Recognizing Stress As a Language Learner
Emotional discomfort, when accepted, rises, crests, and falls in a series of waves. Each wave washes parts of us away and deposits treasures we never imagined.
Martha Beck
⏱ Reading time: 2 minutes
What is Stress?
When we feel threatened, our bodies naturally respond by producing hormones that raise our blood pressure and sweat production, preparing us to flee or fight. These reactions are meant to increase our chances of survival, but you’re unlikely to find a truly fatal threat in your language study.
However, learning a new language can still be a truly challenging experience, and you’re going to experience stress reactions at some point, whether or not this is your first time learning a new language.
Yet somehow, you might still be surprised and even a bit ashamed when you encounter it. For some reason, we think that learning a language should be easy, so when it’s not we wonder if there’s something wrong with us. It may even cause us to want to back away. Read our article here for tips on coping with these feelings.
How do you know that you’re stressed?
Before you can focus on working through stress, you need to recognize it. Sometimes, it’s easy: you feel anxious and overwhelmed. Other times, it’s less simple to spot. Stress can take a lot of forms:
- Anxiety, nervousness, or worry
- Avoiding tasks
- Decrease in performance
- Negative emotions: anger, confusion, depression, hopelessness, sadness
- Feeling overwhelmed, freezing
- Poor concentration/memory
One good way to know when you are experiencing stress is by paying attention to your body. Stress can affect many of your body’s internal systems such as your hormones, blood pressure, and immune system, but here are some signs that are easy to observe on your own.
| Unstressed | Stressed | |
| Breathing | Smooth, calm, slow | Shallow, quick |
| Emotions | Manageable, calm moods | Fear, anger, panic, nervousness |
| Heart Rate | Steady circulation, oxygen | Speeds up to pump more blood |
| Mind | Focused, clear thinking; memory functions well | Instinctive; higher thinking shuts down |
| Muscles | Contract as needed, then relax | Tense, ready for action |
| Stomach | Digesting normally | Digestion shuts down, butterflies |
| Sweat Glands | Function as needed to cool off | More active to cool the tensed body |
When you’re aware of stress in your body, you can:
- Learn to calm down quickly and easily
- Improve mental clarity, concentration, and memory for peak performance
- Develop the ability to release tension and stress
One way to become aware of and release tension in your body is through something called body scanning:
Try it out!
1) 5-minute body scan for tension Try a body scan to identify and release tension in your body. You can find a guided option at insighttimer.com, or you can simply follow the directions below.- Find a place where you can relax, preferably lying down.
- Starting at your toes, flex and relax each part of your body for 5 seconds. Notice where you are carrying tension. Work all the way up to your jaw, eyes, and forehead.
- See how much more relaxed you are! Now you also know where in your body you tend to carry tension and stress. Pay attention to these areas when you are feeling anxious.
- Try this breathing app which can help you briefly detach from your stressors when you need to regroup or refocus. It will guide you through a short breathing session and quickly help you learn to regulate your breathing on your own.
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[…] read about recognizing the signs of stress in your body and mind in our article here. Now the question remains, what should you do about it once you recognize it? We’re hoping […]