20/09/2021
Do you know someone who has started to learn a new skill? Maybe it was rock-climbing, or calligraphy or even learning a second language such as English. They try very hard to learn it as quickly as possible, and then, after 3 months, 6 months, they suddenly stop. Or they start, they have lessons or trainings, but they don’t do anything to improve between the lessons. Was this person you? Is there a method that works for you?
There are 3 mentalities people follow when they are starting a new skill, or trying to improve an existing one. Soon, you may notice, that creating pretty Powerpoints is not a skill I have:
Chart 1 shows the former. I’m going to use learning English as an example to explain my point. The little stars are meetings with the teacher/trainer, because, well, teacher/trainers are little stars. The student tries everything, learns all they can about English, practices all day, every day, putting everything they have into learning the language. The teacher is amazed! The student improves at a phenomenal rate and then, suddenly, everything stops. They are bored with English, they can’t see any improvement, so what’s the point. And they stop. They start to hate English. And they get worse and worse and hide from the language. I have seen this happen frequently with schoolchildren, and the effects are evident with many adults.
As a teacher, I find the second chart frustrating. The student has a lesson, and improves slightly during the lesson, so the teacher gives the student a little bit of homework…Talk to the cat in English for 5 minutes, twice a day, for example. The next week, the student returns with excuses why they did not do the homework – “I didn’t have time”, “I had meetings at work”, “The cat doesn’t like me when I speak English”. The lesson continues, the student improves slightly. The same homework is given and, in the next lesson, the same excuses are given. With just 1 hour of practice once a week, the learner/trainee will not improve, they are more likely to get worse! As an English as a foreign language teacher, I meet this type of learner far too often. It carries on, lessons are cancelled more and more frequently, and it ends up being a waste of resources for everyone.
Chart 3 is my favourite chart and it applies to physical training as well as mental work. The person has a lesson, improves slightly, then goes home and practices a little bit, once a day for a few minutes or more. This really helps the brain, or the muscles, remember what they have been taught. And the learner/trainee improves – not dramatically, but there is a gradual improvement, and confidence gradually grows.
When I was younger, I used to play basketball. I thought that the most important shot, for me, was the free throw. So, as a warm-up for training, I would practice them for 10 minutes. This meant, in competitive games, I had the skill and the confidence to score most of my free throws which was sometimes the difference between a win and a loss. Especially for all the English learners out there, don’t study too much, but study as much as is needed.
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