Beliefs

BELIEFS

Hello, welcome to fourth lesson. This one is called “Beliefs.” Let’s get started.

Beliefs are another part of managing your psychology, of strengthening your psychology that you will learn English, or anything in fact, faster. And there are two kinds of beliefs to categories of beliefs. Limiting and empowering.
Let’s talk about limiting beliefs first. Now limiting means, limit something that stops you. It’s like a boundary. It stops you from going ahead. So a limiting belief a belief that stops you from improving, a belief that stops you from getting better. I’d say most English students have limiting beliefs and many English students have very strong beliefs. I call these beliefs English trauma and I got name from a few of my Japanese students. They would tell “AJ, I can’t speak English well because I have English trauma.”
is English trauma? What is that, what are they talking about? Well, trauma means some kind injury, some kind of hurt. Emotional hurt, deep emotional hurt. So they mean is that they had some very negative, painful experiences with in the past. In other words, when they were in school English classes, even as adults going to other English schools, had very negative experiences. And all these negative experiences have created some very negative beliefs, very limiting beliefs. For example, they say “I am good at English.” Well, that’s a belief. It may be true, it not be true. But it’s an opinion, it’s a that they have.
Another belief, a very common belief, English is difficult. Or, English is complicated. Well, that’s a belief. For me English very easy, because I’m a speaker, just like your native language for you is very easy. Tomoe can speak Japanese fluently she’s Japanese, so I might say “Japanese is difficult,” she would say “No, Japanese is super easy.” These are just beliefs that from our experiences. The problem is these limiting beliefs limit us. They in do limit us. They stop us from
getting better. They cause a lot problems for us as students, as learners. I have them, too. As I try to learn Japanese, example, I have a lot of these limiting beliefs I realize. I think “Oh, Japanese is so difficult.” is complicated, just look at the writing system. It’s so different from English. And beliefs hurt my motivation. They lower my energy, and in fact they’re wrong.
They’re not true. does not have to be difficult, it does not have to be compli- cated. small child, even a small American child, could learn Japanese very effortlessly, very easily. the reason is, the number one reason is, they don’t have limiting beliefs. They can sing songs and play games enjoy the language, and they’ll learn it so quickly, so easily, they’ll say “Japanese is easy.” Well, it’s same with English with you. You learned in a very painful, difficult way in the past. And so developed, you created these beliefs in your head. English difficult. English is boring. English is painful. I’m not good at English. I’ll speak excellent English. These are just beliefs.
So how you eliminate these beliefs? Okay, you have these beliefs. know they’re negative, you know they’re not helping you. But we have to figure out, can we get rid of the limiting beliefs? That’s first step, you have to weaken them. You have make them weaker and weaker and weaker. You have to them down. Well beliefs get stronger from references. And reference just an experience or a memory. Sometimes it’s just you imagine, actually. But it’s a specific experience or a imagination, a specific moment, that makes the belief stronger weaker. So, for example, you have this idea “English is painful boring.” And when you think of this belief, where does it come from?

Well, think of all these past experiences. You think of the time in middle school where your corrected your mistake and you felt terrible. And you think maybe the bad grades you got on the test or all the red marks on your English papers. you start adding more and more and more memories, more of these experiences, these negative references. And if you get enough, you will a very, strong, deep, powerful belief “English is difficult. English is painful. I’m good at English.” So to weaken these, you just to question the references.

You have to question the experiences. the power away from the experiences. And an easy way to do that is just to questions about them. For example, let me ask this question. Your English schools, were they excellent? Were they just fantastic schools with fantastic, amazing, fun, positive English teachers? Did you have a great every day? Well, I know for most of you the is no. So that’s interesting, so if your schools were not excellent, the school was the problem. Maybe it’s not you. Maybe your is not great because you did not go to great schools. And did those schools that you to, or the books you used, did they use proven methods? Did they use research-based methods? Did know a lot about the research about English learning, teaching? Did they only use the best methods? Or did they use the textbook that everybody else uses?
Well, I know from my experience a teacher, most schools just use the same textbooks. They don’t know why. Maybe the boss them “We must use this book.” But they’re not choosing very, very best methods. They’re not choosing the very, very books. And so maybe the reason you believe English is difficult is because you used difficult in the past, or your teachers did. Maybe you think English is boring because in the past you boring methods. You went to boring schools. You had teachers. Maybe English isn’t the problem. Maybe it was these past experiences. Maybe was the way you did it or where you did it. Ask yourself these questions. Think about in detail. Weaken your limiting beliefs. Challenge your limiting beliefs. question, in school did you learn deeply? For example, did you take one in your book and learn it for a long time so that totally mastered it, so that you knew it completely, 100% and never forgot it? Probably not, most I have seen and the ones I have taught in, it’s the opposite. The teachers go very, very, very quickly. You learn chapter in your book, boom, after one week on the next one, and the next one. Each chapter has so new words, so much new grammar.
For example, my with Spanish in high school and university, I took Spanish, I’ve had total of maybe two years of Spanish, but I forgot all. Because we never learned deeply. They just tried to make us as many words as possible, a lot of words, a of words, a lot of grammar, very, very fast. then, of course, I forgot everything. How about you? Did you deeply in your schools? If not, maybe that was one of problems. Maybe English feels difficult because you never learned deeply. Maybe English is not the problem.
Finally, you learn with a grammar translation method? Did you study a lot of grammar rules? you take a lot of tests? Did you feel good that? Again, maybe the method was the problem. Maybe the is the problem, not English. So think about these questions and think about them day. Think about them a lot, especially this week as you listen to Lesson 4. I want you to think about these questions again and again again. And really be honest about it. And start to destroy these beliefs. Get rid of them. They’re wrong. English is not difficult. English not painful. English is not boring. It’s only a belief. It’s only a past experience. You can that now and in the future. So let’s do that.

Let’s talk now about empowering beliefs, the side. So to empower, the verb, to empower means make stronger. It means to give power to another person. in this case, it means the beliefs give you power. An empowering belief is a belief that you feel powerful, that gives you power. That’s the kind of beliefs want and you need to choose them. You must decide beliefs will make you stronger. For example, here’s an empowering belief. can replace your old limiting belief, add this one instead. You can say “My brain is a natural learning machine.” Because that’s what all of the scientific shows, our brain naturally learns languages. It is designed to learn language. It be easy. It should be effortless. It should feel good. You your native language that way. It wasn’t difficult was it? English easy for me to learn, because I did it a totally natural way. And the more naturally I to learn Japanese, for example, or Spanish, the easier it feels. this is a new belief and you should write it down, think about it. Write this idea, this belief “My brain is a natural language learning machine.” Think about every day. Decide to choose that belief. Here’s another belief you might to choose “English can be fun and effortless.”

English can be and effortless. That’s an empowering belief and it’s also true. You can think of a of examples for this. Some of these mini-stories you’re to, right? They’re fun. They’re stupid, sometimes. They’re crazy, sometimes. But they’re not serious. English can fun and effortless. That’s an empowering belief you want to choose and want to remember it every day.

And to make these beliefs stronger, you experiences. Remember, you need references, you need examples that prove belief. So I’m going to give you some examples and can find more. Go find people who speak English very well. maybe even that have learned another language very well. I’ll give you one my favorite examples, Steve Kaufman of The Linguist speaks, I believe, twelve languages now. I want you to these people and look at their beliefs. I’ll tell some of his beliefs because he’s a friend, I’ve talked him a number of times, and Steve believes, for example, that learning is easy and effortless. That’s his belief. He’s native English speaker, he speaks Cantonese, he speaks Mandarin, he speaks Japanese, he speaks Russian. are all, supposedly, difficult languages. For him they’re not difficult. They’re and effortless. That’s a very strong belief he has.

Another belief he is that you must learn language naturally and you must focus meaning. So in other words, he doesn’t focus on grammar. He’s not focusing on boring textbooks. He’s reading interesting things he enjoys. He’s listening to interesting things that he enjoys. So, him, language learning is interesting. What’s really interesting for me that these are the same beliefs that all of my students have. They all have these same ideas. The students, the ones who learn the fastest, the ones who have the test scores, the ones with the best speaking, they all believe these things. They all that English is fun, interesting and effortless. They all believe that language learning natural. They all believe that they should focus on the meaning, not on the grammar and the little of the language. So if you want to be these successful people, you need to think like them. You need to have the same as them.
So here’s what I want you to do. Here’s your homework. This is last thing, the last part of this lesson. What want you to do is write down two, three, empowering beliefs, beliefs that give you power about English. Maybe “My brain a natural language learning machine.” Maybe “English can be fun and effortless.” “I love English.” I don’t know, write down, two, three, empowering beliefs about English. And every day you’re going to an incantation. That’s a good word, that’s a new word, incantation.
An incantation is phrase or sentence that you say again and again. It has almost magic idea, it comes from magic. An incantation is a magical sentence. It’s sentence, you say the sentence something will happen. That’s where it comes from. But for us an incantation just a belief you are going to repeat again and again and again day.So here’s what you’re going to do. For example “English can be fun and effortless.” You’re going say that out loud every day while you’re walking along and you’re doing your posture. you’re breathing and you’re smiling. Well, you’re going to add more thing. As you walk, as you’re getting ready the lesson, you’re going to repeat this out loud. You’re going say “English can be fun and effortless.” You’re going to say it with some emotion. Say it with so you’re smiling, you’re breathing deep, you’re moving your body, you have good and now you’re also saying these strong beliefs. English can be fun and effortless. You it again. English can be fun and effortless. And then you it again. English can be fun and effortless.

You do this in your room and its fine. You can do it outside and make look at you and think you’re crazy. Why not? It’s than feeling powerless, right? It’s better than being bored. I you will learn so much faster if you do this. do these incantations every day just before you do a lesson. Get body strong, peak emotional state, and then say these incantations. English can be and effortless. English can be fun and effortless. Now body, your mind, your beliefs, they’re all together, very strong. Then you’re to learn.

Okay, that is the end of the main for “Beliefs.”