"Learn a new language, and get a new soul."
-Czech proverb
That’s what it means to be a polyglot. Your soul is split into a multicolor prism. It changes you forever.
Learning a language means integrating it into one's life. When you're walking down the street, how much energy does it take to wave to a friend?
Not that much, right?
Automatic responses
One important trick is training automatic responses. As a teenager, I decided one day to only count to myself in French, especially during exercise sessions. I’ve been doing this for 16 years. We all talk to ourselves. Just like an actor enters character, you can train yourself to adopt a culture. Experiment! (e.g.: try setting your phone to a new language).
Look for that direct connection.
I've formed many funny habits along the way: rolling my 'r's in the bathtub, learning the national anthem* of every country I move to. Finding artistic and creative ways to integrate into a culture can be fun.
Training an automatic response is like playing a sport. Have you ever heard of a book called The Inner Game of Tennis by Timothy Gallwey? It’s no wonder that many professors of music conservatories ask their students to read this book. Like music, language-learning is a small muscle sport. Training muscle memory consists in making clear impressions on the body and repeating them in a consistent way.
If you’ve recently moved to a country and would like for your speech to flow more, try to integrate one slang word into your vocabulary every week. You may feel kind of silly at first, but the more you say it, the more that new word will start to roll off your tongue like a local.
Just remember: It’s your daily bread, and you have to eat every day!
No comments:
Post a Comment