Words


Please note that this page reads better with a desktop view. 
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The writing on this site is written with the intention of making it accessible to all people, including people of ​different ages and of diverse backgrounds (generational, cultural, linguistic, religious, etc.). 

​While this website isn't available in other languages yet, The Learning Word encourages the use of online translators (multiple translators used simultaneously for compare-and-contrast practice) along with dictionaries for better understanding word definitions and nuance in languages. 


This page is still growing. 

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We are currently growing the initial infrastructure for these potential journeys. 

​​What's Coming 

1

​​Stories


​
Listening


Inspiring words



Taking care of ourselves


​Writing, reading, listening, and speaking
PictureImage by macrovector on Freepik
 
1.1

​The power of stories 
What stories are 
Storytelling 

How to listen 
How to listen to others ​​

​Examples of writing that inspires 
Falling short of something has never been so sweet: Intention, failure, and success 

Posture, protecting our bodies, and enjoying movement 
Self-actualization ​​ ​

​Reading tools 
Writing tools 
Listening tools 
Speaking tools 

​Storytelling 
​The elements of fiction 
Imagery in storytelling 

Paragraphs & Essays 
- ​Narrative  
- Argumentative  
- Literary analysis  

​​+ Quoting, paraphrasing, summarizing, making connections, giving your opinion, and synthesizing 
Imagining, communicating, and collaborating  

Media and Resources That Care About Our World

Human Movement ​

Read or listen to news report about refugees worldwide over the past 15 years+: 
https://www.democracynow.org/topics/refugees

Human Movements ​

Watch "How To Start a Movement by Derek Sivers" 
https://www.ted.com/talks/derek_sivers_how_to_start_a_movement/transcript?language=en
 
 
 
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​​This site is still growing. 
Please come back regularly to see this site grow. 


​Moving beyond a fixed mindset  
Coming soon . . . ​

​Words that nurture
growth mindset 
Attributed to Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, these two quotes appear to be variations of the same idea: 

- “There is nothing worth thinking but it has been thought before; we must only try to think it again.” 

​- “All truly wise thoughts have been thought already thousands of times; but to make them truly ours, we must think them over again honestly, until they take root in our personal experience.” 

Commentary: 
While it is likely that a majority of the thoughts we think have been thought by other people in some way, shape, or form, it seems shortsighted (or unimaginative)—​to suggest that there is "nothing worth thinking but it has been 
thought before". Maybe the takeaway is meant to be that "we must think [thoughts] over again honestly" (carefully) "until they take root in our personal experience", meaning until they are embodied in practice and action. 
​Or maybe the takeaway is that "Many"—​not "All"—​"truly wise thoughts have been thought already thousands of times;" and—​not but—"to make them truly ours, we must think them over again honestly, until they take root in our personal experience.” 

Ultimately, these quotes seem to engender/perpetuate/spread the idea that we have already thought everything worth thinking. But how can that be? 

​We are just now in the middle of understanding how damaging the 
Picture
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
systems have been in many countries and cultures of the world, how binding and bending of the human spirit for all people.  We are in the middle of understanding that we can truly effect change beyond the greed and hunger for power and money and excess, not to mention the fatigue, that corrupt the system. 

There are so many new thoughts to have, so much growth yet to be experienced, so many positive possibilities to imagine and live. 
Web Tangent 
Parminder Kaur
Aug 1, 2020
Slow down and think better!
A few months ago I felt this urge to start sharing my learnings with people around me. Maybe it was something to do with the onset of Covid crisis. With one email started a fun and mutually beneficial learning journey. It is a hobby that has helped me meet some really wonderful people and has led to many great discussions. 

The first 2 sessions I ran were on THINKING. Everything we do, achieve or create is the result of our thinking (or lack of). It is only fair that we make an effort to improve its quality. 

“A great many people think they are thinking when they are merely rearranging their prejudices.” — William James 
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Read more: ​
​https://medium.com/@pkaur02/slow-down-and-think-better-fbc87fed9220 
​(5 min read) 

Discussion Question: 
​
​What are prejudices? 
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