Is there a link between riding a bike and learning a language?
A weekly dose of motivation, inspiration and education from Masha and Jedrek.
Ahoy Sailors!
This is Masha with the 20th issue of In The Same Boat newsletter. I don’t have a thing for numbers. I don’t even have a favourite number. So, this is going to be an ordinary entertaining, motivating and educational issue. I hope to entertain you with another short story from my country life and a song from Mateusz. The serious, educational part as always falls on the shoulders of Maciek. And motivation, as we know, you’ll have to find yourself somewhere between the lines, for it’s an elusive beast. So, let’s cut to the chase, shall we?
Is there a link between riding a bike and learning a language?
By Maria Trushnikova
When I was a coursebook teacher I had to excel at connecting parts of the lesson using so-called ‘’bridges”. For example, you’ve just finished reading a text about potatoes and the next section in the coursebook is about Elon Musk. Pretty rough transition, even for a very eager and forgiving student, right? This unfortunate blunder can be easily fixed by a well-trained teacher, who will have to bridge, or link these two sometimes absolutely unrelated topics. For example, by asking introducing a question, such as “do you think Elon Musk eats a lot of potatoes?”. So, I’m now going to use this long-forgotten skill and try to convince you that there’s a link between riding a bike and learning a language.
If you have already listened to the 99th episode of our podcast, then you know that Jedrek made fun of me taking years to remember how to shift gears on my bike. He even implied that it’s due to the fact of me being a woman (where was the gender police?). Well, the facts remain – I am a woman and it did take me a ridiculously long time to remember which lever I should use to go up and down the hill. You are free to arrive at any conclusions about me, but I felt certain responsibility should you start generalising and think that all women have such stormy relationships with bikes. So, I started thinking why it took me so long to remember that when you go up you must push the lever up and vice versa? After thinking long and hard, I found a face-saving explanation. This knowledge never stuck with me because I didn’t use it often (eureka!). And I didn’t use it often because I never had to use a bike for what it essentially is – a means of transportation. I used to use it as you would use an exercise bike in the gym – to burn calories. No pain, no gain. Therefore, no changing gears. Now, when I found myself in deep countryside without a car, I have to ride for an hour to get to a decent shop and then bring back provision. You can imagine, that now my mode of cycling is very different – I’m aiming to save energy, which means using my bike efficiently, which means shifting gears often.
Well, I guess, my link is pretty on the nose – use the language you are learning as a means of communication and often. Whoa, I’m still not bad at connecting seemingly unrelated things :-) You know what they say about some skills – it’s like riding a bike, once you’ve learned, you’ll never forget :-)
THIS WEEK IN ToL:
Thinking Out Loud 099: Do Cities Have Souls?
Apart from bikes and women, we talked about cities and whether they have characters. We hope you enjoyed the good old “thinking out loud” style – we did our best to stay focused and not to get carried away too much.
THE PHRASE OF THE WEEK
By Maciek Skulski
Bite the Bullet
A few months ago, our team faced a challenging decision about investing in new technology. The cost was high, and we were uncertain about the return on investment. During a heated discussion, our BUD (Business Unit Director) said, "We need to bite the bullet and make this investment if we want to stay ahead of the competition."
This phrase, "Bite the bullet," means to endure a painful or difficult situation that is unavoidable. In our case, it meant making a tough decision for the long-term benefit of the company. Despite the initial hesitation, we decided to go ahead with the investment. It turned out to be a great decision, as the new technology significantly improved our productivity and gave us a competitive edge.
THE BRIGHT SIDE OF LIFE?
By Agata Kasperczak
Body Language
- Okay, okay, I will close the gate - I mutter under my breath, calming down my friend who is banging with her finger on the glass of her window . “What an impatient girl” I think, and as a sign of understanding I show her a thumb up.
I got out of my car and approach the gate, I am showing her once again that "it's cool, it's cool, it's getting done: Don’t worry, I didn’t forget to close the gate.”
I look at the window again – Alice is screaming something and waving her hands madly.
Ha, ha - “crazy” - I smile tenderly at the thought of her feeling this way about our goodbye, and wave her goodbye happily.
As I struggle to close the gate, I turn around for a moment and see my car driving away.
Bye, bye - I wave to Alice. But have you seen it? - I point at the car laughing, - my car drives away - ha, ha, ha.
Wait, what?! Oh my goodness! My car is driving away!!! Only now did I realize the meaning of my friend's gestures: let's catch the fugitive, who is already in the middle of the - thank God - empty street.
Phew!
THE SONG OF THE WEEK
By Mateusz Borowik
Allie X - Galina
Since last week was more intense, today we're returning to pop. More specifically, synthpop. Canadian singer Allie X released a new album before the end of this year's winter. The album itself didn't steal my heart, but there's a track that has been on my playlists for several months and will definitely be remembered as the standout of this year. "Galina" is, above all, a great melody with very distinctive and characterful vocals that transition excellently from the verses to the choruses. There's a lot of good stuff happening in the musical layer here, the bass works wonderfully, there are several synthesizer lines, a main theme, staccato, and above all, a great arrangement. Definitely the best track from the album Girl With No Face.
Lyrics:
There's a secret in me I won't ever tell
She can see inside of me and make me well
Held like a child, my pink little prize
Got lost in her eyes
Then she shut her lips and she left me inside
And now I cry
Galina, wake up
I'm running out of luck
And I get so ugly without you (oh, oh, oh)
Now open your eyes
Help me make it through the night
Galina, wake up
Galina, wake up
Know you don't give a fuck
Still, why take the answers to your grave?
You could open your eyes
Help me make it through the night
Galina, please, wake up
I gots to keep my head up (you got)
I gotta have some grace (you got)
Got to bring her back to me
It's more than saving face (saving face)
Oh-ooh-ooh, don't blame the time
I blame the divine, she used to be mine
When I ask for help
She said, "You're on your own this time"
Send me a sign
Galina, wake up
I'm running out of luck
And I get so ugly without you (oh, oh, oh)
Now open your eyes
Help me make it through the night
Galina, wake up
Galina, wake up
Know you don't give a fuck
Still, why take the answers to your grave?
You could open your eyes
Help me make it through the night
Galina, please, wake up
Oh, oh, oh
My hand's turnin' red and dry
She keeps sleepin' in her bed
My face crackin' in the light
Her lips part, the tiniest smile
Galina, wake up
I'm running out of luck (out of luck)
And I get so ugly without you (oh, oh, oh)
Now open your eyes
Help me make it through the night (ooh-ooh)
Galina, wake up (Galina)
Galina, wake up
Know you don't give a fuck (nah)
Still, why take the answers to your grave? (You)
You could open your eyes
Help me make it through the night
Galina, please, wake up (wake up)
Galina, wake up
Galina, wake up
Galina, wake up
Galina, please, wake up
WE RECOMMEND:
VIDEO: How To Shift Your Gears
BikeRide
If you need guidance on gear-shifting, or would like to brush up on your all - about-bikes vocab, or don’t own a bike and have no idea what I was talking about, here’s a pretty clear tutorial.
BTW, system of gears on bikes is as confusing as system of tenses in English (some people say there are 12, some say there are 16 while others claim there are only 2. Go figure!)
Video: Steve Jobs: Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish
YouTube
Chances are you have aleardy heard this beautiful commencement address by the legendary founder of Apple Computers, but even so, it’s worth revisitng. Steve Jobs, a college dropout himself, is speaking to the young people who leave the Stanford University and are about to face real life.
MY UKRAINE
By Maria Trushnikova
These babes grow in the forest, which is some 30-minute walk away from my forest.
AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT…
Have a Beautiful Week!
That’s almost it from us this week. Don’t forget that you can co-create this newsletter by sending us your texts, reflections, jokes (anybody?), recommendations, photos of your towns, and whatever you want! Get in touch with us at tolpodcast@hotmail.com.
We are also waiting for your comments below this post and on the Substack app!
Stay tuned for the next issue 🫡