My American accent training: the feedback I received today was that I have to work on the [oi] diphthong and my [r] ⬆️
All the exercises I mentioned and the replays of the classes with Alex are in the community of practice (See “The American accent” course)
About negative emotions in learning and the ability to cope.
Let's talk about these in the comments. What's your experience with meta-emotions?
I have been consciously applying metacognitive strategies to learning and teaching foreign languages. Being aware of how you learn and how you cope helps you get unstuck every time you feel stuck in a cycle of the same mistakes, the same anxiety, the same helplessness around building a practice routine and sticking to it.
Self-correction is merely impossible without a developed capacity to cope. Every mistake will trigger a student, and most students were taught to feel shame about their mistakes in early childhood.
We need more daring learners. These are the people who dare to challenge their own expectations of themselves and look at reality. How do I speak today? What mistakes as I making? How do I learn? How soon do I quit? Am I waiting for motivation? Have I been waiting for a little too long? Can I take feedback? What do I usually do with it?
When you know the answers to these questions, you know how to organize your practice.
Successful practice is not about hacks or technology, or supplements for better concentration. It's about developing the ability to self-regulate your inner state and direct your mind, attention, and focus.
Let's talk about these in the comments. What's your experience with meta-emotions?
I have been consciously applying metacognitive strategies to learning and teaching foreign languages. Being aware of how you learn and how you cope helps you get unstuck every time you feel stuck in a cycle of the same mistakes, the same anxiety, the same helplessness around building a practice routine and sticking to it.
Self-correction is merely impossible without a developed capacity to cope. Every mistake will trigger a student, and most students were taught to feel shame about their mistakes in early childhood.
We need more daring learners. These are the people who dare to challenge their own expectations of themselves and look at reality. How do I speak today? What mistakes as I making? How do I learn? How soon do I quit? Am I waiting for motivation? Have I been waiting for a little too long? Can I take feedback? What do I usually do with it?
When you know the answers to these questions, you know how to organize your practice.
Successful practice is not about hacks or technology, or supplements for better concentration. It's about developing the ability to self-regulate your inner state and direct your mind, attention, and focus.
❤2
Find more books in the recent community post. I also posted links to the exercises where I used these books to practice clarity, grammar, brevity, reading, and self-reflection skills.
Have you read any of these?
P.S. The books that I recommend will remind you of the importance of mindful repetition and deep concentration.
There are other books out there that say that repetition is not necessary, that learning can and should be fun, and that restlessness and distraction are the friends of successful learning. This is only (partially) true for learning trivial skills and learning about skills. Once you become good at something and you want to get better, these strategies will fail you.
The books I recommend focus on achieving mastery, going beyond average, and learning to direct your mind.
Community members have access to all of them + exercices and strategies on how to use them in their practice.
Become a member
nataliatokar.me/community
Have you read any of these?
P.S. The books that I recommend will remind you of the importance of mindful repetition and deep concentration.
There are other books out there that say that repetition is not necessary, that learning can and should be fun, and that restlessness and distraction are the friends of successful learning. This is only (partially) true for learning trivial skills and learning about skills. Once you become good at something and you want to get better, these strategies will fail you.
The books I recommend focus on achieving mastery, going beyond average, and learning to direct your mind.
Community members have access to all of them + exercices and strategies on how to use them in their practice.
Become a member
nataliatokar.me/community