In order to learn a language, you have to work on speaking, reading, writing and listening. Many people know that you need to practice all of them. However, did you know that you also need to practice self-awareness? Self-awareness is crucial to learn a language because it helps you identify your strengths, set realistic goals and learn at the right pace. It’s a good idea to think about your own skillset and circumstances.
What is self-awareness?
Self-awareness is the concept of knowing one’s own character, feelings, motives and desires. It sounds easy, right? It can actually be pretty challenging! Sometimes, we don’t even know what we don’t know. Additionally, many people tend to downplay what they’re good at, and might not fully embrace their own abilities. The key here is that it’s the ability to consciously focus on yourself and your thoughts and actions.
It sounds simple, but it isn’t always easy!
Society has certain standards that we subconsciously (or consciously) feel like we have to live up to. These are expectations for our communities and the world around us. However, we also create our own internal expectations of ourselves that others don’t necessarily have for us. These can make it hard to assess ourselves without any sort of bias.
Know your own strengths and weaknesses to learn a language
If you haven’t thought about them in a while, it’s a good idea to write down all of your strengths and opportunities for growth. Visually seeing all of the things you do well can help you feel more confident about yourself when you’re starting to feel down. It also helps hold yourself accountable for all of the ways you want to improve.
To learn a language, you need to have patience with yourself. If you know that you struggle with spelling in English, spelling in Spanish might be tricky too! Just because it might be easier for others doesn’t mean learning a language isn’t for you. On the contrary, it just means you’ll have to approach it differently or practice it more. By having self-awareness, you can personalize your own education so you can focus on what you need to and move quicker in areas that you understand better.