Slowing Down to Here: How to better hear the French

SLOWING DOWN TO HERE: HOW TO BETTER HEAR THE FRENCH

So, do you have trouble hearing the French when they talk?

Does it feel like they link their words into a loooong complicated string?

Do you understand better the written language (books, subtitles) than you can understand what people are saying to you?

Or maybe you can’t quite understand the words of the French in conversation, but you can understand even the most advanced book you read?

Then this article is for you.

If there was one skill or technique that I teach most in my coaching classes, this would be it.

Check out the article below to see how slowing down helps your French conversation, and watch the video that’ll help you with an example!

“Slowing Down to Here” is a guest post by Ariel and Shya Kane.

How do we slow down, and get into the moment of now, to really hear the French in a conversation, and make the right choice of words when we answer.

I want to thank Ariel and Shya Kane for graciously accepting to post on my blog! Before you go, watch the video to learn the verb VENIR – to come.
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This moment is uniquely finite and yet infinite.

What we mean by that is that it is complete exactly as it is and yet this moment leads into the next moment of now.

Most of us are so busy chasing an idea of what a better model of ourselves is supposed to be, or an idea of where we should be by now in our lives, that we never slow down enough to get current to the present moment of our life.

We are driven to get things over with, finished, completed.

There is a discomfort in “being in process” and most of us are avoiding the discomfort of the process of our lives.

What it takes to have a magical life is to BE there in what is happening in your life in this, the current moment of now.

Our minds are like machines and their nature or habit of operation is in overdrive, rushing for some future attainment.

What it takes to get into the current moment is an intentional slowing down. (Not to be confused with laziness or complacency.)

It is an intentional putting the brakes on so that you are actually in real time with what is happening in your experience in this moment of now.

As an example,
we were taking a lesson in casting a Spey fly rod.

This casting method requires several specific movements that are designed to support this 13 foot rod in casting a line over a long distance.

The more force you use to produce the cast, the more difficult the cast becomes.

What it takes to produce the perfect cast is watching how your line is moved by the motion of the rod.

If you are trying to make the cast, you stop watching the line.

But if you are there, a simultaneous adjustment takes place in your body that allows the line to move with effortlessness and grace as it arcs off into the distance.

The challenge is that most people misidentify themselves with their thoughts.

They think they ARE their thoughts.

Your thoughts are so speedy and far faster than life is showing up in this moment.

These thoughts bounce around and the thoughts are a part of a survival mechanism that is constantly sorting by what is necessary for survival.

As you go about your day today why not play a game?

Why not treat that internal conversation as a radio station rather than you?

If you notice that you are thinking that something in the future is going to be more important than right now then it is an indicator that you listening to the radio station as if what you hear coming through the radio is you.

What if what you are listening to, contemplating or worrying about, is nothing more than a preprogrammed MP3 player on shuffle?

Your thoughts are randomly playing what has been downloaded from the past.

These thoughts are scripted by your cultural inheritance and limited experience that has been deeply colored by the culture in which you were raised (or your resistance to that socialization process).

When you notice that you are speeding through your life, your day, your moment to get on to what you think is more important than what is right in front of you right now, take a breath.

Intentionally bring yourself into your body, into what is happening in front of you right now.

Your eyes and your body will be your barometer as to whether or not you are thinking or being.

If you are staring off into middle space – you are thinking.

If your eyes are actually registering what is in front of you – you are here…maybe…if you are fortunate.

This is a process.

You will get better as you engage in self observation without self reproach and you start to gain a mastery of objectivity that allows you to escape the mechanical nature of your mind. Being here has its perks.

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Since 1987, internationally acclaimed authors, seminar leaders, and business consultants Ariel and Shya Kane have taught individuals, couples and organizations across the globe how to live in the moment and unwire the knee-jerk behaviors that get in the way of living life with ease. From their ground?breaking book Working on Yourself Doesn’t Work to How to Create a Magical Relationship, gold medal winner of the Nautilus Book Award for best book of the year in the category of Relationships /Men & Women’s Issues, to their speaking engagements at the United Nations Society for Enlightenment and Transformation and Alternatives ? the UK’s premier venue for the biggest names in the mind, body, spirit world ? Ariel & Shya continue to reach audiences hungry for the possibility of a life filled with ease, well being and satisfaction. Their acclaimed seminars in New York City, Europe and Costa Rica open up previously unseen possibilities in people’s lives, allowing them to live the life of their dreams. You can learn more about their seminars, Internet radio show Being Here, as well as their Excellence Club online community at: www.TransformationMadeEasy.com.

NOW IT IS YOUR TURN!
Tell us in the comments below, what is yourway to stay in the moment? How does that help you speak better French?

Let me guess.

Do you constantly have the feeling that you can’t hear what the French say and you don’t know how to read all the French words because they are written so much differently than they sound?

Learn 3 secrets that will help you be self sufficient in the way you pronounce French words – even if you don’t know what they mean – so that you can read that sophisticated menu in your favorite French restaurant.