Words

[Guest guest]

Once a child reaches a certain age...it is common for the "parent" to try and

teach the child the concept of..."think before you speak.".....and no matter

the intention of that attempted lesson...it is the beginning of the

"analytical mind."...stifling spontaneity and creativity....And then there is

the punishment for "saying something wrong"....without any explanation to the

child as to what transpired...so little by little the child becomes leery of

speaking...

 

Every day is a learning experience for me now....I began taking a spanish

class at a local college....and the teacher is from Latin America...Her

method of teaching is complete submersion into the language...so she speaks

to us in spanish and is requiring us to answer her in spanish...no matter how

limited our vocabulary is...She has realized, and has stated that, too many

language teachers instruct from the focal point of translation.... She said

that when the brain tries to translate from english to spanish...too much

analysis gets in the way..which takes away from the birth of fluency.....and

she continued to say that...adult minds want to analyze everything....so

rather than focus on that method...she focuses on submersion so that speaking

spanish can become automatic...without the delay of translation....There is a

lot of wisdom which this instructor speaks...

 

While in the class, I noticed that there is another reason for the delays,

while responding to her questions...and that is...a fear of being wrong with

the answer....Whoa....huge thing for me to see...I was sitting

there...aand....Wow...there is the little child who was made to be afraid of

being wrong....A magnificent moment for me...and once I realized this...my

body relaxed...and my responses became more spontaneous...There is so much to

be learned from living...

 

Norma