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AEE Episode 76: Get Out of Your Head and Into Your Heart with English

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Lindsay: This is an All Ears English Podcast, Episode 76: “Get Out of Your Head and Into Your Heart with English.”

Lindsay: Yeah.

[Instrumental]

Gabby:

Welcome to the All Ears English Podcast, where you’ll finally get real, native English conversation. Now here are your hosts, Lindsay McMahon, the ‘English Adventurer’ and Gabby Wallace, the ‘Language Angel,’ coming to you from Boston, Massachusetts, USA.

Lindsay:

In this episode, you’ll get one specific strategy to bring your heart back into your learning and get out of your head.

[Instrumental]

Gabby:

Hey Lindsay.

Lindsay:

Hi Gabby?

Gabby:

How’s it going?

Lindsay:

Pretty good. Pretty…pretty good. Feeling good.

Gabby:

Great.

Gabby:

I love our topic today, how to get out of your head, back into your heart, put some feeling into your life with English.

Lindsay:

Yeah.

Gabby:

So we’re gonna (going to) talk about a specific way, a practical way that you can do this today. It’s not just all theory and feelings and ideas… Lindsay:

Yeah, that’s true. That’s important.

Gabby:

Practical ideas.

Lindsay:

Yeah. So then if that’s the case, let’s just skip to the advice.

Gabby:

Great.

Lindsay:

Let’s go for the practical aspect.

Gabby:

Let’s do it.

Lindsay:

Our advice is volunteer in English.

Gabby:

Yes.

Lindsay:

Find an opportunity to give back to someone who needs help.

Gabby:

Yeah.

Lindsay:

Right.

Gabby:

The key here is to find a volunteer opportunity where you’re working with people or a person. So if you’re living in the United States, (um) there are several different organizations that you could contact and find out how to be an individual volunteer or maybe if you have a friend or a co-worker who would be interested in volunteering with you. It’s a great way to do something social too, so kind of two-for-one.

Lindsay:

Yeah.

Gabby:

Make a friendship too. (Um) there’s the (uh) Big Brothers, Big Sisters organization. (Uh), there’s (there are) a number of different soup kitchens where if you’re serving food; you interact with people.

Lindsay:

One that I, I worked at a few years ago is called the Haley House here in Boston.

Gabby:

Excellent.

Lindsay: Yeah.

Lindsay:

And (uh), it’s in the South End and they have dinner for different (um) groups of, of, of homeless people and you can go and help cook the food and serve it.

Gabby:

There’s the St. Francis House…

Lindsay:

Okay.

Gabby:

…here in Boston as well. I think the key is to establish a routine where you go to the same place every week or once a month at minimum, so that you’re seeing the same people repeatedly.

Lindsay:

Yeah, and it’s interesting -- (like) I just thought of this. This might not be something that you’re used to doing. I think this is a big part of our culture… Gabby:

Right.

Lindsay:

…here in the US.

Gabby:

Yeah.

Lindsay:

It’s something that often people might even put on a resume if they’ve done a significant amount of volunteer work. (Um) it’s a part of something that people like to do.

Gabby:

Yes.

Lindsay:

(Um) so this would also be a great way to not only get out of your head, but also to meet, as you said, other American people.

Gabby:

Yes. Absolutely. Well, and to build your resume.

Gabby:

(I mean) it’s kind of self-serving, but, but that’s one reason why people do it.

Lindsay:

Right.

Gabby:

(Um), but, but actually when you start volunteering, I think you realize how rewarding it is to work with people who are in need of your help and just the fact that you’re there and you’re willing to listen and to do something, (like) with your time to help people, it means a lot. So (um), this is, this is something that you can do, (uh), not directly to study English, but to kind of get out of grammar and textbooks, out of your head, right?

Lindsay:

Yeah. We spend so much time in our heads. And (you know), we’ve gotta (got to) do something to make your heart live.

Gabby:

Yeah, when you start developing those relationships with your heart, then you’ll naturally develop the language skills because your heart will want you to learn right?

Lindsay:

Absolutely.

Gabby:

So (um), I think we’re gonna share some examples… Lindsay:

Sure.

Gabby:

…of volunteering.

Lindsay:

Yeah. So I spent some time in, in Guatemala (uh) back in 2008 and I was teaching English in a, in a, in a school (um) for some, (you know), kind of a low-income community. (Um) and (you know) teaching English and helping with the kids, helping around the school and that sort of thing and I was also learning Spanish at the same time, right?

Lindsay: Yeah.

Gabby:

Cool.

Lindsay:

But what happened was, (um), it was a very different feeling than when I was studying with my tutor in Xela (Quetzaltenango). When I was Totonicapan, which is the name of the city, (um), I was there and I was just interacting with those kids and of course I was practicing Spanish, but I wasn’t thinking about making a grammar mistake or becoming shy or embarrassed or nervous. No, I was just giving and I was giving and giving and at the end of the day, I felt fulfilled and I was able to learn and become near fluent, right?

Gabby:

Yeah, (you know), I think that’s such a good point that, (you know), you were just giving and your purpose as a volunteer was to give so you, you have a reason for being in that situation, you have a clear purpose and that just means a lot, that gives you direction… Lindsay:

Yeah.

Gabby:

…for using the language and for giving back to others.

Lindsay:

And it also gives you some perspective, (like) it’s not all about you, (you know). You realize like it’s very easy when you’re in your house and studying with your grammar book, you can think ‘The world’s coming to an end because I can’t pronounce this word correctly and it’s all about me.” (Like) I even have a tendency to think the world is about me. We all do. We all do.

Gabby:

Totally.

Lindsay:

But when we’re in that volunteer situation, we can say ‘Okay, there’s (there are) some real problems in the world and people really need me.’ Gabby:

Yes.

Lindsay:

And there’s so much more than just me and my grammar book.

Gabby:

Absolutely. I agree. Awesome.

Lindsay:

Yeah great. So please go ahead, go out and try to find a volunteer opportunity if you’re here in the US or, (you know), try to, try to put your heart into English.

Gabby:

Yeah.

[Instrumental]

Lindsay:

If you like to put your ears into English with Lindsay and Gabby, be sure to subscribe to the podcast audio in iTunes for free on your computer or on your smartphone. Thanks for listening to the All Ears English Podcast. See you next time.