Language-Listening Breakthroughs During Workouts

General discussion about learning languages
Khayyam
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Language-Listening Breakthroughs During Workouts

Postby Khayyam » Sat Jan 15, 2022 5:06 pm

I like to listen to German music while I'm working out. Here's an experience I've had so many times now that it's no longer surprising when it happens:

I'm lifting while listening to a song I can only half understand. As I approach the end of the set and the pain begins to demand my full attention, I can suddenly understand everything I'm hearing perfectly, or nearly so. It's as if there's a part of my mind that's normally tense and resistant to the learning process, but giving maximum physical effort leaves it no choice but to relax. A rough analogy could be made to reciprocal inhibition--activate a muscle to induce relaxation in its antagonist.

Have any of you ever experienced anything like this? Or, more broadly, do you ever find that your listening ability is better when you listen while doing something that one would expect to be distracting?

Sometimes I meditate while listening to German, with the attitude that my focus will be my breath rather than the words, and I seem to absorb more of them than I would have if I were grasping at them.
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Das Leben ist ein langer, roter Fluss
Die Klinge ist mein Segelboot

cpnlsn88
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Re: Language-Listening Breakthroughs During Workouts

Postby cpnlsn88 » Sat Jan 15, 2022 6:23 pm

I have not had this experience but it sounds interesting and worth a try.

I do though remember listening to a song I'd listened to a few times (Zwei Streifen by Enno Bunger). I understood the odd word and enjoyed the tune, then on one occasion one line came to me with some force and I immediately understood the whole song (it's beautiful and I am avoiding spoilers deliberately in case you wanted to listen to it).

In the instance of weight training it gives you an opportunity to re-listen to songs with a quiet meditative frame of mind to zone in and out, which could foster the experience
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Khayyam
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Posts: 270
Joined: Sun Jan 02, 2022 6:01 am
Languages: English (N), German (strong receptive, weak active), Persian (novice), American sign language (novice)
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Re: Language-Listening Breakthroughs During Workouts

Postby Khayyam » Sun Jan 16, 2022 12:24 am

cpnlsn88 wrote:I have not had this experience but it sounds interesting and worth a try.

I do though remember listening to a song I'd listened to a few times (Zwei Streifen by Enno Bunger). I understood the odd word and enjoyed the tune, then on one occasion one line came to me with some force and I immediately understood the whole song (it's beautiful and I am avoiding spoilers deliberately in case you wanted to listen to it).

In the instance of weight training it gives you an opportunity to re-listen to songs with a quiet meditative frame of mind to zone in and out, which could foster the experience


I'm listening to it now. Love it. Danke.
1 x
Das Leben ist ein langer, roter Fluss
Die Klinge ist mein Segelboot


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