이 웹사이트에는 제휴사 링크가 포함되어 있습니다. 제가 추천하는 제품 또는 서비스를 통해 구매를 하시면, 저는 약간의 커미션을 받을 수 있습니다. 이 커미션은 추가 비용 없이 지급됩니다. 이 커미션은 이 웹사이트의 운영과 콘텐츠 제작에 도움을 줍니다. 여러분의 지원에 감사드립니다!
읽기와 듣기를 통해 영어를 습득하는 방법: 이해 가능한 입력의 힘
영어를 배우는 것은 많은 사람들에게 어렵게 느껴질 수 있습니다. 하지만 자연스럽게 영어를 습득할 수 있는 매우 효과적인 방법 중 하나는 텍스트를 읽으면서 오디오 버전을 함께 듣는 것입니다. 이 방법은 시각과 청각을 동시에 사용하여 마치 모국어를 습득하듯 영어에 몰입할 수 있게 해줍니다. 이 방법의 핵심 개념은 언어학자 스티븐 크라센(Stephen Krashen)이 제안한 “이해 가능한 입력(Comprehensible Input)” 이론입니다.
이 블로그 게시물에서는 이해 가능한 입력을 활용한 읽기와 듣기 학습 방법에 대해 자세히 설명하고, 영어 학습 플랫폼인 EnglishClass101.com (애프리리에이트 링크) 을 사용하여 이 방법을 어떻게 실천할 수 있는지에 대해 이야기하겠습니다.
이해 가능한 입력(Comprehensible Input)이란?
스티븐 크라센의 이해 가능한 입력 이론은 현대 언어 습득의 중요한 이론입니다. 크라센에 따르면, 언어 학습자는 자신의 현재 수준보다 약간 더 어려운 입력, 즉 “i+1” 수준의 입력에 노출될 때 가장 효과적으로 언어를 습득할 수 있습니다. 이는 너무 쉬운 자료에만 노출되면 학습자가 발전하지 못하고, 반대로 너무 어려운 자료는 좌절감이나 실망감을 불러일으킬 수 있다는 것을 의미합니다.
이해 가능한 입력은 학습자가 새로운 개념을 이해하려고 노력할 수 있는 적절한 수준의 언어를 제공합니다. 시간이 지남에 따라 학습자는 이 최적의 수준에서 더 많은 입력을 받게 되며, 자연스럽게 언어를 습득하고 어휘, 문법, 구조에 대한 이해를 발전시킬 수 있습니다.
읽기와 듣기를 결합한 학습의 장점
이해 가능한 입력을 얻기 위한 가장 효과적인 방법 중 하나는 읽기와 듣기를 결합하는 것입니다. 텍스트를 읽으면서 동시에 그 오디오를 들으면, 여러 감각이 자극되어 언어가 뇌리에 더 잘 새겨집니다. 이 방법의 주요 장점은 다음과 같습니다.
발음 및 듣기 능력 향상: 원어민의 발음을 들으면서 텍스트를 읽으면, 정확한 발음과 억양 패턴을 이해할 수 있습니다. 특히 모국어에 없는 영어 소리에 익숙해지는 데 큰 도움이 됩니다.
문맥을 통한 어휘 습득: 어휘를 문맥 속에서 학습하면 단어의 의미뿐만 아니라 실제 문장에서 어떻게 사용되는지도 배울 수 있습니다. 문맥을 통해 학습하는 것은 단순 암기보다 훨씬 효과적입니다.
이해력 향상: 읽으면서 듣는 것은 내용을 더 잘 이해하는 데 도움이 됩니다. 만약 낯선 단어나 구절을 접하더라도, 문맥과 시각적 단서가 그 의미를 더 명확하게 해줍니다.
기억력 향상: 시각과 청각을 동시에 사용하면 언어가 기억에 더 잘 남습니다. 학습 과정에서 더 많은 감각을 사용할수록 정보가 더 잘 기억됩니다.
자연스러운 문법 학습: 문법 규칙을 따로 공부하지 않고, 문맥 속에서 보고 들으면서 자연스럽게 문법을 익히게 됩니다. 시간이 지나면 이러한 패턴이 뇌에 내재화되어 무의식적으로 사용할 수 있게 됩니다.
EnglishClass101.com을 통한 읽기와 듣기 학습 방법
EnglishClass101.com (애프리리에이트 링크) 은 읽기와 듣기를 결합한 학습에 최적화된 플랫폼입니다. 이 사이트는 초급부터 고급까지 다양한 수준의 레슨을 제공합니다. 이 방법을 효과적으로 활용하기 위한 몇 가지 팁을 소개합니다.
자신의 수준에 맞는 레슨 선택: EnglishClass101.com (애프리리에이트 링크) 은 모든 숙련도에 맞는 콘텐츠를 제공합니다. 자신의 실력에 맞는 레슨을 선택하여 이해 가능한 입력을 확보하세요. 실력이 향상됨에 따라 점차 더 어려운 자료에 도전해 보세요.
레슨 스크립트 활용: EnglishClass101.com (애프리리에이트 링크) 의 모든 오디오 및 비디오 레슨에는 완전한 스크립트가 포함되어 있습니다. 리스닝을 할 때 스크립트를 따라 읽으며 내용을 강화하세요.
반복 학습: 동일한 레슨을 여러 번 반복하는 것을 주저하지 마세요. 반복이 언어 습득의 핵심입니다. 복습할 때마다 처음에는 어려웠던 부분이 점점 더 쉽게 이해될 것입니다.
어휘 목록 및 플래시카드 사용: EnglishClass101.com (애프리리에이트 링크) 은 각 레슨에 맞춘 어휘 목록과 플래시카드를 제공합니다. 읽고 듣는 과정을 마친 후, 이 도구들을 사용해 새로운 단어나 구절을 강화하세요.
커뮤니티 참여: 이 플랫폼에는 학습자와 교사들이 활발하게 활동하는 커뮤니티가 있습니다. 토론에 참여하고, 질문하고, 경험을 공유함으로써 추가적인 인사이트를 얻고 동기를 부여받을 수 있습니다.
정기적인 연습: 언어 학습에서 중요한 것은 꾸준함입니다. 읽기와 듣기를 일상적인 학습 루틴에 포함시키세요. 매일 15~20분 정도의 학습으로도 시간이 지남에 따라 큰 진전을 이룰 수 있습니다.
시작을 위한 단계별 가이드
이 방법이 처음인 분들을 위해, EnglishClass101.com (애프리리에이트 링크) 을 사용한 읽기와 듣기 학습의 구체적인 단계를 소개합니다.
가입하기: 아직 계정이 없으시다면, EnglishClass101.com (애프리리에이트 링크) 에 가입하세요. 이 플랫폼은 무료로 제공되는 레슨을 포함하여 다양한 구독 옵션을 제공합니다.
레슨 선택: 자신의 수준에 맞는 레슨을 선택하세요. 기본적인 레벨의 레슨부터 시작하는 것이 좋습니다. 이미 영어에 대한 지식이 있더라도, 플랫폼과 학습 방법에 익숙해지기 위해 간단한 것부터 시작하는 것이 좋습니다.
먼저 듣기: 오디오나 비디오를 재생하고 스크립트를 보지 않은 채 들어보세요. 가능한 한 많은 내용을 이해하려고 노력하세요. 이는 내용을 파악하고, 읽기에만 집중하지 않고 이해에 초점을 맞추는 데 도움이 됩니다.
읽으면서 듣기: 다시 오디오를 재생하면서 스크립트를 읽어보세요. 발음, 억양, 말의 리듬에 주의하세요.
어려운 부분 복습: 특히 어려운 부분이 있다면 그 부분을 반복해서 들어보고 읽어보세요. 반복 학습을 통해 어려운 개념을 더 잘 이해할 수 있습니다.
말하기 연습: 읽고 들은 후에는 문장을 소리 내어 반복해 보세요. 이를 통해 발음 연습뿐만 아니라 학습한 내용을 더욱 강화할 수 있습니다.
보조 자료 활용: 레슨이 끝난 후, 관련 어휘 목록과 플래시카드를 복습하세요. 이를 통해 새로 배운 단어나 구절이 더욱 기억에 남을 것입니다.
결론
읽으면서 듣기를 통해 영어를 습득하는 것은 매우 효과적이고 강력한 학습 방법입니다. 여러 감각을 자극하고, 이해 가능한 입력을 지속적으로 노출시킴으로써 영어 실력을 크게 향상시킬 수 있습니다.
EnglishClass101.com (애프리리에이트 링크) 과 같은 플랫폼은 이 학습 방법을 지원하기 위해 다양한 자료를 제공합니다. 레벨에 맞춘 레슨, 스크립트, 어휘 도구, 그리고 서포트가 잘 갖춰진 커뮤니티를 활용함으로써 영어를 실제 생활에서 자신 있게 사용할 수 있을 것입니다.
오늘부터 시작해보세요! EnglishClass101.com (애프리리에이트 링크) 을 사용하여 읽기와 듣기의 세계에 빠져들고, 영어 실력을 비약적으로 향상시켜보세요!
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Acquiring English Through Reading and Listening: The Power of Comprehensible Input
Learning a new language can seem like a daunting task, especially when it comes to mastering the complexities of English. However, one highly effective and natural method of language acquisition involves reading along while listening to an audio version of the text. This approach combines visual and auditory learning, allowing learners to immerse themselves in the language in a way that mirrors how we naturally acquire our first language. Central to this method is the concept of “comprehensible input,” a theory popularized by linguist Stephen Krashen.
In this blog post, we’ll explore how you can harness the power of comprehensible input through reading and listening, and we’ll discuss how platforms like EnglishClass101.com (affiliate link) can facilitate this process.
Understanding Comprehensible Input
Stephen Krashen’s theory of comprehensible input is a cornerstone of modern language acquisition. According to Krashen, language learners acquire language most effectively when they are exposed to input that is slightly above their current level of proficiency—often referred to as “i+1.” The idea is that if learners are constantly exposed to language that is too easy, they won’t progress. On the other hand, if the material is too difficult, it can lead to frustration and discouragement.
Comprehensible input provides a sweet spot: language that is just challenging enough to push the learner to understand new concepts without overwhelming them. Over time, as learners are exposed to more and more input at this optimal level, they naturally acquire the language, developing both their vocabulary and their understanding of grammar and structure.
The Benefits of Reading Along While Listening
One of the most effective ways to ensure you’re receiving comprehensible input is to combine reading and listening. When you read a text while simultaneously listening to its audio version, you engage multiple senses, reinforcing the language in your mind. Here are some key benefits of this approach:
Improved Pronunciation and Listening Skills: Listening to native speakers while reading the text helps you understand the correct pronunciation and intonation patterns. This can be particularly beneficial for those who struggle with the sounds of English, which may not exist in their native language.
Contextual Vocabulary Acquisition: By encountering words in context, you not only learn their meanings but also how they are used in real sentences. This contextual learning is far more effective than rote memorization.
Enhanced Comprehension: Listening while reading ensures that you understand the material better. If you encounter an unfamiliar word or phrase, hearing it in context often makes its meaning clearer, especially when combined with visual cues from the text.
Greater Retention: Engaging with a text both visually and auditorily helps solidify the language in your memory. The more senses you involve in the learning process, the better you retain the information.
Natural Grammar Learning: Instead of studying grammar rules in isolation, you learn grammar naturally as you see and hear it in use. Over time, your brain starts to internalize these patterns, and you’ll begin to use them automatically.
How to Use EnglishClass101.com for Reading and Listening
EnglishClass101.com (affiliate link) is an excellent resource for learners who want to practice reading along while listening. The platform offers a wide variety of lessons that are perfect for this approach, ranging from beginner to advanced levels. Here’s how you can make the most of it:
Select Your Level: EnglishClass101.com (affiliate link) provides content for all proficiency levels. Choose lessons that match your current skill level to ensure you’re working with comprehensible input. As you progress, gradually move on to more challenging materials.
Use the Lesson Transcripts: Each audio or video lesson on EnglishClass101.com (affiliate link) comes with a complete transcript. While listening to the lesson, follow along with the transcript to reinforce your understanding of the spoken language.
Repeat and Review: Don’t be afraid to go over the same lesson multiple times. Repetition is key to language acquisition. With each review, you’ll notice that you understand more and more, and previously challenging material becomes easier.
Take Advantage of Vocabulary Lists and Flashcards: EnglishClass101.com (affiliate link) also offers tools like vocabulary lists and flashcards that are tailored to each lesson. After reading and listening to a lesson, use these tools to reinforce new words and phrases you’ve encountered.
Engage with the Community: The platform has a vibrant community of learners and teachers. Participate in discussions, ask questions, and share your experiences. Engaging with others can provide additional insights and motivation.
Practice Regularly: Consistency is crucial when learning a language. Make reading along while listening a part of your daily routine. Even 15-20 minutes a day can lead to significant progress over time.
A Step-by-Step Guide to Getting Started
If you’re new to this method, here’s a simple guide to help you start using EnglishClass101.com (affiliate link) for reading and listening:
Sign Up: Create an account on EnglishClass101.com (affiliate link) if you haven’t already. The platform offers a range of subscription options, including a free version with access to a limited selection of lessons.
Choose a Lesson: Start with a lesson that matches your proficiency level. Beginner lessons are often the best place to start, even if you have some prior knowledge of English, as they will help you get used to the platform and method.
Listen First: Play the audio or video and listen without the transcript. Try to understand as much as possible. This will give you an idea of the content and help you focus on comprehension rather than just reading.
Read Along: Play the audio again, this time reading along with the transcript. Pay attention to the pronunciation, intonation, and rhythm of the language.
Review Difficult Sections: If there are parts of the lesson that are particularly challenging, go back and listen to them again while reading. Repetition will help you grasp difficult concepts.
Practice Speaking: After you’ve listened and read along, try to repeat sentences aloud. This will help you practice your pronunciation and reinforce what you’ve learned.
Use the Supplementary Materials: After completing the lesson, review the associated vocabulary lists and flashcards. These will help reinforce the new words and phrases you’ve learned.
Conclusion
Acquiring English through reading along while listening is a powerful and effective method that leverages the natural way we learn languages. By engaging multiple senses and ensuring that you are constantly exposed to comprehensible input, you can make significant progress in your English language skills.
Platforms like EnglishClass101.com (affiliate link) provide a wealth of resources to support this method, offering lessons tailored to your level with transcripts, vocabulary tools, and a supportive community. By integrating this approach into your daily routine, you’ll not only improve your English proficiency but also gain confidence in using the language in real-life situations.
So, why not start today? Dive into the world of reading and listening with EnglishClass101.com (affiliate link) and watch your English skills soar!
A great way to learn English is from listening to audio books in English. It’s also a great way to relax, if you are learning a language, or if you simply want to relax. It help you to feel calm after a long day and books can take you away to another place and time.
In this post there are loads of great audio books that are free to listen to, I’ve arranged them into genres so that you might find something that you are interested in and that you feel like listening to.
This post is constantly growing, so please keep checking back to discover more free audio books.
Fables
Fables are stories that contain animals, plants, inanimate objects, forces of nature, legendary creatures that are anthropomorphized. The stories are short and they contain a moral guidance in them without being pushy. Aesop’s fables can be traced back to even before Ancient Greece, through Egypt and Sumer. Aesop didn’t write anything down, and so these stories were passed on through oral tradition for thousands of years. Eventually they were written down, these ancient stories with their timeless wisdom have spread out across the whole world, people of all ages can enjoy Aesop’s fables. Some of these stories you may already be aware of, such as, The Tortoise and The Hair, and The Fox and the Grapes, but there are many more stories, about 750 of them, such as the Lion and the Mouse.
The Lion and the Mouse – Aesop’s fables
A LION was awakened from sleep by a Mouse running over his face. Rising up angrily, he caught him and was about to kill him, when the Mouse piteously entreated, saying: “If you would only spare my life, I would be sure to repay your kindness.” The Lion laughed and let him go. It happened shortly after this that the Lion was caught by some hunters, who bound him by strong ropes to the ground. The Mouse, recognizing his roar, came and gnawed the rope with his teeth, and set him free, exclaiming:
“You ridiculed the idea of my ever being able to help you, not expecting to receive from me any repayment of your favor; now you know that it is possible for even a Mouse to confer benefits on a Lion.”
This story appears in the public domain version of Aesop’s fables on project Gutenberg.
There are many of Aesop’s fables to listen to here that are available for free. Happy Listening
Photo of Green Grass Field – Photograph by Jesse Zheng
There a many books written on how to relax, and I’ve read a lot of them myself and they have really helped me, also there are countless techniques teaching us how to relax, most of which are really great, but if you would like to feel relaxed now I would like to share with you a quick breathing technique that I learned recently from a Youtube video I saw by Neuroscientist called Andrew Huberman.
His really simple technique is this, “Make your exhales longer and/or more vigorous than your inhales”.
That’s it it’s really simple, make your inbreath shorter than your outbreath.
You can try it right away. There is a lot of science behind it; to do with the relationship of your diaphragm to your heart, and your brain, but if you need to calm down now, then you can try it immediately.
His video is called, “Neuroscientist: You Will NEVER Feel Stressed Again | Andrew Huberman” it’s on Youtube on the RESPIRE channel.
Akihabara – Taito City – Tokyo – Japan Photograph by Sebastian Kurpiel
The formal education system kills creativity, one of the things I found when I was in high school was that I studied French for 5 years, every week almost everyday and after 5 years I couldn’t speak French.
We were put in a classroom and the teacher stood infront of us and wrote sentences in French on the board and we had to write down the French sentence quickly followed by writing down the English sentence. After that none us could speak French.
Learning in your own way is a much better way to learn anything not just languages. We have been programmed by the education system to think that the teacher stands at the front and delivers the lesson without any input from the learners.
To learn a language in your own way, or any other subject is the key to learning anything to a high level, enjoying it at the same time and remaining motivated.
If you learn from something you are passionate about you will find that you will learn like when you are a kid and not directly trying to learn something in school, when the education has been prescribed to you. When I was a kid, I new everything about computers and computer games because I was totally into it and nobody was ‘teaching me’ directly, I found my own way. I also learned how to draw by finding my own way.
It’s not to say that you don’t need any direct instruction but if you are seeking specific direct instruction out rather than getting it pushed on you in a formal eduction system you will learn in an internally motivated way and you will learn better.
If you learn from your own internal motivation and desire for personal growth you will find yourself having a completely different experience.
If you create and design your own lessons, and then also ask for help from a teacher, you will find a new way of learning and your language skills will improve tremendously.
Follow your own path with language learning, learn in ways that suit you and which you love, join up with different people who share your passion of anime and of the country that you wish to visit or live in. Learn through your passions.
This also applies to learning from anything you are passionate about, learning from Kpop, learning from science, learning from art or history or anthropology, or novels, or cooking or travelling or any other subject that you are passionate about.
Here are some tips on learning Japanese with anime
Stephen Krashen the linguist and activist has a theory on language learning called Comprehensible Input, he explains that he and his team tried to get people to learn languages in all different kinds of ways, every kind of way you can imagine but the only thing that worked was giving people messages that they could understand. The good thing about watching anime to learn Japanese is that there is a context, the context comes from the images on the screen you can guess from the context what someone might be saying and from this the language will be acquired. To help you when you begin you can try slowing down the video a little bit on your computer this will help you to understand what is being said. Also another thing you can do is first watch the anime episode with subtitles so you can get an idea of what is going on and also pick up a little bit of the language and then when you’ve finished watching the episode rewind it and watch it again without the subtitles.
Don’t learn new vocabulary in isolation, when you hear a new word, look it up in a dictionary or google translate and then try using the knowledge you have so far to make your own sentence up with the new word, this will help you to remember it.
Also you can do the same but with speaking out loud the new word in a sentence that you have made up.
Learn Katakana and Hiragana to help you write out the new sentences and also this will help you to pronounce the words better than using Romaji. You can learn Hiragana and Katakana in a few days and with practice it will stick in your mind and you will be able to use it quite fluently quickly.
Find people who are also passionate about anime to talk with and practice talking in Japanese with your new found language skills.
Learning a language takes time and patience so don’t be discouraged if you find it hard at first, keep going and don’t quit, help others to learn languages too, teaching something helps you to become skilled in the thing you are learning.
Emerson wrote “Do the thing and you will have the power: but they who do not do the thing will not have the power.”
When we are embarking on something new, sometimes we feel that we might need a bit of extra confidence or a bit of extra power to do the thing.
What most people do is they wait until they feel totally confident to do the thing before they try and start doing the thing. But if you take action before you are 100% ready, you will get confidence from actually doing the thing.
When you take action towards what you want to do, your brain releases dopamine. This dopamine gives you the feeling to take more action. So in taking the action first, before you are ready, you will find yourself moving towards your goal and creating your own internal confidence from doing.
You don’t need to make one big dramatic action to make a change, rather what you can do is take small actions that will start you moving in the direction you want to go, and you will find yourself creating confidence as you do the thing.
Gordan Ramsay the many Michellin star chef talks about this in his book “Gordon Ramsay’s Ultimate Cookery Course”, he talks about people who buy lots of expensive knives and cooking utensils, and equipment but leave it in their kitchens and hardly use it, he said it’s “like a footballer who’s afraid to make a tackle for fear of of getting grass stains on his kit”. Gordon Ramsay says in his book that if you start cooking you will learn from cooking, he says ‘I’m going to show you how to cook yourself into a better cook’.
It’s the same with anything, by doing the thing you will get good at it, don’t wait take action towards what you are doing.
One of the things that can stop people is that you can sometimes fear sudden big dramatic change, because we feel that we will lose our old identity completely if we change everything rapidly. James Clear talks about this in his book, Atomic Habits.
But if you take small steps, you will achieve your goal and not feel like everything is changing instantaneously. Instead things will change at a natural pace, in the same way that most things change in nature.
Take small steps, before you are ready, to start moving towards new things in your life.
Amy Cuddy did an amazing Ted Talk about how body language shapes our lives. She has done research into people and how their body language changes their behaviour.
She has shown that moving your body into a powerful position first leads a person to start feeling more confident and releasing certain chemicals into the body, rather than trying to be more confident first, instead try moving your body first and then you will feel more confident inside.
So take the action first, to create internal confidence, rather than trying to find this so called mythical confidence from the outside.
Disclaimer: I’m not a Doctor, this information should not be taken as medical advice.
Modern society makes us stressed and filled with anxiety, modern living causes this, there is much less stress in rural areas around the world where life is different.
It can be difficult to relax because modern living triggers our sympathetic nervous system into action, which activates our flight or fight response, this releases stress chemicals into our bodies which are useful from an evolutionary perspective in the short term for when we have to fight or flee a situation,
however what often happens in modern society is that our flight or fight response is constantly being activated and not only that,
when it’s activated because of the way we have been programmed to think by society, this flight or fight response and the stress and anxiety that goes with it gets stuck in our minds as a loop and we can’t get out of it even for years at a time sometimes.
Stress is a killer, we need to learn how to relax otherwise the constant release of stress chemicals in our bodies along with constant anxiety will make us sick.
When we are working and studying it also makes sense to be relaxed, because if we can remove the constant anxiety from our lives not only will we feel better and we will be more healthy but we will perform better as well because when you feel happy and relaxed you think better and learn better and perfom better in all areas of your life, you are more present and that can leave you free to focus on the present moment.
I suffered with anxiety for years, I’m going to explain some things that I found helped me to reduce my anxiety so that you can quickly and easily find a way to reduce yours.
The first thing I would like to share with you is the Relaxation Response, and then the second thing I will share with you is how to break out of the anxiety loop that all of our minds tend to get stuck in, and then one final thing.
What is the Relaxation Response?
The Relaxation Response is a simple process that you can start doing right away which will activate your Parasympathetic nervous system,
it was developed by Dr Herbert Benson from the Harvard Medical School.
When the Parasympathetic nervous system is activated it activates a different set of processes in your body, your body releases different chemcials and you feel completely relaxed, the opposite of the fight or flight response (when the Sympathetic nervous system is activated)
How to do the Relaxation Response?
The relaxation response is based on Buddhist ideas of meditation.
However Dr. Benson teaches us that we can use it externally of this context or we can use it as part of a Buddhist or other spiritual practice that we follow if we have one and wish to.
Sit down in a quiet environment, wearing loose clothes. (you can do it in a noisy environment too, I’ve done it on the bus and it helped me to relax) But if you can, find a quiet spot.
Think about a word or sentence that is meaningful to you.
Place your hands on your lap
Close your eyes and breathe normally
Repeat the word you have chosen, over and over.
Fairly quickly you will find that your body starts to feel very relaxed and your mind will open up. At this point you may wish to imagine a beach or a garden or some other place where you have been before and at the time you felt a very relaxing feeling.
You will notice a change in you mind and your body.
Dr Herbert Benson has a book called the Relaxation Response where you can read more about this technique and the research behind it that explains the health benefits.
Before you do the above process, you can also do some progressive muscle relaxation.
What is progressive muscle relaxation?
Progressive muscle relaxation is a simple process that you can do to relax your whole body.
How to do progressive muscle relaxation?
1 Sit or lie down in a comfortable place
2 Start at you toes, and tense your toes for about 5 seconds, then let them go and relax them.
Next stretch your feet and relax.
Then move up you whole body starting with your calves, your thighs, etc all the while tensing or stretching for about 5 seconds and relaxing.
Move all the way up through your body, doing it progressively, you can arch you back and then let yourself relax your back, do the same in your shoulders tense and release them by pushing them up for 5 seconds and then relaxing.
Go through the muscles in your face, tense and relax them, including relaxing the muscles around your eyes.
Once you have gone through you whole body you will feel noticeably more relaxed. You may fall asleep after doing this because you will feel so relaxed.
If you like, after you have done this you can go back to the first section of this post and elicit the relaxation response
or you can just continue feeling relaxed after doing the progressive muscle relaxation.
What you might find, is that after you’ve done all this you’ll start feeling stressed again after a while. This is because your mind is stuck in a loop.
How to break free from the Anxiety loop?
As we move through the world, certain things set off our anxiety. A person, an event, worry about a situation that may happen or that has happened etc.
The way to break out of the anxiety loop that we often find ourselves stuck in is, to, realize what’s actually going on.
What’s actually going on is that when something external makes us stressed, we get a sensation on our body, then what we do is, we react to that sensation on our body, and we feel stressed.
Then we think about the external thing that made us stressed in the first place, which then makes us feel a sensation on our body, we then react to the sensation on our body and feel stressed, and then we think about the thing that caused us the stress again, and that sets up a worry loop in our minds. I didn’t make this up, it comes directly from the teachings of Buddha.
In the teachings of Vipassana Meditation it is explained clearly that when we react to something external, it’s not that we are reacting to the situation or person, we get a sensation on our body and we react to that sensation on our body.
Through sitting down with these feelings and becoming aware of them, through realization and not just logical thinking, you realize that the problem is not just in our heads, the problem is in the space between us and the situation or person that we perceive to be causing our anxiety. Once you realize you are reacting to the sensation on your body and not the external thing any more you feel the anxiety loop stopping and your body and mind start to reset.
So the thing to do, is try to stay with the uncomfortable feeling, close your eyes and stay with it, until you realize that you are reacting to a sensation on your body and not the external thing. Then you will get free from anxiety, from the loop of anxiety.
Shinzen Young, the mindfulness meditation teacher, explains that if we experience a feeling fully then it paradoxically leaves us. So for example if we feel pain, and stay with the the feeling paradoxically the feeling will go away, or if we feel confusion and stay with the confusion you will paradoxically gain some clarity. So try to stay with any uncomfortable feelings that arise and you will break the anxiety loop.
The Buddha teaches us not to take his word for it, but to test it for ourselves through direct experience. So don’t take my word for it, try these things out for yourself as a scientist, try to disprove it.
You can learn more about this in a documentary called “Doing Time Doing Vipassana” which can watched on Youtube for free, and also by watching a TEDx talk called “Vipassana Meditation and Body Sensation: Eilona Ariel at TEDxJaffa 2013” on Youtube.
Hope this information helps you to relax.
Finally, helping others to relax can have the effect of making us feel relaxed.
Have you ever wondered how it would feel to speak another language? When you are traveling to another country, you could form friendships with people you might never ordinarily be able to meet.
It opens a possibility of meeting more people, infact their would be millions more people who you could get to know and traveling and seeing the place you desire to visit most in a different way.
Have you ever found yourself not continuing to learn a new language after learning for a short time?
One of the big secrets in language learning, or getting good at anything, is to form a habit when you are learning.
You may already have found yourself being good at forming habits that aren’t that productive for learning something new, such as spending hours on social media.
A really interesting book is called “The Power of Habit: Why we do what we do: and how to change it” by Charles Duhigg.
In his book one of the things Charles Duhigg talks about is a lady who was a smoker for many years, and engaged in other bad habits of lifestyle, one day she put her cigarettes down and never smoked again.
How did she do this?
When scientists looked at her brain, and observed her patterns of behaviour in her new fullfilling new life they found something interesting, they found that what had happened was that although the old habit patterns of smoking were still there, that also now, the new pattern of not smoking and doing other things instead, could be seen, these new patterns of behaviour that were making her life better were overiding the old patterns.
When you are learning a new language, the old patterns of being addicted to social media, are still there,
so what you have to do instead is forget about the old habits and, to do that, you have to focus on forming new habits.
This can be applied to anything, but in this case forming new patterns of learning a language each day.
It’s better to try and study a little each day, and keep going over the long term,
slow and steady, rather than just working really hard for two weeks and then stopping for 6 months or not even continuing at all.
There is something to be said about taking breaks, which I’ve wrote about in this article, where I talk about Graham Wallas and his book the Art of Thought. Breaks are important, but you have to take them at the right time.
Before taking longer breaks in your language learning studies, it’s important first to make sure you have formed a habit of language learning.
When I first started learning Japanese, I would feel so excited about the idea of learning a new language that I would find myself studying intensely for short periods but then stop and not continue over the long term.
What I realized is you need to form habits when learning a new language or changing any behaviour.
A lot of research has been done into forming habits and one the things that researchers agree on is that the environment you are in affects the kind of habits that you do each day.
So setting up simple reminders to study a language can really help you stay motivated when learning.
If you are living in the country of the language you are learning then it’s easy, because you are surrounded by the language, you have to try speaking it to get around and order food so you find yourself practicing the new language automatically.
However when you are in your native country, you might find it more difficult because nothing is triggering your mind to start learning the language you are learning.
You need to set a ‘cue’ as Charles Duhigg describes in the Power of Habit.
This cue could be something really simple, for example, if you place a language learning book on the table infront of your tv you will be reminded about learning your new language every day by your automatic habit of going into your living room and doing the habit of watching tv.
Everytime you see your language learning book, you will remember about learning the new language, this may help to trigger you into taking action and making a start at learning your new language.
James Clear the author of the book Atomic Habits
talks about also giving yourself a small reward after you have completed the new thing that you are trying create a new habit in doing.
For example if you are trying to form a habit of exercising regularly, then leave your running shoes next to your bed and also after you have done some exercise then give yourself a reward like a small piece of chocolate. However language learning is slightly different and there is another method that I will talk about in a moment to help you stay motivated with your language learning.
Another thing that James Clear talks about is that we all fear change, which I think is very true, I find myself fearing even good change.
James Clear says this is because we think change will come around very rapidily and we will have to completely abandon who we are and our life as we know it now.
However James Clear teaches us that this isn’t the case,
that in fact change comes from making small changes,
if we could make just a 1% change for the better each day, our lives would be profoundly different after a year and we will not completely abandon who we are, instead we will make changes that last and without the fear of sudden drastic change.
So when you start learning a new language, why not leave a cue in your usual environment to trigger you into learning that new language? and then try reading abit of the language, just the first few lines of a book, or listening to 2 minutes of a podcast or video on youtube in the language you are learning.
It’s important to make a start, small steps in starting, lead to big changes over the long run,
remember slow and steady wins the race.
If you are planning on going traveling to another country, one thing you can do is to place an image of that country in a place that you see all the time.
What is the space that you are in most of the time?
Your screen on your phone and computer screen is also a space, that you are ‘in’ most of the day if you are someone who works on a computer all day or if you use your computer a lot.
This will sound almost too simple, I almost didn’t type it because it sounds too simple, but I think simple things do work the best sometimes.
I wanted to go to Japan for many years, but i kept forgetting and going off on tangents and doing other things, so one day, I got a picture of a painting that someone had painted of a street scene in Japan online and I saved it as my background image on my laptop. I think it might have helped because finally after about a year I found myself visiting in Japan. I think just having that in my mind, right in front of me all day, made me unconsciouslly think about going to Japan more and because of that, I started doing small things each day to go to Japan, such as, looking up accommadation in Japan, looking up flights, learning Japanese by taking small steps each day.
So try to find a way of reminding yourself to make a small start each day to learn or practice your new language each day, even it’s just for a few minutes.
Eventually these new habits will grow from just a few minutes to a few hours. You may even find yourself learning your new language for most of the day and that you will actually find it feels strange not to be learning a language each day. This is when you will realize that you can change your habits to achieve constructive things, and not only for language learning but for all areas of your life.
One of the things you also need to do,
is to form the identity that you see yourself as a language learner,
you can do this by thinking about your language learning not as some isolated thing that you are doing on your own but as it is, which is you are in a large community of people all over the world learning and sharing languages.
James Clear talks about this and he also teaches us that making small incremental changes helps us to form this new identity not in a drastic way that many of us fear, that is big sudden change, but over the long run, in a slow and steady way.
If you keep making these incremental changes and learning a new language each day
you will find yourself seeing yourself as the speaker of a new language and at the same time you really will be speaking in that language and making new friends all over the world.
The most important thing is to start. Set a cue, that triggers you into starting each day, and then in a moment I’m going to talk about the idea of the way we think about reward in language learning.
Even if you only do a few minutes a day at first, it’s ok, as long as you keep going, these small habits will develp into larger habits and you will find yourself speaking and learning new languages as if it’s your everyday routine.
To take this one step further, what I found worked for me was to find the reward in doing the thing itself, not to get an external reward at the end.
So the idea is to make the process of language learning a pleasurable one.
So that you forget about the end completely because often giving rewards to motivate people or yourself for doing complicated tasks doesn’t work.
It works for repetitive tasks that don’t require much cognitive skill but language learning is more complex so to motivate yourself with external rewards at the end isn’t the best way to go about it.
Richard Feynman the nobel prize winning physicist explains in his BBC interview and book the Pleasure of Finding Things out, that he wasn’t really that bothered when he won the nobel prize, he said,
“I’ve already got the prize, the prize is the pleasure of finding the thing out”
Michel Thomas the language master talks about this, he explains how in his method, it’s the thrill of learning which keeps a person motivated and coming back and continuing to learn.
Stephen Krashen the linguist and activist talks about this in his idea about the pleasure principle in language learning. He says that if we are enjoying the process we are more likely to continue doing the thing.
Therefore it’s important to form a habit in learning new languages but the best thing you can do is to find a way of learning that you enjoy so that the reward in the habit loop, is already in the habit loop, it’s in the pleasure of finding things out as Richard Feynman would say.
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