We learn the most in the discomfort zone
When I was at my first course for Czech language teachers, I remember being taught not to use a bridge language (an additional communication language) at all and to speak from the very beginning one hundred percent only in Czech (and to gesture). I know that some teachers do it this way and it certainly has its advantages. I tried this method too, but I always felt there were situations where I disagreed with that approach and it didn't make sense to me.
Then I read the book 📘 Neurolanguage Coaching: Brain Friendly Language Learning (by Rachel Paling) about how our brain works 🧠 when we learn foreign languages and how to get the brain into the state in which it functions best linguistically.
The comfort zone, the discomfort zone, and the panic zone
The information in the book was very interesting to me and, although I don't fully agree with absolutely everything in it, I really liked the idea about using a bridge language.
The book talks about three zones that our brain enters - the comfort zone, the discomfort zone, and the panic zone 😱.
According to neuroscience 🧪 we learn the most in the discomfort zone. We may feel comfortable in the comfort zone but we don't learn many new things there. The panic zone, on the other hand, takes up all our energy ⚡ stabilizing the nervous system, leaving us with no energy for progress or learning — so we don't learn much there either.
The ideal for progress 📈 in a language is to seek out the discomfort zone. And that is exactly what we do together in lessons and what I teach you to do outside of lessons as well.
The discomfort zone means you don't have all the information and you have to look for it 🔍. That means finding a different word when you don't know the one you want to say. It also means saying what you need to say as best you can, even when you know it's not entirely grammatically correct. You talk to people you don't understand 100% and you have to ask follow-up questions. But the discomfort zone also means that your brain 🧠 keeps working with logic 🧩 - it looks for logic and connections 🔗 with what you already know — it works with the database from your native language or with words and grammar you already know well in Czech. That is the discomfort zone where you learn.
On the other hand, logic no longer works in the panic zone, so what you "learn" in the panic zone you will likely soon forget, because your brain didn't "logically encode" it.
English in a Czech lesson?
So how does this relate to using a bridge language — for example, English in a lesson?
When I see that you don't understand me and are entering the discomfort zone, I'll try to say it differently — I'll use different words, a simpler sentence structure, a bit of pantomime 🤹. When I see that it's working and you're still in the discomfort zone, I'm happy — you're learning.
Sometimes, though, I can see that you're no longer in the discomfort zone but are starting to enter the panic zone. You don't understand, you can't see the logic, your brain stops thinking constructively, and in that situation you're not learning anything. At such a moment, it can be demotivating to keep going in Czech with gestures ✋ when one or two sentences, for example in English, can help you quickly find the logic and bring you back into the discomfort zone.
I have the same experience with Czech grammar. It's great when you see Czech examples, but sometimes my question: "And how does this work in your language?" can help you find the logic. Sometimes you find the logic through contrast, even when it works completely differently in your language. And once you find it, there's a much greater chance that you'll remember that particular grammar point well.
And if English isn't your strong language, try copying the sentences or grammar, you want to understand, into ChatGPT and ask it for an explanation and a contrast with your own language.
❓ Not sure how to use ChatGPT?
👉🏽 I wrote a blog post about it.
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