Last Saturday I walked about 12 km – to the neighbour village and back. The scenery changed at a slow pace. The legs moving unwillingly at the beginning, but having used to the rhythm, they kept the steady tempo. Fresh air, another perspective (not through a car window), charming nature (no kidding, - I saw a huge white heron, three deers and a beautiful sunset) and above all – a CLEAR MIND and a sense of FREEDOM. Sooo vitalizing! It’s a perfect restart after exhausting week, isn’t it?
What do you need for walking? Not much. Maybe the right footwear and a will to walk? Rebecca Solnit claims – time and space. In her book “Wanderlust: A History of Walking”* she writes that walking is “a bodily labor that produces nothing but thoughts, experiences and arrivals”. By walking “the mind, the body and the world are aligned” as “three notes suddenly making a chord.”
The sound produced by three notes is particularly necessary in language learning. The active body activates brain, building new connections or paths. Learning new vocabulary is definitely more fruitful by walking when the mind is liberated and open to learning. In fact learning when walking was practiced already in Ancient Greece by Aristotel.** Have you tried it? And what about walking backwards?
Put down a list of unknown words and their meanings (about 7 words) in a foreign language. First, read these words. Then make a step (backwards) and say a word. Keep repeating until you walked through the list. Repeat this activity several times. Then return to it next day and do the same. Learning by walking probably will bring you desired results earlier than sitting at your desk. By the way backwards walking can be learned by dancing Argetinian tango. Have you ever tried it?
Drop me an e-mail. I would be happy if you share your experience.
*Solnit, R. (2001). Wanderlust: A History of Walking. Penguin Books
**Schindler, G. (2021). Dissertation. How Far Can Movement Improve L2 Learning Experience For Adults. University of Southampton