This is the first in a series of postings covering my language challenge. The rest of the series is filed in the “Language Challenge” category.

A friend claims that it is impossible for adults to learn a brand new language in two months because their brains aren’t adaptable enough.

I agree that as people get older, they can settle into habits that do not prioritise learning BUT (and it’s a very big but) this doesn’t mean that their brains lose the ability to be adaptable and learn new things.  

learningSo I disagreed with my friend and said that I could learn a brand new language in two months – he grinned widely and said “prove it”. It was an impulsive response based more on indignation  and less on any proven ability to learn a new language. Apart from French lessons at school, I’ve not given myself too much exposure to languages!

The language I have decided to learn is Arabic. I have no knowledge of Arabic at the moment but I travel often to the UAE so it will certainly come in handy.

Now that I have taken on this challenge, it occurs to me that it might be useful to document my journey from the viewpoint of Peak Performance.

Abraham Lincolm said “Commitment is what transforms a promise into reality”.  I have made two physical commitments towards my goal:

  1. Blogging about it allows me to demonstrate some peak performance techniques and it also provides me with accountability.
  2. I have scoured Amazon and based on user reviews, have ordered Mastering Arabic, Mastering Arabic Script and Mastering Arabic Grammar.

Peak Performance in any given area occurs with a context specific balance of the following four states:

  1. Physical : How does your environment or physical condition impact what you are doing?
  2. Emotional : How does your emotional state impact the decisions that need to be made and your overall attitude? 
  3. Mental : Do you have access to the knowledge you will need and is it stimulating in the right way?
  4. Spiritual : How does the goal fit in with your perceptions of yourself? Is it supporting the way you want to be?

My problem areas are…

  1. Physical – I have many pre-existing business and social commitments. Also, I have many leisure interests and my focus can drift between them. I’m wondering if I can physically do this.
  2. Emotional – I’m quite conscious about the time. Not so much about the two month target – more how am I going to fit it in with everything else I do. I am reluctant to “give up” any of my other activities.
  3. Mental – Again, the time aspects. Am I going to give up in a blind panic because I have too much else to fit in.
  4. Spiritual – I feel a bit nervous about documenting this activity in a public blog. It’s going to look a tad silly if I fail.

Because achieving a balance in these areas is so important, I need to address them before I continue.  

The next post in this series covers how I deal with these issues and progress to the next stage.  Remember to subscribe by RSS or email if you’d like to receive updates.

In the meantime, it would be great to hear your thoughts. Have you done something like this? Do you think it’s achievable? Do you want to join me and take up a language challenge of your own?

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image: http://www.sxc.hu/profile/lusi
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You can also visit me at ReetaLuthra.com. It's full of information to help you address stress and work on reversing the impact of stress on your health.

 

Filed under: Language Challenge • Personal Development

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