Communication is Inevitable
I'm back at university and diving into reading textbooks again, which I haven't done for approximately 8 months. I thought it would be difficult and tedious, believe me it's taking ages to make it through the heavily-worded pages, but I'm actually quite enjoying it? Picking up the two courses I had to push back, I arrived with renewed energy when I met teachers, who seemed passionate about teaching us everything they know about their subjects.
Having a great teacher is so important. I suppose I shouldn't even refer to them as teachers, professors would be more accurate but actually they are more like facilitators for our learning. We have a very informal relationship between educators and students, due to low power distance in our country. It's casual and easy and you're never scared to contact your professors and that's great.
That being said, I do have to give some credit to my field of study; language and communication. I'd sort of forgotten how happy I actually was with my core courses and the things I learnt back when I started over three years ago. With a semester abroad that consisted of mainly of management courses with some literature and history courses, and a BA project that was just so all consuming, I lost track a bit along the way. There has been so many other things going on that I almost started to neglect my degree a bit but after taking a break from it, I've come back to realise why I do love my core subjects.
Language fascinates me and it's only been a growing obsession over the years as I've studied it at university. I've not just learnt about it academically, I've talked to so many foreign people online (via posting my stories) and lived amongst a bucket of different nationalities when I went on exchange. I've been writing fiction and this blog seriously and continuously since 2014 and I have no doubt that constantly writing, as well as reading, has improved my English skills. Over these last few years, I've generally grown comfortable talking in front of crowds, both in Danish and English, and I love to play around with the linguistics and making up or discovering a good turn of phrase.
Communication has long been this intangible thing to me, at least before I started studying it. It's still a bit of a mess of complexities that can seem difficult to find out which side is up but it's so interesting to learn about all the subtle, tiny aspects that make you a skilled communicator. It's not something people think actively about but almost everything we do is some form of communication. At least every single time we interact with someone, it's a communicative situation. So much of it is just inherent and something we do without thinking about it but if you are aware of what you're doing, essentially the theory behind your actions and choices, you can suddenly use it as a tool.
Believe it or not communication is inevitable for humans. We're pack animals and we have innate needs to be around others and whenever we are around others, we communicate. In social situations one cannot not communicate. You can't remain entirely unresponsive. Even a nod of the head is a form of communication. Don't even get me started about how much I find nonverbal communication intriguing and interesting to observe. People are often much more aware of the words that leave their lips than the stances and expressions their body and face subconsciously takes.
I've always been very self-reflective and honestly, thinking about this as massive concept can be a little overwhelming for your mind. But essentially it's something that can be learned and something that we learn as we're growing up without realising. A baby learns how to communicate by doing the following; observe and then imitate to get to self-control and finally self-regulations (Zimmerman, 2000). That's actually theoretical elements I just reread about today and yes, I did just cite my sources because I can. Isn't is a bit insane that just by watching someone intensely, trying to imitate what they're doing (in your own way though, you don't learn if you replicate), keep practicing and practicing until they possess the skill?
One thing my book does not mention but I find to be true is that you'll always keep striving to improve in someway. I find it hard to see it as a final destination that one day... BAM you have a skill. You'll probably become very good at a skill but you're never done learning though. Say you're an artist, in some way shape or form, your skill at creating art might be considered great but you'll never be done learning and evolving. You see my point? Maybe it's just because I used a creative example as I'm a creative person and creativity as a concept is quite intangible.
We did discuss the concept of creativity briefly as an example in some lecture once. I can still remember it, even if the specifics have been lost on me over time. What a fun thing to try and talk about the perimeters that define creativity. A good friend of mine unexpectedly stopped by where I was sat curled up in a corner studying at our university. He had to head to class after an hour and moaned a bit about how he'd had to read 30 pages about the concept of knowledge. I mean 30 pages is probably a bit much but I found the notion interesting? It was in relation to knowledge sharing within organisations but just trying to gasp such an abstract concept just seems... fun?
I'm a bit of a contradiction to my own words because it's the same deep thought about abstract ideas that can make my head hurt and begin to spin out uncontrollably. It doesn't mean that it doesn't fascinate me though. I think I just need it in moderate doses.
If I were to try and gather all these thoughts into a final point (honestly, do I ever really have a clear-cut point when starting one of these rambly blog posts? Chances are no), I would say that it's to remind myself that it's perfectly fine to be feel a bit lost and bash the heck out of the thing bothering you but it's also important to note when you feel good about something and thoroughly process it.
I love language and its amazing ability to create images in our minds or share vital information that would otherwise not exist. I love being able to communicate efficiently and understanding why people react the way they do. The business side of my degree is a bit tedious and off-putting at times but at the core what I'm studying is language and communication, two things which when it comes down to it, I still love even after all this time. And over these past years I've not only learnt about them but also how to use them.
Having a great teacher is so important. I suppose I shouldn't even refer to them as teachers, professors would be more accurate but actually they are more like facilitators for our learning. We have a very informal relationship between educators and students, due to low power distance in our country. It's casual and easy and you're never scared to contact your professors and that's great.
That being said, I do have to give some credit to my field of study; language and communication. I'd sort of forgotten how happy I actually was with my core courses and the things I learnt back when I started over three years ago. With a semester abroad that consisted of mainly of management courses with some literature and history courses, and a BA project that was just so all consuming, I lost track a bit along the way. There has been so many other things going on that I almost started to neglect my degree a bit but after taking a break from it, I've come back to realise why I do love my core subjects.
Found here - I'm not quite sure how these are made but I found this one, which fits pretty well
Language fascinates me and it's only been a growing obsession over the years as I've studied it at university. I've not just learnt about it academically, I've talked to so many foreign people online (via posting my stories) and lived amongst a bucket of different nationalities when I went on exchange. I've been writing fiction and this blog seriously and continuously since 2014 and I have no doubt that constantly writing, as well as reading, has improved my English skills. Over these last few years, I've generally grown comfortable talking in front of crowds, both in Danish and English, and I love to play around with the linguistics and making up or discovering a good turn of phrase.
Communication has long been this intangible thing to me, at least before I started studying it. It's still a bit of a mess of complexities that can seem difficult to find out which side is up but it's so interesting to learn about all the subtle, tiny aspects that make you a skilled communicator. It's not something people think actively about but almost everything we do is some form of communication. At least every single time we interact with someone, it's a communicative situation. So much of it is just inherent and something we do without thinking about it but if you are aware of what you're doing, essentially the theory behind your actions and choices, you can suddenly use it as a tool.
Believe it or not communication is inevitable for humans. We're pack animals and we have innate needs to be around others and whenever we are around others, we communicate. In social situations one cannot not communicate. You can't remain entirely unresponsive. Even a nod of the head is a form of communication. Don't even get me started about how much I find nonverbal communication intriguing and interesting to observe. People are often much more aware of the words that leave their lips than the stances and expressions their body and face subconsciously takes.
Found here - This quote was mentioned in one of the texts, using double negative to get the point across
I've always been very self-reflective and honestly, thinking about this as massive concept can be a little overwhelming for your mind. But essentially it's something that can be learned and something that we learn as we're growing up without realising. A baby learns how to communicate by doing the following; observe and then imitate to get to self-control and finally self-regulations (Zimmerman, 2000). That's actually theoretical elements I just reread about today and yes, I did just cite my sources because I can. Isn't is a bit insane that just by watching someone intensely, trying to imitate what they're doing (in your own way though, you don't learn if you replicate), keep practicing and practicing until they possess the skill?
One thing my book does not mention but I find to be true is that you'll always keep striving to improve in someway. I find it hard to see it as a final destination that one day... BAM you have a skill. You'll probably become very good at a skill but you're never done learning though. Say you're an artist, in some way shape or form, your skill at creating art might be considered great but you'll never be done learning and evolving. You see my point? Maybe it's just because I used a creative example as I'm a creative person and creativity as a concept is quite intangible.
We did discuss the concept of creativity briefly as an example in some lecture once. I can still remember it, even if the specifics have been lost on me over time. What a fun thing to try and talk about the perimeters that define creativity. A good friend of mine unexpectedly stopped by where I was sat curled up in a corner studying at our university. He had to head to class after an hour and moaned a bit about how he'd had to read 30 pages about the concept of knowledge. I mean 30 pages is probably a bit much but I found the notion interesting? It was in relation to knowledge sharing within organisations but just trying to gasp such an abstract concept just seems... fun?
Found here - I was looking for something to represent a creative mind but this image is gorgeous
I'm a bit of a contradiction to my own words because it's the same deep thought about abstract ideas that can make my head hurt and begin to spin out uncontrollably. It doesn't mean that it doesn't fascinate me though. I think I just need it in moderate doses.
If I were to try and gather all these thoughts into a final point (honestly, do I ever really have a clear-cut point when starting one of these rambly blog posts? Chances are no), I would say that it's to remind myself that it's perfectly fine to be feel a bit lost and bash the heck out of the thing bothering you but it's also important to note when you feel good about something and thoroughly process it.
I love language and its amazing ability to create images in our minds or share vital information that would otherwise not exist. I love being able to communicate efficiently and understanding why people react the way they do. The business side of my degree is a bit tedious and off-putting at times but at the core what I'm studying is language and communication, two things which when it comes down to it, I still love even after all this time. And over these past years I've not only learnt about them but also how to use them.
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