Buondì.
Change can be alarming.
For example, at the end of the Christmas/New Year ‘vacation’ period, when I find myself struggling to adapt from working at home to still working at home but now also having to teach online as well.
Suddenly things that I’ve committed to begin to drop by the wayside (I haven’t done any Spanish listening or reading for DAYS and I have a lesson this afternoon), work piles up, and the usual routines no longer seem to work.
Maybe you have more stable lives than I do, without the predictable but jarring routine of school terms starting and finishing.
But don’t congratulate yourselves – I find these stressful moments, when everything gets upended, a good opportunity to rethink.
In a way, they’re even quite… energizing!
Imagine a life in which things rarely, if ever, changed.
When things are different from before, we’re forced to respond, to open new doors, to take a look, and perhaps to stride confidently through.
Which reminds me of Donald Byrd, doesn’t it you?
Change
Change
Things just rearrange
Change
Strange
Nothing stays the same
Change
Makes you want to hustle
Do yourselves a Friday-morning-in-January favour and listen to it on Youtube. I challenge you not to feel more positive about 2021 once you have.
What’s this all got to do with learning Italian?
I assume, like me, you have your learning routines, habits, practices?
A portfolio of materials to study, things to read and listen to, classes to attend (even online) and informal opportunities to practice speaking?
(If not, read ‘How to learn Italian (or any language)‘. And/or visit our ‘Best of’ page for entertainment and inspiration.)
With me so far?
Right then, sometimes it’s good to HURL IT ALL UP INTO THE AIR, then stand back and watch everything float gently back to earth.
Before picking up the pieces again, one by one, judging what’s essential.
Do I really want to listen to news headlines in Swedish every day?
Check.
Do I really need a subscription to El País?
Check.
What about this? And that? And these other things?
All of which have been keeping me busy and happy during months and months of lockdown, and then most recently the vacation, but which I’m now struggling to fit in?
Something’s got to go…
Nothing stays the same
Strange
Things just rearrange
A lunedì.
P.S.
You clean your teeth every day, I hope? You might to the mosque every Friday, or to church on Sundays. Someone in your family clears the table and washes the plates after you’ve finished eating lunch.
Routines help, and with language learning too!
Have you read/listened to yesterday’s FREE bulletin of ‘easy’ Italian news yet?
There’s one each Thursday, Saturday and Tuesday. Three times a week, every week throughout the year.
FREE.
Subscribe here. Open the emails you get. Click the audio link. Listen and read.
It’s that simple.
Oh, and read the Advice page.
Lynne F says
Hi Daniel,
Your comment about the “predictable but jarring routine of school terms starting and finishing.’ brought a smile to my face. .For many years they were part of my life, but no longer, having left the profession behind me a few years ago. They have of course been replaced by new routines, I think most of us are creatures of habit, The important thing is to be in the routine of giving time each day to learn a new language. Listening to EIN, the radio, chatting to Italians via skype interspersed with some grammar study and even reading your articles have all contributed to my Italian improving. We shouldn’t be afraid of change, despite what some people say it can be good for you.. Last year I joined your book club. Now instead of reading short simple texts, I have carried on the routine of rising early and reading books, newspapers and other articles on the internet; all in Italian. One change that has definitely improved my Italian.