The ability to express ourselves through language It is one of those characteristics that distinguishes us from other living beings. Verbal communication is also a useful tool that has allowed us to survive in adverse environments, better understand our environment and form large communities in which hundreds of people cooperate with each other.
In short, we are a thriving species in part thanks to our ability to combine words with each other. We can call this capacity Linguistic intelligence (either verbal intelligence ).
A definition of linguistic intelligence
Think about how you would explain to someone else that a flower pot has fallen to the ground and broken. Simple, right? Now think about this other situation: you have to read a two-page text in which a philosopher explains what metaphysics is for her, and summarize it for someone else.
You will surely believe that this last task is much more complicated, despite not having read that text. Even though you are able to get along well with the language in your daily life, some tasks that involve the use of words seem especially difficult compared to others Some of these activities, in fact, may seem impossible to do, such as explaining how we feel to a person whose language we do not fully master.
These small everyday obstacles serve to give us an idea of what Linguistic Intelligence is: the degree to which a person is able to skillfully use language to express and understand ideas and to achieve objectives based on this ability.
Linguistic Intelligence (sometimes also called Verbal Intelligence) is part of the Theory of Multiple Intelligences of Howard Gardner and taking it into account allows us to create strategies to enhance the use of language.
A tool to adapt to the environment
Reality is not something easy to understand, so the way we formulate explanations about it should not be either. The vast majority of people We are born with the ability to learn language, but not all of us get along equally well with our native language And it is possible that in some situations we notice that we do not have control over the words, that our linguistic Intelligence is not as developed as the context requires.
This is precisely why Linguistic Intelligence is important: taking into account its existence we can know to what extent we are skilled at making ourselves understood and understanding what is told to us, both spoken and written. This is especially important if we take into account that the use of language allows us to get closer to our objectives and, therefore, have more or less linguistic intelligence. It impacts our ability to manage problems, tackle projects, or even maintain healthy relationships with other people.
How to improve in linguistic intelligence?
If it is true that the Intelligence can be quickly summarized as the ability to find solutions to new problems in the most effective wayIt is no less true that this can be improved by adopting some habits and routines. Linguistic Intelligence, as a specific part within the broader concept of “intelligence”, is no exception to this rule. That means We can take measures to influence our level of performance in Linguistic Intelligence changing for the better our ability to adapt to new situations in which skillful use of words is useful (it is difficult to find a situation in which I do not know this!).
Knowing all this, you can now begin to introduce small changes in your daily life to improve your language skills. Here are some indications and recommendations to enhance your linguistic intelligence.
1. Start a personal journal
Starting a journal is a good first step. You will write about topics that affect you indirectly and that you find interesting or relevant, so it is difficult for this activity to become boring. Plus, you won’t have the pressure of having to write something impressive to impress someone, because they are written for you, that no one else has to see. It will be easy for you to improve your verbal skills if you force yourself to explain your experiences and feelings
2. Choose an interesting topic and write a short essay about it
Writing freely about what you feel and starting from your own way of seeing reality is a good way to train in linguistic intelligence, but It is advisable to set challenges so that the level of difficulty of the tasks is not always the same Therefore, in addition to writing a diary, it is good to limit somewhat more universal topics and write about them. In this way you will force yourself to expand your vocabulary and improve your ability to express yourself on a specific topic through more or shorter texts.
3. Appreciate the value of good dialogue
If you want to polish your linguistic intelligence, also It could be useful for you to interact with people with whom you do not normally communicate People with concerns and interests different from yours, people with whom you cannot use your own slang and who force you to get out of your comfort zone At the time of speaking. Nothing better than the challenge of communicating with someone who has another point of view to become able to understand and be understood.
4. Read a lot and well
There are few better things to discover expressions and vocabulary than reading There is an almost infinite amount of books in which you can memorize and review all types of linguistic routes while being entertained or learning about things that interest you However, if you want to improve your linguistic intelligence by getting the most out of books, it is best to take care of what you read. Try to get books by a variety of authors into your hands, to see a little of everything.
5. Do you give poetry and music a chance?
The poetry and the music They have the added value that they break the conventions of grammar to communicate and express phenomena and emotions. Get in touch with lyrical forms of expression can get you used to seeing language as a creative game in which the words are at the service of the message, and not the other way around. In fact, there is an example in which it was proven how musical training in preschool children served to improve their verbal intelligence.
Linguistic intelligence in children
These recommendations may be useful to you, but some also They can be adapted so that boys and girls enter the capacities related to linguistic intelligence After all, it is in the early stages of childhood when it becomes most important to have the means to quickly learn the rudiments of language, which will be developed during growth.