Learn English Language Fluency The Natural Way
Could focusing on logic be damaging our society? Today's English lesson explores the unique qualities of left and right brain thinking with Ian McGilchrist’s insights, while strengthening your English listening skills.
Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.
⭐ Albert Einstein
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Ever wondered why some people grasp English effortlessly while others struggle for years? In this fascinating lesson, you'll discover the hidden battle between your brain's two hemispheres - and how it affects your English learning journey.
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More About This Lesson
Have you ever wondered why some people seem to learn English quickly while others struggle? This lesson explores how understanding your brain’s two sides – the left and right hemispheres – can make a big difference in your learning journey. You'll also hear real English, which helps you improve your listening skills.
Imagination is more important than knowledge.
⭐ Albert Einstein
The benefits your will gain engaging with this English lesson:
- You’ll practice understanding British English through natural speech.
- Gain vocabulary with words explained in easy-to-understand terms.
- Learn real-world topics that encourage deeper thinking in English.
- Improve your listening skills with conversational English.
- Hear examples of commonly used English phrases and expressions.
- Learn pronunciation and spelling of less common words like “hemisphere.”
- Expand your understanding of complex ideas in simplified English.
- Strengthen memory of English words through repetition and context.
- Discover cultural perspectives from British thinkers and professionals.
- If you feel we have helped you please consider supporting us https://adeptengli.sh/donate
This lesson gives you two great benefits in one! First, you’ll learn about how your brain works in language learning, based on the fascinating work of a former psychiatrist and Oxford professor. Secondly, you'll pick up essential English vocabulary and rhythms by listening to real spoken English. Together, these help you remember English better and use it naturally, just like native speakers do.
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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
- What Are the Key Benefits of Understanding Left and Right Brain Thinking for Language Learning? When you're learning English, understanding how your brain processes information can be a game-changer. Your right brain helps you grasp the natural flow and musicality of English speech, while your left brain handles grammar rules and vocabulary. By engaging both hemispheres during your study sessions, you'll develop a more balanced approach to language learning. For example, try combining structured grammar exercises (left brain) with immersive listening to natural conversations (right brain). This podcast actually demonstrates this dual approach - you're learning about an intellectual topic while naturally absorbing English language patterns.
- How Can I Use McGilchrist's Insights to Improve My English Listening Skills? McGilchrist's work shows us that effective learning happens when we engage both hemispheres of our brain. To improve your English listening skills, you should start by listening to this podcast multiple times without trying to understand every word (right brain approach). Then, gradually focus on specific vocabulary and structures (left brain approach). This method helps you develop both intuitive understanding and analytical knowledge of English. Remember, just as McGilchrist suggests that balance is crucial for civilizations, it's also essential for language learning.
- What Are the Most Important Common Words Mentioned in This Podcast for English Learners? Throughout this podcast, several high-frequency English words are used that you'll need for everyday communication. Key terms include 'hemisphere', 'intuitive', 'logic', and 'stroke'. However, the podcast also mentions that there are 500-600 most common words in English that form the foundation of fluent speech. You should focus on mastering these core words first, as they'll give you the ability to express most basic ideas in English. The podcast recommends a specific course for this purpose, but you can find many resources online to practice these essential words.
- How Can I Practice Both Creative and Analytical Thinking While Learning English? Just as Ian McGilchrist discusses the importance of balancing left and right brain thinking, you need to balance your English learning approach. Try these techniques: Use analytical methods like breaking down grammar structures and memorizing vocabulary lists (left brain), but also engage in creative activities like describing pictures, participating in conversations, or telling stories in English (right brain). This balanced approach will help you develop both accuracy and fluency in your English speaking skills.
- What's the Best Way to Use This Podcast for Improving British English Pronunciation? When using this podcast to improve your British English pronunciation, start by focusing on the overall rhythm and intonation patterns (right brain approach) rather than individual sounds. Listen to how the speaker naturally uses stress and rhythm when discussing complex topics like brain hemispheres. After getting comfortable with the flow, you can then analyze specific pronunciation features (left brain approach). Pay attention to how British English words like 'hemisphere', 'author', and 'finance' are pronounced. Remember to imitate these patterns in your own speech practice.
Most Unusual Words:
- Hemisphere: one half of a sphere or round object, like the Earth or brain.
- Sphere: a round object, like a ball or the shape of the Earth.
- Neuroscientist: a doctor or scientist who studies the brain and how it works.
- Intuitive: knowing or understanding something through feelings, not proof.
- Logic: clear, structured thinking based on reason.
- Quantified: something that can be measured or counted.
- Pop psychology: popular ideas about psychology that may not be scientific.
- Diagnoses: identifications of health or mental conditions by a doctor.
- Civilisations: societies or groups of people with advanced culture and organization.
- Psychotherapy: treatment for mental or emotional issues through talking.
Most Frequently Used Words:
| Word | Count |
|---|---|
| Brain | 35 |
| Right | 18 |
| Which | 14 |
| About | 13 |
| Thinking | 9 |
| English | 8 |
| Mcgilchrist | 8 |
| These | 7 |
| Think | 6 |
Listen To The Audio Lesson Now
Transcript: Learn English The Natural Way-Unlocking Your Brains Genius
The Divided Brain
Hi there and welcome to this Adept English podcast. Today I'm going to talk about the two halves of the brain and relate this to a documentary I watched on Amazon Prime. I think it's also available on YouTube. And this documentary is about the work of a British man called Ian McGilchrist. He is an extremely clever man who spent 20 years writing a book and he covers the material from the book in the documentary. And what does Ian McGilchrist have to say? Well, it's one of those ideas that makes you think again. About lots of things. About everything perhaps. It changes your perspective, we might say.
📷
A library where genius flourishes. Discover new vocabulary for everyday use
Ian McGilchrist's work is really important and seems at last to be getting recognition. The two different sides of the brain? Well, you may have heard about left brain thinking and right brain thinking. Let's look at this idea in more detail today. All while remembering that this is an English language podcast. So you'll be getting to practise your English language at the same time. Some really good vocabulary as well as great ideas coming from this podcast today.
Hello, I’m Hilary, and you’re listening to Adept English. We will help you to speak English fluently. All you have to do is listen. So start listening now and find out how it works.
Fill your vocabulary knowledge gaps with Adept English
First of all, do you know it's possible that you can be learning a language for up to 10 years, without covering all of the basic vocabulary, all of the basic words? In most languages there are common words which are used all the time. And which therefore are very important to learn if you want to understand and speak the language. English is no different. And we have made an Adept English course to address exactly this. We've put together a Listen & Learn course which will ensure that you learn the most common 500 words really, really well, so that you can understand them and use them yourself. And a little secret - the course actually covers the most common 600 words. Find out just how much you can say with these common words. You can download our Most Common 500 Words Course today. It's available on our website at adeptenglish.com.
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Right and left hemispheres - different cleverness
So you may be familiar with the idea that our brains, that's B-R-A-I-N, are divided into two halves or 'hemispheres'. The word 'hemisphere', H-E-M-I-S-P-H-E-R-E, 'hemisphere', well it usually comes up in two contexts. If we're talking about the Earth, the planet that we live on, we might talk about the Northern Hemisphere and the Southern Hemisphere. So 'hemisphere' means 'half a sphere'. And a 'sphere', S-P-H-E-R-E, means 'a ball, a round thing', like a planet, just like the Earth. So with the Earth, it's as though there's a horizontal line cutting the Earth into two. Above the line, that's the Northern Hemisphere. Below the line, that's the Southern Hemisphere. And when we talk about the 'hemispheres of the brain', it's as though there is a vertical line, so one like this, which divides the hemispheres. And therefore, we talk about left brain and right brain. And it turns out that these two parts of the brain have quite different functions and ways of looking at the world.
Ian McGilchrist is a very clever man who first studied and then taught English Literature at Oxford University. He did that for a few years. And then when he was 28, he studied medicine. So he became a doctor. And in time, he also became a psychiatrist - that's P-S-Y-C-H-I-A-T-R-I-S-T - that means 'a doctor of the mind' and also a neuroscientist. So he became 'a doctor of the brain'. So Ian McGilchrist is unusual. He seems equally clever in both the left hemisphere and the right hemisphere of his brain. Most of us work better with one side or the other. And it turns out that these two hemispheres, these halves of the brain, have quite different functions and ways of looking at the world.
Are you a left or a right brain thinker?
So what do we mean when we talk about 'left brain thinking' and 'right brain thinking'? Well, if it's physical movement, the left brain controls the right side of the body and the right brain controls the left side of the body. But there's much more difference than that. The left brain, and I am simplifying here, the left brain is good at things like mathematics.
It's good at understanding systems. It's great at things that can be measured and quantified. Our right brain is much better at understanding the whole of something, getting the big picture, the feel of something. And the right brain is much more intuitive. That word 'intuitive', I-N-T-U-I-T-I-V-E, it means you have 'intuition'. It means 'being able to know and understand things because of feelings rather than because of facts or proof'. Activities that make particular use of our right brain are often creative ones, working with ideas or images, appreciating music, theatre, film, art, or using our imagination and our feelings to appreciate and interact with the world. Having and valuing emotional intelligence - these are all right brain functions.
And if you look at people's jobs, many of them are clearly for left brain thinkers, computer programming, accountancy, working in those highly paid jobs in finance, that's F-I-N-A-N-C-E, where the money is in other words! Or for a bank, or being a scientist of some kind. Those are all jobs which tend to use the left side of the brain. These jobs mean that you enjoy using logic, L-O-G-I-C, and reason in your work. If you're someone who much preferred doing maths, M-A-T-H-S, at school, rather than art or languages or music, then you're probably a left brain thinker. Other jobs are clearly more suited to right brain thinkers. Examples would be a school teacher, an author, that's A-U-T-H-O-R, someone who writes books, particularly fiction books, or even perhaps an animator, someone who is gifted at animation, who makes cartoons. Lots of healthcare professions are suited to right brain thinking, someone who's a psychotherapist like me, for example.
And most of what are called 'the caring professions', or the ones that tend to be poorly paid, like care workers, people who look after children or the elderly, in other words, which is actually a very skilled job, but poorly paid and usually not very valued. This theory of left brain and right brain functioning was seen as 'pop psychology' until relatively recently. That term 'pop psychology' is a fairly dismissive one, which people use for theories about psychology, which appeal to the popular mind, but which aren't scientifically proven, or rather which may be difficult to prove scientifically, and therefore get dismissed. But Ian McGilchrist has worked with patients who have had stroke, S-T-R-O-K-E, that's when something happens in the brain which stops one side from working. And he studied the differences in people who have only left brain function or only right brain function, and he found this to be very different. And this is somewhat scientific. The results support the ideas that I've talked about earlier, and it's clear that we don't function very well if either side of our brain isn't working. We need both of them.
Balance is what is needed
But Ian McGilchrist is concerned that in our modern world, we seem to value left brain thinking above right brain thinking, and that right brain thinking is slowly but surely being dismissed and not given any value. If you look at those jobs, the ones that are well paid are all the left brain thinking jobs. And right brain thinking is devalued, not rewarded, and thought of as 'unscientific'. Ian McGilchrist has looked at history and seen that throughout the ages, the rise and fall of civilisations, groups of people which have been successful, in other words, like the ancient Romans and the ancient Greeks, well, they became successful in periods where right brain thinking seemed to dominate, and those same civilisations seemed to decline or collapse. Once left brain thinking became dominant, we miss the big picture, in other words, and that can be catastrophic.
How Debunking Blue Zones Can Help You Learn English Faster
Enforced right brain thinking loses the essence point
And I see this very much in my world, in the world of psychotherapy. We are forced to measure and to prove, to use questionnaires and diagnoses to have measurable outcomes. I get it. You need to know that something works, has efficacy, before you want to pay for it. And I agree with that, but I think something like psychotherapy is both art and science. It takes a view of the whole person. It uses feelings, creativity, intuition, and humanity to try to understand people, one human being to another. And it works because often what we're dealing with in psychotherapy is feelings, people's emotions, their intuition. These things do not easily subject themselves to left brain measures, much as we would like them to.
Do equal right and left brain function give unique perspective?
Ian McGilchrist is one of those rare people whose left brain and right brain seem to work equally well. And this is true of geniuses like Leonardo da Vinci, who was both an artist and a scientist, and was also true of someone like Albert Einstein. Ian McGilchrist quotes Einstein towards the end of the Amazon Prime documentary. I like this quote, and I think it's well worth thinking about. Einstein said, "The rational mind is a faithful servant, but the intuitive mind is a precious gift."
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I'll leave you to work out that quote for yourself. I think Ian McGilchrist's point is that we are being led by left brain thinking in our world, and that this will have disastrous consequences, some of which we're already seeing. We're not looking at the big picture. We're running with self-interest much of the time. If you're interested, I hope you have access to this documentary, The Divided Brain. As I say, I believe it's on YouTube. Or there are books by Ian McGilchrist, which I imagine have been translated into a number of languages. Let us know what you think of this, and don't forget to listen to this podcast a number of times to practise your English.
Goodbye
Enough for now. Have a lovely day. Speak to you again soon. Goodbye.
Thank you so much for listening. Please help me tell others about this podcast by reviewing or rating it. And, please share it on social media. You can find more listening lessons and a free English course at adeptenglish.com
Links
- THE DIVIDED BRAIN documentary
- 12 High-Paying Right-Brain
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