I was recently listening to a re-run episode of CBC’s Q with Eddie Izzard. She is a British comedian who performs stand-up around the world in foreign languages- even ones she’s not fluent in! She performs in her second, third and even fourth languages with the goal of connecting to as many people as possible. She said as part of the world is breaking connections, some of us must work harder to make more connections because this is how we are going to survive into the next century. With all the news these past few weeks, I couldn’t agree more.
In this interview, she talks about how her self-confidence allows her to continue learning through immersion and to perform in languages she’s not perfectly fluent in. This really resonated with me because this is something I truly want to in still in all our students.
This emphasis on building self-confidence is what I think makes our programs special. Whether it’s in-person or online, we really put an effort into creating as many positive interactions with language learning as possible because we believe this is what gives students the most chances for long-term language learning success.
Besides the fact that Eddie Izzard is quite funny, I really liked this interview because it shows that no matter where you are on your learning path, language learning and practice can provide unique experiences and connection which make life more interesting and rich.