Awareness and Positive toughts 

Dear readers,

In my life’s journey, I consider awareness a great treasure, as it helps us protect ourselves from negativity, which, in the form of thoughts or beliefs, traps us in vicious cycles that limit our growth.

For this reason, I’ve decided to share some of my deepest reflections with you, hoping that at least one of them will resonate with you in a special way.

Happy reading! 

(1) What is a language and what does it really mean to learn one?

A language is not just a set of words and grammar but a tool through which we express our way of perceiving and thinking. It is the imprint of a culture, shaped by the experiences of that population, by the events that have forged their feelings and thus their soul. By soul, I mean what stirs within us and makes us feel alive—the bubbling part of ourselves. We can say that every language is like a garment designed and tailored directly onto the culture from which it originates, reflecting it and possessing a unique and vibrant imprint.

This is why learning a language different from our own means acquiring a new personality. Every language has its own character, an energetic identity shaped over time. Consequently, when we have truly absorbed the essence of a language different from ours, we manage to display a different personality; our facial expressions change, and we can even speak and act differently in the same situation depending on the language we use, observing things from the same point of view generally typical of the people to whom the language we are speaking at that moment belongs.

Many people say that "besides the language, it's important to learn the culture," which is true, but they often consider these things as two separate elements that partially influence each other, which is minimal. Most of the time, they say it just because someone else told them and because mentally it's something that "makes sense." Very few of them consider the true connection between these two elements. The most serious issue is that among these people, there are also language teachers who are not able to transmit something they have not fully or at least sufficiently understood. (Fortunately, with the necessary exceptions.)

Language and culture are intrinsically fused together; they interpenetrate so thoroughly that through language we can perceive the culture, and through culture we can understand the logic of the language. Every language contains a vibration that can be perceived and decoded.

The real difference does not lie in the number of degrees and certifications obtained in linguistic or psychological fields but in having begun a deep journey within ourselves, aimed at understanding and liberating our soul, which has been suffocated by mental schemes: a set of rules that we faithfully follow but have never truly observed or questioned. Everything our parents and teachers teach us becomes our religion. The quality of the teachings doesn't matter much, nor their deep understanding; only obedience and possibly acceptance matter.

Freeing our soul allows us to rediscover sensitivity, the ability to perceive and see the world in a more enlightened and profound way. Knowing ourselves better enables us to understand the rest of humanity better.

It might seem rather strange or unusual to talk about all this during a language course, but we are studying a "HUMAN LANGUAGE." Humans are part of nature, just as weight is part of lead. Everything we create, especially a language (which is an expression of our feelings and thoughts), bears the imprint of nature, just as we do—only sometimes we forget it.

Learning a language by considering it almost as an entity endowed with its own personality will allow us to fully grasp its meaning and unique imprint, to absorb it and make it a part of us. Studying a language by adopting a mechanical approach, almost mathematical and full of fixed, standardized, and timed schemes will make everything heavier and unfruitful. It is necessary to dive into its world and live it fully, following our emotions and a non-limiting guide. Looking at it only through a book or always clinging to something for fear of falling will only make us victims.

After understanding this, we realize how learning a language is much more than a simple educational path; it's a true adventure that can give us an infinity of different emotions.

Emotions are what suit human beings best. Our ability to feel emotions is innate, and anyway, the human race is not the only one to enjoy this ability. However, as fate would have it, we are the only ones who experience our emotions as a problem rather than a blessing. In fact, since childhood, we are often taught to repress our emotions, to control them, to suffocate them—especially as we grow and face greater responsibilities, such as exams and work. Everything must follow the scheme imposed by the society in which we live.

Freedom makes us true, unique, and original, but above all, it makes us human.

Considering language learning only as a subject of study is extremely reductive and deprives us of all the beauty this experience has to offer. Learning a language means learning art and science mixed with history and psychology. It is an intimate and invaluable experience—overwhelming and magical in the true sense of the word—thanks to which we can break down barriers inside and outside of us and expand our world. It is something that forges us and allows us to acquire greater knowledge and mastery of ourselves. Self-knowledge is a source of inner light that allows us to grasp the nuances of the world; it is a source of strength and inner security.

Certainly, school can play a very important role, especially if the teachers are enlightened people; in that case, they will do their best to help us seize the maximum. But much also depends on us and on how we decide to approach this adventure.

You won't become a superhero after undertaking this experience; they, as they are, exist only in comics. But if you live this experience in the right way, you will discover a part of yourself and the world around you that you were previously unaware of.

Brandon - July 2024 

(2) The true task of a teacher

A teacher who humiliates or penalizes their student because they cannot accomplish something is not worthy of this profession. The task of a teacher is not to use the rod to instill discipline but to help the sincere student find the light in what they themselves are teaching.

Brandon - July 2024 

(3) There is no reason for shame during the learning process

None of us is born knowing how to do things. Everything in nature is in a continuous evolutionary process, each being and element in its own time, including humans—or at least it should be... In many circumstances, from a young age, we are taught that we should feel ashamed when we can't do certain things. But in reality, it's just a baseless belief that everyone accepts without ever truly evaluating it.

Humans are, in fact, the only beings who often make exceptions to this natural logic because we've placed a division between ourselves and nature. We increasingly identify through a set of mental frameworks, many of which have nothing natural (nor logically sound) about them, and only a few of which are healthy. From this perspective, we find ourselves in a process of involution because we pretend (often unconsciously) not to feel like children of the earth but rather children of a society to which we owe obedience.

As a language tutor, I can say that among the various things we seem to find normal to be ashamed of is not being able to speak a new language we are learning. This belief is quite dysfunctional and creates unhealthy effects within those who submit to it. Every skill has undergone an evolutionary process that has forged it through mistakes and direct experimentation; this has already given us dignity. There's nothing else to prove; we just need to continue to evolve with strength and love for ourselves, recognizing our natural rhythm and perhaps finding the way that suits us best to learn, which is fundamental, though often completely ignored.

Brandon - August 2024 

(4) It happens very often but we don't realize it; We even do it to ourselves

Blame an embryo for not yet being a complete being. If it could speak, it would tell you that you're completely out of your mind.

Is one of our developing abilities perhaps different from any embryo?

Give yourself the necessary time to grow in learning everything!

Brandon - August 2024 

(5) A great truth

I have never said that learning a new language is simple, but I have always asserted that it can be a truly exciting experience or a real nightmare, depending on how we choose to live it. When we realize that we are part of nature and that we are all truly interconnected—in fact, we are all part of a whole (including animals and plants)—and all this takes root in our hearts, we understand how barriers are secondary things, even linguistic ones. This is because we all communicate with an invisible energy (that magical understanding you can feel with a dear friend or other people). This type of communication surpasses everything because it is primordial.

But our minds are too busy to notice this, and we have been taught to fear not knowing how to do things and to judge ourselves (so when there is no one in front of us who can criticize us, there is always an inner judge; thus, we are never alone—we are always in the crosshairs of a sniper, which is a stupid and harmful thing). If we base language learning on this awareness and on the flow of human emotion, things we could call magical will start to happen. A part that we currently ignore will begin to function and will help us learn more quickly and more deeply.

I say this because I have experienced it personally.

Brandon - September 2024 

(6) Loving Yourself: A Journey of Healing and Awareness

Truly loving ourselves is the first step to feeling better because we finally stop criticizing and judging ourselves as a despotic person would. This alone will give us much more energy. Treat yourself as you would treat your best friend or a child. Inside you, there's another you who is often scolded, criticized, humiliated, and sometimes even beaten. We do this to ourselves, but we often don't notice; then we don't understand why we feel frustrated and depleted of energy. But feeling bad under these conditions is absolutely normal.

Love yourself, silence the conditioned mind that sees evil everywhere, make peace with your past and understand it, so that it doesn't pollute your present and doesn't inhibit love and understanding toward yourself and others. Take care of yourself. I hug you tightly!

Brandon - September 2024