Episode 78: Affirmations for Language Learners
08/19/24 • 11 min
Affirmations, or statements that affirm positive beliefs to you about you, are an excellent way to build yourself up. I use affirmations in many areas of my life, both general and specific, inlcuding language learning. They help remind me of my truth and keep me aligned with my morals and identity. Affirmations aren't about lying to ourselves or trying to fake it 'til we make it. They're about affirming true statements that we believe, at our core, so that we don't forget who we are, and that help us act in accordance with our true selves.
Today's episode is full of meditative affirmations geared toward language learners. Have you ever considered what you believe about yourself as a language learner? Especially when things are stressful, and we feel like we're failing, we start to believe things that aren't true. We start to believe that we can't learn a language, that we're failures, that we're lazy, and so much more. These negative thoughts, while they feel true in the moment, aren't our real truths. Affirmations help keep us grounded in who we really are and in what we're really capable of. They pull us out of the negative spiral more quickly and remind us that negative moments don't define us.
I hope you enjoy today's episode and are able to find many affirmations that you know are true to you. Take what you know to be true, what you really believe, and let that be a foundation of truth that you can tell yourself always, especially when you start feeling out of alignment with who you know yourself to be. Write out more affirmations that you know are true, and don't forget to be kind to yourself.
If you want to read more about affirmations, here are a few sites to get you started:
Using Affirmations, from Mind Tools
Positive Affirmations: Too Good to Be True? by Crystal Raypole
Affirmations: The Why, What, How, and What If? by Kathryn Lively, PhD
Where to find me:
Love, Joy, and Languages Blog
All podcast episodes can be found at http://www.lovejoyandlanguagespodcast.com/.
Instagram: @love.joyandlanguages
Affirmations, or statements that affirm positive beliefs to you about you, are an excellent way to build yourself up. I use affirmations in many areas of my life, both general and specific, inlcuding language learning. They help remind me of my truth and keep me aligned with my morals and identity. Affirmations aren't about lying to ourselves or trying to fake it 'til we make it. They're about affirming true statements that we believe, at our core, so that we don't forget who we are, and that help us act in accordance with our true selves.
Today's episode is full of meditative affirmations geared toward language learners. Have you ever considered what you believe about yourself as a language learner? Especially when things are stressful, and we feel like we're failing, we start to believe things that aren't true. We start to believe that we can't learn a language, that we're failures, that we're lazy, and so much more. These negative thoughts, while they feel true in the moment, aren't our real truths. Affirmations help keep us grounded in who we really are and in what we're really capable of. They pull us out of the negative spiral more quickly and remind us that negative moments don't define us.
I hope you enjoy today's episode and are able to find many affirmations that you know are true to you. Take what you know to be true, what you really believe, and let that be a foundation of truth that you can tell yourself always, especially when you start feeling out of alignment with who you know yourself to be. Write out more affirmations that you know are true, and don't forget to be kind to yourself.
If you want to read more about affirmations, here are a few sites to get you started:
Using Affirmations, from Mind Tools
Positive Affirmations: Too Good to Be True? by Crystal Raypole
Affirmations: The Why, What, How, and What If? by Kathryn Lively, PhD
Where to find me:
Love, Joy, and Languages Blog
All podcast episodes can be found at http://www.lovejoyandlanguagespodcast.com/.
Instagram: @love.joyandlanguages
Previous Episode
Episode 77: Extensive Reading for Effective Language Learning
In today's episode I talk about extensive reading for effective language learning. Like I said in last week's episode, extensive input can be an excellent part of any language journey, but it can also go wrong. I feel very lucky that I didn't give up when it went very wrong for me. During my year-long project to boost my Italian to B2, extensive reading was one of my main (and favorite!) methods. Today I share a bit of my language journey and the early struggles I had trying to read in Italian, and then I share exactly what I did to make this method work for me in improving my language throughout the intermediate levels. I talk about all the reading sources I used, and also the ways in which I saw my Italian language improve.
Language learning can be a very long journey, and it can feel like we're never going to get where we want to be. So it's very exciting and motivating to be able to look back and see exactly how my language has improved and what worked to get me there. I hope to inspire you all, as well, not just to read more (though that's always something I hope to inspire), but also to keep going. Find what brings you joy in languages, stick with what's working for you, and take note of all the ways your language journey is improving. I guarantee it really is improving.
Other content mentioned in this episode:
E76: Good Advice Gone Wrong: Input, Input, Input: http://www.lovejoyandlanguagespodcast.com/
E67: Let's Talk About Flashcards: http://www.lovejoyandlanguagespodcast.com/episode-67
Profondo Come il Mare, Leggero Come il Cielo, by Gianluca Gotto
List of International websites for National Geographic here
Simple Italian Podcast, by Simone Pols
Vaporetto Italiano Podcast, by Francesco Cositore
Stivale Italiano, by Alessandro and Carolina
iTalki, where I find language teachers and tutors (this is my Refer a Friend link)
Italian CILS B2 Exam Prep Book I used: Traguardo CILS B2
Where to find me:
Love, Joy, and Languages Blog
All podcast episodes can be found at http://www.lovejoyandlanguagespodcast.com/.
Instagram: @love.joyandlanguages
Next Episode
Episode 79: A Joyful Chat with a Special Guest Co-Host
I invited a very special language learning and language loving friend to co-host this episode with me and chat all about the joys of language learning. This is a very familiar voice in the language learning community, and it's such a pleasure to have Kerstin Cable of Fluent Language and The Fluent Show on Love, Joy, and Languages! We had an absolute blast talking about loving languages and finding joy in learning them. This chat is extra special for me because I don't think this show would exist without Kerstin and her Podcasting 101 course. Big thanks to Kerstin for putting so much goodness out into the world!
In today's episode, Kersin and I talk about celebrating our language achievements, the value of self-work and appreciating your own personal journey, language exams and the excitement of the process, lots of German language, the link between language and culture, Kerstin teaches me a bit Welsh (you'll see why this language can easily become an obsession!), and Kerstin shares some of her favorite language things and people.
Learning a language is a long road, and there are so many challenges along the way, but something that keeps us in the language learning world is all the joy we find in the process and the community. I hope you enjoy listening in to my chat with Kerstin, and I hope it reminds you of all the exciting things you find in your own language life.
The Fluent Show episodes mentioned in this episode:
Words of the Year 2023
The Farewell Episode: The Joy of Finishing Good Things
I'm Not Dead Yet, So I'd Like to Keep Learning: Interview with German Learner Randy
Reviews of the Year with Shannon Kennedy: 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018
Marc Okrand on Creating the Klingon Language
Interview with Language Creator David Peterson (Game of Thrones, Dune, The 100, Doctor Strange)
Good bye Chemistry, hello Linguistics! with Sarah F. Philips
Other content mentioned in this episode:
German Uncovered (Beginner) by Olly Richards
Lindsay Williams of Lindsay Does Languages
Episode 59: A Joyful Chat with a Special Guest Co-Host, Love, Joy, and Languages with Lindsay Williams (http://www.lovejoyandlanguagespodcast.com/episode-59)
Shannon Kennedy at Eurolinguiste
Emily Richardson of The Langauge Confidence Project and Tea with Emily
Yabla Language Immersion
Language Habit System, by Kerstin Cable
AI Language Club, with Kerstin Cable & Josh Goldsmith
Kerstin can be found at:
For language learning: Fluent Language Blog, Podcast & Language Tuition
For business: Kerstin Cable
Kerstin's Podcast: The Fluent Show
Instagram: @kerstin_fluent
X (Twitter): @fluentlanguage
Where to find me:
Love, Joy, and Languages Blog
All podcast episodes can be found at http://www.lovejoyandlanguagespodcast.com/.
Instagram: @love.joyandlanguages
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