WRITTEN TRANSCRIPTION OF THE PODCAST:

Hello and welcome to my podcast My Life and Other Funny Stories. My name is Dagmar Tomášková, I am an English tutor and coach and I created this podcast for English students who want to get better in their oral comprehension. As always you can find the transcription of this episode and vocabulary list in the notes of the podcast. 

Today I want to talk about one aspect of learning languages that many of us don’t realize. And that is the mental fatigue that comes when we try to communicate in a different language. Fatigue is a different word for tiredness. Has it ever happened to you that you went somewhere or had a meeting in English and after that felt extremely exhausted? Because it happened to me in French. Why is it so? Let’s get into that.

When I went to France to spend three months there, I could speak some French. My level was somewhere around B2, however, my communicative skills were not very good and I wasn’t used to speaking in French a lot. Then, as the weeks went on, I started spending time with a lovely French family. I went on trips with them, to the theatre, for a dinner, and so on. They spoke little English so I was talking to them mainly in French. What it meant was that I had no escape and some days, I just had to speak French for two, three, or even four hours in a row. 

The thing was that after those days when I came back to my room, I was absolutely drained. I was so tired, I felt like I ran a half-marathon. And I actually ran a half-marathon so I know what it feels like! 

And I see it also on my students. One of my lovely students who became my very good friend, traveled to Iceland for work. After a few days, she told me that she was just so tired all the time and didn’t understand why. And I told her that it was probably because of the constant communication in English.

When we start learning English, devoting even a few minutes to learning or functioning in that language is very exhausting. As our level goes up, the same goes for our ability to spend more time in that language. But why is it so? From my point of view, there are four reasons for that.

Number one:

switching between languages needs a lot of cognitive effort. Especially in the beginning, your brain has to look for words, construct sentences with the correct word order, and translate everything that you hear. At the same time, it tries to actually give meaning and understand the message of the communication so it easily leads to mental fatigue. 

It is like your computer when you open 30 websites in your browser where five of them are loading and music starts playing from two of them and you don’t know from which ones and your computer is trying to run everything smoothly. Sometimes it is just too difficult.

Number two:

The second reason is that you pay closer attention to every word and paying attention in general is a very difficult and exhausting task so it definitely can lead to feeling more tired.

Number three:

Speaking in a different language can be also emotionally stressful. Because now you not only focus on the message you want to say but also the way you say it. If you are not very confident in your language skills, it is very common to feel nervous and uneasy. The fear of making a mistake, even though in the majority of cases completely unnecessary, can lead to anxiety and unpleasant feelings. This all contributes to exhaustion.

Number four:

Sometimes it can also be physically exhausting to speak in another language. The reason for that is that a lot of languages have a very specific pronunciation and if we are not used to forming those sounds, our mouth and vocal cords can get tired as well. With English, it is not so bad as there are not many sounds that we don’t have in Czech but it is definitely a factor. For me, this is a big one with French as my vocal cords are fried after trying to pronounce the “R” sound for way too long. 

Okay, so those might be the reasons but can we actually do something about it? What do you think?

…of course, we can. As I said in the beginning, with increasing level, our ability to spend more time in that language increases as well. But here are some tips to make the journey as easy as possible:

Practice regularly. It is very important to teach our brains to operate in different languages regularly and in different ways such as speaking, listening, reading, and writing.

Don’t try to start with hours, start with minutes. Our brains get too tired very quickly and if you try to devote an hour or two to English every day, by the end of the week you will be exhausted and probably give up. Don’t try to watch 20-minute long videos, start with short sweet podcasts and videos that are maybe 2 or 3 minutes long and you can add a minute or two every few days. Slowly you will be able to devote more and more time to it without mental exhaustion. 

Focus on fluency, not perfection. If you are in a different country and communicate with others on a daily basis, don’t stress too much about it. Fear of making mistakes will hold you back. The main thing is to communicate your message effectively, not to say it perfectly. Don’t take yourself too seriously and if you make a mistake, so what? Will anyone die? Probably not.

Lastly, don’t be too hard on yourself. It is completely normal to feel tired, as I said, everyone feels this way sometimes. Take a break if you need to. If it is a meeting or just a conversation with a foreign friend and you need a break, go to the bathroom, sit in silence for a second, and let your brain rest. It is completely normal and if you don’t give up your practice, it will get easier and easier.

All right, that is the end. Thank you so much for listening to this episode and don’t forget that you can find the transcription and vocabulary list in the notes. Please give it a five-star rating if you liked it and I will see you next time, bye-bye.