Still from the movie Cuban Fury
The fear of learning or the fear of failing?
When I was younger I never wanted to dance. I would be the person sitting on the side while everyone one else was enjoying themselves on the floor.
Later in life ( in my late 40s), I was looking for an activity that I could do in the winter months. In the summer I had learned how to sail small boats. Someone suggested learning Salsa dancing. I thought it sounded like an interesting way to pass the time. I did not know how difficult it would be for me to learn how.
My body and brain had to learn many new concepts and ideas. I had to train my body to move in ways it never had before. At the start I was so bad that to say “I sucked” would have been a compliment.
I wanted to stop, but I had committed myself. I also had patient and supportive teachers and dance partners. I kept going to the classes, and to the practices, until I reached the point where I sucked, and then I was bad, and then I became not bad, then I became kinda OK. After years of practice and a few years away from it, I can say that I am an OK dancer. I am at the level of an advanced beginner. I am never going to be at the level of some people who started in their teens and have taken lessons most of their lives. I am OK with my progress.
In order for me to reach the modest level I am right now there are several things I had to do. I had to practise. As an adult learner, I had to put more effort into training my mind and body into the processing the information than younger, supplier students.
My biggest hurdle, though, was to overcome my fear of failing in public.
These same issues affect Adult language learners. Our brains are not as “open” to re-wiring, our muscles ( tongue and mouths) are not as supple to learn new pronunciation patterns ( I still can’t roll my rrrrrs when I try and speak spanish) but the most difficult thing we have to overcome is our fear.
As adults this fear of making mistakes can get in the way of real learning. The problem is we learn best when we make mistakes.
So if you want to improve in what you are doing, you have to get over your fear… you have to make mistakes.
Now who wants to go dancing?
BTW the images and the link are to a good, funny movie about salsa Cuban Fury. They are much better than I ever will be.