When we start a new hobby, whether it is learning a new language, excersising, playing an instrument or practicing any craft, the idea must be to change or even better forget everything we have been taught about the learning procedure.

We need to understand that the biggest part of learning doesn’t have to do with the object itself. Learning a language can be the cause for a deep inner journey to the core of our conscioussness.

Of course, this is a big journey and it cannot be replied in an article. But together we can have a good start towards this direction or a good reminder if you have already started.

After all these years of being a student, making all the mistakes possible, things you can imagine and other ridiculous things that you cannot, teaching people from all around the world for twelve years, I am sure about these five things we are going to talk about today.

Myths We Need To Overcome To Learn A New Language

1. Learning is a matter of talent. This is a common sentence. People say it a lot about musicians, poets, writers and artists of all kinds. The game really changes when we realise that it is not a matter of talent. Yes, there is a tendency or even better, there is love towards a field, but I really find it annoying when we say that someone is “just talented”. When you see someone playing an instrument or speaking a language, we don’t experience their talent.

We experience the result of their working for thousands of hours when no one was watching. We don’t experience their talent, we experience their persistence.

So, every time you ask yourself “Will I ever do this?” the reply is yes, I will. I will do this since I work so hard, that other people will consider me as talented in this field.

2. Learning a language is an extrovert hobby. When we think of ourselves “mastering” a language, normally, we think about speaking the language. We dream of ourselves talking to locals, ordering food, making friends and understanding the jokes some people make to the next table at the restaurant.

We dream of ourselves as being “extroverts” in the language.

While the reality is quite on the opposite side.

Learning a language is an introvert activity, at least for the first years of learning. It takes a lot, I mean…a lot of personal focus and getting to know ourselves, understanding the psychology behind our weaknesses, practising vocabulary and gaining experience.

To give you an example, some years ago I started participating language online groups because I wanted to practice my french and italian. I met many people from all around the world in zoom meetings where we talked in the target language.

My first reaction was a shock, when I realised, most of the people that participated in such meetings, were people from all around the world that couldn’t or didn’t want to, for the one or the other reason, go out of their homes.

They couldn’t, because of kinetic difficulties or they didn’t want to, maybe because of social anxiety (just like me) , to be extroverts in the language. And they were masters in the languages they spoke. Excellent grammar and brilliant vocabulary. These people I met were deeply educated in the language we had met to speak.

They had reached this top by themselves for themselves. And this is real education.

I think you get my point. The most of the language activity takes place in your mind. The faster you realize it, the better. I cannot highlight this more. First you inhale the information for a long time, then it becomes experience, finally you exhale the language and others can see the result.

Then, people think you are talented in languages. But then you don’t care anymore about anyone’s opinion. You have earned this win.

Let’s go deeper.

3. Learning is a matter of memory. Everybody that knows me knows that this is my favourite part, but I will be brief, because this is a deep and huge ocean of thoughts. Let me tell you only one thing.

I wasted exactly 19 years of my life (from my 10 years until my 29) being sure that I am stupid and am not good in learning anything because:

1. I cannot focus for a long time
2. I cannot memorize and repeat.

What I say to myself now, is that I don’t learn things to remember things. I learn things to shape my character.

Learning has nothing to do with memorizing or repeating data. In order to get out of the matrix, we need to go beyond the matrix.

4. Having hobbies is for the rich. This is a myth I used to repeat too. Having a hobby seems a luxury in our eyes, while in reality it is exactly the opposite. Watching TV is for the rich. Gossiping is for the rich. Occuping ourselves with useless infrormation and wasting imagination in creating problems is for the people that don’t worry about making a living.

The system and the environment have convinced us that having a hobby takes away our precious time and the focus of survival, while the reality it is exactly the opposite.

Have you ever thought about a hobby that has the potential to take you to another routine, the routine of succesful mindset which will save your life in the end?

Hobbies are creative and stimulate our imagination for our own benefit. If this doesn’t change a life, I don’t know what it does.

5. Learning costs. Some months ago my favourite aunt called me and told me that she has a lot of English books and asked me if I needed them. I told her that I don’t teach English anymore, I teach Greek , so I didn’t need them.

But afterwards, I thought to myself and asked her.

“Auntie, all my life you have been giving me English books and you still have dozens of them! How many books have you got? This is crazy!”

She normally replied that she had been buying English books all these years, as the teachers asked them to do so.

I felt really sad for our parents. They had been giving so much money they didn’t have, they worked really hard, to buy books with the same English Grammar over and over again.

This is a crime.

Do you want to learn something new? You set the ammount of money you want to spend. It can be completely for free with your personal work and dedication or you can spend a fortune. It is up to you and this your own project.

What I support and how I live my life as a teacher is that the only tool I need to use to communicate with my student is a board. A teacher needs a board. The student needs a notebook and a pencil. Ok, and a rubber. Nothing more.

You choose your teacher. Is it going to be a human? Is it going to be a book? Videos? Songs? You choose what works for you and you choose the cost.

Pay the teacher what they worth, don’t try to find a slave in the clickbate. Buy books. But give worth to your time and make the most of it.

My opinion is, the more money you pay for something, the more emotions you buy.

The best investment you can do for your future is Practice. Practice The Craft.

A lot of people have mastered a language completely for free, and some others have spent a lot of money and they have been scammed by a person that had a big idea about themselves.

A good teacher can show you the way and can help you. But the real teacher of yourself is going to be you. Master your energy and time. Get out of the capitalistic way “the more I buy the more I learn”.

Finding a good teacher to introduce you to the craft you want to learn is not an expense. It is an investment. It is a great win in time and this desicion will take you far. A good teacher must take you far in life using the object you chose to get in touch this with them.

Five Myths We Need To Overcome To Learn A Language

Efi Asvesti

Founder, Teacher & Copywriter

@MyGreekTeacher.com

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