95- Why Learning English Will Bring You Joy
Lindsay: This is an All Ears English Podcast, Episode 95: “Why Learning English Will Bring You Joy.”
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Gabby: Welcome to the All Ears English Podcast, where you'll finally get real, native English conversation with your hosts, Lindsay McMahon, the ‘English Adventurer' and Gabby Wallace, the ‘Language Angel,' from Boston, USA.
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Lindsay: In this episode, you'll learn why learning a second language is a way to have another life.
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Lindsay: Hey Gabby. What's cooking?
Gabby: Hey. Not much. How (are) you doing?
Lindsay: (I'm) doing all right. I'm happy to be here recording another episode.
Gabby: Me too. Yeah, we have a great quote to share today. (Um), it's a quote by Charlemagne. A historic French guy. This is not a history podcast. This is an English podcast.
Lindsay: We're here to teach you English.
Gabby: What's the quote Lindsay?
Lindsay: So the quote is “To have another language is to possess a second soul.”
Gabby: That's beautiful. Actually I like this quote a lot because when you think about your soul, it's so much more than just grammar and vocabulary.
Lindsay: So much more, so much more.
Gabby: It's culture, it's your…
Lindsay: It's understanding people.
Gabby: Yeah, understanding yourself.
Lindsay: Understanding yourself. It's empathy. It's seeing the world, (you know), through someone else's eyes or through a new set of eyes.
Gabby: Yeah.
Absolutely. (Um) all of your experiences and the way that you learn about the world in one language can all of a sudden be new again and give you a second life or a second soul when you learn a second language.
Lindsay: Yeah, that's why I really love learning languages and teaching, working in language development is that it's all about (um) – I don't know it just makes you a more dynamic person and it makes your life richer.
Gabby: Right.
(You know), whether you believe in the idea of a soul or not, I'll share one story with you. When I speak Japanese, (um) my voice and my, (sort of) my personality changes quite a bit. (Like), it's typical in Japan for women to speak in a higher pitched voice. So I take that on, subconsciously, I just do it and my mannerisms change as well, where, (you know), in English I might make bigger gestures and speak with a more, what can I say, (like), a lower voice like I am now. (Um) in Japanese, I won't take up so much space, I'll speak in a higher voice.
Lindsay: Wow that's interesting.
Gabby: Yeah.
It's totally bizarre and I never realized I was doing it until my friends told me I did it.
Lindsay: Whoa!
Gabby: So it's almost like I was becoming a new person.
Lindsay: Wow. That's interesting.
Gabby: Pretty freaky (huh).
Lindsay: Yeah. I, when I speak Spanish, I feel like I definitely take more risks. I think we've talked about this in one or two episodes before, but…
Gabby: Maybe.
Lindsay: …I'm not as worried about (uh) making mistakes. I feel more free, more open, more relaxed, (like) more laid back.
Gabby: That's interesting because I've heard students, especially from Japan, my students tell me that when they speak English, they feel more free, they feel more relaxed to be who they truly are.
Lindsay: Right. Because it doesn't feel like it's exactly you.
Gabby: Right.
Lindsay: Or you're being taken out of your normal frame…
Gabby: Right.
Lindsay: …of who you see yourself as in your native language.
Gabby: Learning a new language and living abroad are great ways to reinvent yourself.
Lindsay: Yeah, that's a great phrase. Reinvent yourself. Absolutely. That's why it's so refreshing, I think.
Gabby: Right.
Lindsay: You get to start over.
Gabby: Yeah.
Lindsay: And you get to decide which pieces of yourself you're gonna (going to) take into the new framework, into the new country and which one's you're gonna (going to) leave behind and reinvent.
Gabby: Right.
Yeah, that's so true. You can decide how you want to speak, you can decide your gestures, you can decide, (you know), your, your new friends.
There's (there are) a lot of ways you reinvent yourself. So it's very exciting and (uh) like our quote today, (you know), it's a great opportunity to have a second soul, have a second life.
Lindsay: So cool.
Gabby: Yeah.
Lindsay: So whenever you feel like you're getting stuck in a negative place mentally (like) “Oh, I can't understand the conjugation of the verb ‘to run' or something like that. When it gets painful just think (like) there's something bigger here.
Gabby: Yeah.
Lindsay: I'm doing something really cool that not everyone in the world can do.
Gabby: Right.
Yeah.
That's awesome. So yeah, we hope that you guys have an inspiring week of studies and that, (you know), getting into English will give you more and more freedom.
Lindsay: Yeah. Thanks for listening.
Gabby: Thanks guys.
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Lindsay: If you want to put your ears into English more often, be sure to subscribe to our podcast in iTunes on your computer or on your smartphone. Thanks so much for listening and see you next time.
