Thoughts on Adding a Spiritual Component to Language Studies

Language Learning is obviously an intellectual task and thus a form of mental exercise, but if we can add supplementary physical and/or spiritual components to the endeavor, we can make it a more holistic enterprise that is more likely to endure the dark night of intermediate plateaus. In this video, I discuss the study of sacred or scriptural languages, various kinds of attitudes one can adopt to keep the mystery of language alive in one's soul, and a number of exercises, such as thinking without words, that can keep your spirit attuned to that mystery.
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[@ProfASAr]

If you enjoy learning from my videos, then you might enjoy learning with me in my virtual academy. Registration is ongoing, so you could join a session next week to improve your abilities to read French, German, or Spanish literature, practice spoken Latin, learn to read Medieval languages, participate in Great Books discussion seminars, or get support for teaching yourself languages, including participation in study-with-me sessions: www.alexanderarguelles.com/academy/

[@joelpettit25]

I also have been very attracted to Benedictine monasticism but discerned that being married is certainly for me. I'm only now becoming aware of my potential at language acquisition thanks in no small part to your instruction, but now in my early 40s!. Using your advice in part when using Assimil is what gave me my introduction to French and now I am going to try hard to acquire Latin and Russian. Hopefully, I will stick to it! Thank you so much.

[@ProfASAr]

You are so very welcome. Best of success in your studies.

[@Lexie810-b5r]

I loved this video, as a person who believes in God, I have found that learning languages has definitely in a strange way fed me spiritually because it is such a positive, life affirming activity that has taught me respect for the cultures and peoples of the world who were before just enigmatic strangers. And of course, all the various people and their cultures are for someone like me a reflection of God's glory, goodness and power of creation. I personally totally understand the point you are making here, I also think there are many spiritual growth possibilities that language learning can offer, whether it just be more access to spiritual books at the very least, it is such a wonderful enriching pursuit which I have no doubt God approves of 😉😉... we could be doing many worse things with our time, languages help us draw closer to our fellow man 🙏🙏💛💛

[@ProfASAr]

Thank you very much for your detailed words of appreciation. I am glad you found this video enriching and hope that it helps you in your studies.

[@jankoszuta9835]

I have been thinking along these lines for a while and thank you so much for the extra impetus of your words

[@ProfASAr]

You are so welcome, Jan, and I hope they serve you well.

[@Agustin-oi7dy]

The (let's say) spiritual feeling, comes to me while reading the poetry of San Juan de la Cruz, and also Fray Luis de León (Exposición del Libro de Job, specially). I think that complementing study with spirituality is simply necessary (so as complementing life with it). Of course not only through a religious dimension; sometimes, Literature itself (or the momentum to learn languages) seems to give that powerful, inexplicable certainty. Some way of faith. Thank you, as always; your lectures are quite an inspiration.

[@ProfASAr]

You are very welcome. It is gratifying to hear that you find me inspirational.

[@mateusnardo8]

I see that going after the origin of alphabets (specially the 22 letter ones) will eventually become a spiritual journey. You'll quickly get into hermeticism, kabbalah (the many versions of it), etc. Great video, thanks!

[@ProfASAr]

You are very welcome!

[@michelgolabaigne595]

Thank you, Alexander, for your thoughts on spiritualizing language learning. We must not allow ourselves to become more and more infantile and deal with insignificant things... The risk of remaining at the level of kindergarten in language learning is very great. That's why I find the idea of thinking without words particularly interesting..., because we don't need words for that... :).

[@ProfASAr]

Thank you for your kind words of appreciation.

[@michelgolabaigne595]

@@ProfASAr Thank you for answer.

[@j.burgess4459]

Hm, I cannot help thinking of Paul's first letter to the Corinthians: "Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing." More succinctly: Gotta keep the LOVE, man! 🙂

[@ProfASAr]

Thanks for commenting, though I am not sure what your point is: are you saying that I am not doing this?

[@j.burgess4459]

@@ProfASAr Oh dear, I think you may have misunderstood me😞I was making no observation or inference at all about your good self. I am inclined to to think that language learning (or learning in general) is a good and a positive thing. But when we talk about _spirituality,_ well, I think that is perhaps something entirely separate. A person might be very learned, might know Latin and Ancient Greek, and many other languages - and yet be spiritually poor if he or she has no love to his/her fellow man. But again, I wish to emphasise that I am not _by any means_ referring to YOU. Rather this is a completely general point.

[@oswaldocaminos8431]

I think he is trying to relate both areas, showing the way spirituality could facilitate the process of learning languages and the growing of the self.

[@FedericoCalace]

I will put it bluntly, learning a language is like to be born into another existence. Thanks to this video, I will try to learn as many languages as I can. Thanks a lot Mr. Alexander. Estoy tratando de seguir algunos cursos en Duolingo, pero quiero tener la paciencia para usar el libro Teach Yourself Babylonian, se me da bien traducir, pero a veces me falta constancia. ¿Qué me puedes recomendar?

[@-whackd]

I'm learning Punjabi through the mystical poetry in the Guru Granth Sahib

[@jankoszuta9835]

That's fantastic. I'm inspired to do that too! Can we swap contact details?

[@ProfASAr]

Another wonderful example, thank you for providing it.

[@elftower907]

the mystery of words.. nailed it

[@ProfASAr]

Indeed!

[@billybudd8225]

I'm a hardcore materialist and an agnostic, but for as long as I've been serious about learning languages I've always seen it as a deeply spiritual activity, I don't understand it myself but as a practice it imposed itself to me as a religious ritual and I like it that way

[@ProfASAr]

Thank you for sharing your experience.

[@heidiloesti3267]

I like your idea of trying to balance thinking, movement and spirituality. So far I tried to do the same more or less, but just within my life, not within language learning. Language learning was the intellectual part of my life, and I tried not to neglect sports and spiritual life either. But you are right, language learning itself could contain all three aspects. Whatever you do, if you do it with all your heart, it can become spiritual, even washing the dishes. You really enjoy the feeling of the water, you enjoy how the dishes get clean, and cleaning the dishes may be a symbol for the purification of yourself. Language learning could be done in the same way, as a symbol for becoming more patient, more tolerant, more understanding. What is the purpose of life? According to me it is becoming the best possible version of myself. Making good use of the gifts I received with my birth. Surely one of these gifts is my interest in language learning. So fulfilling this gift is a very spiritual activity. We love learning languages. While studying, we could feel gratitude that we have the time and opportunity to learn languages. Feeling gratitude again is something spiritual. So I agree with you, it is a good idea to bring spirituality into language learning, and there are many ways to do so.

[@ProfASAr]

Hello Heidi and thank you so much for sharing your kindhearted reflections on the value of adding this spiritual aspect to the language learning process. I wish you all the best on your journey!

[@cito2820]

fantastic video alexander!

[@ProfASAr]

Thank you very much! I hope you find application for it in your studies.

[@ignacioschulz8182]

Mr Arguelles, what book do you recommend to learn Eclesiastical Latin? I understand that is not the same as the classcial one. Love your videos!

[@janusroland]

The language is the same, it's just the pronunciation that makes it "ecclesiastical/italian" vs "classical"

[@ProfASAr]

Latin by the Natural Method by Fr. William Most.

[@ignacioschulz8182]

@@ProfASAr Thank you.

[@tmhc72_gtg22c]

Thank you for this video, which has a lot of great insights about language learning. (To me, trying to make the sounds in another language is a physical component of language learning.)

[@ProfASAr]

Glad it was helpful!

[@kathleenkrause4800]

Very helpful video. I am trying to be more disciplined in my language studies but to also add quality time devoted to my faith.I think of the ordained religious praying each hour. I have found the book The Intellectual Life by A.G. Sertillanges very enlightening. He wrote it in French and there is an English translation. He was a Catholic but there is a great deal to glean in this book for other faiths.

[@ProfASAr]

Thank you for recommending Sertillanges' book - it is a timeless classic - for those who can read French, here is a link to the original: archive.org/details/lavieintellectue00sert/mode/2up If you would like to pray the hours, you can do that as well using this site: divinumofficium.com/ Best of success to you in your endeavors.

[@kathleenkrause4800]

Thank you very much

[@CosmicAnew]

Interested in using the silvia method to learn a language. Hypnosis could probably teach people languages faster

[@ProfASAr]

Thanks for commenting with your suggestions.

[@olegcherkasky2755]

I've found that religious literature is the most interesting to read. I have a Hebrew Bible and various Jewish books written in the middle ages in Hebrew and Judeo-Aramaic. There's also more recent books from the early 1900s written by Chassidic Rabbis in Yiddish. Jewish literature is fairly linguistically diverse. A friend of mine that recently converted said that her conversion process began with a book from a German Rabbi, written in her native German.

[@ProfASAr]

Thank you for the interesting comment. Judaism is one of my weakest areas so it is good to learn of these things.

[@JC-oo1iu]

@@ProfASAr Professor, if I recall, you studied Hebrew quite intensively for a brief period a few years back, but felt no affinity for it. May I ask what the reason was? I've experienced this myself with a number of languages over the years, and always for different reasons.

[@ProfASAr]

@@JC-oo1iu Honestly, languages are just like people. Some you hit it of with straight away, and some you just don't get along with.

[@oswaldocaminos8431]

​​@@ProfASArExactly: in fact that happen to me too, particularly with Hebrew, perhaps for his particular structure. Greetings from the underground.

[@caracotsios]

Professor, This makes me think that I would really enjoy if there were a genre category for your Great Books lists. Spiritual would be an amazing category.. I read a lot of Russian and know there is a wealth of mystic literature, yet I find it harder to find these more obscure authors that are worth my time on my own.

[@ProfASAr]

Request duly noted!

[@ahnafhabib2750]

Great work as always Professor! What does one aim for "Quantitatively" (maybe not the right word) for these "Silence Intervals"? Or does one try and reach certain goals (example: describe what the trees in front look like in 2-3 sentences) rather than making this a time-focused activity? If so, how do we catalogue progression? Also, how does one best incorporate such an Interval in a daily regimen if one lives in Suburban/Urban Area where "Silence" is quite hard to come by? Or is it just the case that such a person needs to view this as more a weekly and/or monthly thing; retreating to a park or whatnot during that time?

[@ProfASAr]

You just try to keep you brain in, e.g., Sanskrit, even though you do not have the vocabulary or the grammar structure to think everything in Sanskrit. This is indeed hard to do in a city.

[@carnivoreisvegan]

I'm dedicated to being fluent in Arabic, and there's a huge spiritual component that teachers activity discuss because the Quaranic belief is that Arabic is the language in which God named everything on earth. So, we don't really have to "learn" Arabic, but just remember it. If nothing else, this gives me a feeling that the language (which they also describe as an infinite ocean) is less daunting if I already know it and just have to remember it.

[@ProfASAr]

I have always been fascinated by the fact that millions of Muslim men in every generation successfully memorize the Quran without knowing Arabic.

[@Yan_Alkovic]

Oh yes, the "variations on a theme" is very true. And I like how neutral you seem on religions and how you don't give priority to any of them. Overall this does seem like an aspect that could work for certain people with certain languages, not just with big languages, but also with smaller languages, if one feels a connection to a minority or ancestral language they could also use that for prayers.

[@ProfASAr]

Thanks, as always, for your insightful appreciation.

[@fedecalace8632]

Surely I feel like a different person after learning a language and I consider language learning as an individual path of meditation, I am by no means a roman after learning Latin, but something I can't perceive has changed. Then you have the Sapir Whorf hypothesis, certainly your cognition will perceive things differently, english and spanish (my mother tongue) look instantly different by just knowing Latin. Very complex brain functions are involved, charisma and learning a language are the only things similar to psychic phenomena. Considering Rebus principle and how we relate objects in our field of vision.

[@ProfASAr]

Thanks for the thought provoking comment.

[@konyvnyelv.]

I have at home many copies of Bhagavad Gita, with sanskrit text, transliteration, translation word by word, literary translation and comment by A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, founder of the international association for krishna consciousness. I'll surely use it to learn sanskrit

[@ProfASAr]

We are currently reading the Bhagavad Gita in the Sacred Books of the East seminar, and if you were to join that, you could also join a weekly study-with-me session in Sanskrit where we can read the text in Sanskrit word by word.

[@YogaBlissDance]

You and these animals, you are the "animal whisperer" I personally prefer Merlin (?) sitting staring at the camera, but the dog is ok too. I was JUST thinking of what you shared of "prayer or your spiritual p;ractice" before studying...was getting the idea to do that too. I can only think it would help the study if it is natural in ones life already. Prof. I couldn't understand it sounded like you were saying "polly" only at the end did I get you were saying "Pali" which has a less rounded first vowel, the way I was taught to say it. I love Sanskrit, it's a very important language. Do you think it makes sense to learn Sanskrit as it's so close to Pali (and early Buddhist texts were in Pali;) but Sanskrit is more beautiful and one can then understand Pali anyway? For example "sutta" in Pali became "sutra" in Sanskrit....

[@ProfASAr]

Merlin has been my best friend and constant companion for 9 years now; Sophie is a rescue creature who has only been with us since February. I don't know for sure that you will be able to understand Pali without studying it if you already know Sanskrit, but knowledge of Sanskrit will certainly make it much more transparent and easier to learn.

[@YogaBlissDance]

@@ProfASAr Thanks for your kind reply. Yes, I would like to study Sanskrit, (as I love to chant it- and read translations) and I'm sure it would help to then learn Pali. But knowing myself, I can't see doing both...so Sanskrit would probably win. Of course Burmese calls me too because my Buddhist lineage is from there.

[@a.r.4707]

I'm also learning Arabic through religious texts and materials among other non-religious materials. In Arabic the religion is always highly present during daily interactions etc.

[@ProfASAr]

Indeed this is the case. Best of success to you in your studies.

[@a.r.4707]

@@ProfASAr Thank you Professor. I have benefitted a lot from your videos and I'm eagerly waiting for new ones😊.

[@graybow2255]

Religion permeates the daily lives of Muslims.

[@a.r.4707]

@@graybow2255 Indeed, and I'm one of those.

[@graybow2255]

@@a.r.4707 A Muslim?

[@strangerintheselands251]

Your video comes exactly at the moment, when I'm at the crossroads, Alexander: continue with my Russian, proceeding to revising Le Russe Perfectionnement, or giving up ALL modern tongues for years to come (apart from reading Descartes in French as a Great Books project and French practice) in order to start my Latin and Greek journey. I have just finished reading the Bible in my native tongue, now decided to go through the Iliad and Odyssey, Plato, Aristotle, Greek Tragedy, Aeneid and Saint Augustine. And both Latin and ancient Greek just keep nagging me to have a bite at them, or a mouthful. Or a lifeful. Who knows where the journey takes you once you tap into the Great River of the Western Civilisation. Interesting "coincidence", Professor, wouldn't you admit? Right now that you mention a monk life and a prayer or meditation as a way of weaving your linguistically spiritual fabric.

[@ProfASAr]

Felicitous serendipity.

[@fariastupiantigo]

Nowadays we can use audiobooks like the bible to get used to the phonetics of many languages, because I think before learning a language we must immerse ourselves in the sounds of it, then as we are used to its sounds that may be easier to learn the vocabulary and rithym of the language.

[@ProfASAr]

Good points.

[@chriswilcocks8485]

Agree

[@ProfASAr]

Thank you!

[@continuousself-improvement1879]

Merlin has competition!

[@ProfASAr]

No he does not!

[@peterbrown3004]

Cum pulchro cane velocior linguam graecam koinam discimus

[@ProfASAr]

Ita est!

[@victoriaxiao5764]

You have a puppy, too?!

[@ProfASAr]

Hello, Victoria. Just as Merlin is "my" cat, Sophie is my wife's dog, though as you can see here, she is helping me overcome my militant pro-feline, anti-canine stance.

[@peterbrown3004]

PULCHER CANIS

[@ProfASAr]

Sed non tam pulcher quam Merlin!

[@peterbrown3004]

@@ProfASAr Ita,..,sed tamen ...

[@marshabaker6153]

Spirituality should stay out of any standard learning. That should be kept for specific Spiritual type studies. Learning Language is just Language. Just keep it at that. If you want to do a Spiritual Class do a Spiritual Class.

[@ProfASAr]

Thanks for commenting, but are you just reacting to the title of the video, or have you listened to what I have to say in it? I am certainly not talking about "standard" learning...

[@matseklof2250]

In Sanskriti you don't have to divide mundane and spiritual engagement. From a modern western point of view they do appear as an integrated whole within the Sanskriti culture, and the western mentality is to try to divide them. The Bhagavad gita do acknowledge that analysis, but the Gita gives it more as a mental exercise as a preparation for spiritualizing the mundane. So if you use your language in the spiritual engagement, it becomes spiritual or sacred just as Alexander hints at in the beginning of the video.

[@YogaBlissDance]

Marsha that is an opinion, he's not saying in TEACHING to mix them which I could see would be difficult, untenable really in a diverse society. Except with a skillful, teacher who would encourage each student to follow integrate or draw from my background. But I take it as, he means: in our own self-study, if we already have a spiritual/religious background- it would not be viewed as "separate" from anything one does.

[@fananox2057]

Latin is the language of the CATHOLIC church. The NT is written in greek. I won't get into what language is most important like you will claim, but keep in mind not even all "Christian" churches will agree as to the official language. Bold statement

[@ProfASAr]

Given that I just mentioned studying NT Greek and that this is a spontaneous talk, not a prepared lecture, I think it is obvious from the context that if someone says Latin is the language of the church, the Roman Catholic Church is meant. Relax.

[@ComputingTheSoul]

The overwhelming proportion of the Protestant Reformers wrote in Latin too.