“There are no unique messages in this world: only unique messengers”
When you’re learning something, you somehow need someone to be bright and positive for you.
Someone, outside of yourself, who tells you: you can do this.
This is especially true with something like Chinese, which is notoriously known as being ‘too hard’, ‘difficult’, and even ‘impossible’.
Characters are often avoided by both learners and teachers in the beginning, with everyone mentioning how difficult they are.
And when I lived in China for the first time in 2007, this kind of message stopped me from even trying to learn the language.
But when you have someone who you like, who welcomes you, and tells you what is possible, it means everything.
It feels like half your journey is done.
I think this is why a teacher = a motivator.
You can learn whatever you want to learn nowadays.
It is all available online, mostly for free.
But who will you learn from?
This is the special choice you have. It makes all the difference.
Some questions I now ask myself before I start a course or learn something new:
Is the teacher someone I really aspire to be like?
Do I like their message, their ethos, their way?
Do they have mastery or success in the topic?
Do I have direct access to this teacher?
Do I feel welcome to ask my questions?
Will I follow the advice they give?
Do they show that they care?
A big part of a teacher’s job is in making you believe that what you want to do, learn and become is possible.
So… if you are trying to learn a new skill... Find yourself a teacher you enjoy, who ticks most of your boxes.
The rest of the skill building kind of starts to take care of itself, because your teacher will take care of you.