Obstacles to learning a language #1: Procrastination.

Definition of procrastination

noun

• the action of delaying or postponing something:your first tip is to avoid procrastination

Phrases

procrastination is the thief of time

proverb if you delay doing something, it will take longer to do later on:maybe TV and procrastination really are the thieves of time

Ah, procrastination... I thought it was an excellent topic to post about because there has been a lot of it going on in my life recently. I have a suspicion that perhaps procrastination gets even worse in Autumn. The weather gets cooler, the trees start to die, the days are shorter, and it is easy to feel lethargic.

One of the things that unfortunately has been affected by this lethargy is (in case you hadn't noticed) this blog. So, it is my new goal to make a new post every Monday. I am going to post about all kinds of subjects related to learning English and there will be links for you to dictionary definitions of more advanced vocabulary throughout. (Just like that!).

So, I suppose the big, important question is "How do I stop procrastinating?" Good question. I found this article online that includes 7 tips for stopping procrastination. They are as follows:

1. Stop thinking, start doing.

2. Don't blow a task out of proportion.

3. Just take the first step.

4. Start with the hardest task of your day.

5. Just make a decision. Any decision.

6. Face your fear.

7. Finish it.

What do you think? Easier said than done. What works for me is to tell myself "Just do it like a Band-aid.": If you pull a Band-aid off slowly, it is really painful, but if you do it quickly, the pain is over fast and you can feel relief much sooner. So, whenever you find yourself procrastinating, remember the Band-aid.

Let me introduce myself...

Blessed to be depressed

Question: What do Abraham Lincoln and I have in common? We have both suffered from depression. Yes, depression - that scary word that most people feel uncomfortable talking about. Well, I have decided to talk about it.

In my opinion, depression is a blessing and a curse. It can make even the simplest everyday activity seem impossible. Doing the dishes often feels as overwhelming as eating an elephant! But, as the saying goes - "How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time!".

It's this kind of philosophical thinking that has made me develop some appreciation for my depression. I have learned so much more about myself, others and life in general because I have been depressed. I have read many books and watched many documentaries that I would never have noticed if I hadn't been depressed. Yes, some days are really, really hard, but some days are just magical and full of wonder because I can accept myself more and more as I heal.

 It has also made me a better teacher and person in general. After feeling so isolated, I now feel much more connected to my community. I am kinder. I get scared about the silliest things, like putting up a poster on a noticeboard, but I have no problem performing on stage in front of thousands of people! And yes, I can now laugh at myself about these things.

 Finally, I feel most blessed to be depressed because it made me realise that I really wanted to run my own teaching business. It's the biggest challenge that I could have taken on at this time in my life, but I am really enjoying it. I can feel it healing me more and more each day. I feel a bit like the blue butterfly in our logo - except I'm still stuck in the cocoon! However, I have a feeling that one day soon I will be ready to soar.

Why your business should be modeled after Abraham Lincoln's life

I'm still here!

You may have noticed that it has been a little while since my last post. What can I say, I'm new to this blogging thing! Well, actually, I have been working really hard on writing some crazy English songs. Yes, I think it is really important to read as much as you can in the language you want to learn, but I think that learning through song is even better. You can listen to the song, read the subtitles, sing along at home, improve your vocabulary and pronunciation, and have fun. I promise to make all of my videos as entertaining as possible! Unfortunately, writing, recording, and filming a song takes a lot longer than writing a blog. I hope to get the first one finished soon, promise! Watch this space!

The Olympics are here!

I love watching the Olympics. I love watching people reaching their goals and living their dreams. It is an amazing feat to get to the Olympics, let alone win a medal. I also love those special moments when athletes from opposing countries leave their political rivalries behind and can genuinely congratulate each other. That is true sportsmanship.

At the 2012 Olympics in London, I am really excited to watch the American swimmer, Michael Phelps, try to become the athlete with the most ever medals won. I am also looking forward to seeing Usain Bolt, the Jamaican sprinter, try to defend his Olympic titles and break the world record yet again.

I like being able to watch all kinds of sports that we don't usually see on T.V. Some of my favorites are synchronized swimming, gymnastics, and weightlifting. These sports look so difficult to me that the athletes almost seem superhuman. However, there is one sport that I would love to see in the next Olympics. It's called sepak takraw and it looks awesome! Check out this video:

Sepak Takraw

What is your favorite Olympic sport?

My language-learning journey.

Hi! I'm Lynda. Welcome to my new blog! I'm super excited to share my first post with you. It's all about my personal language-learning journey.

I can speak 3 languages - English (fluently); French (reasonably); and Japanese (badly!). I was born in New Zealand where there are 2 official languages - English and Maori. What is Maori? Good question! It is the native language of New Zealand. It sounds a lot like other Polynesian languages like Tongan, Hawaiian, Fijian etc. New Zealand is a VERY English country. Unfortunately, very few people actually speak Maori now. It is a beautiful language, but it is slowly disappearing. New Zealand children learn a little bit of Maori at school, but not very much. I can count to 10, say hello, and sing the national anthem in Maori, but that's about it. So, I grew up as a native English speaker.

When I was 7 years old, I started taking singing and drama lessons. I had to learn how to speak English very clearly. My speaking was so clear that I sounded like a newsreader on T.V. Other New Zealanders would even ask if I was British! I also had to sing in many foreign languages: Italian; German; Latin; French; and Maori. I feel very lucky to have had this experience because it really helped me to develop very good pronunciation skills. Unfortunately, it made me quite a perfectionist because I had to pronounce all the sounds perfectly.

I moved to Japan in 2006 and worked as an English teacher in a private language school. It was a wonderful experience. This is where I really fell in love with teaching English. However, I had difficulty learning Japanese - I had very good pronunciation skills because of my experience with singing in foreign languages and this made people expect that my knowledge of Japanese was also very good. But it wasn't good at all and I soon developed an anxiety to speak out.

To complicate things further, I decided to study French while I lived in Japan, not Japanese. My boyfriend (now husband) is from Montreal and is perfectly bilingual, so there was more of a reason to learn French than Japanese because we planned on moving to Quebec in the future. Now we live in Montreal and, even though my French is not that bad, I still have a lot of anxiety to speak out. I HATE making mistakes even though I know that they are important for my learning. It really helps me as a teacher to understand how frustrating learning English can be at times and be really supportive of my students.

So, this is my language-learning journey so far. What's yours?