Learning in Motion ™ – Spanish

Here is a bright and novel idea, mixing learning and movement together. There is a lot of evidence to suggest that learning in movement is more effective. Here are just a few:

• When we are moving, we are more relaxed. We learn faster and better when we are relaxed as opposed to a classroom ‘teacher – student’ situation which can range from daunting to humiliating for some people.
• When everyone moves then the group becomes united as opposed to isolating individuals. Again, this takes pressure off and learning channels are further opened.
• When we move to music we have fun and enjoy ourselves. Moving to music engages the brain to focus and concentrate and this has the effect of using up that space in the brain which could be feeling insecure or unable to learn to be busy in the task of moving to the music. Once that is engaged, any further stimulus given to the person is received with less resistance.
• The energy of JOY and fun makes learning easier because it is set to a context of play as opposed to work. Learning is actually very natural and is most effective when it is playful. If we observe how small children learn the ways of the world through their own investigation, they are doing so through play. Curious trial and error.
• To a back-drop of Spanish and Latin style music, the group will also engage and connect to Hispanic culture and get much more in the mood. A holiday atmosphere will be created. You won’t know if it’s a jollie or a learning exercise! Why should it be any different?
• By splitting the group in half, one at each end, we can begin to play movement games where by one half of the body of movers is the question ‘Hola, como estas?’ which means ‘Hello, how are you?’ and the other body of movers from the other side of the room say and move to ‘Muy bien, gracias’ which means ‘Very well, thanks.’ And so in this way we can continue to learn basic greeting words and phrases as well as parts of the body and directions, all guided by the movement.

This integrated approach comes from the Nia Technique which stands for Neuromuscular Integrative Action which aims to integrate and re-create neuro-pathways in the brain to new movement patterns. This also works for thinking and learning patterns. Everything we do is guided by a neuro-pathway in the brain. By disconnecting ineffective ones and connecting faster, more effective pathways we create permanent change in the brain, in learning and in just about anything you want to. In this case I use it to improve balance, coordination, learning of movement choreography and language learning.
I believe that if you can teach someone a simple movement pattern with arms and feet – to a rhythm, then the exact same effect can also be achieved with the verbal language centre, and also, since we’re on the subject you can teach and learn any concept in movement with all of the above benefits and more.
The brain uses three major realms of perception as our NLP experts will tell us:

• Audio
• Visual
• Kinaesthetic

The audio perceiver will ‘hear’ information as it enters the brain through sound, so the instruction of the teacher will be picked up more by the student as well as the sound of the music, the rhythm and tones of the sounds.
The visual perceiver will ‘see’ concepts in images and so the visual references of moving around the room, of moving the different body parts and also of visualisations such as ‘imagine you are walking along the beach, see the sand under your feet spread as your foot sinks into it’.
The kinaesthetic perceiver will ‘sense’ information in terms of various sensations; hot, cold, tight, open, flowing, loose, expanded, and contracted. For example I would say, ‘where in your body can you sense the word HOLA?’ and get students to point to where they can feel it.
This will also act as a memory trigger or as an ‘anchor’ as they say in NLP which is where we assign a physical movement or gesture to recall a feeling, or some information.
So as you can see there are a wide variety of benefits and innovations in learning in motion in addition to the first set of benefits from general movement work that enhance sense of team, community and ice-breaking. On top of that, we add plenty of fun and creativity for an enjoyable as well as memorable experience. Good memories are formed when joy is present.
For Spanish in Motion I recommend an hour long session in which participants will be able to play, have fun and learn the basics of Spanish conversation:
Greetings
Hello, how are you? I am fine, and you? Good thanks.
What is your name? My name is Adrian.
Directions
Up, down, left, right, here, there, fast, slow.
Body parts
Hands, arms, feet, legs, head, face, smile, heart.

All that in an hour? Surely not! Oh yes – let us play. I will also provide participants with a cheat sheet as well for added memory retention.

© Maria Contreras 2010

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