Mindfulness

Making Peace With Our Mind, Our Most Important Tool 

 

We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts, we make the world.

Buddha

⏱ Reading time: 4 minutes

One of our most powerful tools in learning a language is being self-aware.

When we talk about self-awareness and language learning, we’re talking about:

1. Staying mentally present in our language study 
2. Paying attention to what’s happening in the river of our thoughts 

It’s important to remember that our greatest ally (and potentially our greatest enemy) in language learning is our mind, and we must be aware of where it’s at throughout our language learning journey. Because as you’ve likely seen, it goes through A LOT. 

Take a look at some emotions. Have you ever experienced any of the following during your time as a language learner?

Frustrated	Ready to speak that language the rest of your life	Calm	Sick and tired of the culture
Blindly in love with the culture	Distracted	Thrilled	Ready to not say another word
Drunk on new vocabulary	Traumatized by grammar	Curious	Focused

These highs and lows deserve our attention, since they can have a major impact on our effectiveness as language learners. Naturally, if we can recognize these kinds of feelings, we’ll have a better chance of regulating ourselves and maintaining a calm, productive focus. 

In reflecting on the previous week, one student said:

I have good days and frustrating days. I do sometimes feel overwhelmed. Some days I try to say something in class, don’t succeed, and then feel embarrassment or frustration which in turn causes me to not follow what is being said in class. I am going to make a point of reminding myself at the beginning of class that I am going to have successes and failures, and that, in either case, I need to take a moment after making a comment to refocus.

Learners who strive to be self-aware begin to notice their avoidance behavior and can tell when they’re just going through the motions of study rather than being fully engaged. When we actively monitor and respond to what’s going on in our heads, we can see some of the following benefits: 

• Longer-lasting motivation
• Greater creativity
• Better problem solving
• And… better language proficiency

Mind Your Head

Not surprisingly, one of the best ways you can become more aware of your thoughts and feelings is simply a matter of listening. When we listen, we can gather information and decide how to take action. 

Watch one or both of these animations to get an idea of why this approach to self-awareness might be helpful for you and your language learning. 

Why Mindfulness is a Superpower

Headspace | Changing Perspective

To build off the analogy used in the Headspace video:

This is mindfulness. Within a few minutes from your perch over the highway you begin to see patterns, such as what size of cars are going by, their colors, models, and the traffic’s speed– if it’s congested or free-flowing; if there’s road tension or not. 

It really doesn’t take long– just 2-3 minutes. 

And that’s mindfulness. It’s taking time to be still and observe– but not control– your thoughts, where you’re at, and what’s on your mind.