Mindfulness & Meditation In Language Learning - Impermanence // Polyglot Tips

Meditation has made an incredibly positive impact on my life and I have been enjoying my mindfulness practice so much. I even have books about mindfulness in different languages that I can't wait to finally go through when life calms down a little more 😌🧘🏻‍♂️📚
I don't think I've heard people discussing the power of meditation and mindfulness in language learning, but I think there are some great benefits and intersections to discuss!
This episode contains some reflections on the concept of "impermanence" which is a core theme that has come up over and over again in my meditation practice, and is also a central tenant to Buddhism! I also talk a little bit about how I use the meditation app, Headspace.
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[@TimMcNamara-sh2cg]

This was helpful. This explains why I cant maintain the new language at a high level.

[@artiesolomon3292]

Fascinating and relevant to trends today. Avoiding disappointment of staleness in a language you have left dormant in your learning.

[@nori_tutor]

I like this saying that almost nothing is permanent, it helps us to understand that the fact that we speak well today at our practice, it doesn't mean it'll be the same thing tomorrow, and it's okay!

[@LostDeku]

Really cool to see the videos you make when you have a bit more time now that you have been able to streamline your process. I really think the thought pattern you presented in the video helps me appreciate my current level in the language I'm studying. Keep up the awesome content!

[@stuartkirk231]

Insight Timer is a great app - it's like a database of guided meditations in different languages. I highly recommend!

[@RobinMacPhersonFilms]

Ahh what a great resource!! Thanks for sharing, Stuart! 😄

[@pietroleonardicandidoolive1560]

Very interesting reflection, mate. Like you I'm also an amateur meditator and a language enthusiast. I liked especially when you mentioned the frustration you can get when you arrive at the intermediate plateau and you lose that everything-is-new phase (blame your nucleus accumbens as it produces dopamines). Meditation can in fact help with that frustration and help you see novelties and advances where you could only see a huge, flat learning process. I'm glad I found your channel (thanks to easy german). Thanks for the great videos!

[@aleksandrad7955]

I am surprised that I notice this topic on language learning channel. I start with mindfulness practice recently and there are positive outcome in everyday life.

[@RobinMacPhersonFilms]

Yes I thought that people might find this topic surprising. Was it a nice surprise for you? Or did it feel a little bit out of place? It's very cool to read that you recently started practicing mindfulness and have had a positive experience! 🙂

[@aleksandrad7955]

@@RobinMacPhersonFilms It is good to point out that successful learning is a holistic and complex process. Many things cannot be called language learning but have a great impact on it. Do more videos like this, please!

[@samstone1977]

Cool video. I started using calm to meditate about six months prior to starting to study Spanish. Initially I used Pimsleur for Spanish and so there were a lot of gaps in my vocabulary. Even though I didn’t understand the language I switched calm to Spanish. It was my first experience with just listening. Not knowing the words and being in a meditative state is amazing. I learned cuerpo, and cuando Es listo from meditating in Spanish. As well as comodo, entonces, and several other words and phrases. Now I understand most of the session. I’ve been learning Spanish 2 hours a day for the past 5 months. I will sometimes switch to Portuguese on calm because I kind of like the flow of not knowing.

[@meckiem6686]

I’ve just come across your channel & I love this! Mindfulness & language learning- two of my favourite things... I really like the way you have connected impermanence with language learning- as someone who has managed to learn German to fluency, forget almost everything and is now relearning it I can really identify with this! Thanks Robin!

[@JulieCares]

I loved this! 2 follow-up questions: 1. Can meditation support language learning in the way that sleep can? Can meditating before or after studying language change anything? 2. I sometimes listen to guided meditations in my target languages (mostly from searching on KZbin and podcasts), but a meditation teacher advised against doing this because they said it would take away from the meditation experience. And I think I agree, because my brain is focussing so much on understanding the words, that my nervous system doesn't fully relax in the same way. That being said, I find guided meditations easier to understand than other audio, because it is usually spoken slowly and clearly. So I do like to listen to it, but not for my actual meditation time. What are your thoughts?

[@brnina1]

Wow, I didn't expect it to be so deep :D I thought you are going to talk only about advantages of learning to mediate in a foreign language and a little bit about being more mindful while learning. In terms of apps I can recommend Calm as there are tracks in different languages and the free version is quite useful. I don't have a lot of experience but the idea that after reaching B2 you can't loose your language didn't sound credible (to my intuition). Also, my great-grandmother used to tell a story that during war she could pass as a German when she needed it (in Warsaw, Poland). She said she was fluent. I don't know if to believe it fully but after a couple of decades she could say only some greetings.

[@biricikkiz7]

Yes , I love these topics, I found a meditation on satori reader where you can read and listen at the same time in Japanese. I really liked it.

[@RobinMacPhersonFilms]

Oh that sounds like a great resource! Thanks for sharing Özlem! 😄

[@ikramdjaoud3673]

Thank you kindly, Özlem! C:

[@kirstenkateline]

Thanks, again great food for thought! The logo is just perfect.😄

[@RobinMacPhersonFilms]

Ahh I'm *so glad* you love it 😄❤️

[@marion3590]

Hi Robin! I'm so glad you've tackled this subject of meditation and language learning... As both of them are hobbies for me. I'm working for a French meditation app, called Petit BamBou. We are the leading app in France, and developp our content with local instructors. It can be cool for you to discover this specific culture :-). When downloading the app you'll probably have it in English if your phone settings are other than French, but you can change the language of the meditation directly in the app. The discovery programm is completely free of charge.I hope you'll like it! 😊🙏

[@meirabalderas9193]

You're very admirable

[@samnizzardo5863]

Wow, new intro and new channel header. I love it! I've heard of the Headspace app before, maybe I'll give it a try. Maybe your never-ending positivity will rub off on me lol

[@RobinMacPhersonFilms]

Woohoooo Sam I'm so glad you love the new intro and channel header! I just love love love this process of making lots of little improvements over time and continuously refining things like thumbnail designs, channel art, intro, a LOGO FINALLY, and of course the videos themselves. Ahh so much fun 😄 I do hope that me being an endless fountain of positivity will rub off on you eventually hahah

[@fisfisarenskanal]

I love the theory behind language learning almost as much as learning itself. Very good video with a new perspective! 😄😄(🏃‍♂️📝) Perfect Relearning a language must be a crazy nostalgia trip! Especially if you spoke it well and it's been some time.

[@polyronin]

It's like visiting old friends. 😌👍

[@RobinMacPhersonFilms]

@Johan It is definitely a crazy nostalgia trip! and like @polyronin says, it is very much like visiting an old friend! 😄 It's a rollercoaster of emotions but you know it's going to be wonderful in the end. For me it almost has a feeling as deep as "coming home" after spending longer away than you had planned.

[@minahalfmooon]

The coffee mug logo is glorious.👌

[@RobinMacPhersonFilms]

Ahhhh WOOHOO I'm so glad you like it haha it was SUCH A STRESSFUL coming up with the concept and getting everything made 😂 but I love it ☺️❤️

[@peggytrotman4173]

Love it tho

[@TeacherTanyaMeyer]

Thanks for this, Robin - as a long-term mindfulness practitioner myself, I completely agree that mindfulness and learning are very closely linked: there can be no learning or transformation without awareness! ⭐️

[@michaelewing6522]

Robin, I have a question. Is it okay that I speak a foreign language to another person in a slow to medium pace? Because if I speak at a fast pace, it's too hard for the other person to understand it

[@peggytrotman4173]

intro(no beard) after intro(beard)

[@RobinMacPhersonFilms]

hahah which do you prefer? Beard or no beard?

[@peggytrotman4173]

@@RobinMacPhersonFilms No beard

[@IowaLanguages]

Beard lol

[@abhinavchauhan7864]

The a in the end of the sanskrit words ar silent. So its not pronounced yogAAA its pronounced yog Its not ramAAAA Its ram Its not karmAAA Its karm

[@RobinMacPhersonFilms]

Thank you for sharing your insight on the pronunciation of these terms, Abhinav 🙂 I guess this actually raises a very interesting point about the pronunciation of "foreign words" in another language. For example, in the U.S. or the U.K., if I said to someone "I'm practicing yog", I think they would have no idea what I mean. Or if I tell a British person, "I went to Marseilles" but pronounce it in the native French pronunciation, they probably would have no clue where I went. Not saying your comment is unhelpful or anything like that. It's very helpful to know the proper way to say these words! Just made me think of some very interesting "food for thought" 🙂

[@abhinavchauhan7864]

@@RobinMacPhersonFilms your welcome