Background 

There’s something about the air cooling that feels energizing. Especially after these past few months of hot, humid heat! And so begins the change in seasons, and with that comes the start. The start of school marks the beginning of a new season, and potentially, the start of new habits and learning patterns. I am a former public school teacher, and there is nothing as inspiring as the Fall season, with exciting new connections and brimming potential. 

As we enter this new season, consider how you are incorporating language goals into your fresh start. Use this momentum of hope and energy to commit to something that you feel has been on your mind. What language(s) have you been hoping to practice and connect with? What can you do to start small and work towards those language goals? Below are a few tips on ways to get started on thinking about language.

Practice 

Listening/Reading (Receptive)

Before we can endeavor to share our own message, we need to accumulate enough input to 1) build vocabulary, 2) comprehension, and 3) confidence.

So we begin with listening. How are we intentionally listening to others? When others speak, what do we notice about their speech? Do we know why they speak in the way that they do? 

Quick Tips:

• Support any auditory comprehension with visuals.
  • Use subtitles when possible.
  • Use visuals when possible.

Often, people are unsure of where to start with language learning, but a great place to start is through actively listening. People are so excited to speak that they don’t devote the appropriate time to listening (walk before you run). Focusing on listening, hopefully, takes the pressure off you to perform. Enjoy the journey of learning a new skill and remember to observe with curiosity and ask questions when possible.

Speaking/Writing (Productive)

Once you have started building a language toolkit and your confidence has been reinforced, we can take more risks with skills that require us to produce language rather than receive it. Start by celebrating the achievements that you have made in acquiring language through listening and reading. That is a feat!

From there, we can practice our speaking and writing with patience and compassion. 

Quick Tips:

• Find a speaking partner/teacher to practice with in real-time.
• Receive feedback with grace and humility.
• Keep going! 

Our threshold for uncomfortable moments is often very low, especially when we have mastered (in our minds) a language, and then are acquiring a new one. Decide on the spaces and places where you can take those risks and practice.

All the AI models in the world will not prepare you for the real-world mix of backgrounds that you will interact with. The only way to build your resilience in terms of speaking is to do so repeatedly.

Connection

The whole point of learning additional languages is to connect. With a partner, with your family, within your culture, within the community, and so on. Even if you decide to use a language to do something on your own, such as reading graphic novels, you are still connecting to a culture and community. The only way to contextualize the nuance of what you are learning and how it compares to what you already know is to do so in connection with someone. Another human. 

Even if you are an introverted, independent person, a human connection does scientifically make us happier (check out this Harvard study to prove the point).

Leverage your learning for connection.

Conclusion

You can choose to pursue your goals at any time. But I firmly believe in momentum and using that to your advantage. The start of September is a perfect time to set your sights on targeting one or more of these goals and making progress towards the ones you have been working towards.