A 3-step guide to using neuroscience for greater fluency
“Even without you knowing, you function as yourself. That’s your black box. Outer space aside, that’s truly humanity’s last terra incognita.”
- Haruki Murakami, Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World
Do you ever stop to think about just how incredible your brain is?
When speaking a foreign language, can you even imagine all the complex processes that are happening inside a multilingual brain?
I’ve always been fascinated by the relationship between our brains and our languages, trying to understand what all this theoretical neuroscience and psychology can tell us about learning and language use in practice.
How, for example, do our communication skills differ between a relaxed state and stressed state, happy or sad, energised or tired?
I don’t have all the answers, but below are some practical tips that build on a fundamental belief held by neuroscientists today.
Your brain evolved to keep you alive: To help you conserve energy and keep you safe so that you and your tribe would have the highest possible chances of survival through generation after generation.
At least, this is what we currently believe. Neuroscience - the study of the nervous system, including the brain, gut, heart, and motor and sensory nerve cells all over the body - is in an exciting era. New breakthrough discoveries are happening on a monthly basis. (I know because I read about them every week!)
Many of the discoveries made in the 21st century are putting into question things that we believed to be true in the 20th century. What we thought we knew about the nervous system continues to be proven, disproven, and then readjusted or dispelled.
Though it can be difficult to know the difference between ‘truth’ and ‘myth’, there are a few likely theories that are beginning to emerge about how our systems function. In order to understand these emerging beliefs we need to dispel the myths that remain common in our lives today.
But first, let’s start with one of these likely-to-be-true theories of today. One of the fundamental principles on which the brain operates is reward and punishment. As much as we can, our brains seek to help us maximise reward and minimise punishment.
This is important for helping us to understand language fluency - yes, really.
Because why seek fluency if it’s not rewarding?
Why speak at all if you punish yourself for doing so?
Why would you want to make progress towards a goal that’s inadvertently designed to make you feel bad?
I ask these questions because so often we adults tend to punish ourselves - a lot. All the time. Without even realising it, you may even be punishing yourself as you’re reading this text.
You may hear ‘punishment’ and ‘reward’ and think of how you might train a dog - or the Halloween “trick or treat” tradition - but the brain (as we understand it today) operates under some fairly black-and-white rules: Either something feels good, or if not, then it feels bad. Reward and punishment.
So if we are to believe today’s neuroscientists, here are three action steps to help you put this insight into practice so you can communicate with more ease, learn more effectively, and built healthy learning habits.
Recognise negative self-talk. If your brain seeks to avoid punishment (negative experiences), then your own negative self-judgment will count as a punishment. So your brain will find excuses, intellectualising and making up ‘reasons’ why you shouldn’t repeat that action, because you made your brain feel bad the last time you did it. So recognising when you may be criticising or judging yourself negatively is a start. Example: You make a mistake in a foreign language and that little voice in your head says “Ah, you did it again, you idiot”. Notice when these things are happening.
Then, once you’ve caught yourself ‘in the act’ of self-punishment for an action you actually do want to repeat (such as speaking in a foreign language), you’ll start to become aware of how often this kind of negative self-talk happens. Maybe it’s constant, for others it may be only a few times a week. For most of us, this happens a few times a day. Negative self-talk is normal, but it doesn’t mean we have to believe it’s true. The fact that you keep going despite all that self-punishment is actually pretty impressive, so give yourself a solid pat on the back - maybe a smile if you’re feeling generous.
Now you can begin to practise treating yourself with a little more kindness and positivity. Perhaps every time you catch that critical voice in your head, add in another little voice that says “Well done, keep learning!” This may feel awkward in the beginning, but try a few variations and see what fits. You can exaggerate it if you like (Wow, you’re amazing!) or go for a ‘softer’ alternative (Good job!). If you speak multiple languages, try it in your mother tongue and see if it feels different from another language.
Over time, with practise, this positive self-talk (also known as self-leadership) will start to become a habit: It will become your brain’s natural response to any negative self-judgments. The negative judgments will probably continue to be present, but they’ll hold less power over you because you’re taking greater charge over your conscious mind.
You may find that your biggest challenge was actually psychological and not linguistic. Perhaps that negative self-talk was the thing holding you back from speaking up during meetings, taking on international roles or leadership responsibilities, and honestly, it might make you happier, too.
AUTHOR'S BIO
Hedvig is a language and learning coach on a mission to make language learning almost as normal as breathing. She is the founder of Abundate.org and host of the Abundate Podcast, where she interviews language learners, educators and researchers about the magic, power and beauty of language learning. She also shares her personal reflections on language learning in her newsletter. Learn more about private English Neurolanguage Coaching®.