S4E23: Teach the person you arrived as this morning
Full transcript:
Good morning, happy Wednesday, and welcome to the LCP, the daily dose of language courage for people who love languages, and those who really don’t, but have to learn one anyway. And today’s episode is the second part of a two-part reminder to plan your studies for the person you are, not the person you wish you were. Yesterday, we talked about the importance of using everything you know about yourself to make sure that you’re buying resources and choosing activities based on the person you really are, and not the fantasy self that you think would be a better student. And today, I have a second quick reminder for you. Teach the person you came as this morning.
How many times have we woken up with an idea in mind of what today would look like, only to find in practice that our brains or our bodies weren’t playing ball? We had stuff to do, we know where we want to be by the end of the day, but for whatever reason, we can’t concentrate, we can’t sit still, mental resistance is running the show and just, nothing is working. But, this is what we set out to do, so we don’t let ourselves give up. We don’t let ourselves go and do something else. We sit. We try to force it. Hours go by, and we’re frustrated, we’re suspended in this place of can’t do this, can’t let myself do anything else.
You have to adapt. You have to teach the person you came as this morning.
I know you had a plan. I know you’ve got a to-do list and all these expectations about how today is supposed to work.
And I know that it’s really annoying that you’re tired or ill or just can’t really concentrate or that there’s drilling going on outside. I know this isn’t how you wanted today to feel.
But just like you can’t plan for your fantasy self, you also can’t hope that the very best, healthiest, most energetic and most productive version of you is going to show up every day. You need to work with the person who’s actually there.
And that can mean so many things. That might mean taking each item on your to-do list and snipping it into even smaller things to do. It might mean halving your to-do list altogether. It might mean swapping parts of it out for more creative or more energetic tasks. It might mean only working for half an hour at a time and putting more breaks in. It might be adapting your environment a bit by opening a window, changing the music you put on, or going outside to work, or taking a walk in your lunchbreak.
Even if you don’t manage to do what you wanted to, it makes it so much more likely that you’ll get something good done today.
It's not about throwing all your plans out the window and giving up on the idea of your language for today. But it is about realising that something is always better than nothing, and that any work you do today is still progress. It’s about responding to what your body and brain is telling you and working out how to support yourself through your language learning today. Yes you have all these goals and ambitions and things to do, but you’re a whole person learning a language, and doing your best really does look different every day.
And if you like what I do, please support me! The Language Confidence project is growing and all sorts of exciting things are happening in the next few months, and I need your help to make all of this happen. There are so many ways that you could lend a hand right now. If you know someone who would benefit from listening to this podcast, send them a quick message with the episode attached. If you work in or know someone in a language school or a university language department, please suggest this podcast for both them and their students. If you can and you want to, support me on Patreon, because I have a Patreon now, and the link is in my bio! And finally, if you’re new around here or I haven’t met you yet, or come and talk to me! Leave a comment on today’s episode on a positit on Instagram, send me a DM, or even better, book a call as part of the 100 Conversations Project with me! The link to that is also in my Instagram bio at @teawithemily. I would love to hear from you.
Have a wonderful day, and I will see you tomorrow.