kinds of brain related, language related, coaching related fascinating subjects, I suggest you go to my newsletters webpage.
If you know anyone who'd be interested in signing up for my newsletter, don't hesitate to forward this newsletter to them :-)
Neurolanguage Coaching® is an amazing method that will help you learn a language more efficiently than you've ever experienced before. It brings together findings about how the brain learns bests and integrates these into a coaching process that will put you in charge of YOUR learning journey. As a Coach, I'm the GPS to your driving. If you want to try it but are not ready to commit, I have a 2H Discovery Offer that might be just what you're looking for. Or we can just have a casual chat about it, just reply to this email.
Good to know
The Neurolanguage Coaching® certification is accredited by the ICF
La certification est accreditée par la Fédération Internationale de Coaching