S4E34: “How do I not know this?!”
Full transcript:
Good morning, happy Thursday, and welcome to the Language Confidence Project, 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, I want to talk about the sneaky assumptions that creep up on us when we think about what a person of our language level or our experience should know, or should be able to do.
The thoughts that say:
Surely someone of this level should know the word for x
I can’t believe I’ve got to XX and still don’t know the word for this thing in my kitchen
How can I call myself intermediate or advanced or just… good at Spanish if I can’t talk about x y z… every preschooler in the country knows this!
And those thoughts tell us a lot about our underlying beliefs about the “proper order” of language learning. And those beliefs are quite often based on how we learn our native language.
If we apply them as adults learning an additional language, they don’t fit. And quite often, when we do apply them, we;’re being really unfair to ourselves.
As adults, we learn our languages in all sorts of ways and our exposure to different skills, and grammar, and areas of vaocabulary come in completely different orders depending on what our unique path looks like.
And it sounds so obvious when we feel secure in our language, but then as soon as something rocks that, it goes out the window and we’re worrying again that a gap in our knowledge means we’re behind, we’re impostors that don’t deserve the grade or the certificate we have, or that we’re doing it all wrong.
So here are some really quick reminders. People at intermediate level who live in the country will probably have a much better grasp of groceries and the sorts of words they pick up from running basic errands, doing admin within the country, and attending appointments. People who are raising children in that country will probably have a surprising grasp of insect and fairy tale vocabulary. And people who work in a particular sector in that language will pick up really high level, industry-specific technical vocabulary as an intermediate learner.
You can be at C1 level and still not be able to name every item in your living room. You can call yourself advanced, and have the certifications to prove it, but freeze up at your first parent-teacher meeting. You can be upper intermediate but forget the words for fruits or farm animals that you definitely learned in the beginner textbook, because, if you’re not living there or regularly talking about animals, when do you use those words?
Gaps in your language aren’t a sign that you’re doing this wrong. They are a normal part of language learning, and they’re okay, and they’re just a sign of the things you haven’t really come into contact with yet. Maybe they’re not in whatever syllabus you’re using. Maybe especially in the case of household items or food or kitchenware, the topic has come up, but those particular words fall through the net. Or maybe they’re things you came into contact with ages ago, haven’t needed, haven’t used, and have just… forgotten.
There’s always going to be stuff where your first reaction is “how can I be at this level and not know this?! It’s so simple, it’s so basic, this object is around me every single day, every child in the land knows what to call it!” And that reaction is normal but so are the gaps. It’s all part of the process. It’s all okay. It’s all going okay. So keep going, and keep chipping away at it. You’re doing so well, and it’ll all be worth it.
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.