Does your personality affect your English learning?
Hey everyone and welcome back to the Easy English Podcast.
I'm your host Oliver and today we have a very interesting topic.
One that might actually change the way that you personally approach learning, especially learning English.
We are talking about personality and how it affects the way that we learn.
Have you ever noticed that some people just love studying and others prefer to do other activities alongside studying?
So maybe listening to music or having some background noise.
And likewise, some people love studying with others.
So group studying or studying in pairs and others like to do it alone.
Or have you noticed that some people love speaking a new language immediately when they start to learn, while others hesitate, they wait a while?
All of these are because the way that we learn is deeply connected to our personalities.
So we're gonna dive into it today and see how an understanding of yourself can actually help you to learn more effectively.
All right, so we're going to start with a very simple question.
And I want you to answer honestly.
Have you ever struggled with learning something new?
And then you have later realized that maybe it just wasn't the right approach for you.
So, for example, you are trying to force yourself into a method that didn't match your natural way of thinking or learning.
This happens much more often than we might think.
And even nowadays, there is a lot of research that has been done on personality and learning.
And some of these studies from this research suggest that personality traits can influence almost anything from motivation to memory retention.
But it's better for us to break it down in a way that makes sense for English learners like yourselves.
Okay, so we're going to start with one of the most, I guess, well-known personality theories, and that is the introvert versus extrovert idea.
You've probably heard of this before.
Like an introvert is someone who's a little bit more closed.
They like their own time and space.
An extrovert is very social, very outgoing.
They get energy from being with others.
So if you're an extrovert, you might love group discussions, speaking practice and learning through interaction.
You get energy from being around these people and practicing in conversations.
But if you're more introverted, like me, to be honest, you probably find those same situations quite difficult and maybe a little bit overwhelming.
And perhaps you prefer reading, writing and studying alone at your own pace.
And neither of these are right or wrong.
It's just about knowing what works best for you and that sometimes our personalities don't always help us.
For example, if you're an introvert, you just need to know to push yourself a little bit more in those areas that are harder for you.
So let's look at some common personality traits, so features of personality, and how they can affect or shape the way that we learn.
And maybe as I describe these to you, you might recognize yourself in one of them. or maybe more.
So the first is the analytical thinker.
So this is someone who needs structure.
Do you love breaking things down into logical steps?
You might thrive with grammar exercises, structured lessons, and detailed explanations.
And, if this sounds like you, using language learning apps, textbooks and planned study lessons could be very effective.
The next type is the adventurer.
If you're someone who likes sorry, who learns best by doing, sitting down with a textbook for hours probably feels like torture.
You probably learn through experience.
So instead of just doing vocabulary lists, you should immerse yourself and watch movies in English, have real conversations or travel if possible.
These types of people tend to struggle more with traditional study methods, but they have a good strength in that they pick things up naturally through exposure.
The next type of learner might be the social learner.
Do you love discussing ideas, asking questions and learning through conversation?
Then study groups, language exchange partners and speaking-based activities probably will help you the most.
Learning English might be easier when you can connect with others who are also learning or already fluent.
And finally, the independent learner.
So this is someone who prefers working alone and at their own pace.
You might do better with different study techniques like podcasts, audiobooks and solo writing exercises.
And maybe big group settings might stress you out.
So don't feel so bad if that's not your style.
So you see there are different personalities naturally gravitated towards different ways of learning.
And that's absolutely fine.
Of course, you probably identify yourself in multiple of these categories.
And these categories are only for the point of illustrating different types of learners.
So you might be a mix of all four or maybe two or perhaps just the one.
So identifying who we are, what our personality is and how it affects our learning can really help us to select the best ways and methods to learn.
So, now that we understand how personality can play a role in learning, how can we actually use this information to study smarter rather than harder?
And the first is to really take a look inwards.
Take a look at yourself and identify your natural characteristics, your natural habits and tendencies.
For example, if you're someone who loves rules and structure, don't put yourself into a crazy, unplanned learning style.
And, on the other hand, if you really work well in interactive and fun environments, don't just rely on self-study and expect it to stay exciting for you.
And the next step is really to start adapting your study methods.
So, for example, if you're an introvert and you really don't like big speaking groups, instead of not going to a speaking club and avoiding speaking altogether, perhaps you can find a one-on-one speaking practice program tutor or a friend and this can be a way of still practicing your speaking without having to go to those big groups.
And if you're an extrovert, perhaps you're finding textbooks boring, join an English speaking club.
Go somewhere where you can socialize while learning and you can combine those two great traits together.
You need to give yourself permission to learn your way.
There's no best way to learn English.
And what works for one person will not work for you necessarily.
And that's okay.
You need to find what works for you and keep doing it.
For me, for example, when I study language, I'm quite introverted.
So I like to do a lot of reading, a lot of writing, listening practice.
And the bit that's always been the hardest for me is speaking.
I don't really like going to speaking clubs and practicing speaking with other people.
It makes me feel like perhaps they are judging me or listening to my mistakes and noticing them.
But I have to force myself to speak.
And over the years I have had to force myself to talk to people, to get language partners to do lessons.
But I find for me, instead of a speaking club, I find one-to-one speaking much easier and much better for me.
Um, And that over the years has been, for example, private tutors or teachers and conversation partners.
So it's just one example of how I've adapted my learning to my personality.
But likewise, don't neglect or ignore one part of your learning process.
Although I hate grammar, even though I'm introverted, I had to force myself to learn it, And it's really hard to find an exciting way to learn grammar.
But I tried to implement, for example, reading interesting books and looking at the grammar in those books, or finding an interesting resource or a book about grammar in the language.
These things are hard, but the more you look at how you learn and the more you adapt it, the better the results you will get.
So keep trying really look at yourself and your personality and you will see big results once you play into your strengths and identify your weaknesses.
Thank you for listening and I hope you have an amazing rest of your day.
As always, check out the Patreon in the link below if you want to support this project and me personally.
And the website link is also in the link below easyenglishpodcastcom, with blog posts for practicing your reading and also a free weekly English newsletter for you to learn.
Thank you for listening and goodbye.
