How can you use your emotions for English success?
In today’s episode, Lindsay’s guest is Bree Aesie, host of the Into the Story podcast.
She gives us three ways we can use our own insight into our minds and emotions.
This will help us be set up for success when it comes to learning English and human connection.
Bree Aesie
Lindsay introduces today’s guest, Bree Aesie.
Bree Aesie is the co-founder of AC English School in Barcelona where she uses her psychology background to help students reach fluency.
She also hosts the podcast Into the Story, where listeners learn English through inspiring true stories.
Lindsay finds the format of Bree’s show extremely interesting.
Bree loves listening to stories all around the world.
In today’s episode, Lindsay and Bree talk about how you can harness the power of your emotions.
This will help you learn English faster and more effectively.
A psychologist’s journey
Lindsay asks Bree what interested her in becoming a psychologist.
Bree shares that it started with her interest in people.
She is fascinated by how the mind works and this is what made her study psychology at university.
Lindsay also has an undergraduate degree in psychology.
She shares that psychology expands into many areas.
Recently there has been a shift toward being open about mental health and emotions.
Generally, people are increasingly more aware and mindful of emotions and feelings.
Emotions and language learning
Being aware of emotions helps us make better connections and create strong relationships in different cultures.
Bree mentions that emotions affect everything.
The way each person experiences the world is unique because we all have different feelings.
Being emotional doesn’t necessarily mean being overly sad or angry.
Bree shares that harnessing her emotions helped her in her own Spanish language learning journey.
She shares three ways to use your emotions to improve your language skills.
#1: Stop trying so hard
Learning a language requires effort and time.
Once you start learning, just stop trying so hard.
Bree recommends you approach learning a language like a child.
Let curiosity run free instead of putting pressure on yourself.
Get out of your head and get into the mindset of being curious.
Often, a person comes to English learning with a clenched mind.
Many think that memorization is the way to go when learning a language.
However, Bree advises to approach this with planning and strategy.
Lean toward the positive emotion of curiosity so you are motivated and enthusiastic.
#2: Find what feels good
Find a place that gives you good vibes.
This can be very personal to you.
Bree shares that her personal preference when learning Spanish was listening to telenovelas, which are Spanish soap operas.
Her trainer at that time was learning Japanese.
For him, making lists helped him learn the Japanese language.
So it’s different for each person.
You must find what you enjoy and what helps you engage with learning.
If you feel good about what you do, you will create a habit loop that will help you with your language learning.
#3: Be okay with being uncomfortable
It can be challenging to learn a new language.
You must get comfortable with being uncomfortable.
Jump in and communicate and do your best to connect.
Don’t evaluate your success according to what other people think.
No one really cares when you make grammar mistakes.
What’s important is making the connection.
The human brain and emotions
Our brain is the control center of our emotions.
We feel our emotions in our body.
We often point to our heart because we feel something in our chest when we’re emotional.
This is because our brain controls our heart rate.
The primitive brain controls emotions and our instinctive behavior.
We are controlled by our emotions all day.
The prefrontal cortex is the part of our brain that is just behind our forehead.
Bree shares she recently went to a museum with her kids and found that through the years the brain has grown in size.
This indicates we are smarter than our ancestors.
We are better at making decisions, which has helped us advance for millions of years.
Takeaway
The human race has developed emotionally as time has passed.
Don’t get overwhelmed with your emotions when learning a new language.
Focus on making connections and creating more diverse relationships.
Bree has loved telling stories across different cultures.
Check out her podcast Into the Story and listen to real life stories of people around the world.
What makes you overwhelmed when learning English?
Share it in the comments below.
Bree’s bio
Bree Aesie is the co-founder of AC English School in Barcelona where she uses her psychology background to help students reach fluency. Bree also hosts the podcast Into the Story, where listeners learn English through inspiring true stories.
