1. The human psyche in the broad strokes
It’s no secret that the human psyche is imperfect. In Freudian psychology, we have traumas and unresolved issues that explain our behaviour. Others speak about “genes”, or about the role of education, about nature VS nurture…
Whatever we call these influences, the professionals of the mind agree that we are never truly the sole captain on board when we steer our ship. Many generally agree that the subconscious part of our minds has a greater influence on our actions than we truly measure.
I feel that this factor of influence is the most meaningful one in our language-learning journey. And the one that is the least spoken about. (And in the case of the app developers and witch doctors that clutter our language-learning landscape, I’m not sure they’ve ever taken thinking this far!)
But we have! So let’s talk about it.
(Above: a man sharing a point of view while being influenced by his subconscious and other factors.)
2. Self-image and success in learning French
The idea I would like to examine in this blog post draws from these notions of the subconscious and has more specifically to do with our self-image. The simple question is: “Are you quite sure that your bad results in French are due to your technique as a student? Could there be things within you that are preventing you from succeeding?
Are you not quite sure that a part of you is not blocking your own progress?
Each of us has an identity that is ingrained in our person and explains our choices and behaviours. A simple example: The everyday experiences that take us out of our comfort zone are those that come into conflict with this identity. Why are we uncomfortable at the idea of doing certain things? What controls this?
This internal identity is our rudder, our compass, our auto-pilot…it’s the thing that keeps us consistent with who we are. It keep us consistent so that we can go on with our lives and don’t have to think about it. We don’t have to stop at every step and say “wait, it that really me?”
Especially in the case of doing something radically new such as learning French, it’s work asking ourselves what our self-image thinks about this decision and how far it will allow us to go.
(Above: Scientists examine the part of the brain that acts like a compass.)
3. The role of our subconscious
Far from being a hindrance, this “self-image” or “identity” is a natural regulator that keeps us on course and maintains consistency. Some compare it to the self-correcting airplane that is constantly pushed off course by the winds and has to put itself back on track to reach its destination.
It’s what your subconscious considers to be “you” and that it maintains throughout all our actions.
It explains why diets rarely function as long as a person doesn’t identify as being “thin”. If we have it in our minds that we are naturally fat, the subconscious will accept this temporary diet but do its utmost to get us back to where we started. That is unless we link a very positive emotion with the fact of being thin and truly embrace this new identity.
A child who gets bad grades in school will often identify with this self-image and might not see themselves being top of the class. Would it not make sense that the subconscious block good school results from happening? Its role is to do the child a service by preserving a certain behaviour consistency, but it’s actually doing the wrong service. Why does this happen? Because the subconscious does not think. It just obeys.
Close to me in my family, I have people who regularly promise to “never eat again” and even buy memberships to the gym. The emotional part in me wishes that their resolutions stay strong and that it bring them success in their health. But at the bottom of me I know it will never happen. They will continue on their old eating habits and repeat the same promise the next time they find themselves fat.
(Below: Unfortunate smoker whose subconscious makes him smoke.)
As the picture above exemplifies, a smoker who quits might go back to smoking simply because their subconscious does not consider it “normal” that they don’t smoke. And as one who walked that path, I can guarantee that I consciously felt “strange” for not smoking. As if a part of me was missing. Luckily, I was able to link positive feelings to non-smoking and “convince” myself that I rather more enjoyed breathing clean air and smelling flowers. I shifted my identity and can now happily rub my victory in other smokers’ faces.
4. The influence of our identity
The reason for all this has nothing to do with the willpower which is only surface-deep. It has to do with identity. The “mental ID” of overweight people is not composed of parts of healthy food and exercise. At their core, they do not identify with fit people. They rather identify with sitting, hanging out, watching TV and making cheese sandwiches.
It is their subconscious identity that is keeping them on track to being what they were, even if they are very aware that it is not desirable.
The subconscious will maintain our identity, whether it is good or bad. Whether it brings positive or negative results. This is why many people work daily to change the aspects of their “programming” they do not like.
(Below: Though they fully see the absurdity of their actions, Mr and Mrs B. have a subconscious desire to impress people with their car.)
5. How all this ties in to learning French
In my French classes, it is exactly the same logic. The students who do well are those who “see” themselves do well in French in the months to come. They fully accept their success as students and open the mental gates towards learning.
In my functions as a French tutor, I consider it one of my first jobs to plant that seed of success in the mind of a student. I do so honestly because I am convinced that everyone can succeed. But I am sometimes met with opposition: the subconscious barrier.
When starting French it’s well worth asking ourselves how good we “see” ourselves get. Do we see each other fully conversational and blasting through the learning program at OuiCommunicate? Is that our vision for ourselves? Or do we rather see ourselves “starting” French” or “participating in French” or “trying our best and see what happens”? These are all different decisions with different outcomes. It’s worth remembering that no one ever did something great in life by accident. There was a lot of focusing involved and seeing the victory happen!
This is true for small things and for big things. When we go to the supermarket we see ourselves as succesfull shoppers, returning home with our groceries. We see no obstacle. No one says “We’ll I’ll walk up to the front door and see how that goes, then I’ll try and get a trolley, and I hope to be able to get food off the shelves but if I lose faith I’ll give up and go back home”
Do we see ourselves as a person who encounters modest victories in life? In this case it’s worth thinking if this background will hinder a big and beautiful victory such as speaking French? It;’s almost a matter of conditioning or self-fulfilling prophecy.
It’s well worth thinking about ourselves as learners and examining ourselves as future users of French. How far to I expect to go?
In terms of advice, I would encourage every student of French to think of how much they truly believe in their success. Do you see yourself speaking French fluently with someone? Do you see yourself sitting down at your desk, ready to do the exercises?
In case of a “no”, the question of your success in French answers itself fast. This subconscious identity will do its utmost to guide you towards behaviours that are sure not to work, such as finding a easy language-learning app or never finding a moment to do a bit of serious language work at a table with a pen and paper.
6. Ways forward and solutions
The first solution I would offer is to realize consciously that in anything we do there is much more than the conscious part of our decisions. Learning a language is a pretty big shift in identity because it involves victories, failures, overcoming disappointments, struggles,stepping out of a comfortable one language interpretation of the world… and so many others.
Specialists in education know that a language class has more than two participants in it. Too many learners and parents simplify the process by believing that the teacher will place the knowledge in the minds of the student, whose only job is to attend the class.
(Below: Common belief of how knowledge is transferred.)
As well the physical variables of the lesson (type of classroom, location, type of learning support…) there are also determining factors such as the work a student feels comfortable putting in and the results they are comfortable in getting. How the student approaches the learning determines the outcome.
In this blog post, we are focusing on the identity and mental vision of the student and whether or not they can “see” themselves as proficient speakers of French.
In the case they do not see their future success as wielders of the French language, it is already a good indication of the results to come.
The subconscious identity or the student will block any chance of progress in order to maintain coherence with the self. All depends if the self-identity is in tune with being a good learner of French.
Just as Superman can’t become a drunk or Lebron James can’t be anything else than excellent, no student can’t get good at French whose subconscious identity doesn’t agree with this achievement. It will do everything to get us back on course towards what it thinks we are supposed to be.
(Above: Jack’s self-image blocked his efforts to do good in French despite having all the necessary potential. He didn’t “see” himself as a French speaker.)