Driven by Wonder: Curiosity as a Roadmap to Fluency
For those who don't know what step to take next
The other day I “nerded out” about language acquisition with someone who follows this Substack publication. What a fun interview it was!
The highlight of the episode for me was that both Katrina and I often let wonder and curiosity guide our acquisition efforts. We constantly ask ourselves questions like:
"I wonder why native speakers say that?"
"I wonder how I would say...in my target language?
"I wonder what that person's saying?"
Curiosity as Fuel
Curiosity is defined by the Oxford dictionary as, “a strong desire to know or learn something.” Keeping this in mind, if you're a language learner who finds it challenging to stay motivated, it's possible that you're not stimulating your sense of curiosity enough.
Curiosity a Roadmap
In addition to providing motivation, curiosity can also guide you in determining what to learn next. For example, in the podcast Katrina and I discussed a trip to Brazil I took as a teenager with my soccer team. I wanted to learn as much Portuguese as I could while I was there. Despite not taking lessons or using any structured learning materials, I never felt confused about what to learn next. This was because I allowed curiosity to pave the way forward.
Here’s a story that demonstrates this. There was a street vendor who sold custom bracelets every morning outside my hotel. After a day or two of seeing him, I found myself asking myself questions like:
I wonder how I can tell him that I want to have a bracelet made?
I wonder how I can ask him the price?
I wonder if I’ll understand what he says to me?
I wonder how long it takes to make a bracelet? Will I still be in Brazil by the time he makes it? I wonder how I can ask him about this?
These questions guided my studies and I learned as much as I could to ensure a smooth interaction with the vendor. I learned numbers so I could understand the price, pronouns, basic conjugations, useful shopping-related phrases, and anything else I thought would be necessary to successfully purchase a bracelet.
Want to Listen to the Podcast Episode?
This episode will be released on my podcast and YouTube channel this Saturday. Subscribe now and tune in when it’s released!
Click here for my YouTube channel, Azren the Language Nerd.
Click here for my podcast, The Language Learning Show
On another note, in May my team and I are going to be launching new group classes for various languages. Many of them will be free and the others will be low cost. Check out this Google Form to learn more: https://forms.gle/WaRYxz8NUErhL6h68
My favourite language learning curiosities:
• How would I manage in (this situation)?
• How much could I say on this topic?
• How much could I understand (in this content)?
It usually leads me to think out loud and make up a few sentences, which is great for practising!