Emotion Wheels in Hindi Urdu: How to Cope with Stress in Language Learning

While learning another language and culture is an exciting endeavor, it is also incredibly challenging and stressful at times! Why is it so stressful and how can we reduce the stress when learning South Asian languages in person or online?

Emotion Wheels in Hindi and Urdu

Emotion Wheel in Hindi

Emotion Wheel in Urdu

Emotion Wheel in Romanized Hindi Urdu

Emotion Wheel in English

Why is language learning so stressful?

• It's new and therefore humbling to first struggle and be bad at something for as long as it takes to become semi-competent.

• It’s often filled with ambiguity as there are new objects, new sounds, new cultural concepts being described that don't directly fit into our pre-existing boxes.

• It will certainly have thousands of new vocabulary words to learn as well as likely a new grammatical structure and perhaps new alphabet all of which can be complicated and overwhelming.

• In India especially- people are so diverse that there is great variety in words people use/ways they live, etc. It’s a lot to learn! As soon as you think you figured it out, it changes! 

• Progress is often slower than you hoped and it can be difficult to wade through the beginning stages especially.

• Local speakers of your target language may or may not say gracious things as you are learning. Depending on the culture, they may directly tell you that your Hindi/Urdu is bad or worse/better than some other Hindi/Urdu learner they know.

• You may be experiencing pressure by an institution or company to reach a certain level within a short amount of time.

And as if that all isn't enough, usually people who are choosing to learn another language are going through significant life changes such as: moving cross-culturally to a new country or a cross-cultural relationship or marriage. Both of these can come with significant transition/life stressors such as:

• Balancing regular language learning with a full time job.

• Helping your family transition well to a new environment.

• Setting up a new home and figuring out how to do normal life things like cooking, cleaning, and transportation in a new way.

• It can be very common to experience new kinds of sickness when in a new environment and when eating new foods.

• Some parents are juggling homeschooling or helping their kids adjust to new schools.

• Any cross-cultural shift will likely come with visa requirements and increased vulnerability in regard to global international conflicts.

Window of Tolerance- How do learners deal with stress while learning language?

There is a certain level of stress/trauma that individuals can face without being emotionally disrupted. This is called their Window of Tolerance.

Window of Tolerance Resource from the National Institute for the Clinical Application of Behavioral Medicine.

Unfortunately, if the stressors that come with language learning and its commonly associated life transitions become too great, a learner may disengage in one way or another. Some become hypoaroused which could look like lack of focus, disinterest, inability to engage in listening or speaking. Others may become hyperaroused which could look like yelling at or arguing with their language Nurturer, ending class early, or bursting in to tears.

What Kind of Stress is Helpful in Language Learning?

When a language learner is operating within their window of tolerance, they are able to deal with the challenge of understanding and speaking new things. They are hopefully enjoying it and having fun while also growing towards their goals. This is an example of a good kind of stress that is both necessary and productive when learning new things.

The Stress Performance Curve from The Art of Positive Change.

Top 2 Signs That You are in Your Stretch Zone/Optimum Stress Zone for Language Learning:

1. You're having fun- Yes, learning a new language and culture is hard but it can also be fun! If you're smiling and laughing and remaining relational with your Nurturer and peers, it's a good sign you're in a healthy space for growing!

2. You're encountering about 8-10 new or review words/hour- This is a commonly used checkpoint in the Growing Participator Approach for whether you are gaining exposure to new words/growing at a healthy rate in your language sessions. If you aren't being appropriately challenged during your language sessions, then you likely aren't growing and may move into hypoarousal or boredom both which can lead to disengagement. If you are being exposed to more than 10 new or review words per hour, it may become overwhelming and lead to hyperarousal and therefore frustration or burnout. Really, all of this depends on your window of tolerance as a learner. But changing the GPA Phase and types of activities you do in your session can help to make sure you are keeping sessions both fun and challenging for your level.

   
   

Four Healthy Ways to Manage the Stress of Language Learning

1. Name your emotions- Stop and acknowledge how you are feeling when you are starting to feel outside of your window of tolerance in learning. You can use the emotions wheel resources above to keep this activity in Hindi/Urdu and explore some deeper words related to feelings. Or you can just note to yourself what you’re feeling. Awareness and acknowledging what is going on inside you can help it to not take over and for you to return to calm.

2. Find a language coach/encourager- Who is your cheerleader? Who is encouraging you through this really hard thing you’re doing of entering into a new langua-cultural world? If you were running a marathon, you’d want some family and friends to come support you through the race. Language learning is a marathon. Who is cheering for you? At Launch India, we have multiple certified GPA language learning encouragers who love to just meet with you, listen, and remind you that you aren't crazy :) What you're doing is incredible and we are so proud of you!

3. Meet with a certified counselor- We at Launch India are not certified counselors and there are definitely types of trauma and stress that would be better served through professional help. Please do not hesitate to find someone who can help you positively heal through the trauma and stressors you have experienced or are experiencing. Working with them may help you grow your window of tolerance for facing hard things moving forward.

4. Pursue holistic health- Get good sleep. Drink plenty of water. Exercise. Eat healthy foods. Push through the challenging days, but also take breaks as appropriate. You as a whole person are learning language! So be sure to take care of your mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual health as you work towards your language goals.

Conclusion

Learning a new language such as Hindi or Urdu using the GPA or any other language learning method can be one of the most rewarding and life-changing experiences you can have! But it is not going to be easy and there will be days when you feel discouraged, overwhelmed, angry or any number of other emotions. We hope you can find healthy support for the journey. We also hope you can remember WHY you have chosen to embark on this adventure as these personal goals and motivations can be the grounding traction needed to press through to the other side when it feels like we should just give up.

We at Launch India are passionate about helping people grow towards their language goals in Hindi, Urdu, Punjabi, Telugu and Tamil. We are constantly learning how we can better help you and would love to hear what has or hasn't worked for you in dealing with stress in language learning. You inspire us every day and we love being on this journey with you!