Updated on January 9, 2024
How meditation can help you learn a language
With the New Year comes renewed motivation to learn a new language. Unfortunately, a New Year doesn’t mean all the things that kept you from reaching your previous language learning goals just disappear.
Whether you’ve had trouble learning a language in the past or you’ve decided to learn a new language and don’t know how to focus on your new goal, one of the best ways to start is by changing your mindset.
In short, the way you feel about your ability to learn a new language can change the way you approach your goals for the upcoming year. When you begin adding a bit of meditation to your routine, you can more directly work on the way you feel about your language learning anxieties and goals.
Maybe you’ve heard about all the benefits of meditation or you’ve tried it before. Still, you might be wondering how it’s supposed to help you learn a language.
Though you can certainly try listening to a guided meditation in your target language, the most important thing meditation can do for you is:
How many times a day do you think about things on your to-do list, work, household tasks you need to get done, etc.?
If you’re like most people, you probably think about these things a lot more than you realize. If you’re not careful, worrying about how you’ll get through all the things you need to do can greatly affect your stress levels.
Setting aside time to meditate allows you to forget about your long list of chores for a moment. Try to meditate for at least 5 minutes each day and use this time to think only of the present moment. You might be surprised at how effective it is at relieving stress.
Once you begin learning how to focus on the present moment, meditation can also become a great tool to manage your fears and anxieties about learning a language.
Many language learners have been afraid of looking silly in front of native speakers or of making a mistake while speaking. Meditation can help you learn to ignore the negative thoughts that make you feel insecure about your abilities. It also teaches you ways to focus on simply breathing when you feel especially anxious.
As you allow yourself more time to meditate each day, you’ll also find that it’s a great way to begin focusing on yourself and what matters to you. For instance, maybe you’ll learn that you feel better on days where you spend more time outside or with certain friends.
You can also use this to find out what makes you happy about learning a language or what steps you might need to take next. You might decide to incorporate more fun activities into your study time, like learning song lyrics, or find that you want to get more speaking practice.
You may have heard the word “manifest” before, but what does it mean to manifest your goals?
Manifesting is all about thinking positively. When you “manifest” the things that you want, you believe that they will happen, which means you’re more likely to act accordingly.
When it comes to language learning, meditation can help you manifest your goal of speaking without being afraid or studying at a certain time every day. By doing this, you’re more likely to truly believe in your own abilities and success.
Your language learning goals can be achieved and you don’t need to meditate for long periods to start seeing results. Start off by simply closing your eyes, breathing deeply, and focusing on your goals for a few minutes every day. Then, see how you feel afterwards.
If you would like to put these tips into practise and learn a new language this year, visit the Lingoda website and sign up for your free 7 day trial with our native speaking teachers. You can choose to learn English, German, Spanish or French.
