M22V120 Why Do We Feel Nostalgia 01 (Lesson Script - Babette)

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CIMV | Why Do We Feel Nostalgia 
 © 2017 | Curso de Inglês Mairo Vergara 
Page 1 
Why Do We Feel Nostalgia 
(Part 01) 
Hello everyone and welcome to "Why Do We Feel Nostalgia Part 1." 
 
My name is Babette Craft, I'll be reading the passage completely at a natural 
speed and then we'll come back and take a deeper look at the individual 
lines and phrases that are underlined and in blue. Alright, let's begin. 
 
Why Do We Feel Nostalgia? 
 
Why do we feel nostalgia? 
 
In the late 17th century, a medical student named Johannes Hofer noticed 
a strange illness affecting Swiss mercenaries serving abroad. Its symptoms, 
including fatigue, insomnia, irregular heartbeat, indigestion, and fever were 
so strong, the soldiers often had to be discharged. As Hofer discovered, the 
cause was not some physical disturbance, but an intense yearning for their 
mountain homeland. He dubbed the condition nostalgia, from the Greek 
"nostos" for homecoming and "algos" for pain or longing. 
 
At first, nostalgia was considered a particularly Swiss affliction. Some 
doctors proposed that the constant sound of cowbells in the Alps caused 
trauma to the ear drums and brain. Commanders even forbade their soldiers 
from singing traditional Swiss songs for fear that they’d lead to desertion or 
suicide. But as migration increased worldwide, nostalgia was observed in 
various groups. 
 
It turned out that anyone separated from their native place for a long time 
was vulnerable to nostalgia. And by the early 20th century, professionals no 
longer viewed it as a neurological disease, but as a mental condition similar 
to depression. Psychologists of the time speculated that it represented 
difficulties letting go of childhood, or even a longing to return to one’s fetal 
state. But over the next few decades, the understanding of nostalgia 
changed in two important ways. Its meaning expanded from indicating 
homesickness to a general longing for the past. And rather than an awful 
disease, it began to be seen as a poignant and pleasant experience. 
 
CIMV | Why Do We Feel Nostalgia 
 © 2017 | Curso de Inglês Mairo Vergara 
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Perhaps the most famous example of this was captured by French author 
Marcel Proust. He described how tasting a Madeleine cake he had not eaten 
since childhood triggered a cascade of warm and powerful sensory 
associations. 
 
OK, now let's take a closer look at the passage. 
 
"Why do we feel nostalgia?” 
 
Alright, this is a very nice word, comes from the Greek. So what does this 
word mean? This means mixed feelings of happiness and sadness when 
thinking of the past. 
 
So this deals with past memories and the feelings that come with thinking 
of these past memories. They can be happy memories or they can be sad 
memories. They can be a mix of those feelings. 
 
Example sentence. "That sound fills me with nostalgia for my youth." 
 
So here it's a noun. It fills me with the feeling of nostalgia, it fills me with 
nostalgia. Or you can also use it as "nostalgic" -- as an adjective. "We took 
a nostalgic look through our old photo albums." 
 
Same meaning, just used as an adjective, used to describe something. We're 
taking a look, a nostalgic look, which means we're looking though our photo 
albums and feeling those feelings of happiness and sadness over our 
memories. 
 
Or noun -- the sound fills me with nostalgia, fills me with those feelings 
about my youth. 
 
Alright, next --"A medical student named Johannes Hofer noticed a strange 
illness." 
 
Illness -- what does that mean? Well this had to do with sickness or disease. 
 
I am unable to work due to my illness. 
 
I'm sick, I have some kind of illness or disease. I cannot work. And here we're 
talking about something "strange" something unknown at the time. Strange, 
we don't know what this disease or sickness is. 
CIMV | Why Do We Feel Nostalgia 
 © 2017 | Curso de Inglês Mairo Vergara 
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"Affecting Swiss mercenaries serving abroad." 
 
This word "abroad." This means in another country or another way of saying 
it, in a foreign country. 
 
Example sentence. "We studied abroad in Japan for two semesters." 
 
So to go abroad is to go to another country, to live in another country or to 
be in a foreign country. "We studied abroad" means we went to another 
country to study, here it's Japan. 
 
So these Swiss mercenaries, mercenaries are soldiers, these soldiers from 
Switzerland, they were serving in some military abroad in foreign countries. 
 
"The soldiers often had to be discharged.” 
 
"Discharged." -- what does this mean? It means to allow to leave. 
 
An example sentence -- "I was discharged from the hospital once I 
recovered from my illness." 
 
OK, so when we're talking about illness, we talk about going to the hospital 
and getting discharged. We're allowed to leave the hospital, the hospital lets 
us leave when we feel better. 
 
Another way to use discharged -- "My father received an honorable 
discharge from the military." 
 
So this person's father, they were allowed to leave the military very 
honorably. They were honorably discharged, they received an honorable 
discharge. So we are allowed to leave. 
 
"An intense yearning for their mountain homeland.” 
 
So these two words -- yearning and homeland. Yearning -- so this is to have 
a strong want for something, a strong desire to have something. 
 
Sample sentence -- "After spending so many years abroad I yearned to 
return home someday." 
 
CIMV | Why Do We Feel Nostalgia 
 © 2017 | Curso de Inglês Mairo Vergara 
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Yearning -- yes, this is a very good word. We're talking about a strong 
feeling, a strong want or desire for something, to do something to have 
something. This person spent a long time abroad in a foreign country and 
they yearn, they desire strongly to go home someday. 
 
"For their mountain homeland." Homeland -- and this means country of 
origin, a place where you were born. 
 
"We must protect the homeland from foreign invaders." Strong words. The 
homeland, just like your home, but really land here is talking about your 
country of origin, the place where you were born. Here we're talking about 
soldiers. We must protect the homeland from foreign invaders. 
 
So these people had an intense longing, an intense desire to go home again, 
to return to the place where they were born. 
 
"He dubbed the condition nostalgia." 
 
This word here "dubbed." OK dubbed means to name. How do we use this 
in a sentence? 
 
"He was dubbed the hand of God," -- great name -- "for his amazing 
performance as a goalie." 
 
He was named, he was dubbed, this name, this phrase "the hand of God" for 
his amazing performance as goalie by his team. 
 
More than likely "he dubbed the condition," so here we're naming the 
condition “nostalgia." 
 
"Homecoming." So homecoming means to return home, usually after a long 
period of time. 
 
An example sentence. "Our son gets discharged from the military next 
week, we are planning a homecoming party for him." Sounds like we're very 
happy to have him back. 
 
Homecoming -- you've been gone a long time and you finally get to return 
home. Our son was let go from the military and then we're planning a way 
of celebrating his return home by throwing a homecoming party for him. 
 
CIMV | Why Do We Feel Nostalgia 
 © 2017 | Curso de Inglês Mairo Vergara 
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"And 'algos' for pain or longing." 
 
What does this word "longing" mean? Actually algos means pain or longing. 
And what does longing mean? A strong want for something synonymous, or 
a synonym, with the word "yearning." 
 
An example -- "After so many years abroad he longed to see his wife and 
children again." 
 
OK "algos" here from the Greek means longing and longing means the same 
thing. This is what a synonym is, it is synonymous with the word "yearning." 
It means the same thing, it's a strong want or desire. 
 
So after been gone in a foreign country for a long time, this person yearns, 
longs tosee his wife and children again. 
 
So what does this passage mean, what is it talking about? 
 
We're learning a little bit about the history of nostalgia. So originally it was 
discovered in the 17th century by this student Johannes Hofer and he 
noticed strange sickness that was affecting soldiers who were in other 
countries and it was so bad that they often had to leave the military, they 
had to be discharged. Then he learned that this was not caused by a physical 
problem, meaning they weren't hurt physically. But it really was this intense 
yearning or longing for their return to home -- they wanted to go back to 
the country that they were born from. 
 
He name it "nostalgia," and the word he used comes from the two Greek 
words "nostos," "algos." "Nostos" meaning homecoming, which means to 
return to home and "algos" meaning pain or longing and longing is the same 
word as yearning. 
 
So it's a strong want to return home, that is what nostalgia means. 
 
So nostalgia here was "considered a particularly Swiss affliction." 
 
What does "affliction" mean here? Affliction is something that causes pain 
and suffering. 
 
In a sentence -- "Her affliction was the result of mental distress and poor 
physical health." 
CIMV | Why Do We Feel Nostalgia 
 © 2017 | Curso de Inglês Mairo Vergara 
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OK, affliction is something or some reason that is causing you pain and 
suffering. Her affliction, the reason why she was suffering, the thing causing 
pain was mental distress and poor physical health. 
 
So here they thought this was a Swiss thing. 
 
"Caused trauma to the ear drums and brain." 
 
What are these, what are ear drums? Ear drums, this has to do with your 
ear, it is a thin piece of skin inside the ear, that allows you to hear sounds. 
 
An example -- "Loud music can damage your ear drums." 
 
Alright so this is inside of our ear. The reason they call it a drum is because 
it is a thin piece of skin that is stretched inside the ear like a drum has a thin 
piece of skin stretched across the top to make sound, this thin piece of skin 
allows you to hear sound. Loud music can damage your ear drums, they're 
very important, take care of them. 
 
"Commanders even forbade their soldiers from singing...” 
 
What is this word meaning -- "forbade." To not allow. 
 
"My parents forbade me from dating until I graduated high school." Alright, 
they would not allow me. To not allow. They would not allow me to date 
until I graduated high school. 
 
So here the commanders "forbade." Forbade here is past tense. So this 
comes from the present tense word "forbid," to forbid. This is a verb and 
this is past tense. Forbade -- happened in the past. Forbid someone -- this 
is present. 
 
"Commanders even forbade" -- in the past -- their soldiers, they would not 
allow them to sing that is interesting. "...for fear that they'd lead to desertion 
or suicide." 
 
This word -- "desertion." "Desertion means to leave without permission or 
notice. It's often used in the military or with military topics. This would be 
the opposite of discharge. 
 
CIMV | Why Do We Feel Nostalgia 
 © 2017 | Curso de Inglês Mairo Vergara 
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Alright, so here's a sentence -- "In the military desertion is considered a 
serious crime." 
 
It's to leave without permission or notice. To discharge is to be allowed to 
leave. To desert, you are not allowed to leave, this is the noun "desertion." 
In the military desertion is considered a serious crime, comes from the verb, 
to desert. 
 
Ok -- they were afraid that they would leave without permission or kill 
themselves, commit suicide. 
 
"It turned out that." "Turn out" -- this means to happen or to become in a 
certain way. To turn out. 
 
Example sentence -- "It turns out he's not coming home until next week." 
Also -- "My cake turned out quite well." Nice surprise. It turns out. 
 
So it means something happened or something became a certain way. And 
sometimes it's used in a sense of a surprise. So here it turns out -- oh we 
thought he was coming home sooner, but really it turns out that he is not 
coming home until next week. Maybe I'm making a new cake, I wasn't sure 
how well it would turn out, but really surprised, it just so happens it turned 
out quite well, quite delicious. 
 
So here, "it turned out..." -- kind of a surprise, because they thought it was 
a Swiss problem but here it's actually anyone who leaves their home can get 
nostalgia. 
 
Right, so what is this passage telling us? Well, it's talking about the history 
of nostalgia. They did not know what this illness was, so they were taking 
guesses, first they thought maybe it only affected or afflicted and caused 
suffering in the Swiss. And then they had some really funny reasons for this 
happening, cow bells maybe. Maybe they caused trauma or damaged the 
thin skin in our ears that allow us to hear, maybe they damaged the brain. 
 
Commanders would even not allow soldiers to sing songs because they 
were afraid that this feeling of longing would lead to desertion or suicide. 
But as it turned out here with the increase in migration, meaning people 
traveling all over the world, they realized and were surprised to find that 
anyone who left their native homeland were vulnerable to these feelings of 
CIMV | Why Do We Feel Nostalgia 
 © 2017 | Curso de Inglês Mairo Vergara 
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sadness and happiness that comes from nostalgia. It represented difficulties 
letting go of childhood. 
 
"Letting go" what does this mean? Well this comes from "let go" which 
means to release something, to relax about something. 
 
So two options here, to release. 
 
My son got upset when he let go of the balloon and it floated away. He 
released, he let go, his hand opened up and the balloon was allowed to leave 
his hand. My son got upset that he let go of the balloon. 
 
And another use here, to relax. Don't worry about the children tonight, just 
let go and have fun. Alright, don't worry, "let go" meaning let go of your 
worries, just relax and have fun. 
 
So here -- it represented difficulties letting go of childhood. So these people 
could not let go, they could not release things from their childhood, maybe 
this was what caused nostalgia. 
 
"Over the next few decades." Over -- so this is talking about time here, this 
is talking about across a certain amount of time. 
 
Example -- "I'll be busy over the next few days." 
 
So here we're talking about time. I'll be busy over the next few days. Across 
time, across the span of a few days. 
 
You can also use this as a preposition. And here -- "Place the blanket over 
the bed." 
 
It can also mean to finish. "We'll go home when the movie is over." When 
it's done, when it's finished. 
 
So three uses -- we can talk about a span of time, over a span of time. We 
can talk about a preposition, this usually is something similar to above. Place 
the blanket over the bed. On top of the bed, above the bed. And also it can 
be a verb to finish. We'll go home when the movie is over. Here this is the 
span of time, decades. 
 
CIMV | Why Do We Feel Nostalgia 
 © 2017 | Curso de Inglês Mairo Vergara 
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Homesickness, what does homesickness mean? So this is a longing, 
remember a yearning, longing for home. I felt homesick for the first few 
months of my study abroad. This can be an adjective, but it can also be a 
noun. He's suffering from homesickness. 
 
OK, homesickness is a longing for home, you can use it to describe a feeling, 
I felt homesick, feels like an illness where you yearn to go home. Or it can 
be a noun. He's suffering from this feeling or longing for home. 
 
"Rather than." Rather than, this means instead of. 
 
So an example -- "I would prefer for you to tell me directly instead of talking 
behind my back." OK, so here, I would prefer for you to tell me directly 
instead of, or rather than talking behind my back. 
 
So instead of an awful disease, rather than an awful disease. 
 
"A Poignant,pleasant experience." What is this word "poignant?" So 
poignant means something that causes or is causing a feeling of sadness. 
Feelings are very complicated. 
 
An example -- "War is a poignant reminder of the value of life." So it's a sad 
reminder, an important reminder that has a sense of sadness about the 
meaning and value of life. 
 
Poignant, this is a very complex experience finally "triggered." What is this 
word here, "triggered?" 
 
To trigger means to cause something to happen, this is based on the noun 
"trigger" that comes from guns. So a trigger is what sets off a gun, it is the 
part of the gun that you pull to shoot or the part that set's off a gun. To pull 
the trigger is to shoot a gun. 
 
OK and so then we're talking about something that sets something off, 
something that causes something to happen. Triggered is the past tense of 
to trigger. 
 
So an example use -- "My grandmother, her stories triggered a wave of 
nostalgia." My grandmother's stories they triggered, they set off this feeling, 
this wave of nostalgia. 
 
CIMV | Why Do We Feel Nostalgia 
 © 2017 | Curso de Inglês Mairo Vergara 
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So what is this telling us here? OK so over time the meaning of nostalgia has 
changed. Originally psychologists thought it had to do with releasing with 
issues or things from childhood, but across time -- a few decades actually -
- this feeling of nostalgia began to change. So one its meaning expanded 
from this feeling from homesickness and illness, a longing for home and it 
became something like a general longing for the past. And instead of or 
rather than being a disease it became this sense of poignant and pleasant 
experience, so both a mixed feeling of sadness and pleasant things. 
 
A very famous example is from Marcel Proust where he talked about the 
experience eating cake from a long time ago which triggered or caused a 
cascade of warm and powerful sensory feelings, associations. This is how 
nostalgia changed. 
 
So what does this all mean? Well nostalgia really has a long history. First we 
thought it was a strange illness, it was discovered among soldiers who were 
in foreign countries. It was so strong that they often had to leave the 
military. It was this experience of a very strong yearning, a desire to return 
to their homes and it was named from the Greek meaning homecoming and 
longing. Meaning intense pain and longing to return home, 
 
Originally it was thought to only affect the Swiss and they had to come up 
with a different reason because they really didn't know what caused it, 
maybe it was the ear drums in the brain. Commanders -- they said, "no you 
can't sing songs that will remind you of home," because they were afraid 
that that somehow this would cause soldiers to leave. 
 
But really surprisingly over time we learned that, no, this feeling of nostalgia, 
this strong pain and sense of longing, this can happen to anyone who has 
left their country. 
 
Alright so then we are into the 20th century and we have things like 
psychologists, so they thought, ah well maybe nostalgia has to do with 
childhood and your ability to relax or let go of things from your past. And 
then again over time, across a few decades our understanding of nostalgia 
changed. So one, it stopped being homesickness, it stopped being an illness 
in general and instead of that, rather than, it became to mean this feeling, a 
poignant and pleasant experience -- this feeling of happiness and sadness, 
mixed together about anything in the past. 
 
CIMV | Why Do We Feel Nostalgia 
 © 2017 | Curso de Inglês Mairo Vergara 
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So for example, famous example from Proust is tasting a childhood cake and 
it sets off this warmth, this feeling, these powerful senses from the past. 
 
Alright, well hopefully you will come back and join us for Why Do We Feel 
Nostalgia Part 2.