What's in a word?

As a father to children raised with multiple languages, I can tell you first hand that words matter.

What do I mean by that? Well, my kids show visible personality changes depending on the language they are using. Their tone of voice, body language and temperament are uniquely attuned to the language.

This isn't a new theory, and there are multiple studies around the subject of Linguistic Relativity, including the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis which posits that language either determines or influences one's thought. In other words, people who speak different languages see the world differently, based on the language they use to describe it.

But what about specific words within a single language? Those pesky synonyms?

• Am I a teacher? Trainer? Coach?

• Are you a learner? Student? Client?

How does each word make you feel?

Are you studying, learning or training? If you are in the working out physically are you training or exercising? If you focus on a certain word, does it change the way you approach the task?

I'd argue that yes it does. Whilst the word 'exercising' focuses on the current moment, the word 'training' focuses on an objective in the future. You train towards something. A goal; an end point.

Therefore we understand that it's a process and there is no miracle quick fix. We do not have immediate expectations. When losing weight we often cannot see the progress ourselves, but our (nice) friends will comment on how good you are looking!

Learning English is the same. The progress you want is coming, but sometimes you just cannot see it until you look back at the starting line. You have come a long way, but keep going!

Remember that many of our courses can be financed using your CPF. Registration is simple, but we are always here to help!

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