Dear Readers,
Hope you had a great week.
I tried something new last week- I changed the settings of my phone from English to French.
Why did I do that?
Because one of the blogs suggested it as a way to learn a new ‘langue’ (language in french!).
One of my life goals is to be fluent in french and ‘Je peux parler francais’ (I can speak french) on account of learning it in school and for 1.5 years in College.
Mais, je ne suis pas FLUENT. (I am not fluent)
So I continue to go back to it- in bits and parts. It helps that when you learn a language, your brain is getting a much needed exercise and you become smarter, your memory improves and the size of your brain increases.
We’ll explore this and more in this issue.
I hope you begin your language learning journey after reading this. 💛
Issue #20
In this issue you will find:
2 Videos on ‘Learning a New Language’
The Learning Bank
A Call to Action that can help save lives
An update from Femreads
And a way to connect with me!
Let's start. 🎬
Learning a New Language
Most of us in India are bilinguals - i.e. we speak at least 2 languages, our mother tongue and English. Many of us will know even more - In fact, as per my observation people residing in South India speak 3 or more languages and that is absolutely marvellous!
But I would still urge you to learn another one. Why?
Watch this TED Talk to understand top 4 reasons for learning a new language-
Here are the key takeaways:
Learn a new language to imbibe the culture of the people who speak it!
Bilingualism is healthy for your brain.
Language learning is fun!
It has never been easier to learn a language.
And if you feel daunted by a task of learning new languages or looking for some inspiration, watch this TED talk by Lydia Machova who learns to speak a new language every 2 years!
The key takeaways-
Find ways to enjoy the language learning process!
Use effective methods
Build a system for learning and a
Bit of patience
(All these takeaways are what stands true for all type of learning!)
So, what new language do you want to learn?
The Learning Bank 🏦
Here is this week’s learning bank-5 resources- videos, articles, blogposts, courses and more to learn from!
Learn how to track your expenses with this great tip.
Want to learn a bit more about psychology, check out this site with free modules.
Learn how to give effective feedback with the help of this guide.
Learn how to get better at deep work using tools with the help of this post. (Also subscribe to the newsletter if you like knowing about new tools and platforms.)
Learn how to prepare for your next career decision with this medium article.
Help me save 2 lives!
I have been fostering a rescued pregnant cat- Piddi for more than 2.5 months now. She had a difficult labour, and 3 out of 4 kittens died- one of them lived - Leo.
Both of them are looking for their forever homes!
Here is how you can help me and them-
✅ If you live in Bangalore, you can offer to foster the duo
✅ You can help me in campaigning for their adoption
✅ Or by being superhumans and adopting them
Reach out to me on avnivij3@gmail.com if you want to do any of the above!
Femreads Update
Femreads is a book club that focuses on feminist fiction and non fiction text.
For the month of June- we have been reading and discussing Invisible Women by Caroline Criado Perez.
Here is a sketchnote of the introduction of the book to inspire you to think about the data gap in this world,
We’ll open the sign ups for the next month soon.
Connect with me!
With the change in my work schedule, I am reducing the number of office hours.
If you want to chat about learning you can now book a slot only on Saturdays from 5 pm to 6 pm.
Alternatively, you can reach out to me LinkedIn or send me a “hey” on avnivij3@gmail.com.
If you liked this newsletter, maybe share it with someone else who’d like it?
Keep learning!
Adios,
Avni