Wander-ful! – The benefits of walking (& talking) for language learners
When I came across In Praise of Walking by neuroscientist Shane O’Mara, it felt like finding a companion for everything I’d experienced on foot. Even the chapter titles – Why walking is good for you, Walking the city, A balm for body & brain, Creative walking, Social walking – resonate perfectly with my experience of bilingual walk & talks. O’Mara explains that:
The act of regular walking mobilises plastic changes in the very structure of the brain, strengthening it in ways similar to how muscles are strengthened when worked.
A life well walked
I don’t need much convincing. From childhood family walks (kagouls at the ready in case it rained) to my pedestrianised commutes in London, walking has been part of my rhythm. Back then, I deliberately avoided the choked-up Tube, choosing instead to walk from London Bridge along the Thames, over the Millennium Bridge, past St Paul’s to the Barbican. It felt essential for both waking up and winding down each day.
More recently, as a freelance English teacher in Nice, I clocked up plenty of kilometres each week travelling between lessons scattered across the city. It wasn’t until COVID lockdowns shifted everything online that I realised how walking had been an integral part of preparing for lessons, and an equally important time for reflection afterwards.
Walk & Talk – Nice
Humans commonly hike on trails together, or wander the city with apparent aimlessness while chatting, or go on protest marches together. Walking together offers a chance for conversation to evolve in ways that it couldn’t, indeed wouldn’t, if you simply sit together.
In 2022, I launched a Walk & Talk group and with it came fresh social life, new perspectives on the Prom, and explorations of Nice’s parks and neighbourhoods. It also planted the seed for what’s now becoming my bilingual language-learning membership, with Walk & Talk at its core.
One walk with a truly international group really brought the idea home. Participants ranged linguistically from non-existent to mother tongue in both English and French. In a classroom, or even a quiet café, orchestrating inclusive conversation would have been near impossible. Yet on this walk, everyone mingled easily, laughter and chat flowed naturally, and nobody was left out.
It confirmed something I’d already suspected: walking can help dissolve language anxiety and shyness.
Making cities walkable
O’Mara highlights the joys and benefits of walking in cities, pointing to the Italian tradition of the passeggiata, the sociable evening stroll, greeting neighbours and chatting with friends along the streets. This simple habit encapsulates everything wonderful about urban walking and shows that it can easily become a part of daily life, if only our cities were designed with walkers in mind.
In recent years, Nice has seen some exciting changes: more pedestrian zones, cycle paths, improved paving, and greenery, most notably the Coulee Verte. It hasn’t been without debate, but for those of us who love exploring on foot, these transformations are very welcome.
On foot we are capable of interacting with each other at a human level: we quite literally have more common ground, we can synchronise more easily, and we can have shared experiences, including the same environmental conditions like the weather (a subject known for bringing strangers together).
Finding common ground
Why does conversation flow so much more easily on the move? For me, walking strips away self-consciousness, words flow more easily, thoughts wander freely. During and after a long walk, my mind is often humming with ideas and my senses are fully switched on.
Walking gives me the freedom to think things through; to have a quiet dialogue with myself about how to solve a problem… Since antiquity it has been recognised that a good walk is an excellent way to think problems through.
O’Mara even reminds us that some of the world’s greatest thinkers took their steps seriously:
The school of peripatetic philosophy in ancient Greece was famous for conducting its teaching largely on foot — indeed the root of its name means ‘walking up and down’. The philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche went so far as to say that ‘Only thoughts reached by walking have value.‘
It’s clear to me, after regularly holding bilingual walk & talks for 3 years now, that ideas often flow more freely, and friendships form more easily when we’re on the move.
Neuroscience may confirm what walkers have always known in terms the mental and physical health benefits of walking. My experience adds another twist: When walking becomes a regular, social event for language learners, it can melt away anxiety, build confidence, and help create communities, connecting across languages.
The membership is launching!
Are you already convinced of the superpowers of a simple stroll? Or maybe you’re looking for a more relaxed way to boost your French or English skills. Either way, you’ll be glad to know the Promenade will be a regular part of our new membership. Step by step, side by side we walk for fluency and friendship.
Applications open soon!
Stay informed – Sign up for our mailing list to get all the latest updates on the membership, and ambulatory events first!
For further Reading, Walking & Talking
Read the book – In Praise of Walking by Shane O’Mara is available for purchase in France – check out here. By the same author and equally relevant: Talking Heads: How Conversation Shapes Us available here
Stay curious – Subscribe to Shane O’Mara’s BrainPizza Substack for neuroscience insights and more.
Join the walk – Be part of our friendly bilingual strolls on the Walk & Talk Facebook group.
Author: Clare Catchpole. English text edited and French translation assisted by AI, then reviewed and adapted for clarity and style.
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