learning, language, and info gaps

A few months ago, I wrote a blog about learning and how it is arguably the most important skill we can improve upon. Honestly, when I was much younger, I didn't think that learning itself was a skill that could be sharpened (I erroneously assumed that was the level of a person's intelligence they were born with and could not change). However, I quickly realized that there, indeed, is an ability inside everyone to increase and continue increasing the speed at which they absorb new information and develop new abilities. It happened with me: as high school dragged on, I became increasingly less interested in academics, and the idea of spending any more time inside classrooms repelled me...but after spending some time in the Navy and getting some varied experiences under my belt, I suddenly realized that I loved learning in all forms. Not only did I love learning, I was much better at it (the latter was likely a reason for the former).

A certain level of maturity also played a significant role in me actually wanting to do well in school again; I knew there was so much I didn't know and needed to improve upon (funny...that's still the case). I realized there are so many more dimensions to life and human performance outside of academics, but the fundamental knowledge and skill sets I was passionate about acquiring could first be found in universities. I wanted to learn a language and become more familiar with different avenues of the arts. Writing was one of the practices in which I improved early — this came from writing more but also from thinking differently.

Without regurgitating the full story, I eventually found myself teaching Russian to U.S. service members. I attribute this to the intensive programs and caring mentors that pushed me to a point of being able to achieve a professional level of proficiency in the language. However, this position also would not have been possible if I hadn't developed a new appreciation for the process of learning. The institute where I taught had a faculty that was comprised mostly of native speakers of the target languages, but the departments also wanted to use a few native English-speakers like me to their advantage. While my expectations were high, the training and certification processes for new faculty was more in-depth than I had anticipated.

Probably my favorite aspect of the training was how much emphasis they put on culture and diverse pedagogical techniques across all languages. Culturally, everything down to the smallest detail was taken into account; for example, not just cultural differences between the target language and that of American English, but also the cultural differences between civilian professors and military students, cultural differences in generational gaps, and so on. Everything mattered, and when students weren't picking up on something, adjustments were made immediately.

At these language institutes, there are a myriad of techniques used to improve students' proficiency levels as fast as possible because the stakes are high for military linguists. There's simultaneously a strong emphasis on the languages of our allies (examples might be French, Hebrew, Japanese, etc.) because fluency in those arenas is equally as important for how the U.S. operates in the world. I mention this because it isn't like what many people think; these institutes aren't simply training spies to eavesdrop on nefarious conversations to find out where the missiles are hidden — there is, fortunately, much more nuance to it than that.

In my experience at the institute, this high level of nuance was taken into account with how lessons were carefully planned and executed. While there is always a sense of urgency due to short timelines, we as professors could still only move as fast as the students' minds. The scenes in The Matrix where new knowledge and skills are downloaded to characters' brains within seconds might be what some people think goes on at military language institutes, but if they could do it this way, they probably would (I'll update this blog as Neuralink advances).

One of the popular techniques in the language teaching world is "the info gap" where, for example, one half of students may be given the beginning and the end of an article or video in the target language, and the other half receives just the middle portion. After reading or listening/watching independently, students would then come together and exchange information so that both groups could thoroughly understand and present the full story, filling the information gap in the process.

I have found myself reflecting more on techniques like these and how they are applicable to everyday occurrences. When we communicate with someone, we gather pieces of information from them and surrounding circumstances while providing our own information (voluntarily and/or involuntarily) that they previously did not have. I agree that there's a lot of truth to idea that one's first impression is their lasting impression, and it's quite astonishing how we form detailed opinions of one another despite most interactions making up such a short moment relative to one's lifespan (I'm not saying this is good or bad...it's probably necessary for our survival and improved life experiences).

Mark Goulston's Just Listen (I recently finished this one — I recommend it if you haven't read it yet) delves into techniques that make people better listeners in addition to strategies for managing one's own emotions during stressful situations to stay receptive and useful. Goulston emphasizes the importance of being interested rather than interesting and to assume that everyone you meet has a fascinating story, since that's almost certainly the truth. Similarly, I agree that most of our interactions are made up of "info gaps," and it's our job to collectively fill them. As I mentioned last week, life is filled with non-linear stories we're piecing together.

Information gaps and other pedagogical strategies that I was exposed to at the institute are not just about acquisition of knowledge or professional skills through which the knowledge is eventually applied. Rather, these processes were also designed to strengthen students' ability to learn through curiosity, and I found that teaching and helping to facilitate such exercises only improved my own ability to learn new things.

Now, let's go fill some info gaps. Make a great week!

Thank you for reading this one, I hope you enjoyed it.

– Thomas