I’d like to take this short moment to tell you about a theory I’ve developed over my years of experience in the language training and testing field; and maybe even find a way to apply this broadly in life.
This morning I talked briefly with someone who is going through one of our language classes right now. I asked, “How are you doing?” to which she responded, “I think I’m getting worse.”
This was the perfect opportunity to deploy my theory. I told her, “Actually, your response tells me you’re probably getting better.” My reasoning is this: before, she was ignorant. Now, less so.
I’ve spent years in language classrooms – over three years as a student (in two languages), not to mention my time as an instructor (I’ll admit that when I was doing that, the standards were much lower). But I had a friend tell me after he completed a year of intense, immersive learning, “Bob, you have no idea. Your knowledge of the language is so basic, you wouldn’t believe it,” and I knew he was right. I just need to look at English for the parallels. I’ve worked with PhDs who’ve graduated from prestigious universities in the US, and I could probably befuddle them with a conversation in English with very little effort. There’s just too much out there. For example, if they’re not familiar with American sports, I could say something as simple as “You really scored a TD with that proposal,” and they’d have no idea what I was talking about. Think about the quirks and idioms used in different regions. They’re hard enough on Americans, but we’ve got this foundation, right down to the way we talk, that gives us the advantage.
My whole point in this is that there are so many cases where we don’t even know what we don’t know, and when we learn just a small piece of that, we can be overwhelmed that there’s so much more to our ignorance. In language testing, it looks like this: I took the test last year and have been through a class since, but I feel like I did worse. But maybe you don’t factor in that you took the test this year knowing the language better – well enough to identify things that might make you second-guess yourself. Here’s how it sounds: “I remember that question from last year’s test, and I think I answered it wrong.” You’re still in-between. You’ve learned just enough to get the feeling that you’re lost…but the thing is, you’re concerned because you actually better! You may not be all the way there, but you’ve gained that one little step that gives you access to the next step after that, which gives you access to the next. It can sometimes be a slow process, but I’ve seen it happen.
So really, don’t be discouraged when you learn something that tells you you’ve been wrong about something all along. You have to welcome it as the crucial step that puts you on a trajectory that will lead to something all the more rewarding in the end. No need to be discouraged by that!
