Discoveries in learning a new language (Part Three)

As I still was a very young man, one of the extra elements that helped me a lot in learning conversation English and also German was the frequent use of alcohol as a means to "untie my tongue" and let me do something similar to improvising. 

Today, I’d like to adopt a far less invasive and non-toxic alternative to drugs or alcohol in reaching a point of maximum relaxation and fearlessness, that could allow words and sentences to flow much more freely and naturally from their subconscious sources (for example from my daily lessons, the book I read or the podcasts I listen to in Spanish)?

Undeniably, the use of alcoholic beverages was something at times part of my youthful past and early experiences. While it probably didn't give me any linguistic knowledge, alcohol temporarily lowered the internal censor that was preventing me from accessing the knowledge I already accumulated. 

That distinction is important. Research consistently finds that anxiety is associated with poorer foreign language performance. I read about one analysis on the subject covering more than 10,000 learners that found a moderate negative relationship. The remaining question in front of us is, can we reproduce the “untied tongue” effect without having to use enablers like alcohol? 

I would hope so and think it’s quite possible, as my existing meditation practice could provide me with an unusually good starting point. Let’s call it a "Spanish disinhibition routine!" The objective would not be to become maximally relaxed in the sense of sleepy or passive, but probably to get to something more subtle, like relaxed attention, much reduced self-monitoring and full permission to improvise. 

In other words, we would want our conscious mind to stop constantly asking “Is that the right tense? Is that the right word? Am I making a mistake?” and allow the material accumulated through our reading and listening to emerge and freely pour through the conversation! 

In the next blog, we see how we can devise a method to do just that...