Why Enthusiasm Is Everything for English Learners



Lindsay: This is an All Ears English Podcast, Episode 37: Deep Thoughts Thursday, “Why Enthusiasm Is Everything for English Learners.”

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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 learn two key ways to bring more enthusiasm into your English learning.

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Gabby:

Hey Lindsay. What’s up?

Lindsay:

Hey Gabby. Feeling pretty good today.

Gabby:

Awesome. Well today for ‘Deep Thoughts Thursday’ we have a quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson and it goes like this: “Enthusiasm is the mother of effort and without it, nothing great was ever achieved.” Lindsay:

Mm. very deep.

Gabby:

Yeah, (you know), people sometimes, (you know), they have this critique of being too enthusiastic.

Lindsay:

Oh my god. It so sort of post-modern, right?

Gabby:

Yeah. Well and I think (like) in general, Americans are kind of known for being too enthusiastic. Everything is really, super amazing and super cool, incredible. We use a lot of these (um) (like) amplified descriptors.

Lindsay:

Awesome.

Gabby:

So, so really amazingly cool, right? And we’re very positive. We tend to have a lot of enthusiasm or superlatives in our speech, but you know what, it’s important.

Lindsay:

Yes. I know. That’s what I’m saying. I don’t like the idea that (like) sometimes people jump on this (sort of) (um) enthusiasm as being cheesy or (sort of)... Because yeah, this is very true. You’re not gonna (going to) get anywhere in life without enthusiasm.

Gabby:

Yeah.

Lindsay:

And what’s the point of living without enthusiasm anyway?

Gabby:

Yeah. Totally. Have some (uh) some energy there. When you get enthusiastic or you get inspired, you get energetic about something, it gives you the energy, it gives you the (um) (kind of) the what?- the initiative….

Lindsay:

…the edge. It gives you a lot of things.

Gabby:

Yeah.

Lindsay:

But, yeah, it gives you that initial surge of energy to move forward, to start a project or in the case for you guys as English learners to initiate a conversation.

Gabby:

Right.

Lindsay:

Or keep learning even when you’ve made a lot of mistakes.

Gabby:

Right and to put that effort in knowing that with effort you will achieve something you can be enthusiastic about.

Lindsay:

Yeah. Absolutely. So try to find a sense of enthusiasm for your English and maybe if you’re not feeling enthusiastic about it, ask yourself why. What’s, what’s going on? Are you using the wrong materials? Do you need people in your life to inspire you? Like what do you need?

Gabby:

What helps you to be enthusiastic? (Um), I have a couple of ideas. (Like) I love watching Ted Talks and there, there are probably thousands of Ted Talks and some of them are really, really good and they inspire me and they get me enthusiastic to put effort into my projects. (Um) what else? What, what do you get enthusiastic about? Or how, how do you get inspired to be enthusiastic?

Lindsay:

Yeah, I get inspired (um) through connecting with people. So that’s – I’ve said this before on this podcast, but that’s who I am. I like connecting with people. That’s why I learn languages, that’s why I teach, because I love (um) that, the fact that when you learn a new language, that opens that window to actually talk with somebody from another part of the world that you never would’ve connected with otherwise. So for me it’s practicing. So when I go out and I wanna (want to) work on my Spanish, it’s about practicing it with people and creating a connection with them and maybe having a laugh, sharing a drink, something like that.

Gabby:

Great. Well that’s awesome. Thanks for the, the practical tip and (um) I, I just want to thank you guys for listening. I want to inspire you. We want to give you enthusiasm and (uh), yeah, enthusiasm to put your ears into English, right?

Lindsay:

Yeah. Put those ears in. So we’ll see you guys next time.

Gabby:

Thanks guys.

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Gabby: Hey Lindsay. So I’ve heard some of your students have been using the premium transcripts for this podcast. Tell me about that.

Lindsay:

Yeah. (You know) this podcast is just, is fantastic if you wanna (want to) have some fun and you wanna (want to) learn a little bit, you wanna (want to) get a little bit of motivation for your English. But (you know) my students are actually really, really serious about improving and I’m, I’m excited about that. That’s why I’m working with them. And so, so for them, the way for them to actually really improve is to use the premium transcripts. So we’ve been using those in class together (um) and they’ve been able to learn a ton.

Gabby:

Yeah. Actually my students, too, (uh) they read the transcripts. You can read them out loud. You can do (um) some shadowing with the transcripts as well. You can look up vocabulary. You can do a lot of things. I don’t want to go on and on, but the premium transcripts are super helpful and we want to encourage those of you who are serious about improving your English this New Year to try them out. You can find them at allenglishears.com/conversations.

Lindsay:

All right. So please check it out. Thanks guys.

Gabby:

Thank you.

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Lindsay: Thanks for listening to the All Ears English Podcast. We’re here to help you learn English and you can help us by leaving a five star review on iTunes. See you next time.