S5E9: What could be right for you?- People

Full transcript:

Good morning, happy Thursday 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.

So as part of the Be Your Own Best Teacher launch, more that at the end of this episode, we’ve been using these last two weeks on the podcast to talk about how our experiences at school can really shape our expectations of studying and learning our language in our adult life. Because for so many of us, when school becomes the beacon of all learning in our heads, our natural instinct as an adult is to do what we know: we become our own teacher, create our own classroom, and give ourself lots of rules and maybe reward ourselves from time to time, school style. We have well and truly activated Learning Mode. And that’s not in itself a problem, for some people, that’s exactly what they need. They loved school, they love textbook learning, and they’re excited to step back into that role again. 

But if that’s not you, this week, we’ve starting to look at what we could do instead bring your language learning out of your schooldays, into the present day, and rebuild it in a way that feels intentional, fun, and aligns with your current goals. Yesterday, we reflected on our language learning space. And today, I have two questions for you about how you want to bring other people in to be part of your language learning journey. And these apply whether you are self-teaching your language full time, or you attend classes or work with a tutor, because these questions are for the time when you are being your own best teacher, and coaching yourself through whatever self study and assignments you have.

1)    Would you like to find other people to study with?

I love having people to work with, even when we’re working on completely separate things. And that might look like finding an accountability buddy, where you meet up in person or online once a week or once a month, discuss your goals, track your progress, or help each other through some of the obstacles you’re facing.

It might look like finding people where you can all just study together. And it might be that specifically, you want to be surrounded by people all working on similar things, because for you, that might hold you more accountable. But it doesn’t have to be. Maybe you just need to be around people, to have that ringfenced time for productivity, and to motivate you and help you get past overthinking or procrastinating. In that case, maybe coworking is for you, either in person, or online, like I have for the Creative Space for my Patreon community. Because you are a whole person learning a language, and you want to get that balance right between accountability and waking up the comparison gremlins, so find what works for you.

2)    Who would you like to practise with?

What sorts of people and environments would make you feel the most comfortable or the most excited to practise actually using your language?

Would you be happiest talking to native speakers, or other learners?

Do you most imagine thriving in 1-1 conversations, maybe over coffee, or at big language exchange events with people from all over the world where you can practice loads of languages at once, or something in between like smaller local exchanges between just two languages? In person, or online?

Or would you like to write more than speak and connect through social media, postcard or penpal apps, or on forums? And what would you like to connect with these people over? Is it a shared hobby? A cause that you’re really passionate about? What sorts of conversations would you like to have that would make you feel the most like you in your language, and that would connect you the right people, the people with whom you share so much more than just that language?  Because for so many people who are just eager to get fluent, they’re asking  “how can I speak my language” but I know that for the vast majority of us here who listen to the Language Confidence Project, that just never feels enough. The question we ask is “how can I find my people through my language”?  

Whatever your language learning looks like, you really don’t have to do it alone, language learners. So find your people. If you don’t want to do it alone, you don’t have to. Surround yourself with people who can keep you accountable, and get involved in communities of likeminded people who inspire and motivate each other because it makes all the difference.

And if you want to really dive into being your own best teacher and making your own personal classroom a place you want to be this autumn, I would love to invite you to check out the Be Your Own Best Teacher group programme which starts on Monday September 25th and runs all the way through til December 15th.  We'll be mixing workshops, journaling, coworking and group accountability calls to help us sift through our schoolday experiences, work out what we want to keep in our present day language learning, and how to leave all the less useful stuff behind. We’ll be diving into everything from creating our ideal learning environments, getting intentional about what kinds of tasks and activities we plan, exploring our ideas about reward and punishment, success and failure, and how our inner teacher talks us through confusion and frustration. You’ll leave bursting with ideas about how to make learning a productivity more compassionate, more relevant to your adult life, and more importantly, with a much clearer idea of what you need to learn a language, and what you’re doing just because someone, somewhere, told you you should. And if you’re curious, but you’re not sure yet, it’s not too late to sign up to the two week taster fortnight which started yesterday, where you can try everything out, it’s completely free, and there’s no pressure to sign up for the full programme at the end. If you want to join, send me a DM at @teawithemily or email emily@languageconfidenceproject.com, and I can’t wait to see you there!