Returning to Childhood

To be a Smart Learner, an Identity Shift is Required

To learn new languages quickly and effectively, we must be like children. We need to let go of our sense of security, control, and stability that adults value so much. We must relinquish control of the environment, become small, foolish, and vulnerable. Any foreigner we encounter will be in the position of an adult, able to enjoy the role of authority, while we will have to listen humbly to their instructions. This way, we will willingly return to childhood: we will become weak and dependent, but our days will be filled with adventures and playfulness.

Learning a new language: the start of a journey

When you begin your journey into a new language, you will inevitably experience the euphoria of discovery, which is not that often in the world of adults. Whether you like being a child or not, childhood has an inevitable propensity to end. A few years pass by, and the child perfectly masters his native language. But you won’t need that much time to learn a second or third language. If you learn like a child, you will speak a foreign language quite fluently in about a year. Then you will return to the role of an adult. Every child grows up, matures, becomes solid, and starts to control his environment. And so do we: having mastered one subject or language, we become serious and authoritative again, sometimes even more so than before. This is where the great danger lies.

People quickly get used to the omniscient posture; they enjoy controlling the situation, being masters of their own decisions and fate. They don’t want to give that up because it would mean exposing yourself again to the vulnerability and uncertainty of childhood. Therefore, people often cling to the role of the adult with tooth and nail. But this role is not suitable for learning new things. Without learning anything new, adults stagnate. Life, however, doesn’t stand still!

One after another, young people enter the stage of life without such inhibitions, so they learn what control-clinging adults could and were to have learned. These young people learn new languages: for example, programming or artificial intelligence development, English, German, or Hebrew. Thus those who stay in the adult role for too long start falling behind.

Conclusion

As you can see, not only can we return to childhood. We actually must from time to time. Only then we can learn effectively new languages and acquire other demanding skills. Let‘s not forget: it’s fun, life is full of adventures and discoveries, abundant opportunities to grow anew, become better than we were before. Just as our bodies completely renew itselves every seven years, we should regularly update our skills and learn things. That’s the law of life, so let’s practice returning to childhood from time to time.

The article is sponsored and was helped to prepare by the language service Magistrai. The company specializes in translating and creating impactful texts. This material was first released as a YouTube video.