Learning a language can change our life completely and open doors to a completely new way of life.
In a globalized working world applicants with a diversity of languages are in great demand and are more likely to climb the job ladder. The companies are internationally oriented and expect their employees to communicate with their clients in their native language. But speaking another language does not only imply knowing its grammar and vocabulary, but also thinking in a different way. This seems a bit difficult at first, however with time, motivation and practice it can be achieved by every language learner.
For some time now, I have been empowering my language coachees to master their Spanish&Catalan and before that I was an English, German, French and Italian language learner myself. From my personal learning point of view, I believe I truly mastered my first target language when I internalized the new language and I let this process transform me into the new person I am now.
By internalize, I mean that as a language learner I first strongly and consistently provoked the thought process of connecting and associating my target language to my native language (as we coaches do in the NeuroLanguage Coaching®* process) and after that I started creating my new mental schemes. Learning a language involved becoming confident. Being aware of my own mental processes helped my brain to have certainty and develop and create new cognitive connections.
For me it was not just the language or the thought, but culture also played a role in the way I perceived things and the strong relationship between the language, the culture and the thoughts. Initially it was thought that languages labelled the objects around us. Now it is considered that when we speak different languages, we perceive the world differently and identify things for which there are only words in our language. Therefore, inside every language there lies a great secret: each language has its own personality and distinctive way of expressing ideas. Varying grammar structures and concepts drive us to rethink how to articulate certain ideas. Words can have different etymologies that might even subconsciously affect the associations we have with them.
As a result an important part of language learning for me was embracing these personality changes and being comfortable with them. That is why I only felt “fluent” when I adopted the mentality of a speaker of the language I was learning. This in return helped me to improve not only my communication, grammar and pronunciation, but also my confidence towards my target language.
Learning a new language broadened my horizon. As Marcel Proust once said "A language we do not know is a fortress sealed". If you feel you would like to unseal your fortress as I did, and take your Spanish&Catalan up a notch, do feel free to contact me. I would love to hear from you.
Mònica Barnés - LEARN WITH PASSION - www.monica-barnes.com
*registered US and European trademark in the name of Rachel Marie Paling
25 September 2020 That is a quote attributed to Federico Fellini. On Monday our Modern Foreign Languages team launched the European day of languages, with the theme running through the rest of the week. Our boys have been involved with quizzes and competitions to help them appreciate the rich diversity of
languages. Not only is the acquisition of additional languages a good thing in its own right, it is also a contribution to wider intellectual development. Moreover gaining competence in more than one language enhances career opportunities, and this links with our aim to equip our boys with the skills needed to transition positively into the workplace. In an era of increasing globalisation and changing patterns of business ownership, it means that citizens increasingly need
foreign language skills to work effectively within their own countries as well as providing opportunities to work abroad.
At West Hill our language team have introduced Spanish this term to our Year 7 boys. This is in addition to our traditional offer of German as part of a curriculum expansion. I have been able to spend some time in classes this week and witnessed the enthusiasm from both boys and staff which is so encouraging. So whilst there is an academic benefit from studying languages, the gains in a wider context tap into our school ethos and values. Learning other peoples' languages is a way of helping us to understand each other better and help overcome any cultural differences.
In a time when there are challenges from some quarters to that wider appreciation of difference, it is even more important that our boys can demonstrate the values that will make our communities more cohesive. The work of our MFL team play a vital role in that.
Last night was designated as our Moving on Evening, which given the restrictions we are dealing with became a virtual event. Our video,that aims to reflect what West Hill is about, has been warmly received and we appreciate the positive feedback it has generated.
Yesterday we also had our first positive Covid test result from a member of our school community. As it was, our systems that we had in place for such a scenario were tested, and I am pleased to say proved to be robust and effective. I applaud the responses from our staff, our boys and particularly the parent body, that have been supportive and lacking the hysteria that some commentators may have feared. It is almost inevitable that we will be having to act in a similar way over the coming days and weeks. Whilst we all recognise this is not going to be easy, I feel even more confident in our capacity to deal with whatever challenge we face.
Mr Owens
Posted by Mr Owens
Category: Headteacher's Log Book
Tags: Languages Open Evening Headteacher