Hi, I’ll keep this to a few paragraphs for us to think about.
I’d already shared a link to Levy’s post, where he talked a little about people having a bigger goal and English serving as a means to reach it.
By: tifotter
I’d like to offer a few different points, with the aim of complementing his post. Let’s start from the assumption that we’re trying to simulate, as closely as possible, how we learned our native language as babies:
Back then, we had no goals like getting a job, and so on. We simply reacted to stimuli and ended up in a self-sustaining learning system, driven by our excitement as we sought new, enjoyable stimuli.
But we’ve grown up; we’re not children anymore. That’s true. The good thing is that we can still plan for the future and seek a better job, a better quality of life, a higher salary, among other things. There’s nothing wrong with that; on the contrary, it’s essential to our well-being.
What I propose for learning English is that, although we may have bigger plans for how to use the language, throughout the learning process and during immersion, we give the language our undivided attention and focus only on the object of our desire in that moment: English. We should also try to enjoy every stimulus and every moment of this lifelong journey.
As a result, a point will naturally come when we’ll fit the profile of the job we wanted. We’ll know enough English to enjoy the trip we always dreamed of, and we’ll be able to achieve the bigger goals we had planned.
Yes, we need bigger goals, but we mustn’t let them interfere with our relationship with learning a new language. That relationship should be as intimate and trusting as possible—and why not say passionate, too?
To sum it up: make your relationship with the language unique, exclusive, memorable, exciting, passionate, and revitalizing. Let the language be the only thing that matters in that moment, and naturally it will become a means to your bigger goals.
Fall in love with English. Put it first, and little by little you’ll achieve your dreams!
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Recommended reading: This week I’m reading the book Reinventing Yourself by Carlos Alberto Júlio. It describes his life journey and what he had to do to adapt to a dynamic, increasingly interconnected world. He went through a health problem that made him rethink many of his ideas, change paradigms, and reconnect with the world in a way that felt better to him.