#3 How To Learn A Language (Part 3/3)
Mind, Heart and Body
You must be open to change and be open to think in a different way. Realize that there are two ways not to know:
It’s OK to not to know.
It is called nescience.
However, if you ignore knowledge, it’s your choice. It is called ignorance. Ignorance can be a refusal to see or know because of how it may affect you or how you may feel about it. You always have a choice, if you want, to learn or to not learn.
Your life is yours, but do you really want to ignore what could be important knowledge?
The choice is always yours.
a. nescience: absence of knowledge or awareness.
b. ignorance: the condition of being uneducated, unaware, or uninformed; to refuse to pay attention to; disregard.
Remember, ignorance is not stupidity.
The word ignorance comes from the word ignore which can mean that the student ignores what he/she does not want to perceive, know or learn.
Realize that if you speak only one language, it can be similar to being under hypnosis.
When we speak only one language, the world is real in the way we perceive or see it through the words that make up that language.
Symbolism can be represented through words, consisting of vowel and consonant sounds that are present in physical or abstract ideas or which express thoughts of our inner and our outer worlds.
Recognize there is a problem when beginning to learn a new language. The problem is how to begin to understand a new language.
Learning a language requires a change, a transformation. It will never happen or occur overnight. It is always a process.
First, the student must begin the change or transformation through these three vehicles of life:
(1) Mind (Thought)
The student needs to begin to transfer knowledge from the first language (L1) to the new language (L2), by converting words, then sentences, then complete thoughts, then complete new ways of seeing and understanding in the first language to the second.
L1 --→ L2
The student begins by learning individual words and converting them to equivalent words in the second language. Afterwards, we move beyond literal translation, word for word, and then translate core meaning in the second language as much as that is possible and feasible.
(2) Heart (Feeling)
The student needs to care about or like what is being learned. Therefore, learn what you love to know, in the new language. The student needs to begin to feel deeply, through the emotional field, the meaning and significance of what is being expressed or said. This is the hardest step, in the beginning.
(3) Body (Action)
You want to learn a language, but you want it to happen magically without doing the work to obtain the “magic” of knowing another language fluently. Without w-o-r-k nothing will change, nothing will happen. Nothing. You have to take action.
IMPORTANT:
If you want things to change, so you progress in your second language, without doing the work, you’re kidding yourself.
If you really want to enter the world of English, you must do the work.
Make your work fun, then it won’t be like work.
Usually, people associate work with pain. It is, at times, if that’s the way you want it to be.
When you are interested in learning and love what you are doing it won’t be painful. If you don’t love or, at least, like what you are doing, either change your attitude, i.e., what and how you are doing it. If that doesn’t help, maybe, speaking another language is not for you. Only you can decide that by yourself and on your own. Everything in life, more or less, is difficult in the beginning when we start to do something new.
Learning will always need:
1. Time
2. Practice
3. Experience
+ + +
Perception
The definition of the word, perception, below, is from The Free Dictionary.
The following is not the complete entry from the dictionary.
n.
1.
a. The process of perceiving something with the senses: the perception of a faint sound.
b. An instance of this: sense perceptions.
2.
a. The process or state of being aware of something: the perception of time.
b. Insight or knowledge gained by thinking: the perception that inheritance must be coded in DNA.
c. The capacity for such insight or knowledge: theories of how to enhance human perception.
d. An insight or point of knowledge: The article is full of astute perceptions.
3.
An interpretation or impression; an opinion or belief: doctors working to change the public perception of certain diseases.
Complete definition: www.thefreedictionary.com/perception
Perception is NOT reality. Truth is objective. Truth is what is, not what we wish it to be or imagine it to be. Now, take a look at the word, see, and read carefully and understand. Are the words, perception and see, the exact same thing. Are they? Are you sure of what you think?
+ + +
See
The definition of the word from The Free Dictionary.
The following is not the complete entry from the dictionary.
see¹
(sē)
v. saw (sô), seen (sēn), see·ing, sees
v.tr.
1.
a. To perceive with the eye: Do you see the hawk in the tree?
b. To detect by means analogous to use of the eye: The surveillance camera saw the intruders.
c. To attend or view as a spectator: saw a play.
d. To refer to or look at: Persons interested in the book's history should see page one of the preface.
2.
a. To become aware of or apprehend: She saw from his expression that he did not want to go.
b. To find out or ascertain, often by moving: Please see who's knocking.
3.
a. To take note of; recognize: She sees only the good aspects of the organization.
b. To consider to be; regard: Many see her as an inspiring figure.
4.
a. To have a mental image of; visualize: They could still see their hometown as it once was.
b. To foresee or imagine: I see great things for that child.
5.
a. To know through firsthand experience; undergo or experience: He saw service in the navy. She has seen many changes in her lifetime.
b. To be characterized by; be the time for: "The 1930s saw the development of sulfa drugs and penicillin" (Gregg Easterbrook).
c. To be subjected to; undergo: This word sees a lot of use in sports.
6.
a. To visit, meet, or be in the company of: I saw all my aunts and uncles at the reunion.
b. To share the companionship of as a romantic partner: He's been seeing the same woman for eight years.
c. To visit for consultation: You ought to see your doctor more frequently.
d. To admit or receive, as for consultation or a social visit: The doctor will see you now.
7.
a. To escort; attend: I'm seeing Amy home.
b. To make sure; take care: See that it gets done right away.
8. Games
a. To meet (a bet) in card games.
b. To meet the bet of (another player).
v.intr.
1.
a. To have the power to perceive with the eyes: Once I got glasses I could see much better.
b. To have the ability to detect or record visual information: This telescope sees far into space.
2.
a. To understand; comprehend: As you can see, life in medieval Europe was difficult.
b. To consider: Let's see, which suitcase should we take?
3.
a. To go and look: She had to see for herself and went into the garage.
b. To ascertain; find out: We probably can do it, but we'll have to see.
4. To have foresight: "No man can see to the end of time" (John F. Kennedy).
see2
(sē)
n.
1. The official seat, center of authority, jurisdiction, or office of a bishop.
2. Obsolete A cathedra.
Complete definition: www.thefreedictionary.com/see
So, now, what do you think are the differences and the equivalent meaning of the two words, perception and see. Are you beginning to understand how words behave and how our own thinking about them behave?
True and False Cognates
Words are like people, in many ways, either “true friends” or “false friends”.
Be careful with words and your thinking in your first and second language.
Many, many times you will see a word that looks like, or almost looks like, a word you already know in one of your languages. You will immediately think: “It means the same exact thing.” Most of the time, you will be wrong and you won’t understand the word really because you didn’t verify it, so you made a mistake in your communication. This is normal, it happens to everyone. Many times we are just lazy to make sure of the meaning of the two similar-looking words. Just because it looks like words look the same or similar in between two or three languages, make sure, absolutely sure you are correct. You may think it should mean the same thing.
Wrong!
You need to do your homework. Check the meaning of words even if they look like a word in your first language because you may be wrong. Not knowing, for sure, can be dangerous, depending on your circumstance and what you do professionally. Don’t ever assume what a word means, because you may be wrong.
When you are learning a new language, prepare for the situations that you will encounter in life, especially, when you travel to an English-speaking country.
You need to prepare beforehand what vocabulary you will need for a given situation you will find yourself in your new experience.
False cognates are false friends. You may sometimes find true friends in your experience, but, beware, because there are many more false friends than true ones.
BE CAREFUL!
You will surely learn from experience if you say the wrong word at the wrong time in the wrong place. Try to avoid that whenever possible. It won’t always be a bad experience but
it may be embarrassing or shameful, if you are not careful and not paying attention.
Anyway, you will learn one way or another no matter. Experience will always teach you what you need to know.
Example:
Two cognates in Brazilian Portuguese (BR-PT) and American English (US-EN).
pretender (BR-PT) & pretend (US-EN)
Are the above words true cognates or false cognates?
How do you know?
Did you look in the dictionary to make sure or did you accomplish other forms of research?
Resources:
The Trivium Method:
https://www.triviumeducation.com/
The Free Dictionary:
https://thefreedictionary.com
Mark Passio, Natural Law:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIEemKcy-4E
©2019 Farley Leite de Akers | Tutor of English | All Rights Reserved
October 3, 2019
