The Fluent Show: Recent Episodes
Kerstin Cable
Learn a Language...Or Maybe Three! The Fluent Show is on a mission to help you get excited about language learning. We learn languages every day in our lives, and have learnt over 15 different languages between us. We share stories, news, tips, and ideas that will make you fluent...eventually. Subscribe to the show today to get your regular dose of Fluent love. It is worth clarifying that we actively want to support anti-racism and will highlight and advocate for the equality of all. Language learning means committing to tolerance of other world views, and this open mind is a core value for me. This topic deserves well considered words so here are the best Kerstin managed to put together. (https://www.fluent.show/blacklivesmatter)
So this is it and the last episode is a good one!! Lindsay and I close this chapter of the Fluent Show in true style, with * lots of YOUR listener feedback and beautiful messages * why finishing things can be beautiful, and how to escape the dreaded feeling of "what could have been" * a look at the secret box of lost Fluent Show episodes that we never got to make * a QUIZ!! Hah, didn't think we'd skip that did you? đ Get our Best of Fluent Show playlist here (https://www.podchaser.com/lists/best-of-the-fluent-show-107abFaUw3) A big thank you to Clozemaster (http://www.clozemaster.com/fluentshow), our Fluent Show sponsor. WHAT NOW? Don't be sad, stay connected with us! 1. Make sure you are subscribed to the Fluent Show podcast feed so you can hear announcements when they come out 2. Want to dive into the archive? You can do that! The Fluent Show archive will stay online and you can download older episodes to your podcast player. 3. Make sure you sign up to the newsletter for news from Kerstin (https://www.fluentlanguage.co.uk/newsletter) and Lindsay (https://www.lindsaydoeslanguages.com/emailme) 4. Get in touch any time on our social media or by email!
content warning for one mild reference to explicit images at about 24 minutes In this episode I'm joined by my friend Bec Howie, a passionate language lover from Australia. Bec and I chat about how languages have made a difference in our lives. You think of them as a hobby, but we've found that learning a language has.. changed our career paths given us amazing new options helped us find love made us more confident Listen in for a massive boost of motivation! Plus: The Fluent Show's FINAL Episode The next episode, number 240, is pretty special... because đ°Â it is going to be the final episode of the Fluent Show. This podcast I have created and hosted for 9 years is coming to an end. Iâm going to miss you all so much, your feedback, your voices when you send in intros, questions, and your long and short emails that you sent me to share what you thought about the new episodes. During the 9 years of running the Fluent Show, I have grown as a person, a podcaster, and a language professional. Iâve learnt so much, and there have been hundreds of wonderful guests. While this will be the final Fluent Show episode, I am not going to tell you itâs forever. Please make sure you stay subscribed on this feed for further news. YOUR TURN: I want to hear from you! I want YOUR voices, your stories, your feedback on the last episode! You can send me anything, but especially your Fluent Show memories. Which episodes stood out to you? Have you made friends who are listeners too? How did you discover the show? Whatâs the weirdest place youâve ever listened? I want to know it all!!! * Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/thefluentshow * Instagram: http://instagram.com/kerstin_fluent/ and #thefluentshow * Email me (ideally WITH audio!!) at kerstin@fluentlanguage.co.uk (mailto:kerstin@fluentlanguage.co.uk) and I will be so delighted to add your story to our extra special episode 240. Love the show? Rate & Review it here (https://lovethepodcast.com/0dH1NG) Special Guest: Rebecca Howie.
In this episode, you'll learn about language exchange and how you can use it to become fluent in a new language. My guest is Brian Heavey, international events organiser and director at Online Language Exchange & Real Events Ireland. Brian has been running language exchange events for 10 years now, with thousands of participants learning languages together. In April 2020, he pivoted his business to create Online Language Exchange providing online exchanges during lockdown. Brian speaks Spanish, Portuguese and a bit of Irish, and is raising a multilingual family in Dublin. Where do you listen? Take a photo of where you're listening to the Fluent Show and share it on social media to say hello! Here's where you can tag me: * Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/thefluentshow * Instagram: http://instagram.com/kerstin_fluent/ and #thefluentshow Thank you to Brian (http://www.onlinelanguageexchange.com) for this episode introduction. Love the show? Rate & Review it here (https://lovethepodcast.com/0dH1NG) Special Guest: Brian Heavey.
Get ready for spring and summer with our big pop culture episode featuring recommendations for music, TV and films to enjoy in over 22 languages. Lindsay introduces a helpful framework for getting the most out of pop culture in another language: * Discover * Consume * Create We hope you enjoy our recommendations! Timestamps Lindsayâs faves MUSIC - Rosalia - MOTOMAMI (Spanish with some Catalan and English and Japanese influence) - Stromae - Multitude (French) - Daddy Yankee - Legendaddy (Spanish) - Tierra Adentro - Aguije (Spanish and Guarani) - Dead Blonde - Propaganda (Russian) - Monetochka - Raskpaski dla Vzrosluh (Russian) - Toot Ard - Migrant Birds (Arabic) - Waiata Reo Maori: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37i9dQZF1DX9Ca1SohktgM (https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37i9dQZF1DX9Ca1SohktgM) - Raices Indigenas: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37i9dQZF1DX1aLJoYoaZnK (https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37i9dQZF1DX1aLJoYoaZnK) - Mosaic: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37i9dQZF1DXd9vfK9DV3I6 (https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37i9dQZF1DXd9vfK9DV3I6) - Organica: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37i9dQZF1DX2pprEpa9URZ (https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37i9dQZF1DX2pprEpa9URZ) - Borderless: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37i9dQZF1DWZJmo7mlltU6 (https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37i9dQZF1DWZJmo7mlltU6) - Global X: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37i9dQZF1DWUxHPh2rEiHr (https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37i9dQZF1DWUxHPh2rEiHr) - Folk Fabrique: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37i9dQZF1DX62XscWX9t6h (https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37i9dQZF1DX62XscWX9t6h) - The Sounds of Spotify/Every Noise FILMS - La Famille Belier - CODA remade from this concept (French) - Jiro Dreams of Sushi - he really really really likes sushi (Japanese) - The Skin I Live In - phew! Banderas is on fire! (Spanish) - Downstream to Kinshasa - moving. Loved seeing a different place. (Lingala, Swahili) - Bad Lucky Goat - take me here too please sunshine (islander Creole English) - Cairo Station - itâs OG Manic Pixie Dream Girl (Arabic) - Song Without a Name - heartbreaking, real, honest, tonne of bricks (Spanish with Quechua) - 5 Broken Cameras - life in Palestine looks tough as (Arabic, Hebrew) - The Prince of Nothingwood - wanna watch all his films please (English and Arabic) - Sweat - never connected to this lead before (Polish) TV: El Casa del Papel (Money Heist), How to Sell Drugs Online Fast Kerstinâs faves MUSIC Indie, alternative, punk, rock music: - Tocotronic, Kraftklub, Die Ărzte đ©đȘ - Candelas, Swnami đŽó §ó ąó ·ó Źó łó ż Dancehall, caribbean feel, afrobeat type of music: - Mandi Classic đšđ© (Swahili), Jamaican artists like Sean Paul and Spice, and Seeed đ©đȘ BOOKS AND TV Mysteries & Thrillers Books: Arnaldur Indriâassonâs Erlendur series đźđž On TV: The Bridge đ©đ°đžđȘ , Salamander đ§đȘ, The Killing đ©đ°, Trapped đźđž, Craith/Hidden đŽó §ó ąó ·ó Źó łó ż, Dark đ©đȘ FILM - Patagonia (Welsh, Spanish, English) Where do you listen? Take a photo of where you're listening to the Fluent Show and share it on social media to say hello! Here's where you can tag me: * Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/thefluentshow * Instagram: http://instagram.com/kerstin_fluent/ and #thefluentshow Love the show? Rate & Review it here (https://lovethepodcast.com/0dH1NG)
Today Iâm bringing you a special, a recording of an expert panel discussion I moderated at the recent Women in Language conference, entitled *âFeminism in Our Language Worldâ. * This is a top quality conversation I think you should hear. It isnât a talk about how to learn vocabulary or find conversation partners in some kind of feminist way. Itâs an examination of the world we live in, and how it may impact us as humans, not just language learners.
"Feminism helps me to get space to just say what I want to say and not feel like I can't say my message." "A lot of people still see "feminist" as the extreme end of the spectrum and so are reluctant to use the term to describe themselves." "I can talk all day about the intersectionality of all things. But when you're not in a place where you can make mistakes, we're not in a place where you can make change." "To become the best version of yourself, you need to stand for the humanity of someone else." I am grateful to Lindsay and Shannon as well as our panelists Archana Parmar, Chesline Pierre Paul, Martina Gerdts, and Samantha Lassaux, for allowing me to put this audio out on the podcast. Where do you listen? Take a photo of where you're listening to the Fluent Show and share it on social media to say hello! Here's where you can tag me: * Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/thefluentshow * Instagram: http://instagram.com/kerstin_fluent/ and #thefluentshow Love the show? Rate & Review it here (https://lovethepodcast.com/0dH1NG) Special Guests: Archana Parmar, Chesline Pierre-Paul, Martina Gerdts, and Samantha Lassaux.
In this episode, my guest is Mignon Fogarty - better known as Grammar Girl. She's a language podcaster, founder of the Quick and Dirty Tips network, a bestselling author, Podcasting Hall of Fame inductee, and she's even been a guest on the Ophrah Winfrey show! In other words, we have a super expert on the podcast today. In this fun conversation, Mignon and I chatted about * the biggest misconceptions people have about grammar * the reality of being women (not girls!) who have "expert podcasts" * the truth about using grammar correctly - how important is it really? And then she took YOUR questions - that burning issue of the Oxford comma is finally solved! Enjoy the show! You can find out more about Mignon here (https://www.fluent.show/guests/mignon) and about Where do you listen? Take a photo of where you're listening to the Fluent Show and share it on social media to say hello! Here's where you can tag me: * Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/thefluentshow * Instagram: http://instagram.com/kerstin_fluent/ and #thefluentshow Thank you to Mignon Fogarty (https://www.quickanddirtytips.com/grammar-girl) for this episode introduction. Love the show? Rate & Review it here (https://lovethepodcast.com/0dH1NG) Special Guest: Mignon Fogarty.
Shannon Kennedy is a professional musician, learner of 16 languages, and a language learning expert at Eurolinguiste, Fluent in 3 Months, and Women in Language. She's also my buddy and we have a tradition: Every year, Shannon visits the show to share how the last year went. Don't miss this incredible conversation where Shannon shares how she creates structure and stability for hers the difference between goal-oriented and stats-oriented habits pre-committing as a way to follow through on good intentions why Shannon is definitely not learning a new language this year (I don't believe her!) and why you need holistic awareness of your languages Listen to Shannon's reviews of 2020 (https://www.fluent.show/203), 2019 (https://www.fluent.show/166) and 2018 (https://www.fluent.show/118). Apps mentioned in this episode Duolingo (http://www.duolingo.com) Lingq (https://www.fluentlanguage.co.uk/lingq) Streaks (https://streaksapp.com/) Books mentioned in this episode All the Rage (https://uk.bookshop.org/a/6226/9780062861450) by Darcy Lockman Fair Play (https://uk.bookshop.org/a/6226/9781529400212) by Eve Rodsky The One Thing (https://uk.bookshop.org/a/6226/9781848549258) by Gary Keller Indistractable (https://uk.bookshop.org/a/6226/9781526610201) by Nir Eyal* Links with * are affiliate links Love the show? Rate & Review it here (https://lovethepodcast.com/0dH1NG) Make sure you check out our sponsor Clozemaster! Special Guest: Shannon Kennedy.
Women in Language is an online event filled with talks presentations from female language experts who have done amazing things and documented their journey. The conference is open to everyone, and it's organised by Kerstin, Lindsay and Shannon. In this episode, I've got 10 speakers from the conference sharing exactly why they love this event and what they'll be bringing you this year. Make sure you get your $29 ticket at www.womeninlanguage.com today! You will hear from * Jessica Kumar on privilege in linguistics * Irene Cangi on reaching higher language levels of Italian * Lauren Williams introducing AAC - what is it, why do you need it? She has the answers! * Mariana Favila-Alcala and Belen Nuñez on why feminism matters in the language industry * Sara Holmes on how to teach your baby American sign language * Abigail Fulbrook on taboos in the language classroom * Marjolein Benschop on her talk about learning when you are multipassionate * Vickie Kelty and Laia Moret on why they're going to bring some games to the event Get the full speaker line-up at www.womeninlanguage.com (https://womeninlanguage.com/p/2022-speakers) Where do you listen? Take a photo of where you're listening to the Fluent Show and share it on social media to say hello! Here's where you can tag me: * Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/thefluentshow * Instagram: http://instagram.com/kerstin_fluent/ and #thefluentshow Thank you to Valerie for this episode introduction. Love the show? Rate & Review it here (https://lovethepodcast.com/0dH1NG) Special Guests: Jessica Kumar and Sara Holmes.
Their eyes met at Dubai airport...and it started a love affair with Malayalam! In this episode, my American-born guests Jessica Kumar and Eliza Keyton (Eli Kutty) share their stories of falling in love with India - well, some of it! You'll hear about * how Jessica and Eliza travelled the world * what family traditions in India mean for independent women like these two * why one person's experience can never show you all that India has to offer * how learning a language can change your experience of India, no matter where you are * why both of them decided to share their experiences by podcast and instagram Where do you listen? Take a photo of where you're listening to the Fluent Show and share it on social media to say hello! Here's where you can tag me: * Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/thefluentshow * Instagram: http://instagram.com/kerstin_fluent/ and #thefluentshow Love the show? Rate & Review it here (https://lovethepodcast.com/0dH1NG) A transcript of the interview is available for this episode Special Guests: Eliza Keyton and Jessica Kumar.
If you're the kind of person who doesn't want to hear about vaccines, just press "stop" now. Welcome to our 2021 Words of the Year episode - somewhat dominated by one concept. It's another fun episode as Lindsay and I discuss all those words that made our 2022, including * vax and vacina, jab and booster * Wellenbrecher * cheugy * Chirui (ăă«ăŁ) * sportsvaske And lots more! Where do you listen? Take a photo of where you're listening to the Fluent Show and share it on social media to say hello! Here's where you can tag me: * Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/thefluentshow * Instagram: http://instagram.com/kerstin_fluent/ and #thefluentshow Love the show? Rate & Review it here (https://lovethepodcast.com/0dH1NG)
Welcome to the new year! In today's small solo episode, I'm introducing a few updates to this podcast and sharing my big projects for the year. This includes an update on my languages: some "failures" and some wins! I'll also cover 5 great pieces of advice for you at the start of 2022 there is NO need to start learning new language just cos it's 1 January you are allowed to listen to things in your native language if you like commitment pays off with language learning (and podcasting) community matters and your boundaries do too your goals donât always have to be achieved Where do you listen? Take a photo of where you're listening to the Fluent Show and share it on social media to say hello! Here's where you can tag me: * Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/thefluentshow * Instagram: http://instagram.com/kerstin_fluent/ and #thefluentshow Thank you to Isabella (https://twitter.com/languageoclock) for this episode introduction. Love the show? Rate & Review it here (https://lovethepodcast.com/0dH1NG) Did you know that you can get a whole library of exciting courses on language learning mindset and strategies from me? Ranging from grammar and vocab to productivity and planning, these resources are your start into a brilliant new language learning year. There is something for everyone, including a free video training to help you get through language chaos, at fluentlanguage.co.uk/my-courses
Have you tried to set goals and track what you are studying, but things are still frustrating? If you feel like * you are adding too many things to your list * you've no time to do all you want to really do * you've got too much stuff on the shelf and hard drive then make sure you catch this episode because I'm here to introduce you to a super tool I've been using for years: the review! When done right, reviewing can be a powerful step into great self-leadership, and in today's episode you'll learn why and how to do it. Join my workshop: The Power of a Good Review Get your ticket right here (https://www.fluentlanguage.co.uk/goodreview) I've been using reviews successfully for my languages, my business and even for this very podcast for many years, and I'm going to teach you all I know about how to do it this month. Come and join us! Where do you listen? Take a photo of where you're listening to the Fluent Show and share it on social media to say hello! Here's where you can tag me: * Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/thefluentshow * Instagram: http://instagram.com/kerstin_fluent/ and #thefluentshow Thank you to Caz for this episode introduction. Love the show? Rate & Review it here (https://lovethepodcast.com/0dH1NG)
Ahh, kids these days, all learning Korean on TikTok! Or was it Italian by input method? In this episode, Lindsay and Kerstin went into the fascinating world of language trends. In this episode: * How we tried to find out which languages are trending * Which languages are so hot right now via GIPHY
- Which language learning trends are floating around out there
- The despacito effect, copyright Lindsay Williams
- The Gangnam Squid effect?
Where do you listen? Take a photo of where you're listening to the Fluent Show and share it on social media to say hello! Here's where you can tag me: * Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/thefluentshow * Instagram: http://instagram.com/kerstin_fluent/ and #thefluentshow Love the show? Rate & Review it here (https://lovethepodcast.com/0dH1NG)
An Italian native speaker and a Portuguese native speaker walk into a bar. They are speaking to each other. Which language are they using? Is it English or ELF? What even is ELF? In today's episode, my guest is EU intrepreter and ELF expert Karin Reithofer. We discuss * How Karin got into her career as a freelance interpreter working in 4 languages * My non-scientific (and apparently correct!) theory about the personalities of interpreters and translators * What ELF is and who speaks it * Who owns English and whose English is correct? * How Brexit has liberated the EU (linguistically! don't come for me!) Bilingual Episode Karin and I are both German native speakers, so we switched from English into German for a little bit to give you some listening practice as a learner. If you are not a German learner, don't worry as we'll always switch back to English and I interpreted make sure you don't miss anything. Here I always like to remember what the late Ron Gullekson from Language Surfer told me: "in a new language, I like to get uncomfortable as early as possible." So enjoy the challenge and enjoy the German practice! Where do you listen? Take a photo of where you're listening to the Fluent Show and share it on social media to say hello! Here's where you can tag me: * Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/thefluentshow * Instagram: http://instagram.com/kerstin_fluent/ and #thefluentshow Thank you to Karin for this episode introduction in KĂ€rntnerisch. Love the show? Rate & Review it here (https://lovethepodcast.com/0dH1NG) Special Guest: Karin Reithofer.
If you don't - study many hours - read all my news in the target language - watch tv with target language subtitles - keep the streak going in my apps ...are you still learning a language? Uhh, YES, yes you are. In this episode, I'm taking a fresh look at the concept of consistency, and reminding you that relaxed routines become reliable routines. The tight clinging makes us feel unhappy. Listen in if you are feeling stressed by a rigid routine today, and let's talk about what you can do to make your language routine a little easier. Where do you listen? Take a photo of where you're listening to the Fluent Show and share it on social media to say hello! Here's where you can tag me: * Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/thefluentshow * Instagram: http://instagram.com/kerstin_fluent/ and #thefluentshow Thank you to Bonnie for this episode introduction. Love the show? Rate & Review it here (https://lovethepodcast.com/0dH1NG)
If you are obsessed with East Asian languages and travel, Penny Wilson has some words of wisdom to share. Penny is a language lover from Australia, currently learning Mandarin Chinese and Vietnamese. She's a podcast host of Language Chats and she also manages her own business, Lingo Mama. In today's episode, I got together with Penny to learn more about * her love of East Asian languages and travel * how she is bringing language into her career and family life * how the local Aboriginal languages of Australia are shaping how she learns culture and language now Plus, you'll find out what a Walkshop is and you'll come out wanting to book one right now. If you are missing friends and connections with language lovers like you, don't miss it! Where do you listen? Take a photo of where you're listening to the Fluent Show and share it on social media to say hello! Here's where you can tag me: * Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/thefluentshow * Instagram: http://instagram.com/kerstin_fluent/ and #thefluentshow I had editing help from Steph Fuccio for this episode. Love the show? Rate & Review it here (https://lovethepodcast.com/0dH1NG) Special Guest: Penny Wilson.
Language monsters are everywhere. Lurking in the shadows of your study routine, beckoning you with frightening challenges, haunting texts. But they arenât real. Donât be scared of language learning monsters! Here are five of them to watch out for this Halloween season:⣠the Grammar Ghoul đș the Plateau Poltergeist đ» the Interaction Imp đ the Correcting Chimera đČ the Progress Polevik đ For each scary language monster, I've also got a ghostbusting tip for you. Want to achieve higher levels in your languages...not just for now, but for life? Ready to go from sporadic learning bursts to relaxed and reliable success? It's time to discover how to learn best, and I want to invite you to the Fluent Language Mastermind. This is a full growth programme with support and answers to ALL your questions (even the ones you didn't know you needed to ask): accent, fluency, cultural skills, confidence, everything! You can apply right now to join this brand new programme. Click here to learn more and apply for the Fluent Language Mastermind (https://www.fluentlanguage.co.uk/mastermind) Where do you listen? Take a photo of where you're listening to the Fluent Show and share it on social media to say hello! Here's where you can tag me: * Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/thefluentshow * Instagram: http://instagram.com/kerstin_fluent/ and #thefluentshow Love the show? Rate & Review it here (https://lovethepodcast.com/0dH1NG) Horror sound effects from Zapsplat.com (https://www.zapsplat.com)
"I never drop anything entirely. It's always still there in the background." In today's episode, I have brought on my very own language teacher! Dafydd Morse is a Welsh-Maths-Baking-Everything tutor and learning enthusiast from Wales. We'll chat about * Dafydd's own background growing up bilingually in Wales * Why it's important to Dafydd to pass on the Welsh language to his own children * Daf's love of learning and the one language he tried that didn't work out at all * What types of Welsh learners there are, and how you can become successful as a learner of any language Bilingual Episode You've been asking for a bilingual Welsh episode, and finally here it is! I took the opportunity to ask Dafydd a few questions in Welsh in this episode. You will hear him reply in Welsh and conduct the conversation like that for a few minutes. I summarize in English afterwards. If you are not a Welsh learner, don't worry as we'll always switch back to English. Here I always like to remember what the late Ron Gullekson from Language Surfer told me: "in a new language, I like to get uncomfortable as early as possible." So enjoy the challenge and enjoy the practice! Where do you listen? Take a photo of where you're listening to the Fluent Show and share it on social media to say hello! Here's where you can tag me: * Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/thefluentshow * Instagram: http://instagram.com/kerstin_fluent/ and #thefluentshow * Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/fluentlanguage Thank you to Popi for this episode introduction. Love the show? Rate & Review it here (https://lovethepodcast.com/0dH1NG) Special Guest: Dafydd Morse.
We've never had it so good, have we? Language instruction is easily available these days through apps, social media, and teaching platforms. And it's so affordable ...if not entirely free! Sounds great, right? Well, just like every other big global industry "disruption", things aren't so simple with this one either. In today's podcast episode, we bring you a deep dive into that Boston Review (https://bostonreview.net/class-inequality/yuliya-komska-alberto-bruzos-moro-roberto-rey-agudo-who-pay-cheap-language-classes) article called "Who Pays for Cheap Language Instruction?" We discuss: * working conditions of language teachers and course creators * how the apps profit from language learners * what the tutoring market is like for teachers from different parts of the world * why this is weakening the language learning industry * what you can do about this right now "We have put up with âproductsâ inspired less by linguistic justice than by game design. We have acquiesced to corporate cognitive-science experiments that harvest and mold our habits as data When it comes to acquiring languages, we have learned to ignore our agency, our sense of ethics and social justice, even as we have flexed these same faculties to support a bookstore or a clothing company. Simply put, we have consented to being the consumers that the language industry wants us to be. Where do you listen? Take a photo of where you're listening to the Fluent Show and share it on social media to say hello! Here's where you can tag me: * Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/thefluentshow * Instagram: http://instagram.com/kerstin_fluent/ and #thefluentshow Love the show? Rate & Review it here (https://lovethepodcast.com/0dH1NG)
Elle Charisse is a language podcaster (she hosts Speaking Tongues), language lover, and foodie. She's a New York woman through and through! We discuss * why and how life in New York is different from the movie version we're often sold * how to engage with New York's wealth of languages and native speakers respectfully * what a "woman of the world" is and who the most glamorous woman in Elle's life is * how reading books, learning languages, and eating food from other places all gives us that happy escapist buzz If you want to hear more episodes with a fantastic New York woman, check out my previous guest Ellen Jovin. Click here to see more about Ellen (https://www.fluent.show/guests/ellen) Love the show? Rate & Review it here (https://lovethepodcast.com/0dH1NG) Where do you listen? Take a photo of where you're listening to the Fluent Show and share it on social media to say hello! Here's where you can tag me: * Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/thefluentshow * Instagram: http://instagram.com/kerstin_fluent/ and #thefluentshow Special Guest: Elle Charisse.
Welcome to a special edition of the Fluent Show favourite top tools segment, and this time we're discussing the most useful online tools and tricks for language teachers. If you're familiar with Top Tools, you might know we try to leave out the most obvious ones and go straight to the practical tools that you might never have heard of. But with this being a first special edition for teachers, allow us to introduce each tool in the context of its wider theory. Want to cut straight to the top tools discussion? Go to timestamp 14:28 Here are the Top Tool nominations Listen to the show to find out which ones we chose as the three must-haves. TidyCal, an online scheduler you can use to cut out going back and forth on emails while you try to schedule lessons and appointments with your students. Get $10 credit on Appsumo with this referral link. (http://fbuy.me/v/kerstin_87) ThriveCart, a payment gateway that allows you to sell anything you like, set up memberships, add students to your courses and more Get to know Thrivecart (affiliate link) (https://kerstin--checkout.thrivecart.com/thrivecart-standard-account/) ConvertKit, an email newsletter software that allows you to create sign-up forms, send out branded email to lots of people, and grow your audience. Get free space for your first 1000 subscribers with this referral link. (https://app.convertkit.com/referrals/l/01240f77-0541-4823-b2a0-6816b3f2f278) Zoom breakout rooms, where you can easily organise group work, networking, chat meet-ups, language practice, language exchanges and more. Lindsay's video on Zoom for online teaching (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qy9t7oOObmo) Zapier, the workflow "middleman" between all the different services you use online. Zapier can do SO MUCH. For example, save student assignment files into cloud storage, upload notes to course areas, add new bookings through your booking system to your email list, get a text when an appointment is about to start, back up your social media posts...there's a lot on offer! Look at what Zapier can do here (http://www.zapier.com) Canva, the web and app based design solution for any quick graphics you need. From your logo to your next workbook, Canva has you covered. Get a free premium element on canva with my referral link. (https://www.canva.com/join/flq-fwf-dvm) Love the show? Rate & Review it here (https://lovethepodcast.com/0dH1NG)
In this podcast episode, you're going to meet two independent online teachers who decided to build their businesses in unique and interesting ways: Kate teaches, coaches, and creates materials for English language learners, and she's a fellow podcaster. Karina organises online writing experiences for English Language teachers so they can share their personal stories with confidence. Listen to this interview to learn more about - Kate & Karina's paths to online teaching - Creating and promoting a unique lesson structure and approach to teaching a language - The role of friendship and a support system for online language teachers Love the show? Rate & Review it here (https://lovethepodcast.com/0dH1NG) Note: I mixed up Karina and Kate's bios slightly at 08:00-08:30 in this episode, the above is the correct version. Support the Fluent Show on Patreon to get access to extra interview questions and extended show notes. Special Guests: Karina Thorne and Kate Fisher.
If you are solo learning a language and want to feel confident and fluent, and make language a part of your life, you may feel stuck at some points along the way * Bored and frustrated with the methods you're currently using * Unable to progress no matter how hard you work * Unable to experience the results that you've been working so hard for Language Coaching is a service that helps you make the most of your learning journey. Itâs designed for people who are serious about their goals and committed to achieving them In this episode, you're going to learn more about language coaching and what it can do for you. Find out * Why you would need a language coach * How working with a coach can help you figure out your best way to learn a language * How to get the most out of your language coaching sessions * How to approach investing in your work with a language coach Check out the links below for more podcast episodes that help you understand what language coaching is all about. Language Coaching Flowchart https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/500fab79c4aa83ca4b6cacae/1609776984808-CSJ4GOYNBUBYHWS5HK54/ke17ZwdGBToddI8pDm48kB80eW4KK5wgMfkTp6SjTNtZw-zPPgdn4jUwVcJE1ZvWQUxwkmyExglNqGp0IvTJZUJFbgE-7XRK3dMEBRBhUpxkEDnlqEYEiGVDb0kl5jpOJsm5iyfgdjNZyk67t96-U_4JMfIDDY8RGcVnRlrKExA/coahing+flow+chart.jpg?format=1500w Where do you listen? Take a photo of where you're listening to the Fluent Show and share it on social media to say hello! Here's where you can tag me: * Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/thefluentshow * Instagram: http://instagram.com/kerstin_fluent/ and #thefluentshow * Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/fluentlanguage Thank you to Marissa (http://www.releanalanguage.com) for this episode introduction. Love the show? Rate & Review it here (https://lovethepodcast.com/0dH1NG)
My guest for today's episode is somebody I met on a brand new app! No, it's not a dating app. It is the new social media app called Clubhouse. There's a huge global audience of people on Clubhouse and you can join in, listen in and sometimes even speak hundreds of languages, including the language that we're focusing today: Twi! Twi is spoken in Ghana, and my expert guest Afua Abrafi has been teaching it for many years. She was born in Ghana herself, and is passionate about helping the African diaspora learn African languages. In today's podcast, Afua shares why she is so passionate about languages, how she became fluent in Dutch in a very short time, and what led her to start teaching the Twi language to people around the world. Where do you listen? Take a photo of where you're listening to the Fluent Show and share it on social media to say hello! Here's where you can tag me: * Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/thefluentshow * Instagram: http://instagram.com/kerstin_fluent/ and #thefluentshow * Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/fluentlanguage Thank you to my guest Afua for this episode introduction. Love the show? Rate & Review it here (https://lovethepodcast.com/0dH1NG) Special Guest: Afua Abrafi.
You love languages and you want to spend your whole life around them. Ever thought about teaching? Teaching languages online is a realistic and interesting career choice. You could start a freelance career or even create your very own business. In today's episode, I'm answering the top five questions about being an online teacher plus some bonus tips you can use too! I am short of intros! Record your intro using Vocaroo (https://vocaroo.com/) and send me the link. You can speak any language you like. Just say your name, where you're from, which language you're speaking and "you're listening to the Fluent Show" Top 5 Questions I Answer in This Episode What is the best way to get the word out so I can book new online teaching customers? How do I market myself to new people and grow my audience online? How can I know my programmes and services will sell? What are the steps I need to take for creating my first online course? What's the best part of online teaching? Coaching, product creation, something else? a few bonus ones about responding to naysayers and keeping students motivated Want a little more support? You can book a whole day with me here: Mobile Mentoring with Kerstin (https://bookme.name/kerstin/lite/kerstins-day-of-mobile-mentoring-trial) Don't miss these two Fluent Show episodes: How Can We Make Online Lessons Less Exhausting? (https://www.fluent.show/183) and Where and How to Start Teaching Online (https://www.fluent.show/177) Where do you listen? Take a photo of where you're listening to the Fluent Show and share it on social media to say hello! Here's where you can tag me: * Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/thefluentshow * Instagram: http://instagram.com/kerstin_fluent/ and #thefluentshow * Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/fluentlanguage Thank you to Bonnie for this episode introduction. Love the show? Rate & Review it here (https://lovethepodcast.com/0dH1NG)
Many cultural highlights were lost in 2020 due to the Coronavirus pandemic. One that's particularly close to our hearts here at the Fluent Show was the Eurovision Song Contest. One year on, the event is back ON and Lindsay and I meet to bring you a colourful podcast episode celebrating all the magical things about the Eurovision Song Contest. via GIPHY
1) The history of Eurovision and of singing non-English songs 2) A preview of what's on this year 3) What we love about Eurovision - from a language learner's perspective and a wider perspective 4) Ideas for using Eurovision as a talking point for lessons/exchanges 5) Our Fluent Show Eurovision QUIZ --> See you at #EuroLangParty on Twitter! Where do you listen? Take a photo of where you're listening to the Fluent Show and share it on social media to say hello! Here's where you can tag me: * Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/thefluentshow * Instagram: http://instagram.com/kerstin_fluent/ and #thefluentshow * Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/fluentlanguage Love the show? Rate & Review it here (https://lovethepodcast.com/0dH1NG)
Holly Jensen has studied Spanish, German, Arabic, French and Russian. She is an online English teacher. Holly is also blind. đ©â𩯠In today's podcast interview, Holly shares her language life as a blind person. It was a super interesting interview and I'm so appreciative of Holly for suggesting the topic. Better Listening is for Everyone Holly shared in the interview that her superior listening skills have helped her. She can easily copy sounds and learn pronunciation, and she is a teacher appreciated for her fantastic abilities to teach accent in English. Teaching Online has Opened Doors for Holly It was difficult at first for Holly to get a job doing the teaching work that she loves, and it is common for blind people to struggle to access employment opportunities worldwide. Finding access to online teaching has helped Holly realise her career goals and work with students around the world. Most Students Build Trust Over Time Holly's students are sometimes nervous about having a blind teacher, but over time most build a good relationship with her and it doesn't stand in their way anymore. Listen to the interview today to get to know Holly and enjoy her open and positive attitude to life. Thank you for listening to the Fluent Show! If you enjoyed this episode, please consider supporting the show by leaving a review in your podcast app or becoming a member of our Patreon community Love the show? Rate & Review it here (https://lovethepodcast.com/0dH1NG) Special Guest: Holly Jensen.
Welcome to episode 213 of the Fluent Show. Yes, that's a pretty high number! I've been a podcaster for 7+ years now, and in this episode I look back on why I believe podcasting is wonderful, and what it has taught me about life and languages. I'll be focusing on 3 lessons: Consistent improvements and the joy of curiosity Podcast creation isn't about cranking out perfection. It's about having fun and capturing fun just by being yourself. Just like languages, the magic is actually in the journey and not the result. Teamwork, trusting, and daring If you have a vision, you're allowed to be into it and to truly pursue the goal that you are aiming for. You are not on a schedule. You can just dare to go for it, just like that. Being myself, speaking like me, and learning how to communicate well Over the years, podcasting has taught me how to become more comfortable with the sound of my voice and the way I express myself. In conversations, I have learnt invaluable skills about listening, prompting good answers, and supporting my conversation partner. Do you want to become a podcaster too? My wider goal this week is to open you up to an idea - could you start a podcast? A little one? Maybe a big one? Maybe for your business, your project, for other language learners, for your students if you teach? Podcasting is a wonderful creative medium, and it makes bloody good business sense too! If you want to learn more about podcasting and get step-by-step guidance on how to start your own successful podcast, sign up for my Podcasting 101 Masterclass. It's perfect for you Youâre in the beginning stages of starting a podcast and need a clear roadmap to get you to success Youâve started a podcast, but now you need tips and trade secrets to polish it up and make it shine Youâre interested, but also worried it will be way too much work and you want a system that allows you to publish weekly . . . easily Youâre looking for a simple and flexible way to plan out content so you always know whatâs coming next Youâre unsure of your voice (or message) and want to express yourself confidently You want to expand your reach and turn listeners into customers who cannot wait to pay you and work with you Learn more and join the class at www.fluentlanguage.co.uk (http://www.fluentlanguage.co.uk/podcasting101) Thank you to Heidi for this episode introduction. Where do you listen? Take a photo of where you're listening to the Fluent Show and share it on social media to say hello! Here's where you can tag me: * Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/thefluentshow * Instagram: http://instagram.com/kerstin_fluent/ and #thefluentshow * Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/fluentlanguage Love the show? Rate & Review it here (https://lovethepodcast.com/0dH1NG)
Today's guest is Aubrey Carter, experienced ESL teacher, holder of an MA TESOL and a 3 Keys IELTS Certification. Aubrey's been a professional ESL teacher for 20 years and has taught in classrooms in New York and Montréal before taking up online teaching as part of the team at All Ears English. In our podcast conversation, you'll hear more about * how Aubrey became an English teacher through the New York City Teaching Fellows programme * why online teaching the English language is so different from other types of teaching * whether you need to make sure you have qualifications for online teaching or not * why starting a business isn't for everyone * how Aubrey keeps her 1:1 lessons interesting and fresh every time * how to create an online course that stands out above all others. I was inspired by Aubrey in so many ways and I'm excited for you to meet her today. Love the show? Rate & Review it here (https://lovethepodcast.com/0dH1NG) Ever thought about creating your OWN podcast? My brand new masterclass Podcasting 101 is going live on 15 May and you can book your super early place on it here (https://www.fluentlanguage.co.uk/podcasting101). Next time your mate mentions "we should do a podcast together"? This training is where you go! Special Guest: Aubrey Carter.
Welcome to our second season of the year. In the coming bunch of episodes, I am going to focus on different stories and aspects related to teaching languages and teaching online. For today though, it's time to discuss something close to my heart: Stress! đ It's Stress Awareness Month in the UK and today I wanted to share my story and bring you helpful tips that can completely change your life. Whether you teach or learn languages, today's episode is going to help you figure out the struggles of stress. Important steps for reducing stress anywhere in your life The following tips are from mind.org.uk, a wonderful charity: Make some lifestyle changes such as Working on your assertiveness so you can feel confident saying no when people add pressure Developing your hobbies and interests - as language lovers you're miles ahead Adding in relaxation techniques and relaxing activities like yoga, meditation, creative activities, engagement in nature and music...er and podcasts? podcast walks! Limit your tech consumption - have an evening off from social media now and then Look after your physical health, this is the classics of sleep, exercise and healthy food Make sure you have a good support network through friends and family, workplace support (I found my union invaluable), your doctor if needed The Importance of Taking a Break As a language teacher, self-employed worker, I sometimes struggle with my boss - my boss being me. I have to make sure that the standards I set myself are fair. I had to learn to take breaks so that I can create better work. As a language learner, I'm very laid back but I often see others who worry that a break means stopping and being unable to pick things back up. Whether it's pressure from an app, a teacher, or your Insta feed, make sure you know that breaks are not endings. How will you use these tips? Thank you to Jon for this episode introduction. Thank you for listening to the Fluent Show! If you enjoyed this episode, please consider supporting the show by leaving a review in your podcast app or becoming a member of our Patreon community Love the show? Rate & Review it here (https://lovethepodcast.com/0dH1NG)
Lindsay's back on the show and we're closing off the first season of 2021! Kerstin has more new German words to read out to Lindsay and they're all corona-related We review this year's Women in Language conference and answer a few questions about how to organise an event with 599 participants We discuss Lindsay's studies for her MA in Applied Linguistics, and why distance learning is her jam This show's a lovely mixed back of lots of fun topics, so kick back and enjoy with us. The Fluent Show will now be on a break until mid-April, when I'm excited to start the next season theme: teaching! Thank you for listening to the Fluent Show! If you enjoyed this episode, please consider supporting the show by leaving a review in your podcast app or becoming a member of our Patreon community Love the show? Rate & Review it here (https://lovethepodcast.com/0dH1NG)
Bi-dialectal and bilingual as Korean-Black american, Sarah Phillips has always known that language is a huge part of her identity and she was blown away when she found out that she could become a linguist! Sarah focuses on code switching in her research. In this episode, you'll get SO MUCH super useful information about how linguists can study your brain when you are speaking another language. I loved talking to Sarah and having her as my guest. What's code switching? Code-switching means alternating languages during conversations. It has been widely studied in linguistics, psychology, and neuroscience; but the aim of Sarah's research is to integrate approaches from all three fields to develop a more holistic perspective on the bilingual mind. Free Class! How to Get Fluent When Life's Chaotic I'm running a brand new free training where you will learn how to get fluent without having to make a complex study plan, micro-manage yourself, or ever feel bad about missing a lesson. Sound good? Sign up at www.fluentlanguage.co.uk/lifechaotic (https://www.fluentlanguage.co.uk/lifechaotic) Thank you for listening to the Fluent Show! If you enjoyed this episode, please consider supporting the show by leaving a review in your podcast app and telling someone about the Fluent Show Special Guest: Sarah F. Phillips.
Are you considering joining Women in Language 2021 (http://www.womeninlanguage.com) but arenât sure whether itâs right for you? In today's episode, I'm going to be answering all of your burning questions about the event so that you can have the full information for the event that runs 4-7 March 2021. Tune in and hear me discuss: What happens during the conference days? We start on Thursday 4 March with our opening ceremony, welcoming all attendeesy and getting everyone in the mood for our 4 days of fun. Then we start with the first presentation. You will watch this presentation by logging into a special attendee's area on our website. There will be a fun and lively chatroom where you can meet other participants. This year we have - 23 presentations from expert speaker, covering topics from having a bilingual family to revitalising an endangered language - 3 powerful panels about languages in the world of social media, in technology, and in Australia with our Australian speakers Michele, Bec & Karla - 2 Speak Easy sessions where all participants can join to practice languages What's on? Here's the schedule! Women in Language schedule 2021 https://files.fireside.fm/file/fireside-uploads/images/9/9103f3da-a263-4bfe-b5a3-58649ff9b5f7/7juB37TB.jpg How does it all work technologically? When you get your ticket, you're automatically a member of our teachable online school, which is the Women in Language members area. For the chatroom, we use Youtube Live. You'll need a Youtube account in order to chat, but you don't need to download anything in order to watch. For the Speak Easy portion, we use Zoom. You need to download the free Zoom app if you want to join. For follow-up and connecting outside of the presentations, we have an exclusive Facebook group. Who is Women in Language 2021 for? People who are learning languages, no matter if it's their first language or their 10th Women, men, trans, non-binary, queer people, people of color, white people, monolingual people, multilingual people - our community welcomes you People who are passionate about culture, society, equality, and self-improvement People who want to connect with a strong and lively community of like-minded language learners People who enjoy this podcast! If you like the Fluent Show, honestly, I think you'd love Women in Language Can men join Women in Language 2021? Sometimes, men ask us if they can come too. The answer is YES - come along and enjoy learning from these smart, funny, and dedicated language loving women. In this episode you'll hear from đ€ŽđŒJonathan, LĂ©o, Richard and Shane who want to encourage you to join us! Is Women in Language just for people who speak multiple languages? Nope! We are not a space where you have to prove yourself. We're not going to ask you or test you, and we will speak out against any implication that knowing more languages makes anyone a better learner or a better person. If you're interested in the topics we bring you, then sign up and you'll be welcome. How much does it cost to join Women in Language 2021? $29 all in, including our presentations, opening party, closing party, live language exchange, Facebook group, raffle ticket and replays for anything you miss first time round. How do I sign up? www.womeninlanguage.com (http://www.womeninlanguage.com/) and tickets are open until 7 March but we start 4 March! See you there? See you there!! Thank you to Bonnie for this episode introduction and to LĂ©o, Jonathan, Shane, and Richard for their participation. Thank you for listening to the Fluent Show! If you enjoyed this episode, please consider supporting the show by leaving a review in your podcast app or becoming a member of our Patreon community
Wait, stylistics is not about fashion magazines? There's a job that involves watching The Wire? And Hemingway's language wasn't as simple as everyone says? In this interview with Professor Dan McIntyre from the University of Huddersfield, you'll get a super interesting guide to Stylistics, the study of style in language. Dan and I chat about corpus linguistics and audio-visual subtitles, and you'll learn more about what inspired him to start the popular language magazine, Babel. If you ever wanted a linguist in your pocket to answer all kinds of questions about subtitles and style, this is going to be the best hour of your week. Thank you to Dan for this episode introduction. And just like you heard in the episode, tickets are currently available for Women in Language 2021! Get yours here (http://www.womeninlanguage.com) Thank you for listening to the Fluent Show! If you enjoyed this episode, please consider supporting the show by leaving a review in your podcast app or becoming a member of our Patreon community Special Guest: Dan McIntyre.
Look, yes, maybe youâre all here for the hottest tips about learning a language super efficiently, but weâre all real people too and so todayâs Fluent Show comes with * added love of Riverdale * haikus * and a denouncement of optimising ourselves and our language learning to within an inch of our lives. Anti-efficient? But no! We are bringing you the beloved TOP TOOLS of winter 2021. Six hot new language learning apps and resources to help you through that pandemic with a smile on your face Here are all of our top tool suggestions Radio Garden Brainscape Flipboard wiktionary.org Down Dog yoga app BBC Bitesize Listen in to find out which ones came out on top. Thank you for listening to the Fluent Show! If you enjoyed this episode, please consider supporting the show by leaving a review in your podcast app or becoming a member of our Patreon community
In today's episode, my guest Erin Morgan will tell you more about the most widely spoken languages of Western & Central Asia, such as.. * Arabic * Persian * Armenian * Kazakh * Turkmen * Pashto * ....and only a few dozen more! where "Western and Central Asia" even is how to understand the impact of history on any language why it works best to learn a language when you're really feeling it https://tile.loc.gov/image-services/iiif/service:gmd:gmd7:g7420:g7420:ct002250/full/pct:25/0/default.jpg Thank you for listening to the Fluent Show! If you enjoyed this episode, please consider supporting the show by leaving a review in your podcast app or becoming a member of our Patreon community Special Guest: Erin Morgan.
The first mailbag Fluent Show, answering four listener questions on: The best ways to learn grammar - does spaced repetition software work for learning grammar? đ How to overcome shame and embarrassment when you're caught in the expat language bubble đ Why all the tips about learning your 3rd, 4th, 5th language can be wrong for you đȘ How I would instruct you in a lesson if we're using a bilingual parallel reader đ Thank you to Amanda for this episode introduction. If you want to submit an intro for this podcast, you can do so! Click here to read how it works. (https://www.patreon.com/posts/intros-needed-46860317) Thank you for listening to the Fluent Show! If you enjoyed this episode, please consider supporting the show by leaving a review in your podcast app or becoming a member of our Patreon community.
A new year fireside chat with Shannon Kennedy! We have been recording these for a few years now and with 2020, what a year to review. This is Shannon's personal review of the year, and you can use the following questions to conduct your own review and set goals for the next year. How would you sum up the year in your languages? What changed in your life and in your languages in 2020? What lessons do you think you learnt from the year 2020? What surprised you? What will you change going forward? Looking forward, what are your language learning goals for 2021? Shannon's top 3 books of 2020 Digital Minimalism (https://www.calnewport.com/books/digital-minimalism/) by Cal Newport Homo Deus (https://www.ynharari.com/book/homo-deus/) by Yuval Noah Harari Sapiens (https://www.ynharari.com/book/sapiens-2/) by Yuval Noah Harari Shannon also mentioned Atomic Habits (https://jamesclear.com/atomic-habits) by James Clear Shannon's top 4 apps of 2020 This is for language learning and not-language-learning. Todoist (https://todoist.com/) for task management Notion (http://www.notion.so) for study note management Drops (https://languagedrops.com/) and Memrise (http://www.memrise.com) for language learning Thank you for listening to the Fluent Show! If you enjoyed this episode, please consider supporting the show by leaving a review in your podcast app or becoming a member of our Patreon community Special Guest: Shannon Kennedy.
There are two big types of news in this episode: 1. Important celebrity word news from the worlds of Hilaria Baldwin and Wagatha Christie đ”đŒ 2. Important annual word news from the Word of the Year committees around the world It's a bumper episode as Lindsay dropped in to discuss all those words that made our 2020, including * lockdown * coronavirus * rona / Miss Rona * BLM / Black Lives Matter * Samfundssind * PPE * Karen AND MANY MORE!! đ I have a bunch of small corrections from this episode: * I got the German gender letters wrong when talking about Gendersternchen and job applications, itâs not n for the 3rd option but d (to mean âdiversâ). * The French word "dĂ©confinement" isn't "confinement"or "lockdown" but the period after: the confinement is being "undone", usually in small steps, a de-lockdown, so to say (Merci to Ines) * TERF stands for trans exclusionary radical feminist, which makes way more sense than my guess "revolutionary" (Thanks to Ines) If you enjoyed this episode, please consider supporting the show by leaving a review in your podcast app or becoming a member of our Patreon community at www.patreon.com/fluentshow Thank you for listening to the Fluent Show!
Hi!!!! The Fluent Show is back! How was your 2020? Can you believe we had 200 episodes of Fluent Show? I mean wow. WOW. In this episode, I'll be reflecting on the big themes of last year and giving you 5 ways to set your language goals for 2021. * Set your Vision Goal first * Build around milestones for the year * Commit to recording over planning * Put the joy and the experience first * Work with micro-challenges As always, patrons of the Fluent Show will get a copy of my full show notes for this episode. Curious? Join the Fluent Show's Patreon community. (https://www.patreon.com/fluentshow) Thank you to Israel for this episode introduction. Thank you for listening to the Fluent Show! If you enjoyed this episode, please consider supporting the show by leaving a review in your podcast app or becoming a member of our Patreon community
Can you imagine creating a podcast in your mother tongue...AND in a foreign language? Even though I am a German speaker, I podcast in English. And I never really think about it! But I was curious about people who podcast in other languages, and so I reached out to a few awesome people to find out: What's it like to podcast, but not in English? My guests for this special bonus episode are Karin from Sweden, Vero from Venezuela and Aakanksha from India. Each of them has an inspiring wonderful story of podcasting. If you're a lover of podcasts, languages, or if you're just curious learning languages using podcasts, this is the episode for you. This bonus episode is released one week early for all of the Fluent Show patrons. If you are interested in getting bonus content, early access, and you just want to support this podcast, then please consider supporting us on Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/fluentshow). Any amount is welcome! Thank you for listening to the Fluent Show! If you enjoyed this episode, please consider supporting the show by leaving a review in your podcast app or becoming a member of our Patreon community Special Guests: Aakanksha Saxena, Karin Heimdahl, and Vero Wall.
We've done it! Welcome to episode 200 of the Fluent Show podcast with plenty of quizzing and jingles! This episode was broadcast live on 16 October 2020 with awesome participation from our live chatroom and bonus quiz questions from Sarah L, and Megan, the host of Oh No! Lit Class (https://www.ohnolitclass.com/). Please review us or support us on Patreon (http://www.patreon.com/fluentshow) and get bonus episodes and extra materials during the hiatus. We'll be back on the feed in 2021! We had ALL THE QUIZ questions, including the following: * Episode 25 (Lindsay Dow) saw the emergence of one of Kerstin's book-related pet peeves..which one is it? * Episode 28 (Shannon Kennedy): In this episode, Shannon admitted to being an extreme , which is why she doesn't find it lonely to learn languages by herself. * Episode 73 (Ultramarathon for the Brain): This episode is a part of Fluent Show history as the first ever bilingual show, in German and English. Who was the guest? * Episode 136 (Paul Kaye): Paul Kaye is a professional translator who used to be a journalist. He applied with an Eastern European language. Which one is it? * Episode 145 (Indigenous Languages): Which glorious pop star referred to English as little tongue, sparking a discussion for this episode? * Episode 150 (Langfest 2019): This episode featured a drinking song in which very small European language? * Episode 158 (David Peterson): Which important distinction did David need to work out before he could record the Dothraki intro to the Fluent Show? some explicit words are included in this one, but all in the context of fun and education! Thank you to LINDSAY for introducing this episode of the Fluent Show! Thank you for listening to the Fluent Show! If you enjoyed this episode, please consider supporting the show by leaving a review in your podcast app or becoming a member of our Patreon community
How is this not the most current question ever? It's so 2020, and so relevant to many of us. Today, I'm going to do a deep dive into the ups and downs of working from home. You'll learn How to improve your separation between work life and language life How to structure your goals so you make regular progress How to find a productive study routine even if you have only 10 minutes a day Thank you to Octavio for this episode introduction. Thank you for listening to the Fluent Show! If you enjoyed this episode, please consider supporting the show by leaving a review in your podcast app or becoming a member of our Patreon community
We're exploring the hottest of hot potatoes in this episode by discovering the scandal, the drama, the shock of what happened over on Scots Wikipedia. And once everyone's calmed down, Lindsay's on hand to help discover the many different benefits of having a dabble instead of always getting super serious about learning a language. It's always fun to learn a language, no matter if you're in a 10-year epic journey...or you are language Lou Bega.via GIPHY
Thank you for listening to the Fluent Show! If you enjoyed this episode, please consider supporting the show by leaving a review in your podcast app or becoming a member of our Patreon community (http://www.patreon.com/fluentshow)
Last week you heard what it's like behind the scenes of organising our online conference. Women in Language. But what is it like to prepare for speaking at this event? Let's hear from the Women in Language speakers! Introducing Women in Language Women in Language is a 4-day online event filled with talks presentations from 30+ female language experts who have done amazing things and documented their journey. The conference is open to everyone, regardless of gender identity. Here's the full schedule for 2020: Women in Language Schedule 2020 https://files.fireside.fm/file/fireside-uploads/images/9/9103f3da-a263-4bfe-b5a3-58649ff9b5f7/DqRDkNdf.jpg Get your ticket at www.womeninlanguage.com Here are the voices you're hearing on this show: Angela Pegarella from Passion for Dreaming (https://www.youtube.com/user/PassionforDreaming) Chesline Pierre-Paul, a life, language and creativity coach Chesline (https://www.chesline.com/) Devy Baseley, who runs FrenchSpeak.au (https://frenchspeak.com.au/) Esther Ciganda, an independent Basque teacher at Basque in Languages (http://www.instagram.com/basqueinlanguages) Gaby Simmons who's the creator of Tim Tim Tom Books (https://timtimtom.com/) Lina Vasquez, a language coach and polyglot who runs the Lina Vasquez YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/LinaVasquezLinguist) Sarah Barrett from family-focused language company Lingotastic (http://lingotastic.co.uk/) Sara Maria Hasbun - remember her? Here she is! (https://www.fluent.show/guests/saramaria) Shanthi Cumaraswamy Streat, expert English teacher at English With a Twist (https://englishwithatwist.com/) Support This Podcast Like all podcasts, the Fluent Show is supported by your online reviews and word of mouth. If you liked this episode, please tell someone about it. Click here to support us on Patreon (http://www.patreon.com/fluentshow), go to your Podcasts app and leave us a review, or simply text a friend about the Fluent Show. Thank you! Special Guests: Angela Pegarella, Chesline Pierre-Paul, Devy Baseley, Esther Ciganda, Gabriela Simmons, Lina Vasquez, Sarah Barrett, Sara Maria Hasbun, and Shanthi Cumaraswamy Streat.
The greatest thing about running a conference online? We can organise it between 3 people who live far apart from each other! Make no mistake, there's a lot of work and care in Women in Language. But when it all comes together, this is one fantastic event. Behind the Scenes at Women in Language In this episode, Shannon and I share how we use each of these tools for making Women in Language. (some of the links below are affiliate links) Teachable (http://sendmeto.teachable.com/tlcpC) both for hosting our own course AND for collecting all information for our speakers Mailchimp (http://www.mailchimp.com) for our emails to speakers and attendees, and for our newsletter Zapier (https://zapier.com/explore) to connect the apps we use Asana (https://app.asana.com/) to stay as organised as possible Youtube (https://www.youtube.com/live) live & live chat Ecamm live (https://www.ecamm.com/mac/ecammlive/?fp_ref=kerstin21) via Skype Zoom (http://bit.ly/39XW7DY) (for the Speak Easy sessions) Google Docs & Forms (https://www.google.com/forms/about/) For promotion, we use Canva (https://www.canva.com/join/flq-fwf-dvm) to make the images and various social media schedulers including SocialBee (https://socialbee.grsm.io/kerstincable6380). Thank you for listening to the Fluent Show! If you enjoyed this episode, please consider supporting the show by leaving a review in your podcast app or becoming a member of our Patreon community Special Guest: Shannon Kennedy.
It's time for a listener question, this time from super-busy mum Jo-Anne, who needed new inspiration for speaking practice in another language. In the episode you'll learn about * Taking a drop-in class * Joining a Speak Easy session * Chatting to your digital voice assistant * Setting up a practice group with buddies * Practicing through self-talk Check out how Jo-Anne has used the Language Habit Toolkit (https://www.fluentlanguage.co.uk/the-language-habit-toolkit) in this photo: jo-Anne suriel's language habit tracker https://files.fireside.fm/file/fireside-uploads/images/9/9103f3da-a263-4bfe-b5a3-58649ff9b5f7/xahNpRxR.jpeg Thank you to Dafydd (https://www.italki.com/teacher/3820285) for this episode introduction. Thank you for listening to the Fluent Show! If you enjoyed this episode, please consider supporting the show by leaving a review in your podcast app or becoming a member of our Patreon community
How does being multilingual affect your identity? Do you feel that through these language journeys you've taken, your identity and world views have changed? When recording this week's episode, Lindsay and I dug deep and discussed our perspectives about being multilingual people. It was a surprising discussion! Click or tap here to let us know what you think over on Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/posts/40703467) Thank you for listening to the Fluent Show! If you enjoyed this episode, please consider supporting the show by leaving a review in your podcast app or becoming a member of our Patreon community And click here to get your ticket for our 4-day online conference Women in Language (http://www.womeninlanguage.com)
You've come a long way from being a beginner in your target language, so you know that you can make great progress. But the better you get, the harder it seems to improve even more. How can you reach the next level? In this episode of the Fluent Show, I'm sharing a few tips to help you feel GREAT about your language skills no matter where you're at. Learn more about the role of patience, clarity and expectation as you get better at your language. Oh, you want to be sure you reach the next level too? Don't worry, I have hands-on steps included for you too. Thank you to Ethan for this episode introduction. Want to read my full show notes? If you want to get more details and full notes for this episode and all the solo episodes of the Fluent Show, head to Patreon (http://www.patreon.com/fluentshow) and back this podcast for any amount of your choice. Where do you listen? Take a photo of where you're listening to the Fluent Show and share it on social media to say hello! Here's where you can tag me: * Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/thefluentshow * Instagram: http://instagram.com/kerstin_fluent/ and #thefluentshow * Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/fluentlanguage
When was the last time you sang a song in your target language? What about dancing in it? In today's interview, you'll learn what it means to connect to a language through music, and how the culture-first approach helped my guest Tamara Marie from Spanish con Salsa discover new connections, experiences and even insights into her own ancestry. The origins of Salsa as a music style and a way of life How the song RebeliĂłn by Joe Aroyo changed Tamara's life as a language learner How learning Spanish helped Tamara connect to her ancestry as a black woman in the USA Why the Caribbean music scene can teach you an authentic and diverse way of speaking Spanish How to switch off your thinking mind as a language learner Bilingual Episode I took the opportunity to ask Tamara a few questions in Spanish in this episode. You will hear her reply in Spanish and conduct the conversation like that for about 10 minutes. If you are not a Spanish learner, don't worry as we'll always switch back to English. Here I always like to remember what the late Ron Gullekson from Language Surfer told me: "in a new language, I like to get uncomfortable as early as possible." So enjoy the challenge and enjoy the practice! Gracias to Lindsay Williams for her linguistic support in Spanish. and to you for listening to the Fluent Show! If you enjoyed this episode, please consider supporting the show by leaving a review in your podcast app or becoming a member of our Patreon community. Special Guest: Tamara Marie.
Have you ever broken a streak or lost track? Powered by lots of fun real life examples, this episode will help you learn how to stay consistent in language learning. Put this on your schedule and structure your time. Be super specific Trust your gut and choose what you enjoy and what challenges you If you lose your streak, reconnect to your original motivation Thank you to Dela for this episode introduction. Thank you for listening to the Fluent Show! If you enjoyed this episode, please consider supporting the show by leaving a review in your podcast app.
We're discussing all things pen & paper! We discuss the state of handwritten notes in modern language learning, how we do it ourselves, and why pen and paper could be the key to giving you an everlasting language memory. Also featured: Soap operas, Lindsay's a student again, and the Women in Language conference running 17-20 September 2020: www.womeninlanguage.com Thank you for listening to the Fluent Show! If you enjoyed this episode, please consider supporting the show by leaving a review in your podcast app or becoming a member of our Patreon community
This week's listener question comes from Lee, a new online tutor looking for guidance on the difference between community and professional tutoring on italki. After working at italki as a community tutor, I want to branch out and become a professional tutor. My lessons are extremely structured and informative although I am not a professional teacher so I was wondering as to whether or not I should move to a professional tutor. I think typically professional teachers are seen to be more prepared and knowledgeable. Iâm not too sure to be honest. I just know that I love online education! What does it mean to act like a professional as a tutor? How good do you have to be at a language before you can teach it? Why are there community and professional tutors on italki? What qualification do you need to get their professional status? How can you start going full-time as a professional online language teacher? Thank you to Gosia for this episode introduction. Teacher Chat https://files.fireside.fm/file/fireside-uploads/images/9/9103f3da-a263-4bfe-b5a3-58649ff9b5f7/xf8oQmNK.png
Imagine you're walking down the street in another country, bumping to lots of cool new people and chatting about big and small life questions with them. And all that in another language! Can't quite travel there? Not ready to speak fluently? Don't worry, Easy Languages has your back! This hugely popular YouTube channel brings you conversations with people from the street, sharing authentic language and culture from dozens of countries. It all started in MĂŒnster in Germany, when a group of students recorded themselves shouting "Hallo!" at random people during a media workshop led by Janusz Hamerski. Today Easy Languages is a global organisation making videos in over 32 languages. In this Fluent Show episode, you'll get to know co-founder Janusz and producer Manuel. Bilingual Episode This episode contains a lot of fun conversation in English and a little fun conversation in German. Janusz and Manuel are German speakers like me, so we switched into German for a little bit to give you some listening practice as a learner. If you are not a German learner, don't worry as we'll always switch back to English and make sure you don't miss anything. Here I always like to remember what the late Ron Gullekson from Language Surfer told me: "in a new language, I like to get uncomfortable as early as possible." So enjoy the challenge and enjoy the German practice! đ©đŸ đ©đżâđŠ±đ€ Event Announcement And one more thing I want you to know about: The Sisters Only Language Summit (http://www.sistersonlylanguagesummit.com) is running its second virtual summit on 25 July 2020. This event is going to be fantastic, so make sure you check it out and support them. Fluent Show listeners who are students and women of African descent can apply for one of 3 scholarship tickets that are donated by the Fluent Show. Special Guests: Janusz Hamerski and Manuel Salmann.
We're halfway through the year, so today's episode is an in-depth review of how it's gone so far. This is my #clearthelist entry for July 2020. I'm sharing how it's going with my Chinese studies, my Welsh language, and what I want to try next. You are invited to review your year and make notes as you follow along with this episode. Here are a few questions you can use for reviewing your own progress: What are the 3 biggest experiences that shaped your first half of 2020? What are 3 things you want to remember about learning languages in the last 6 months? How different do you feel about your language skills compared to the start of the year? What are you working on right now? Which specific actions will you take to make language learning progress in the next 30 days? Thank you to Cait for this episode introduction. Thank you for listening to the Fluent Show! If you enjoyed this episode, please consider supporting the show by leaving a review in your podcast app or becoming a member of our Patreon community
After a ridiculous change of topic from âđŸ to đ· and a discussion of what's new in emoji world, Lindsay and I go back to the deep, deep well that is talking about Duolingo! We both have the apps on our phones and we use Duolingo in different ways. How do you use yours? We Shared These Tips for Getting More Out of Duolingo Use the "Practice" button to get unlimited hearts and review what you've learnt before Write down sentences from Duolingo lessons in your notebook to practice in a new environment Make sure you read the "Tips" for handy explanations that give you helpful context Instead of letting the course lead you, use its "Test Out" feature to check in on your learning progress Check out the Duolingo Stories to use your target language Always use the Streak Freeze and Double or Nothing features to boost your little Duolingo gems Add friends on Duolingo (I'm kerstin_fluent) Switch your source language to access even more courses in unusual languages, such as Guarani and Catalan through Spanish Check the forums for questions & use the vocab lists (great link below) Go to the meet-ups to meet fellow Duolingo fans Read the Duolingo blog for interesting stats Thank you for listening to the Fluent Show! If you enjoyed this episode, please consider supporting the show by leaving a review in your podcast app or becoming a member of our Patreon community
You say "either" and I say "either" You say "neither" I say "neither" "Either" "either", "neither" "neither" Let's call the whole thing off George & Ira Gershwin This week on the Fluent Show, I'm answering a listener question about accents. What is an accent? Can your accent change even though you're not trying? Is it possible to learn a different accent? Can you get an accent by listening to podcasts? ...and more mysteries! Listen to the episode to hear my answers to these questions and find out why my approach when speaking a foreign language is like this: DO learn pronunciation (IPA if you like) DONâT worry about your accent Thank you to Antonio for this episode introduction. Want to read my full show notes? If you want to get more details and full notes for this episode and all the solo episodes of the Fluent Show, head to Patreon (http://www.patreon.com/fluentshow) and back this podcast for any amount of your choice. Where do you listen? Take a photo of where you're listening to the Fluent Show and share it on social media to say hello! Here's where you can tag me: * Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/thefluentshow * Instagram: http://instagram.com/kerstin_fluent/ and #thefluentshow * Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/fluentlanguage
The intro of today's episode makes reference to the 8th of the month. This is because the episode publication was delayed by a week after recording to allow all listeners to get a chance to hear the Fluent Show statement about racism. Right, let's get to it: When there's something Ă©trange in your vocabulaire, who you gonna call? A LINGUIST! Today I've got a very special linguist on the show: Mathilde from Elles Comme Linguistes, a French YouTube channel dedicated to linguistics pour tous! Mathilde visited the Fluent show to talk about what linguistics is all about and what it is like to do a PhD in Paris đ«đ·. "Traditional education is about languages, not linguistics." In this show, we focused on learning more about loanwords like champagne in English, mousepad in French, kartofle in Polish and beamer in German. Every language has loanwords, but Why do so many loanwords come from English? What decides why some words come into the language as loanwords? Should you use them when you're learning a language yourself? BILINGUAL EPISODE ALERT This podcast is a bilingual episode, meaning that we occasionally switched into speaking French. This type of episode is fantastic listening practice if you are a French learner. If you are an excellent French speaker, I apologise for all the mistakes I make. If you are not an experienced French learner, there will be some parts of the podcast that you donât understand. But like all language learners, youâre not alone in that feeling. I always remember what the lovely Ron Gullekson said: âI want to get used to feeling uncomfortable.â So fear not, trust that we will come back to English again and again, and the interview will still be interesting for you. Thank you to Mathilde Hutin for this episode introduction. Thank you for listening to the Fluent Show! If you enjoyed this episode, please consider supporting the show by leaving a review in your podcast app or becoming a member of our Patreon community (http://www.patreon.com/fluentshow) Special Guest: Mathilde Hutin.
I really want to say "this goes without saying" about many of the things I'm saying to you today. But maybe it does not. Racism is not welcome here. Thank you for listening to today's episode. And as maker of the Fluent Show, I can also tell you that every person who works on the team stands behind this message. Please read Lindsay's very well-written perspective here (https://www.lindsaydoeslanguages.com/lets-talk-about-racism/). Here are 4 wonderful Fluent Show guests who have represented the voices of black language learners. Please read more about them and how impressive they are. There are TWO bilingual interviews in here: đđŸ https://www.fluent.show/guests/nicole - Nicole Miles đđż https://www.fluent.show/guests/khady - Khady Ndoye (bilingual episode French/English) đđœ https://www.fluent.show/guests/shahidah - Ann Shahidah (bilingual episode German/English) đđŒ https://www.fluent.show/guests/chenelle Chenelle Patrice Hancock I'm proud that they came and spent time with me on the show. I know my work isn't done and I'll continue to make it a priority to invite guests from ALL backgrounds. How to get in touch: Twitter (http://www.twitter.com/fluentlanguage) Email kerstin@fluentlanguage.co.uk or hello@fluentlanguage.co.uk Instagram (http://instagram.com/kerstin_fluent/) or use the chatbox in the corner at www.fluentlanguage.co.uk
You're probably taking your fair share of online lessons in your target languages these days. Add to that a few Zoom hangouts, maybe some extra business meetings...and soon they add up to 10-15 hours of online meetings per week. For many online language teachers, this kind of online meeting schedule is part of a standard working week. It really is exhausting! In this week's episode, I'm helping an online teacher who has experienced this for herself and sent a call for help to the Fluent Show. Here is the question: I'm an english tutor and have started teaching online because of the pandemic..you see, I notice that the "video conference" situation drains so much energy from me. I wonder if that happens with other students not used to the online class. Did you ever feel that with online lessons? Do you have tips to avoid that burn out from virtual meetings? Thank you!! Listen to the episode to hear more about how to improve your focus, your environment, and your future prospects as an online teacher. If you want to send your own Teacher Chat Question to the show, email it to hello@fluentlanguage.co.uk Teacher Chat https://files.fireside.fm/file/fireside-uploads/images/9/9103f3da-a263-4bfe-b5a3-58649ff9b5f7/xf8oQmNK.png Thank you to Estephania from Panama for this week's Listener Intro
Every 6 months or so, the Fluent Show brings you a new set of top tools. These are our recommendations for language learning tools you might have missed. It's a LONG episode so follow along with our full list of top tools on the blog if you like. (https://www.fluentlanguage.co.uk/blog/top-tools-2016-2020) Intro: Lindsay's Language Marathon and our italki Language Challenge progress Top Tools Hall of Fame Top Tools has now been running since 2016, with a total of 42 tools recommended. It's easy to lose track so it was time to declutter the list. In this episode, you'll hear about the best, the ultimate, the unmissable Top Tools Hall of Fame from 2016 to 2020. We revisit EVERY SINGLE tool recommendation in the podcast so you can hear how they work and which ones we still love. Then we hand out awards. Here are the headline winners: The best tools for EVERY language learner: Lingq (https://www.lingq.com/?referral=fluentkerstin) Clozemaster (https://www.clozemaster.com/fluentshow) Lyricstraining (https://lyricstraining.com/) Lingodeer (https://www.lingodeer.com/affiliate/Deer1527750402884515729) Teach Yourself Library (https://library.teachyourself.com/) ALL of these top tools have web and app based versions and lots of languages available for you to pick from. The Beginners Badge for people who want good beginner materials goes to 50 Languages (http://www.50languages.com). The Minority Medal for a tool that is best if you are interested in learning a minority language goes to the LiveLingua Project (https://www.livelingua.com/project/). The Goblet of Recognition for a tool that we brought back again and again goes to VOCAB NOTEBOOKS like these (https://www.instagram.com/p/B_fEsVgnEmO/). In America, Gregg or Pitman ruled notebooks might do this job for you. Click here to see the full list of top tools from 2016-2020 (https://www.fluentlanguage.co.uk/blog/top-tools-2016-2020) Thank you for listening to the Fluent Show! If you enjoyed this episode, please consider supporting the show by leaving a review in your podcast app or becoming a member of our Patreon community. Some of the links in these show notes are affiliate links supporting the show.
This week on the show, I answer a cry for help from a frustrated listener in Denmark. Imagine you can speak your target language beautifully. But when it comes to the person you love most, suddenly you clam up and worry and you realise you can't speak to her at all! Why does this happen? What's going on? Listen to hear more about these three problems and how anyone can solve them and get things moving again: English is your life admin language You struggle to switch languages with your partner Bilingual family life crowds out your target language Thank you to Camille for this episode introduction. Thank you for listening to the Fluent Show! If you enjoyed this episode, please consider supporting the show by leaving a review in your podcast app or becoming a member of our Patreon community!
Do you dream of travelling the world and living in other countries? Want to see it all, live everywhere, and enjoy the best every country has to offer? In today's episode, you'll meet someone who knows how to do all that! Sara Maria Hasbun is a language-loving entrepreneur who loves to travel the world. And she's as awesome as all of that sounds! In today's episode, Sara shares her story and experiences, including recent lockdown life under Coronavirus in Beijing. It's a motivating conversation with so many facets. Here's what you'll learn in this interview: What is linguistics and how does it look different in British and American universities? How to prepare for living in another country How to learn a language in country, without shouting at people in the bar Where to get authentic reading practice in Chinese (and any other language) Women in the polyglot world, and why we still hold back instead of showing our full talents Thank you for listening to the Fluent Show! If you enjoyed this episode, please consider supporting the show by leaving a review in your podcast app or becoming a member of our Patreon community. Special Guest: Sara Maria Hasbun.
Welcome back! I start by sharing my love for ç±æ ć ŹćŻ (iPartment) on Yabla, and answer Sara's question: Whatâs the best tool you use for making sure you get some language learning in every day? To answer this question, I talk you through the Language Habit Toolkit (https://www.fluentlanguage.co.uk/language-habit-toolkit) method which brings together psychology, motivation, and a lot of handy templates that get you started immediately. Here's the system in a nutshell: Set up your vision for language learning so that you're clear about why you are here. List your actions. You want to set it up so that there are varied options available to you every day, no matter if youâre out and about or in your bedroom or in the kitchen. They can be tiny but they have to be listed. Now, next track your daily contact wherever you like, like in a habit tracking app or notebook or on your corkboard. Finally, do something with what youâre tracking. I recommend a review of some kind. Reviewing is more of a journaling based activity because it is a reflexive exercise. Download my Guide to Building a Language Habit for free! It comes with my newsletter and a whole library full of language learning guides. You can get this right on the homepage at www.fluentlanguage.co.uk Thank you to Leah for this episode introduction. Apologies for the pops - I hear them too so don't @ me and I'll work on it.
Lindsay is back on the Fluent Show today and we're talking about the best books about languages and linguistics. *NOTE: The Fluent Show is now on a podcast break until 6 May, but you can catch up with mini episodes of "Fluent in Isolation" at Patreon.com (http://www.patreon.com/fluentshow) We discussed the following books - all linked below on amazon.com and on hive.co.uk. Popular Science David Crystalâs ANYTHING, out of which we discussed Encyclopedia of Language You say Potato Spell it out Becoming Fluent by Roger Kreuz and Richard Roberts Lingo and Babel by Gaston Dorren Because Internet by Gretchen McCulloch Academic Books Teaching and Researching: Motivation by ZĂłltan Dörnyei and Ema Ushioda An Introduction to Foreign Language Learning and Teaching by Keith Johnson Guide/Entertainment Tingo by Adam Jacot de Boinot Fluent Forever by Gabriel Wyner How to Speak Any Language Fluently by Alex Rawlings Fluent in 3 Months by Benny Lewis PLUG: Oh hey, I wrote some too! (www.fluentlanguage.co.uk/boxset) Want the best textbooks and phrasebooks for language learning? Click here to discover our other book-themed episode about the best language learning textbooks. (https://www.fluent.show/174) Thank you for listening to the Fluent Show! If you enjoyed this episode, please consider supporting the show by leaving a review in your podcast app or becoming a member of our Patreon community (http://www.patreon.com/fluentshow)
Hot Potato News: Scottish Gaelic Learn about the true pronunciation of this language's name, and why it's important to get it right. Where and How to Start Teaching Online Itâs a great time to start offering online lessons because Life has just moved online Your school or in-person tutoring may just have been cancelled You can connect with people around the world, and right now thatâs even more rewarding and exciting than usual In fact, any time is a great time because working as an online language teacher Allows you to work location independently - as long as you can use your computer and have safe wifi, youâre ready to go Youâre independent to work the hours that suit YOU Is a great stepping stone and teaches you endless things about being a good leader If all that sounds like your kind of party, then listen to this week's episode in detail for 5 killer questions that will help you think about online teaching in a professional way. Recommended Teaching Resources Want further support as you build an online teaching income? Book me for a mentoring day! (https://bookme.name/kerstin/lite/kerstins-day-of-mobile-mentoring-trial) Thank you to Gosia for this episode's introduction in Polish.
"In languages, when you want to learn, you learn." Steve Kaufmann is a language learner from Canada who has studied over 17 languages so far. He is an advocate of reading in other languages, even from the start...and turns out this is something he did even back in the 60s. I've met Steve in person a few times at events like the Polyglot Gathering and Langfest, and he is ALWAYS full of energy and excitement about the opportunity of learning another language. "It's all about getting your brain used to reading and hearing the new language." What I loved most about this interview is the sheer enthusiasm that Steve brings to the topic of language learning. It's evident that he loves to learn and enjoys access to every single new word that he can get. Steve's attitude is something that I have heard from polyglots and language lovers very often: He approaches languages fearlessly, saying that it doesn't worry about whether he can do it. Anything that he can't figure out, he'll get there eventually. "Some people wanna learn it NOW, but they can't learn it now." This level of trust and self-confidence was so much fun to witness in the interview -- listen out to how Steve discusses mistakes and slow learning, emphasizing that immediate progress is not part of language learning. His advice? Have a positive attitude and be grateful about what you can do now. Check out LingQ Steve is the co-founder of language learning app LingQ, and they're currently sponsoring this show. So if you enjoy his attitude, check it out today and learn a language with LingQ for free at www.fluentlanguage.co.uk/readmore. Thank you for listening to the Fluent Show! If you enjoyed this episode, please consider supporting the show by leaving a review in your podcast app or becoming a member of our Patreon community. Special Guest: Steve Kaufmann.
Word of the day: Hamsterkaufen - to hoard or panic buy. đč Listener Elizabeth asks for advice about what to do when she remembers words in her target language on one day, but finds that they've disappeared the next day. It's a dilemma: Should she review and get the information perfect before moving on? Or just stick with the programme and hope that things will stick eventually? This show contains plenty of great ideas and tips about digital flashcard systems, vocabulary learning, and how memory works when it comes to vocabulary learning and boosting your memory for keeping vocabulary in your mind longer. If you want to take your vocab further and build yourself this effective system for getting better at remembering vocabulary using the three steps Iâve described in this podcast, check out my course Your Solid Vocab Memory. (https://school.fluentlanguage.co.uk/p/vocab) Thank you to Kris Broholm (http://www.actualfluency.com) for this episode introduction. Kris is the host of the Actual Fluency podcast. Thank you for listening to the Fluent Show! If you enjoyed this episode, please consider supporting the show by leaving a review in your podcast app or becoming a member of our Patreon community (http://www.patreon.com/fluentshow)
What makes a language textbook great? Why should you use a language textbook? And which ones are the best ones out there? In today's episode, Lindsay and I sat down to dig through our language bookshelves and bring you a HUGE list of language textbooks that we have loved. Click or tap here to download a PDF of all book recommendations (https://successful-writer-7680.ck.page/1d76545aa1) This PDF is a great file full of links to both Amazon and Hive, so you can browse and order all the books you want. Lindsay and I discovered we have very different pop culture references for the word "library". Are you a Lindsay thinking of this.. via GIPHY
or a Kerstin thinking of this: via GIPHY
Thank you for listening to the Fluent Show! If you enjoyed this episode, please consider supporting the show by leaving a review in your podcast app or becoming a member of our Patreon community at patreon.com/fluentshow If you're an online teacher, check out Lindsay's Online Teaching Starter Kit (www.fluentlanguage.co.uk/lindsay-otsk) this week.
It is difficult to learn several languages together. You may forget some, you may lose some, BUT hey youâre learning more than one language. In this Q&A episode I answer a question from the wonderful Elizabeth: When did you know you were ready to start Mandarin? And how do you keep your Welsh healthy, happy and well-fed? What does a two language study routine look like for you? In my answer, I'll take you on a trip through my language love life featuring English, French, Italian, Latin, Spanish, Polish, Icelandic, Luxembourgish, Welsh, Russian, and Chinese. 6 Tips for Starting Another Foreign Language Tip 1: Teach your previous language. That way you will never lose it and youâll actually get extremely solid knowledge. Tip 2: Keep saying YES, donât worry so much about losing skills or levels. It's all part of life. You can get them back really quickly whenever you need to. Tip 3: Use that interference when it comes up - it's your brain helping you with extra vocab. Tip 4: Get to a point of âsolidificationâ- for me itâs roughly B1, but ultimately itâs a gut feeling. When itâs a dabble, youâll lose it. When itâs solid, you wonât. Tip 5: Do intensive re-familiarisation weeks where you only study and practice your previous language. In country, out of country, in conversation. Weeks where you are rubbish at the start and better at the end. They boost your results!! Tip 6: Have fun!!!! If you forget a language along the way, that is not a big deal. You donât have to be so serious and itâs not like money. With languages, you get to have a serious go at playing. Thank you to Katie Harrison (http://www.fluent.show/guests/katieh) for this episode introduction. The Fluent Show is also backed by a community of supporters on Patreon. To find out more about how you can join them and support these weekly podcast episodes, go to Patreon.com/fluentshow.
NEW PATREON LEVEL!! I've just set up a brand new supporter tier at the $2/month level - join us here. (http://www.patreon.com/fluentshow) The patron benefits for the $2 level are access to the patron-exclusive feed with added posts, early access, and bonus clips. You can ALWAYS upgrade or downgrade your tier and you'll never lose access to the patron-only messages. The show is free for all, and your support is valued no matter what. "Thereâs a kinda type of person out there who I hadnât had a lot of interaction with ⊠called a Star Trek fan" This week I am excited to bring you an interview with a brilliant linguist: Marc Okrand! Marc Okrand created the dialogue and coached the actors speaking the Klingon language heard in many episodes and movies in the Star Trek franchise. In addition, he devised dialogue in Vulcan, Romulan, Kelpien, and other languages for several Star Trek films and TV series. In this interview, we discussed the language itself and how it was created what it felt like for Marc to attend the first ever meet-up of Klingon speakers which good learning mindsets actors bring to learning a new language âThese people have become family. These people have become friendsâ I met Marc Okrand at Langfest in Montreal https://files.fireside.fm/file/fireside-uploads/images/9/9103f3da-a263-4bfe-b5a3-58649ff9b5f7/TIo6_9NH.jpg Thank you to Marc for this episode introduction. Thank you for listening to the Fluent Show! If you enjoyed this episode, please consider supporting the show by leaving a review in your podcast app or becoming a member of our Patreon community from just $1 a month. Special Guest: Marc Okrand.
NEW PATREON LEVEL!! I've just set up a brand new supporter tier at the $2/month level - join us here. (http://www.patreon.com/fluentshow) The patron benefits for the $2 level are access to the patron-exclusive feed with added posts, early access, and bonus clips. You can ALWAYS upgrade or downgrade your tier and you'll never lose access to the patron-only messages. The show is free for all, and your support is valued no matter what. If you think reading in another language is all about boring dialogues in dusty old books, think again! This podcast episode will bring the magic of learning by reading right into the palm of your hand. Mobile phones can do everything in this world, so they can also help you learn languages...but not with boring apps and flashcards...why not try a hot romance novel or a thrilling action story instead? Reading on your mobile This week's listener question is from Dam, who asks for the best apps to read novels on your phone - even offline! Here are my top apps - find the links in the shownotes * Lingq, our fantastic sponsor!! -> Start for free, get 35% off right here (http://www.fluentlanguage.co.uk/readmore) * Libby * Teach Yourself Library * Kindle and also Handoff with Audible * Beelinguapp for parallel texts * BlueFire I'm also sharing tips for reading more by using the news, and for working out which content is perfect for you. Survey Results & Fluent Show News In the second half of the episode, I dedicated some time to telling you what's new with the Fluent Show. Listen in to find out more about you, the listeners and which languages you're learning a few thoughts about why I want to keep improving this podcast the tradeoffs...let's find the time and money to make it happen! Thank you to Leah for this episode introduction. Thank you for listening to the Fluent Show! If you enjoyed this episode, please consider supporting the show by leaving a review in your podcast app or becoming a member of our Patreon community
This week, we discussed two topics: Topic 1: Teaching Methods! After watching a few episodes of Welsh reality TV Welsh learning celebrity knees-up cariad@iaith, we decided to pick up on their 3 big methods for teaching languages and explain what they mean and who they work for. These are immersion, TPR, "communication" and story time a.k.a. the "input method". What is natural language learning and why does everyone lay claim to it? Which teaching methods work in our opinion? How do we teach? Which methods would we like to see from other teachers, which innovative methods benefit learners? Listen in to find out more. Topic 2: Polyglot 2020 It's time to plan your events for the year! We share what's new with Women in Language, the Polyglot Cruise, the Cholula party, and the Edinburgh Language Event. Thank you for listening to the Fluent Show! If you enjoyed this episode, please consider supporting the show by leaving a review in your podcast app or becoming a member of our Patreon community.
In this podcast episode, I explain how to use similar languages and language families to get a head start in your multilingual life. If you've ever wondered how to work out which languages belong to the same family, or how to decide if you should learn related languages as a group, listen in as I go through linguistics and geopolitics to work out how to make your learning life easier. I'll tell you about the power of intercomprehension, and how it can serve you in language learning. In this episode: * How to work out if 2 languages are related * How to use Glottolog and Omniglot to discover the linguistic relations for any language * Which language family is the biggest on Earth * Why there's more than just linguistics at play when you consider related languages * Why you should study similar languages together * Why you might not decide to learn similar languages together after all! Plus of course lots of handy tips and hidden errors to amuse you. Thank you to Gosia for this episode introduction. Thank you for listening to the Fluent Show! If you enjoyed this episode, please consider supporting the show by leaving a review in your podcast app or becoming a member of our Patreon community (http://www.patreon.com/fluentshow)
Do you know someone who grew up speaking a language at home as a child, but never fully developed it because their environment wasn't able to support it? This community of speakers who grow up with a different dominant language is called heritage language speakers. They are often found in immigrant communities. In fact, here in the UK there are many thousands of them all over the country. In this episode, I spoke to academics Petros Karatsareas and Katie Harrison who study heritage and community languages here in the UK. We talked about the conditions that create non-mainstream language environments the identities of learning these languages as a migrant why heritage learners exist in their own category of language learner complementary schools providing extra language education often on Saturdays and evenings. These schools are volunteer-run and bridge the gap that often exists between the heritage language and the mainstream education a child receives. We also talked about what is different when you approach learning your own heritage languages as an adult. Do you need to know grammar? What about reading and writing? Where can you even go to learn a language in this unique situation? There are some heritage language programmes at universities in the USA, but Petros and Katie emphasized how much more needs to be done. I came away from this interview hugely encouraged and inspired by the efforts of complementary schools here in the UK, and will do what I can to bring you a field trip recording in the next year. Support This Show Thank you for listening to the Fluent Show! If you enjoyed this episode and want more podcasts about the world of languages, please consider supporting the show by leaving a review in your podcast app or becoming a member of our Patreon community. Join My FREE Live Class Can you make it to my live class about improving your vocab memory? It's on Tuesday 28 January at 5pm, and you can sign up right here. (http://www.fluentlanguage.co.uk/liveclass) Special Guests: Katie Harrison and Petros Karatsareas.
SURVEY TIME: Please take 5 minutes and participate in the annual Fluent Show survey. Click here to start. (https://forms.gle/2u6D8jjnzPXZ4LZ8A) Are you looking for a new language tutor, but you can't find one online? Does it feel like no one is teaching your target language? Today on the show, I've got your back and I'm sharing lots of ideas for hidden places to find great people. You'll learn * how to use your own network and get other people to find tutors for you * why your local community could be an untapped resource * how to get a tutor through Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or Insta Thank you for listening to the Fluent Show! If you enjoyed this episode, please consider supporting the show by leaving a review in your podcast app or becoming a member of our Patreon community (http://www.patreon.com/fluentshow)
Shannon Kennedy is back!! It's been a whole year since we recorded our review of 2019 and this year it's time to do "the same procedure", if you get my Dinner for One reference. Shannon is an accomplished language learner who's studied 13 languages including French, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Italian, German, Hungarian, and Russian. In this podcast we talked about music and motherhood, the power of saying no, and having languages as a natural part of your life. Here are the year review questions we discussed. You can use them to conduct your own review of 2019 and set goals for the next year. How would you sum up the year in your languages? What changed in your life and in your languages in 2019? What lessons do you think you learnt from the year 2019? What surprised you? What will you change going forward? Looking forward, what are your language learning goals for 2020? Shannon's top 3 books of 2019 Atomic Habits (https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780735211292) by James Clear Teach Yourself: Complete Hindi (https://amzn.to/2QNeIuy) Because Internet (https://gretchenmcculloch.com/book/) by Gretchen McCullough Shannon's top 3 apps of 2019 Memrise (http://www.memrise.com) Drops (http://www.languagedrops.com) LingQ (https://www.lingq.com/?referral=fluentkerstin&utm_source=affiliate&utm_medium=referral-link&utm_campaign=fluentkerstin) Hot contender: Pimsleur (https://www.pimsleur.com/c/pimsleur-coursemngrapp_) Shannon's top 3 courses Fluent in 3 Months Challenge (https://courses.fluentin3months.com/p/fluent-in-3-months-challenge-prepurchase?affcode=138646_bzrw1f2i) German Uncovered (http://www.german2019.com) Language League (http://www.fluentlanguage.co.uk/languageleague), the membership community for language learners Thank you for listening to the Fluent Show! If you enjoyed this episode, please consider supporting the show by leaving a review in your podcast app or becoming a member of our Patreon community (http://www.patreon.com/fluentshow) Special Guest: Shannon Kennedy.
In this episode I share my own review of language learning in the year 2019 and what's next for me in 2020. It's like an audio #clearthelist article on my goals and what matters most in the upcoming year. In 2019, my main foreign languages were Chinese, French and Welsh and I'm sharing where I am at in each of them. In Chinese I am finding myself in a plateau - that frustrating slog where it feels like nothing is moving. You'll hear my answers to the questions I asked myself to get unstuck: * What did I come to Chinese for? * What have I got out of it so far? * What do I enjoy about it? * What don't I enjoy? Special Offer for Podcast Listeners Get Kick off 2020 in Style, my unique bundle combining Your Solid Vocab Memory and the Language Habit Toolkit and this week's surprise "sponsor". Click here to get the bundle (https://sso.teachable.com/secure/28114/checkout/1578508/kick-off-2020-in-style) and enter code FLUENTSHOW for 20% off. Thank you to Kendra for this episode introduction. And as always...Thank you for listening to the Fluent Show! If you enjoyed this episode, please consider supporting the show by leaving a review in your podcast app or becoming a member of our Patreon community
In this episode, Lindsay and Kerstin wrap up the year by reviewing a BIG crop of Words of the Year from Australia, the USA, the UK, Germany, Portugal and Japan. We also create a Spanish version of #yolo, explain why Austria is going to Ibiza, and figure out the Portuguese nominations (even though we don't know a lot of Portuguese). Thank you for listening to the Fluent Show! If you enjoyed this episode, please consider supporting the show by leaving a review in your podcast app or becoming a member of our Patreon (http://www.patreon.com/fluentshow).
Grab a Brandy and a Mince Pie! This is the festive Fluent Show. Is your mind wrapped up in gift wrapping and hosting this week instead of flashcards and language partners? Don't worry, because in this show I have put together some quick tips for staying in touch with your target language during the festive season. Click or tap here to read my Christmas learning tips on the blog (https://www.fluentlanguage.co.uk/blog/language-learning-christmas) FeliÄan Zamenhofan Tagon to all my Esperantist listeners! Thank you to Petra for this episode introduction in Bulgarian. Music credit Jingle Bells 7 by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) Artist: http://incompetech.com/ Thank you for listening to the Fluent Show! If you enjoyed this episode and you're feeling the festive generosity, please back the show on Patreon (http://www.patreon.com/fluentshow) today.
Shahidah Foster is an American expat in Germany, creator of the Black Girls Learn Languages community, and a passionate language learner. She's an English native speaker but her German is đŻ so prepare for a bilingual show today! Bilingual Show: German and English Conversation If you are not an experienced German learner, there will be some parts of the podcast that you donât understand. You can learn it by the way using my German Uncovered course (https://school.fluentlanguage.co.uk/p/german-uncovered-purchased/?preview=logged_out). Here is where I always remember the wonderful Ron Gullekson, saying "In a new language, I want to find an opportunity to be uncomfortable as soon as possible." So even if you don't speak German, dive in. We will be speaking English for more than half of the time. In our conversation, Shahidah and I discussed moving to Germany, how to apply for university in another country, and the role of languages in the black community. She shared some unbelievable experiences, and her ideas for making the language learning community more inclusive and welcoming for black girls. Thank you for listening to the Fluent Show! If you enjoyed this episode, please consider supporting the show by becoming a member of our Patreon (http://www.patreon.com/fluentshow) community Special Guest: Shahidah Foster.
In today's podcast, I'm excited to tackle a big question: Listener Maria writes that she hears people sounding different to her depending on the language they speak. Could it be that learning another language can change your entire personality? Listen in to hear me discuss a few of the aspects that contribute to how we perceive personality through a language: Language Attitudes and Egocentricity: What you think about different languages and accents Pragmatics: How people use language to navigate interactions Language Skills: How a learner's situation affects how they express themselves Thank you for listening to the Fluent Show! If you enjoyed this episode, please consider supporting the show by leaving a review in your podcast app or becoming a member of our Patreon community Thank you to listener Gosia for sending an introduction to the Fluent Show
Wrap up warm, it's the autumn/winter edition of Top Tools for language learning, bringing you ingenious solutions to common language learning problem. This podcast has chapter support, so if your podcast player supports chapters, you can skip to relevant parts as your little linguist heart desires. Click or tap here to read the full show notes and get all links (http://fluentlanguage.co.uk/blog/toptools-autumnwinter-2019) << This time, we're covering 6 resources that can make your life easier when you're learning languages. You'll hear about: FlipWord Quizklip The Indo-European Cognate Dictionary Mini Vocab Notebooks (preferably with Gudetama (https://www.sanrio.com/categories/gudetama) on them) LingoLog Master Any Language Thank you for listening to the Fluent Show! If you enjoyed this episode, please consider supporting the show by leaving a review in your podcast app or becoming a member of our Patreon (http://www.patreon.com/fluentlanguage) community. And if you have a question or want to share your listener intro on the show, please email it to hello@fluentlanguage.co.uk
Today I am answering a listener question from Jessica who is an English native speaker, but so advanced in German that she wants to use it to learn a third language, Spanish. Can you learn a language through another language? Of course! Here are some advantages: You boost your 2nd language as well as your 3rd - double result! Sometimes you can find much better materials, for example when learning an African language through French (more about this here (https://www.fluent.show/122)) You gain a fascinating new perspective on the language you have been learning for many years Some people say this is a more efficient way to learn, but is that really true? In this episode, I've got some answers and I share my own experiences of language learning in different settings. Thank you to Sophie for this episode introduction in Thai. Thank you for listening to the Fluent Show! If you enjoyed this episode, please consider supporting the show by leaving a review in your podcast app or becoming a member of our Patreon community.
"Polyglots and language creators...that Venn diagram is almost a circle." In this episode, language creator David Peterson sat down with me to talk about language creation, language ownership, and the joy of it all. No other interview has had such an impact on me, the level of mastery in language creation was completely unclear to me. Every single choice that you're making is an active choice. Nothing in a language has to be that way. Here are just a few of the questions we discussed on this show. If a language is created, why is its grammar not easy? How do Hollywood actors react when they have to deliver dialogue in an invented language? How many languages do you need to speak in order to create a language? (spoiler: I have too many!) After creating a language, do you want the world to learn this new language? And David also explained the phases language creators go through. You create the language...at least you think that's what you're doing You realise you actually had lots of choices and you start making copy-languages You realise you don't need to create your language like another one, you start making the language you actually want If you're fascinated by language invention and created languages after listening to this interview, I recommend David's own book "The Art of Language Invention". (see links below) Thank you to David Peterson (https://www.fluent.show/guests/david) for this episode introduction. Special Guest: David Peterson.
When you are learning a language and selecting courses and materials, it's important to assess your level accurately. But how do you do that? In today's episode I've got English teacher Michael Lavers on the show and we go into the deep detail of what determines your level...and when it even matters to know. If you've ever wondered about the real difference between A2 and B1, this conversation will bring you some clarity. Bonus Episode: British Slang Fancy learning some British English slang, guv'nor? Then head over to Patreon (http://www.patreon.com/fluentshow) and become a member of our podcast community for a special bonus episode recorded with Michael. We're sharing our top 3 British slang terms - and one in Mandarin Chinese! Special Guest: Michael Lavers.
Lindsay is back from Korea and Kerstin is back from America, and we're all together again to talk about finding yourself a GREAT language tutor! We discussed what the research tells us about the 5 signs that a teacher is extremely competent how to get super clear about what you want from language lessons why your first lesson is NEVER going to be a normal language leasson whether it's ever okay to ghost your tutor! ...and so much more! Support This Podcast Become a Patron! Fluent Show patrons get early episode access and the show's full show notes every week.
You're leveling up in courses, going from A2 to C1 quickly...but stalling in real life. What gives? This week's podcast covers a question from Maria, a talented language learner who has found herself stuck after moving to Germany. She says: I am fluent in English, or at least my Cambridge Certificate says so, I've been studying to a certain level Spanish and Turkish, but I cannot achieve the desirable level in German language. I've moved to Germany a bit over two years ago after marrying my German husband and I quickly jumped from the A2 course to B1 to C1, got my Test DaF Certificate with maximum points and I even have some professional situations where I speak German but I am not fluent What can Maria do to start feeling more comfortable with German? Listen to the show to hear my discussion, including tips for Learning a partner's language within a couple Getting extensive input from the right places Finding your language avatar Having your own langauge retreat when you're an expat Click or tap here to join Patreon and read the extended show notes for this episode (http://www.fluent.show/patreon) Thank you to Gabriela for this episode introduction. Thank you for listening to the Fluent Show! If you enjoyed this episode, please consider supporting the show by leaving a review in your podcast app or becoming a member of our Patreon community
In this episode, I bring you a touching interview with Alexa Little, a computational linguist who runs a non-profit building language apps for languages that REALLY need them. Endangered Language Revival with Alexa Little from 7000 Languages One common question about endangered languages is what that definition actually means. Here is how Alexa put it: An endangered language is a language that is no longer being transmitted from older generations to younger generations. An indigenous language is a language that is spoken or belongs to an indigenous people. In this interview, you'll hear about how Alexa went from wanting to be an archaeologist to becoming a full-time language activist what the organisation 7000 Languages is all about and how they help communities build language learning apps how schools and school policies in Hawaii affected the survival of the island's own language what you as an 'outsider' can do for language preservation without stepping on the toes of the people who know best where you an find the apps that 7000 Languages creates and use them for free! Plus a really good definition of the language vs dialect hot potato. đ„ Like all podcasts, the Fluent Show is supported by you. Special Guest: Alexa Little.
This week, I am on a listener inspired quest: Is there a set of language learning notes that can make you better at speaking another language? This Fluent Show episode brings you a discussion of the science of cognitive load, working memory, and long-term memory...all in the quest for finding the best notes ever to use in conversations. Show Patrons can read the detailed show notes now over Patreon! (https://www.patreon.com/bePatron?u=337102) The truth is that there is absolutely no set of notes that will make the reactions faster because as soon as you focus on notes, youâre slowing down. A script comes closest. The purpose of notes in a conversation is to deal with the fact that youâre too busy to add more into your long-term mmory. Thatâs why itâs important to ask your tutor to note the new vocabulary, or to scribble or type it yourself for later review. So what you want is a good blank page and the discipline and habit of reviewing what came at you in that conversation. Thank you to Jacqueline for this episode introduction. Support This Podcast Thank you for listening to the Fluent Show! If you enjoyed this episode, please consider supporting the show by leaving a review in your podcast app or becoming a member of our Patreon community.
Bestselling author Scott Young presents his book "Ultralearning". Scott is well known for his project called "The Year Without English", which involved a year of full immersion and learning 4 languages. Intense, right? He thought so too, and became fascinated with this concept "There was a look on the plane, and that was our last time speaking English for a year." Scott's recently been obsessed with intensive personal learning projects (which he calls "aggressive" but that does NOT mean you need to be some kind of macho muscle man). What matters is this: the 9 principles of successful self-directed learning. Metalearning (this is what you sort of heard about in episode 144 (http://www.fluent.show/144) and Scott brings in new perspectives) Directness Focus Drill Retrieval Feedback Retention Intuition Experimentation Thank you to Scott himself for this episode introduction. Want to buy the book? Use one of the links below to buy from Amazon or Hive. Or maybe your local library has a copy! Support This Podcast Become a Patron! Language note: when I said in my sponsor read that no-one who teaches themselves a language would "go around recommending italki", of course I meant they wouldn't "get around recommending italki". In other words, it's essential! I would absolutely GO around recommending italki. English is hard. đ€ŠđŒââïž Special Guest: Scott Young.
The German Retreat in Berlin (https://www.fluentlanguage.co.uk/german-retreat-2019) Today I answer a listener question from Hadassah about memorizing vocabulary that describes ideas, not objects Here are a few handy tips in summary - listen to the show to hear my many examples and in-depth explanations. The post-it method. Write your words on post-its and stick them up around quirky places that do have a connection to the ideas youâre describing. The added creativity involved in connecting the abstract concept to the object will help you remember it as you spent more time contemplating the word and making it âsticky' The Language Play Method In addition to associating the concept with an object, you can also use the linguistic characteristics of the word youâre trying to remember. This can be sound, spelling, etymology. Find what your word rhymes with, associate the sound of the word with its meaning, or research exactly where it comes from. Chunks of Language Instead of individual words, the idea is to study chunks of language, that could be short sentences or little phrases that you can use. So instead of âhungryâ youâd learn âIâm so hungry, I want to eatâ or instead of âwhereâ youâd learn the whole phrase âwhere is the bathroom?â. For your question of abstracts, this can be helpful because you now have a full sentence to write down and something that you can sing to yourself. Find examples of the concept in music and art The forgetting curve: humans tend to halve their memory of newly learned knowledge in a matter of days or weeks unless they consciously review the learned material. Thank you to Wesley for this episode introduction in Persian. If you liked this episode, please tell someone about it. Click here to tweet about the show (https://ctt.ac/00VIW), go to your Podcasts app and leave us a review, or simply text a friend about the Fluent Show. Thank you!
Hooray, it's conference time! In today's episode I'll bring you a mix of language learning goodies straight from MontrĂ©al, Canada. You'll hear What a language conference is all about Poetry, written on the spot by language learners A drinking song in a minority language you may have never heard of Language learning tips from an 8-year old who speaks four languages And how you can make the most out of attending these language events! As a podcaster bonus, I've also added reflections on Podcast Movement 2019 in Orlando, Florida. Which Language Events are Coming Up? Here's a list of the next language learning events for your diary: Polyglot Conference in Fukuoka, Japan, in October 2019 Women in Language in March 2020 Polyglot Cruise sailing from Barcelona, Spain, thatâs in April 2020 Polyglot Gathering in Terezin, Poland, thatâs in May 2020 All links below! And Here Are a Few of Your Poems! Paglalakad sa Montreal This poem was written by Lance Gough during our workshop Creative Writing, Public Speaking, and Performance Naglalakad ako sa mga kalye ng lungsod Hindi ako tumitingin sa iba pang tao Mag-ĂĄakalĂĄ yata ang mga babae na nanonood ako sa kanila Mag-ĂĄakalĂĄ yata ang mga lalaki na gusto kong makipag-away sa kanila Sa wakas, tumĂtĂngalĂĄ ako, sa mga tao Ayos! Walang sinuman ay tumitingin naman sa akin Nagsasalita sila sa mga smart phone nila Tumitingin din sila sa mga relo nila Nanonood din sila sa bangketa sa ilalim ng paa. Pero, walang sinuman ay tumitingin sa iba pang tao. Iniisip lang silang lahat sa sariling buhay nila. Translation Walking in MontrĂ©al Iâm walking on the city streets Not looking at anyone else. Women might think Iâm looking at them! Men might think I want to fight! But finally, I look up at the people Wow! No one is looking back at me. Theyâre talking on their smart phones, They're also looking at their watches, Theyâre also watching the sidewalk under foot. But, nobody is looking at anyone else. Theyâre all only thinking of their own lives. Carol's Poem in French Les gens heureux rirent Ils partagents les histoires bilingues Je' peux pas parler Jonathan's Visual Poem Jonathan's Visual Poem https://files.fireside.fm/file/fireside-uploads/images/9/9103f3da-a263-4bfe-b5a3-58649ff9b5f7/4zKIHH3F.jpg Support This Podcast Like all podcasts, the Fluent Show is supported by your online reviews and word of mouth. If you liked this episode, please tell someone about it. Click here to tweet about the show (https://ctt.ac/00VIW), go to your Podcasts app and leave us a review, or simply text a friend about the Fluent Show. Thank you! Thank you to Scottie for this episode introduction.
Free gift with today's podcast: Sign up here for free affirmation cards to print & save (http://www.fluentlanguage.co.uk/affirmations) Read the in-depth blog article for this podcast on www.fluentlanguage.co.uk (https://www.fluentlanguage.co.uk/blog/language-mindset) Do any of these sound familiar? "I'm just not where I should be in languages, somehow everyone else seems to make better progress than me." "I don't have a talent for languages." "I don't know if I'm learning languages in the right way." "I struggle to remember things and my language skill just isn't coming along." Like a narrative, a mindset is the mental filter you add to everything that happens in your life. In today's episode, we explore how you can Change the script on your doubts so that they become encouraging ideas Work with a growth mindset to use psychology to support yourself in language learning Develop a successful mantra to help you get over a moment when you're stuck via GIPHY
Plus, we've got woo-woo affirmations and the new and improved version of the CEFR: the Bambi scale. Support This Podcast Like all podcasts, the Fluent Show needs you!! If you liked this episode, please tell someone about it. Click here to tweet about the show (https://ctt.ac/00VIW), go to your Podcasts app and leave us a review, or simply text a friend about the Fluent Show. Thank you!
Todayâs theme: How to Learn Specialist Vocabulary Thank you to Bonnie for this episode introduction. Support This Podcast Like all podcasts, the Fluent Show is supported by your online reviews and word of mouth. If you liked this episode, please tell someone about it. Click here to tweet about the show (https://ctt.ac/00VIW), go to your Podcasts app and leave us a review, or simply text a friend about the Fluent Show. Thank you! For a deep dive into growing, memorizing and reviewing your own vocabulary so you can make any word memorable, check my course Your Solid Vocab Memory (http://www.fluentlanguage.co.uk/vocab)
You can't see their faces, you can't see their hands, you can't hear their voices. But somehow, you still know how people are feeling when they communicate with you online. How does that work? đ€ In this episode, I'm speaking to Dr Monica Riordan. She's an emoji expert and researcher who designs and conducts studies into how people express their feelings online. Here's the tweet I mentioned in the episode. How would you read it?
a dog person!?!? (âŻÂ°âĄÂ°ïŒâŻïž” â»ââ» https://t.co/HoyMRqWoq1
â Christian Cable (@christiancable) July 11, 2019
Insights: We impose our own meaning on what other people write and imagine what they would look and sound like if they said this. When your friends and language partners type in casual language that's difficult to understand...it's because you're doing well! Emoji are limited in what they can express and insufficient for the full range of human emotions Emoji are also used as self-expression, rather than a means of communicating the message Emoji is not an international language: it can transcend linguistic differences but it can't do the same for cultural and social differences Support This Podcast Like all podcasts, the Fluent Show is supported by your online reviews and word of mouth. If you liked this episode, please tell someone about it. Click here to tweet about the show (https://ctt.ac/00VIW), go to your Podcasts app and leave us a review, or simply text a friend about the Fluent Show. Thank you! Special Guest: Monica Riordan.
In this episode you'll hear how courses like the Michel Thomas series change the script on language learning and why they work. I'll share my personal language success mixture, and why I don't debate study methods on social media. Thank you to Maksimilian for this episode introduction. Support This Podcast Like all podcasts, the Fluent Show is supported by your online reviews and word of mouth. If you liked this episode, please tell someone about it. Click here to tweet about the show (https://ctt.ac/00VIW), go to your Podcasts app and leave us a review, or simply text a friend about the Fluent Show. Thank you!
This episode effortlessly covers the full language world, from Sean Paul to the UN Declaration of Human Rights. via GIPHY
It's the United Nations Year of Indigenous Languages Up to 95% of the worldâs languages might be extinct or endangered by the end of the century. And most of them are indigenous, meaning that they spoken by the indigenous people of a region. In this show, you'll discover Whatâs an indigenous language? Why does it matter so much that we preserve these languages? Hint: Because it's a HUMAN RIGHT Should any country at all have an official language? And where do you start if you want to learn an indigenous language? And we think you love a quiz as much as we do, so don't miss out the indigenous language quiz in this episode. Support This Podcast Like all podcasts, the Fluent Show is supported by your online reviews and word of mouth. If you liked this episode, please tell someone about it. Click here to tweet about the show (https://ctt.ac/00VIW), go to your Podcasts app and leave us a review, or simply text a friend about the Fluent Show. Thank you!
How can you keep an older language fresh while starting on a new one? Do you have to worry about forgetting everything you've learnt within weeks? This week, head over to the blog for detailed notes and an article on this topic: Click or tap here to read the blog article on www.fluentlanguage.co.uk (https://www.fluentlanguage.co.uk/blog/maintain-languages) Conclusions: You canât just forget a language, but in order to keep it fresh you need to engage in maintenance activities and accept a learning curve when you immerse again Learning more languages, even at the same time, is awesome But donât expect miracles, consider your goals and limitations Interference is a normal process of language acquisition Thank you to Bonnie for this episode introduction. Support This Podcast Like all podcasts, the Fluent Show is supported by your online reviews and word of mouth. If you liked this episode, please tell someone about it. Click here to tweet about the show (https://ctt.ac/00VIW), go to your Podcasts app and leave us a review, or simply text a friend about the Fluent Show. Thank you!
This week, I'm answering a listener question with help from a special guest. Gareth Popkins is a serial language learner with decades of experience. He's a native English speaker but fluent in Welsh, Russian, German, and currently learning Japanese and Basque. He regularly builds preparation for language exams into his study routines, so today I asked Gareth to come on the show and share his views on the following quesion. Evan asks: I see many people who reach advanced C1/C2 level with a few of their languages, but just learned them for the heck of it (or they grew up with it in their homes). These people probably never took an official test to get a certificate proving that they are C1/C2 level or something. Why might one want to get this certificate, or any other sort of qualification, to prove their language abilities? Is it worthwhile or not? You may find yourself wondering why a language exam would be useful for you at all, especially if youâre not studying for work or school. But there are a few excellent reasons to dive into the idea of test prep. Good question! Between our experiences taking the IELTS, Goethe Institut exams, the TRKI Russian exam, Gareth and I talk. Listen in to hear the best reasons to prepare for a language exam why exams are more than just a memory test which situations mean you will never need a language exam to prove your skills Support This Podcast Like all podcasts, the Fluent Show is supported by your online reviews and word of mouth. If you liked this episode, please tell someone about it. Click here to tweet about the show (https://ctt.ac/00VIW), go to your Podcasts app and leave us a review, or simply text a friend about the Fluent Show. Thank you! Special Guest: Gareth Popkins.
How do you feel about your memories of learning languages at school? Did you leave feeling like you were just not a language person? Got tales of cheating on every exam? Perhaps your teacher even threw things? Oof! Language lessons can leave scars, and now that you're an independent learner it's time to break free and purge those bad memories. This week, I'm bringing you real life stories from Canterbury, UK and my best strategies to help you turn the tables and start successfully learning a language as an adult. Thank you to Anne (http://www.fluent.show/guests/anne) for this episode introduction. Support This Podcast Like all podcasts, the Fluent Show is supported by your online reviews and word of mouth. If you liked this episode, please tell someone about it. Click here to tweet about the show (https://ctt.ac/00VIW), go to your Podcasts app and leave us a review, or simply text a friend about the Fluent Show. Thank you!
âIf we can produce proficient, correct language, it seems all is great no matter how we feel about it.â My guest for this weekâs podcast is MarĂa Ortega Garcia, who you will get to know well during the course of our interview. MarĂa is a rebel. She encourages you not to break the rules, but to look beyond the rules. Here are some questions we discussed: How could you play with a language you love? Who owns the rules of a language? Can we see beyond the need to be correct, to achieve a higher level of connection and an authentic self-expression? Does being so touchy-feely mean we'll miss all our goals? This was a fascinating conversation about permission, ownership, and what we think weâre all allowed to do in another language. It helped me understand my role as language coach and language teacher in a whole new way. âIt doesnât need to have any specific goal or purpose. Itâs just pleasure and self-expression.â âFor me, a foreign language has to come along with my own personality and background. I canât be following someone elseâs rules.â Workshop: Creative Writing, Public Speaking and Performance I want to let you know as early as possible that MarĂa and I are actually taking this one step further. We have been working on a joint language workshop inviting you to explore how creative writing and performance find your voice and courage to speak and elevate your communication skills. If you struggle to express your true self in another language, and wish you could find the right words for how you feel, this new workshop is just perfect for you. You can catch this workshop at Langfest in MontrĂ©al (tickets available now (https://montreal.langfest.org/en/#tickets), 15% off using code KERSTIN). Support This Podcast Like all podcasts, the Fluent Show is supported by your online reviews and word of mouth. If you liked this episode, please tell someone about it. Click here to tweet about the show (https://ctt.ac/00VIW), go to your Podcasts app and leave us a review, or simply text a friend about the Fluent Show. Thank you! Special Guest: MarĂa Ortega GarcĂa.
I'm continuing the Fluent Show's little business series with a solo episode about online language teaching. Last week you already heard a little bit about how Lindsay and I got started, what we value in our businesses and our brutally honest views about both the sacrifices and the rewards of doing this work. So in today's episode: Effective Teaching! I've got three fundamentals that I believe made me a better language teacher. Let your student do their student thing. Allow them to know their own answers and ask more questions. Put effort into explaining grammar in a way that makes sense. Make the tech and the setup a non-question. This includes boundaries. In today's show, I'm also answering a listener question from Chenelle about successful collaborations How do I go about approaching someone about my project in order to get them to come on board with me? For us as one-person enterprises, it's often so beneficial to collaborate with others when it comes to creating successful projects like courses, books, and lessons. Look around you and you will see DOZENS of collaboration examples. In the online teaching space, here are a few that are successful: Languagelovers.au (http://www.languagelovers.com.au) by Penny and Bec in Melbourne Con Parole Nostre (https://soundcloud.com/conparolenostrepodcast) by Elfin, Silvia and Barbara in 3 countries Women in Language (http://www.womeninlanguage.com) by Lindsay, Shannon and me (and all of you!) And of course let's not forget Teach & Thrive (www.fluentlanguage.co.uk/teach-thrive) by Lindsay and me. And German Uncovered (www.german2019.com) by Olly and me. You've got me, I love collaborating. It's more social, compensates for weaknesses and creates cool results. So how do collaborations work best? How do you become a success? Listen in to hear my 5 most important tips - all hard won through experience. Thank you to Maria for this episode introduction. Sorry about the slightly lower quality sound - next week back to the usual high standards. Teach & Thrive: Open Now! The Teach & Thrive workshop series is opening its doors to you this weekend. Sign up at www.fluentlanguage.co.uk/teach-thrive to join our 6 monthly masterclasses on creating and selling product, reaching an audience through marketing, and of course staying sane while becoming more successful. Support This Podcast Like all podcasts, the Fluent Show is supported by your online reviews and word of mouth. If you liked this episode, please tell someone about it. Click here to tweet about the show (https://ctt.ac/00VIW), go to your Podcasts app and leave us a review, or simply text a friend about the Fluent Show. Thank you!
This weekâŠsomething completely different. If you ever wondered what itâs like to run an online business in languages, this episode is for you. Lindsay and I offer you one of the most in-depth looks we have ever offered into our businesses, mindsets, and how we work. Did you enjoy this chat? Then there is MORE! We have recorded more episodes in this business series, and they can all be yours. Get our chat about MAKING AND SELLING PRODUCTS at www.fluentlanguage.co.uk/teach-thrive-success Get our chat about ONLINE MARKETING on the Teach Languages Online podcast -- published on 21 June 2019 And finally, our conversation about OUR FIRST ONLINE COURSES at www.lindsaydoeslanguages.com/teach-thrive 13 Tool Recommendations â Click or tap here to to get a list of recommendations for the essentials we use every single day in our business. (http://fluentlanguage.co.uk/blog/online-teaching-tools) Support This Podcast Like all podcasts, the Fluent Show is supported by your online reviews and word of mouth. If you liked this episode, please tell someone about it. Click here to tweet about the show (https://ctt.ac/00VIW), go to your Podcasts app and leave us a review, or simply text a friend about the Fluent Show. Thank you!
This week I'm answering a listener question from Erin who was curious about applying her skills when she cannot attend a language retreat! The key with a retreat is to step out of learner mode and step into speaker mode, so that you apply what you are learning. But do you have to get away for that? This question is HUGE - it could really crack how you approach language learning and make a difference to whether you are successful or not. So in today's podcast episode, I'll share one idea that Design Your Own Immersion Day Make sure you PREP!! Queue up podcasts, decide what you're reading, book conversations, look around for recipes or restaurants, listen to top tools. And set a date in the diary! Radio or TV in the morning, perhaps a podcast - try to take in your target language first thing in the morning. Get chatty with some self-talk in the kitchen while you're making breakfast. On the commute, why not read in your target language or get some sat nav cues for a route you know? Not everyone speaks their target language in the workplace or at school, so sometimes we've got to allow the good in place of the perfect. Lunch could be your chance to go out with another learner, perhaps have a conversation in your target language or simply enjoy an old-school phone conversation. Social media? Totally doable in your target language. After work, it's time to refuel and relax. By now you might be in the mood for some music on Spotify, a nice meal cooked at your fave resto or by yourself in a TL, or a trip to the cinema. Again, yes they might show subtitles but... Do not let the perfect be the enemy of the good. And if you DO want to join me at the next language retreat, I'm planning a German one returning to beautiful, majestic, thousand-year old, wine-fuelled Trier in December! I say it's Germany's best GlĂŒhwein. Sign up here for updates so you can book a place when the retreat opens. (https://fluentlanguage.activehosted.com/f/30) Thank you to Aleksandr Ivanov for this episode introduction . Support This Podcast Like all podcasts, the Fluent Show is supported by your online reviews and word of mouth. If you liked this episode, please tell someone about it. Click here to tweet about the show (https://ctt.ac/00VIW), go to your Podcasts app and leave us a review, or simply text a friend about the Fluent Show. Thank you!
It's Top Tools time! In this regular feature, Lindsay and I dedicate the full episode to bringing you our tips for the most exciting language learning tools of the season. In this episode, get to know * Music Planet Roadtrip * Insight Timer * Evertype * Teach Yourself Library * Genius * Pleco Click or tap here to read full show notes and get all links on www.fluentlanguage.co.uk (https://fluentlanguage.co.uk/blog/toptools-springsummer-2019) Teach & Thrive Sign up here (https://www.fluentlanguage.co.uk/teach-thrive) if you're interested in Lindsay & Kerstin's new workshop series for ambitious online language teachers and creators. Support This Podcast Like all podcasts, the Fluent Show is supported by your online reviews and word of mouth. If you liked this episode, please tell someone about it. Click here to tweet about the show (https://ctt.ac/00VIW), go to your Podcasts app and leave us a review, or simply text a friend about the Fluent Show. Thank you! You can now play the Fluent Show through google home devices (âplay the Fluent Show podcastâ) and add us to the Alexa flash briefing. The feed URL you need for that is https://www.fluent.show/alexa
In this episode, I am answering a listener question from Leandro. I'm going through a really hard time on learning languages. I'm a Portuguese native speaker and I'm learning English and French. Most of time I'm really motivated learning English, because I love British 19th century literature and I fancy reading all the books in English. My level is not that bad, I guess. But, most of time I'm so unmotivated to learn French and keep with my daily studies. Sometimes I get so frutrated I want to burn all my materials of study out. I have two questions: how to handle with frutration? And how to get better at pronunciation by myself? Ready to hear my answers? Then tune in! Leandro's good practices with English: You have a very clear thing that you love and enjoy in the target language - English 19th century literature You can picture a goal, a situation that feels possible to you - reading all the books in English You are feeling fairly confident and you donât struggle with self doubt - like you say, your level is not so bad. Youâre working within the realm of whatâs possible, youâre not asking anything impossible from yourself, you are not obsessed with progress, just having a good time. Before you set fire to your books and possibly other things, know this: IT IS OKAY TO FEEL UNMOTIVATED. IT IS NORMAL. The most important question you havenât answered is why do you feel so unmotivated Teach & Thrive Sign up here (https://www.fluentlanguage.co.uk/teach-thrive) if you're interested in Lindsay & Kerstin's new workshop series for ambitious online language teachers and creators. Support This Podcast Like all podcasts, the Fluent Show is supported by your online reviews and word of mouth. If you liked this episode, please tell someone about it. Click here to tweet about the show (https://ctt.ac/00VIW), go to your Podcasts app and leave us a review, or simply text a friend about the Fluent Show. Thank you! Thank you to listener Bonnie for this episode introduction.
Learning a language gives you a huge career advantage over others who don't have a language. One example is working for the EU, one of the world's largest international organisations. But could the EU be for you? My guest for todayâs episode is Paul Kaye, language officer of the European Commission's representation in London. Get Paid For Your Languages Paul is the European Commission's language officer in the UK, so he was my top person to ask about the secrets of working there. Listen in and learn how Paul became a translator, and his answers to these questions: How can we make languages SEXY as a career choice? What kind of personality type do most translators have? (and why Kerstin is NOT an ideal candidate) Do you have to be bilingual to work as a translator in the EU? How do you get a job as an EU translator? What does the EU do to contribute to language diversity? Plus, halfway through the episode Paul went ahead and surprised me with a quiz about the EU's official languages, which is just THE BEST. Support This Podcast Like all podcasts, the Fluent Show is supported by your online reviews and word of mouth. If you liked this episode, please tell someone about it. Click here to tweet about the show (https://ctt.ac/00VIW), go to your Podcasts app and leave us a review, or simply text a friend about the Fluent Show. Thank you! Special Guest: Paul Kaye.
In this episode, I answer a listener question with the listener on the line! My friend Nicky Roberts (near-miss Welsh learner of the year 2018) meet up with me at last year's Welsh national festival and during our long chat he asked this question: When do you stop being a learner and consider yourself a speaker? Is it a problem to hold on to your identity as a "learner" and hide from speaking your target language? This week, I brought Nicky to the show to talk about it. Thank you to Nicky (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvvS3RfzSQwiVf7Ocejf6yg/about) for this episode introduction. Support This Podcast Like all podcasts, the Fluent Show is supported by your online reviews and word of mouth. If you liked this episode, please tell someone about it. Click here to tweet about the show (https://ctt.ac/00VIW), go to your Podcasts app and leave us a review, or simply text a friend about the Fluent Show. Thank you! Special Guest: Nicky Roberts.
âThe merit of all things lies in their difficulty.â - Alexandre Dumas In this podcast, Lindsay and I discuss what makes a language easy or hard to learn, and share our own Top 5 easiest languages. Listen to find out more. Want to Join The Discussion? We have a full blog article to go with this episode, where you can leave a comment to tell us your own thoughts: Click or tap here to read the full blog article on www.fluentlanguage.co.uk (http://kerstin-hammes.squarespace.com/blog/easiest-languages-in-the-world) Thank you to the Fluent Language Learners Facebook Group (https://www.facebook.com/groups/fluentlanguage) for their contributions. You can join this group if you also want to talk about languages over there and check in regularly with other learners. Support This Podcast Like all podcasts, the Fluent Show is supported by your online reviews and word of mouth. If you liked this episode, please tell someone about it. Click here to tweet about the show (https://ctt.ac/00VIW), go to your Podcasts app and leave us a review, or simply text a friend about the Fluent Show. Thank you!
In today's episode, my retreat group from the summer retreat in Munich What happens when you only speak your target language for a week? How do you prepare for a language retreat? What is the most important mindset you can have while doing language immersion? What happens after the retreat? Are you eager to experience a language retreat for yourself? Head to www.fluentlanguage.co.uk/retreats (https://www.fluentlanguage.co.uk/retreats) to discover the upcoming retreats - in Hamburg (June 2019) and the Loire Valley (June 2019). My guests also share tips on creating an immersion environment no matter where you live. Fluent German Retreat in MĂŒnchen, August 2018 https://uploads.fireside.fm/images/9/9103f3da-a263-4bfe-b5a3-58649ff9b5f7/gddl7kPs.jpg Special Guests: Anne Semmler and Renato and Catarina.
Don't forget that German Uncovered is open for enrolment - check it out here (https://school.fluentlanguage.co.uk/p/german-uncovered/?preview=logged_out). The course closes on April 11. This episode, I'm bringing you an interview with experimental psychologist and author Dr Roger Kreuz. Along with Richard Roberts, Roger is the co-author of my favourite language learning book ever, Becoming Fluent (https://www.worldcat.org/title/becoming-fluent-how-cognitive-science-can-help-adults-learn-a-foreign-language/oclc/1041131561?loc=). âPeople think about fluency as perfection as opposed to something thatâs achievable by almost anybody with some effort. There really is a different way of thinking about it that makes all this much more achievable.â Roger Kreuz I've previously raved about this book on my blog (see link section), and in this interview I was excited to get the opportunity to discuss the psychology of language learning with Roger. Click here to get my free Becoming Fluent book notes and action plan (https://fluentlanguage.activehosted.com/f/34) Support This Podcast Like all podcasts, the Fluent Show is supported by your online reviews and word of mouth. If you liked this episode, please tell someone about it. Click here to tweet about the show (https://ctt.ac/00VIW), go to your Podcasts app and leave us a review, or simply text a friend about the Fluent Show. Thank you! Special Guest: Roger Kreuz.
Click or tap here to get the free guide to building your language learning habit (https://fluentlanguage.activehosted.com/f/15) Thank you to Bonnie Z for this episode introduction. Todayâs question comes from Elizabeth - here's a summary of what she's asking: I am attempting to learn Japanese. Iâm trying out different methods in order to establish a routine that works best for me. This is starting to frustrate me because I feel like I am going in circles without making any real progress in the language. I absolutely love Japan, and so Iâm trying hard to stay motivated and keep going, but the lack of progress is starting to zap my enthusiasm. Is this type of âwheel spinningâ typical when you are a first time, self-directed language learner? OMG ELIZABETH I LOVE THIS QUESTION!!!!!! Youâre taking your first baby steps into indie learning and choosing what is right for you, and thatâs just super strong and amazing. In todayâs episode, Iâll take the opportunity to talk you through a few key steps as I teach them in the Language Habit Toolkit (http://www.fluentlanguage.co.uk/the-language-habit-toolkit), my all-in-one package to help you create a great language learning routine. The idea of this language HABIT is so important because of what a good habit signifies. 5 Steps To Establishing Your Language Learning Habit Assess your resources - are they right? You want a guiding resource, some input resources, and a few reference materials. Learn more about this in my blog article "No More Hoarding!" (https://www.fluentlanguage.co.uk/blog/organise-resources). Aim for higher levels of COMFORT not skill Work with the right goals There are two types of goals you need for language learning: Vision Goals and Path Goals Track what you do If your goal is the habit, progress is coming closer to the language being an absolutely irremovable part of your life. Progress isnât always about knowing one more word of vocabulary, but instead about one tiny little degree of comfort. My most basic check-in is the âdaily contactâ, keeping me feeling accomplished even on super busy days. Review Regularly This is where we find out whatâs real and whatâs not, and that means whether you are actually spinning your wheels. The key is to answer questions like * What went well, what didnât go well * Was there any surprise * What do I want to do next * Where am I in relation to my goals TRUST IN YOURSELF youâre doing an awesome job Elizabeth!! Support This Podcast Like all podcasts, the Fluent Show is supported by your online reviews and word of mouth. If you liked this episode, please tell someone about it. Click here to tweet about the show (https://ctt.ac/00VIW), go to your Podcasts app and leave us a review, or simply text a friend about the Fluent Show. Thank you!
Inspired by one of the discussion panels at Women in Language, Lindsay and I dedicated this episode to creativity in language learning. We shared 9 cool ideas that you can use for your own language learning routine, and then got to the deeper question: Why do you feel like creative language learning activities aren't "real learning?" Make sure you read the in-depth blog article on fluentlanguage.co.uk (http://fluentlanguage.co.uk/blog/creativity-in-languages) to join our conversation about creative language learning routines. Support This Podcast Like all podcasts, the Fluent Show is supported by your online reviews and word of mouth. If you liked this episode, please tell someone about it. Click here to tweet about the show (https://ctt.ac/00VIW), go to your Podcasts app and leave us a review, or simply text a friend about the Fluent Show. Thank you! Get in Touch Send us an email to kerstin@fluentlanguage.co.uk or say hi on Twitter (@thefluentshow) or Instagram (#thefluentshow).
ÂĄHola Radioyentes! This week I'm answering a listener question (asked in Spanish AND English!): Â When is it the right time to start learning another language? The question came from TomĂĄs, 45 years old and a native speaker of Spanish. TomĂĄs has good English and regular exposure through books and TV, but he feels unsure about whether he's ready to add a new language like German or English. This has happened to me a few times, and Iâve also studied up to 3 languages at the same time. In this episode, I reflected on what matters most when you are facing this question and shared 3 core rules for you: 1. When you donât practice a language, youâll lose a bit of it Not practicing a language doesnât mean that youâll never remember it again. In fact, you are unlikely to ever go all the way back to zero. But it does mean that your progress will slow down and if you donât do anything, it means that you will forget some of what you practiced in the language most recently. Remembering that memory is all about repetition and exposure, it seems likely that youâd lose what you were last exposed to. So maybe as a rule of thumb expect that youâll step down one level. But if youâre already a few years in, you wonât lose all those years. If you stop actively studying after 3 months = it can feel like nothing sticks. If you stop actively studying after 5 years = it will not all disappear. 2. Make sure you adjust your expectations for both languages You could be learning five, ten languages at once and in fact there are ways in which this will absolutely propel you forward. But donât expect the results of a sprint when you are in fact practicing a triathlon. Progress is not linear - itâs not always what you expect or predict, and often your destination changes 3. Declare your intentions Once you have worked out your goals and you got in touch with what you really want, you get to decide and move forward. Your decision is not forever. And as far as I can see, you are in an absolutely perfect position. Good luck! Support This Podcast Like all podcasts, the Fluent Show is supported by your online reviews and word of mouth. If you liked this episode, please tell someone about it. Click here to tweet about the show (https://ctt.ac/00VIW), go to your Podcasts app and leave us a review, or simply text a friend about the Fluent Show. Thank you! Thank you to Maria for this episode introduction.
What's it like to realise you're getting good at the language you're learning? Where do you go when you don't need handholding anymore? In today's episode, I'm talking to Nicole Miles, an advanced level French learner preparing for her C1 exam this year. Her language learning story is all about how she made it work as an adult learner with a positive attitude. If you wonder about advanced level study, the kinds of questions that come up when youâre like "OMG Iâm good at this", and moving towards taking on your next foreign language, then our interview will answer so many questions. If you're at the start of your language learning journey and wondering how you'll ever get anywhere, then Nicole's got tips that you need to hear - especially you introverts out there! Here's what's in store in our podcast Hear why and how Nicole learnt more French in one year of solo study than in all her school years Discover what helped her find the best italki tutors and make more out of her sessions Hear about what the controversy around one small book title can do for one learner's motivation Learn a language learning trick we call the language role model to tap into a version of yourself in your target language Join me to wish Nicole all the best for her upcoming language exam languages she's planning to study next...and how! Support This Podcast Like all podcasts, the Fluent Show is supported by your online reviews and word of mouth. If you liked this episode, please tell someone about it. Click here to tweet about the show (https://ctt.ac/00VIW), go to your Podcasts app and leave us a review, or simply text a friend about the Fluent Show. Thank you! Special Guest: Nicole Miles.
Do you love languages, and want to live and learn, create a successful career or travel the world as a multilingual person? This year, let the Women in Language conference show you how! This is one of my FAVOURITE language projects and you'll have SO MUCH FUN with us. Women in Language is a 4-day online event filled with talks presentations from 30+ female language experts who have done amazing things and documented their journey. The conference is open to everyone, regardless of gender identity. Get your ticket at www.womeninlanguage.com In This Episode: "It is by seeing other people like us that we get inspired and that we believe we can do things and there is a space for us" In the podcast you'll hear speakers and guests at the conference talk about the upcoming event, what they're looking forward to, and why it matters that there women in the spotlight. Here's the full schedule they are looking at: Women in Language 2019: ALL the talks! https://files.fireside.fm/file/fireside-uploads/images/9/9103f3da-a263-4bfe-b5a3-58649ff9b5f7/P_up7Jgi.png Got your ticket yet? If not, here is where you can get one (http://www.womeninlanguage.com) Here are the voices you're hearing on this show: Me! Haha, of course The following 2019 speakers: Shahidah Foster, creator of Black Girls Learn Languages (http://www.blackgirlslearnlanguages.co/) who's back from last year to teach you how to prep for a job in another country Maria Ortega Garcia, an inspiring Spanish tutor (http://mariaortegagarcia.com) who will present about Creative Writing for Rhythm and Intonation Penny Wilson from LingoMama (http://www.lingomama.com), who is doing double duty on our panel about "Languages, Loved Ones and Little Ones" and with her own talk about language travel Plus these veteran Women in Language fans Michele Frolla from the Intrepid Guide (https://www.theintrepidguide.com), a language and travel blog Sara Holmes who runs Language Answers (https://www.languageanswers.com/) Maria Seco, our second Spanish Maria đ and Spanish tutor for the Camino (https://www.spanishforcamino.com/who-am-i/) Jennifer O'Donnell, a game localizer and translator for Japanese/English Sara Maria Hasbun, who also writes at Misslinguistic (https://misslinguistic.com/) Deborah Janik a.k.a. Lingualibri (http://instagram.com/lingualibri) on Instagram Alba Casado, our Spanish correspondent and creator of Españolizarte (https://espanolizarte.com/) Rebecca Howie, Aussie language lover and owner of language stationery business Irregular Endings (http://irregularendings.com.au) Chenelle Hanckock from Chenelleâs language learning journey podcast (https://radiopublic.com/chenelles-language-learning-journ-6rOn5q) Cara Leopold who runs a listening skills website called Leo Listening (https://leo-listening.com/) Support This Podcast Like all podcasts, the Fluent Show is supported by your online reviews and word of mouth. If you liked this episode, please tell someone about it. Click here to tweet about the show (https://ctt.ac/00VIW), go to your Podcasts app and leave us a review, or simply text a friend about the Fluent Show. Thank you! Special Guests: Alba Casado, Cara Leopold, Chenelle Hancock, Deborah Janik, Jennifer O'Donnell, MarĂa Ortega GarcĂa, Maria Seco, Michele Frolla, Penny Wilson, Rebecca Howie, Sara Holmes, Sara Maria Hasbun, and Shahidah Foster.
Alessia, 17 from Verona asks: How to switch quickly from a language to another? Is it just a question of practice? Click or tap here to read the full show notes in my blog article on www.fluentlanguage.co.uk (http://fluentlanguage.co.uk/blog/switching-between-languages) The short answer is that yes, thereâs a huge element of practice involved. Sorry, no one likes to hear that there isnât a secret shortcut! But that doesnât mean we canât look into a few ways to practice that could help you get more comfortable and process language faster. Listen in to hear my tips and ideas for switching as efficiently as possible. Thank you to Rebecca from Irregular Endings (http://www.irregularendings.com.au) for this episode introduction. Support This Podcast Like all podcasts, the Fluent Show is supported by your online reviews and word of mouth. If you liked this episode, please tell someone about it. Click here to tweet about the show (https://ctt.ac/00VIW), go to your Podcasts app and leave us a review, or simply text a friend about the Fluent Show. Thank you!
"I don't know how I knew this word, I just knew it." Have you ever found yourself in a conversation where you speak without thinking? In a moment like that, you trusted your gut. But how the heck does your GUT know another language? In today's episode, Lindsay and I talk about the magic of using your language intuition. The episode is a fun discussion, and a bit of a search for answers. Join us to hear about the powerful ways your brain helps you develop a sense of what's correct what your gut feeling has to do with whether you feel fluent in another language how you can use your environment and mood to boost this sense of intuition in order to become a better speaker training your language intuition by adding lots of input 3 Books I've Read To Learn More About "Fast Thinking" Thinking, Fast and Slow (https://amzn.to/2CWLu5D) - still reading this at the moment, and it's well worth my time. In the show I read a tiny bit from chapter 5 (cognitive ease). Becoming Fluent (https://amzn.to/2MIfmY5) - I know I recommend this every 20 minutes, but there's a reason! Blink (https://amzn.to/2MLFmS6) - Classic Malcolm Gladwell Support This Podcast Like all podcasts, the Fluent Show is supported by your online reviews and word of mouth. If you liked this episode, please tell someone about it. Click here to tweet about the show (https://ctt.ac/00VIW), go to your Podcasts app and leave us a review, or simply text a friend about the Fluent Show. Thank you!
In this episode, you'll hear about the results of the Fluent Show survey, followed by your questions on my personal language learning thoughts and story. Top 5 Languages Studied by Fluent Show Listeners Spanish French German Italian Russian But that is far from everything, so here is the complete amazing list of 43 languages you guys are studying: Chinese, English, Japanese, Korean, Swedish, Arabic, Dutch, Greek, Persian, Irish, Norwegian, Hawaiian, Vietnamese, Icelandic, Polish, Sign Languages, Esperanto, Scottish Gaelic, Welsh, Sicilian, Portuguese, Kumeyaay, Latin, Luxembourgish, Xhosa, Zulu, Setswana, Yiddish, Hindi, Afrikaans, Danish, Hmong, Thai, Slovak, Malagasy, Finnish Your Questions, My Answers Here are the language learning questions I answered in this episode of the Fluent Show Have you ever considered another profession or do you have another passion? (from Nikolapolyglot, IG) Tell us more about your education, college, internships (Michelle, Twitter) How is Luxembourgish changing your perspective on your own native German dialect?â (Val.5467, IG) How you choose which languages to learn, and if you've ever given up on a language and why. (Spanish con Salsa, Twitter) Get Involved If you want to get involved with the Fluent Show in more ways, here are some ideas: 1. Send An Intro For The Show You can become the welcoming voice of this podcast! Record an introduction in a language of your choice, saying * what your name is * where you live * which language you're speaking * and "you're listening to the Fluent Show" Then email your intro as an audio clip to kerstin@fluentlanguage.co.uk, and get excited to hear yourself on the show. Thank you to Bonnie for this episode introduction. 2. Sign Up To The Newsletter Receive my free weekly newsletter with language learning tips. (https://fluentlanguage.activehosted.com/f/9)This is how you can be first to find out about retreats, new language courses, and podcast episodes. 3. Support This Podcast If you liked this episode, please tell someone about it. Click here to tweet about the show (https://ctt.ac/00VIW), go to your Podcasts app and leave us a review, or simply text a friend about the Fluent Show. Thank you!
This Podcast Episode Is Bilingual: French and English Khady comes from a bilingual family and grew up speaking Wolof and French. And as such, we will be speaking French during some parts of the episode. And my French is far from perfect, so trust that I'm doing mon mieux. If you are not an experienced French learner, there will be some parts of the podcast that you donât understand. But like all language learners, youâre not alone in that feeling. I always remember what the lovely Ron Gullekson said: âI want to get used to feeling uncomfortable.â So fear not, trust that we will come back to English again and again, and the interview will still be interesting for you. Let's Talk About African Languages If your language bucket list is longer than you'd like...you're going to HATE this episode đ There are over 2000 African languages, and most people don't know about their existence. There is a huge dominance of European languages, even on the continent itself, but learning African languages is more valuable than ever.
Par Spiridon Ion Cepleanu â Travail personnel, CC BY-SA 3.0, Lien
In today's episode, my guest Khady Ndoye will tell you more about the most widely spoken languages of Africa, such as.. Swahili Hausa Yoruba Igbo Oromo Zulu Lingala ...and yes...Arabic! why African languages are a great choice for any polyglot how you can go about learning one of these languages why it won't work to just say "oh, I'd like to learn an African language" Khady's a African music and TV recommendations! Support This Podcast Like all podcasts, the Fluent Show is supported by your online reviews and word of mouth. If you liked this episode, please tell someone about it. Click here to tweet about the show (https://ctt.ac/00VIW), go to your Podcasts app and leave us a review, or simply text a friend about the Fluent Show. Thank you! Special Guest: Khady Ndoye.
Todayâs episode is based on an Instagram question from Iye, who is learning Norwegian. She asks Do you have any tips for how I can go about creating my own language learning materials? Listen in to discover how creating your own materials will help you learn faster and better. And there's more: click or tap here to read the full show notes in my blog article on www.fluentlanguage.co.uk (http://fluentlanguage.co.uk/blog/creative-language-learning). Thank you to Evelina from Alaska for this episode introduction. Support This Podcast Like all podcasts, the Fluent Show is supported by your online reviews and word of mouth. If you liked this episode, please tell someone about it. Click here to tweet about the show (https://ctt.ac/00VIW), go to your Podcasts app and leave us a review, or simply text a friend about the Fluent Show. Thank you!
Linguist hour! Lindsay and I bring you an interview with one of our favourite podcasts, the linguistics show Talk the Talk from Australia. Please take 5 minutes to take our Fluent Show survey! (https://goo.gl/forms/zUObpMQZQbxuzb9n1) We don't often have research scientists on the show, so this was a huge opportunity for the Fluent Show to go into science. We posed your "Ask a Linguist" questions on these topics: Is it a language? Is it a dialect? Talk the Talk had a few insights that I had never heard before. What determines the prestige of a dialect within a language? We looked into how politics and social developments can directly influence how you speak, and how you feel about it. Are there common language learning stages across all languages, for example grammar needed to communicate something? In fact, there are two ways to approach language learning: analysis and pattern-spotting, and learning and copying useful chunks. Which one works? Talk the Talk gave us the science perspective. Plus: What is "glottochronology?" Hedvig quoted this research paper (https://cllp.fireside.fm/admin/episodes/c3e5131e-8302-47e8-a705-ec7cfcce4a4e/links/6fc2b9e9-c216-4d26-9e6d-d7bd00df555f/edit). If we come across a language in the same area that uses different words for the same concepts, does that language come from a different family of languages? In essence, yes. For this one, you need a basic vocabulary list - but they're not all that straightforward. Hedvig and Kylie explain more on this episode. Finally: Podcasting! Also: We talk about what it's like to podcast about languages, and about podcasting in general. If you're not interested in the wider context of language and podcasting authentically...then skip it and you won't miss the linguistics. We do know that many listeners love podcasts and think about starting their own, so for you this discussion is going to be both useful and interesting. Ultimately, we love and support community radio and podcasting. And in that sense... Please Support This Podcast Like all podcasts, the Fluent Show is supported by your online reviews and word of mouth. If you liked this episode, please tell someone about it. Click here to tweet about the show (https://ctt.ac/00VIW), go to your Podcasts app and leave us a review, or simply text a friend about the Fluent Show. Thank you! Special Guests: Kylie Sturgess and Talk The Talk.
It's January, time for new year's resolutions and long weeks waiting for pay cheques. Please take 5 minutes to take our Fluent Show survey! (https://goo.gl/forms/zUObpMQZQbxuzb9n1) If you're finding yourself motivated but broke this month, don't worry! I've got your back because this week I'm answering the question: What are ways to immerse in the language without traveling or spending a heap of money for studies? Immersion was one of my KEY words for 2018, and that's not just because of the amazing language retreats I've been able to teach. A language retreat is quite an experience - life-changing time spent loving and learning languages in your target country. Who wouldn't want that? (By the way, sign up here (https://fluentlanguage.activehosted.com/f/30) if you do want that.) But let's get real. You may not be able to travel easily. You may not have the budget for a retreat. None of this means you have to miss out on language immersion Consider Your Investment In Studies Follow this checklist if you're getting ready for a new language learning project: Budget time as well as money Research what you buy Get online lessons Use what you buy, with your time or your money Try an Immersion Day Let's face it, nothing is quite the same as walking down the street in another country and experiencing the history and culture of that place all around you. But with these tips, you can design your own mini-immersion today for very little money. Watch TV? Look no further than YouTube Read online? Try LingQ (https://www.lingq.com/?referral=fluentkerstin) Listen to music? Use TuneIn Radio or Spotify Want to chat to people? italki (http://www.fluentlanguage.co.uk/italki), Skype, and local connections have you covered Go on social media? Create lists or dedicated accounts Cook? Try a recipe or instruction video in your target language Thank you to Bonnie for this episode introduction. Submit your own intro with an email to kerstin@fluentlanguage.co.uk. Support This Podcast Like all podcasts, the Fluent Show is supported by your online reviews and word of mouth. If you liked this episode, please tell someone about it. Click here to tweet about the show (https://ctt.ac/00VIW), go to your Podcasts app and leave us a review, or simply text a friend about the Fluent Show. Thank you!
Happy New Year! đ Please take 5 minutes to take our Fluent Show survey! (https://goo.gl/forms/zUObpMQZQbxuzb9n1) In this episode, I hung out with friend of the podcast Shannon Kennedy to talk about saying goodbye to an old year and welcoming a new one. Shannon is an accomplished language learner who's studied over 10 languages including French, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Italian, and Russian. Her year has always been about languages, and with her recent move to work with language app Drops (http://www.languagedrops.com), she even chose to add more languages. Here are the year review questions we discussed. You can use them to conduct your own review of 2018 and set goals for the next year. How would you sum up the year in your languages? What changed in your life and in your languages in 2018? What lessons do you think you learnt from the year 2018? What surprised you? What will you change going forward? Looking forward, what are your language learning goals for 2019? Shannon's top 3 books of 2018 Grit (https://amzn.to/2LDwJZq) by Angela Duckworth The Organised Mind (https://amzn.to/2LDx5PK) by Daniel J. Levitin Courses from the Assimil (http://fr.assimil.com/) series Shannon's top 3 apps of 2018 Drops, naturally! Streaks (https://streaksapp.com/) Lingq (http://www.lingq.com/?referral=fluentkerstin) Shannon's top 3 courses * The Add1 Challenge (https://courses.fluentin3months.com/courses/add1challenge/?affcode=138646_bzrw1f2i) * Yoyo Chinese (https://yoyochinese.com/lesson/beginner-conversational-unit-1-lesson-1-Chinese-Is-Easier-Than-You-Think) * 90 Day Korean (https://www.90daykorean.com/) Don't forget that Women in Language (http://www.womeninlanguage.com) is back in March 2019!! Join us to experience this amazing 4-day conference live. Click or tap here to read the full show notes in my blog article on www.fluentlanguage.co.uk (http://fluentlanguage.co.uk/blog/) Support This Podcast Like all podcasts, the Fluent Show is supported by your online reviews and word of mouth. If you liked this episode, please tell someone about it. Click here to tweet about the show (https://ctt.ac/00VIW), go to your Podcasts app and leave us a review, or simply text a friend about the Fluent Show. Thank you! Special Guest: Shannon Kennedy.
It's so annoying when you say a word in your target language and you're 100% SURE it's going to mean one thing...and then it turns out to mean something completely different. Ugh, awkward! When those words look the same as your native words, you've hit upon false friends. They're a common frustration in language learning, and in this episode I've got some tips that you need to hear if you want to get better at dealing with them. In today's episode: * the most interesting false friends in other languages. * why do these happen, and why I think more people should get excited about false friends. * what you can do to avoid falling for them again and again. If you want to learn my tricks to systematically tackle these frustrating false friends, tune in to this podcast episode. Thank you to Mo for this episode introduction. The Fluent Show is taking a Christmas break and will be back on 7 January 2019. Stay tuned, and have a WONDERFUL holiday season. Nadolig Llawen! đ Fröhliche Weihnachen! đ Joyeux NoĂ«l! đ ĐĄ Đ ĐŸĐ¶ĐŽĐ”ŃŃĐČĐŸÌĐŒ! đŒ Support This Podcast Like all podcasts, the Fluent Show is supported by your online reviews and word of mouth. If you liked this episode, please tell someone about it. Click here to tweet about the show (https://ctt.ac/00VIW), go to your Podcasts app and leave us a review, or simply text a friend about the Fluent Show. Thank you!
This week, my guest on the podcast is Cara Leopold, an English teacher who focuses on helping her students enjoy TV and films in English by improving their listening skills. Some of Cara's top tips: Donât mess around with TV and films initially. They're more challenging than many of us like to admit, and it can be disheartening even at B levels to miss big chunks of action because we insist on switching off the subtitles. Instead, stick to curated materials for learners Look for natural speech over scripted speech, actors with a naturalistic delivery who don't mumble in order to sound authentic Try podcasts and interviews, because they deliver natural speech and structured content. If a show comes out regularly and follows a strict formula with set segments, itâs going to be easier to understand The biggest mistakes Cara sees language learners make is to treat tv and films like you would in your native language, expecting to kick back and relax for 2 hours. If it's passive consumption you are after, your listening skills will not improve - think quality over quantity. And here is a piece of Cara's philosophy that stood out to me: âEverything works in language learning." Step By Step to Subtitle Freedom Here are the steps Cara recommends so you can improve listening skills and hit that subtitle freedom: Get hold of a text, for example search youtube by subtitles Open the transcript below your YouTube video so you can read it as you move along Find trailers or selected clips of films and TV shows, or choose to watch a show or film in scenes Practice dictation Switch the subtitles on and off as required Repeat things as closely as possible to how the actor is saying them âYou have to be able to settle for some imperfection." Special Guest: Cara Leopold.
What's more frustrating than speaking at intermediate level, where we stutter and stumble over words, and leave....lo o o o o ng...um....gaps in sentences because the words just won't come into our brains. This week on the show, I'm answering a listener question from Elisabeth who is stuck in that dilemma. She says: My tutor says I'm very close to B2. I've been hit with a puzzle though. (..) I have a lot of vocabulary but there seems to be a disconnect between my thoughts and my speech. (..) I stutter and pause a great deal when I speak in my target language. Will this go away as I continue my speaking practice or should I be concerned? I just assumed that B2 would feel easy breezy beautiful when I talked and while I'm not there yet, I can't believe I'm close with all this difficulty connecting word bank to mouth. Listen to the episode for my tips and insights on the intermediate language dilemma, and don't forget to click or tap here to read the full show notes in my blog article on www.fluentlanguage.co.uk (http://fluentlanguage.co.uk/blog/improve-speaking-skills) Support This Podcast Like all podcasts, the Fluent Show is supported by your online reviews and word of mouth. If you liked this episode, please tell someone about it. Click here to tweet about the show (https://ctt.ac/00VIW) or go to your Podcasts app and leave us a review. Thank you! Thank you to Rebecca from Irregular Endings (http://www.irregularendings.com.au) for this episode introduction.
Self-care, backstop, vegan, glamping, problematic - those are evocative words and they have the power to sum up a whole year. Join us as we delve into a selection of wonderful words of the year from many languages, figure out what âself careâ even means, and discuss the ban on plastic straws. Dive into this week's extra long link selection to find out more about the many words of the year we covered from Great Britain, Australia, the USA, Japan (it's a kanji!), France, Portugal, and Germany. (I demonstrated some ignorance about the colours of the Jamaican flag đŻđČ and have educated myself since then. There is no red in that flag! My apologies.)
Click or tap here to read the full show notes on www.fluentlanguage.co.uk (http://fluentlanguage.co.uk/blog/how-to-get-the-perfect-accent) Learning a language is a long journey, and even after many years of dedication it can still feel like you're far from arriving. One of the milestones we hope to hit along the way is to start creating a 'perfect accent' in another language, so we can fit in well. But how is that done? In today's episode you'll hear a listener question all about accents, and I'll share my reflections and tips for improving your accent in any language, step by step. Thank you to listener Stephen for this episode introduction.
Can you imagine how fun it would be to speak to a fellow language lover who's encouraging you to share ALL your language questions, from comma conundrums to relative clause regrets? And how great would it be to have all this language joy just outside your front door? With excitement about any language? Let me tell you, this utopia exists in New York City. In today's episode, I brought back Ellen Jovin, one of the most inspiring language lovers I know. And Ellen has a brand new project to share - in fact, an inspiring message of encouraging conversation about language . Ellen's new project is called Grammar Table, and it's free for all of us. As ever, Ellen comes armed with a thousand hilarious stories and quotable sentences. Here are a few quotes - listen to our interview to hear these quotes and topics: What is Grammar Table, and where can you find it? "Some people stay away from grammar table, itâs like I have toxic grammar syndrome or something" Ellen Jovin Grammar Table New York halloween https://uploads.fireside.fm/images/9/9103f3da-a263-4bfe-b5a3-58649ff9b5f7/RPwyzFsq.jpg Why Ellen believes that the more we talk to people in person, the better "Grammar humility is an important principle to me." How the table encourages looking beyond just google for finding an answer to any question "Grammar table enables me to have conversations with strangers about a topic I love. And itâs got drama!" Ellen Jovin Grammar Table New York https://uploads.fireside.fm/images/9/9103f3da-a263-4bfe-b5a3-58649ff9b5f7/i9YG4Gwy.jpg There is one swearword in this episode which we announce way ahead of time with a warning. Language can be like that. Special Guest: Ellen Jovin.
Every other week on the Fluent Show, I answer your listener questions. Today a question from Sheela: How to Simplify Your List of Languages To Learn Here are a few options for getting more clarity in your âto learnâ list: Do allow yourself a dabble in some languages and choose only one or two big focus languages every year, or even for several years. Your reasons and useful/practical considerations can always vary so of course itâs ok to focus on the languages that are most relevant to your life right now. Take the risk of having to re-learn a language and that means, yes of course it is ok to let go of some languages. Follow the answers you indicated in your question. You 1) want to focus deeply on a small number of languages 2) want to give priority to languages that feel relevant for the future 3) want to focus away from languages that are not relevant to your current goals. All three of these goals are more than legitimate, and can give you a more simplified bucket list. There are many more notes and tips over on the Fluent Language website: Click or tap here to read the full show notes in my blog article on www.fluentlanguage.co.uk (http://fluentlanguage.co.uk/blog/languages-to-learn-list) Thank you to Jo-Anne for this episode introduction.
Our theme for todayâs show is language learning friendship and having buddies who truly love language learning. We are recording this week in Ljubljana from the Polyglot Conference, so in the show you'll also hear from a few of the many language loving people visiting the city this weekend. The polyglots you heard in interviews from the Polyglot Conference were Katie Harris, Ruslan Kokorin, Irena Dahl, and Gabriel Gelman. Congratulations to Alex Rawlings and Richard Simcott for a great event. Only A Few Days Left Tickets for Women in Language (http://www.womeninlanguage.com) are open until 3 November 2018, but make sure you join by 31 October if you want to participate in our special Language BF for the Day programme. Special Guests: Gabriel Gelman and Katie Harris.
Click or tap here to read the full show notes in my blog article on www.fluentlanguage.co.uk (http://fluentlanguage.co.uk/blog/) Every month, a staggering amount of new ideas, apps and websites burst onto the scene of language learning. It can be hard to keep up, but here at the Fluent Show we've got your back. We regularly choose our list of top tools in language learning and present them to you in a special episode of the show. Listen to this to find out what apps and tools you have GOT to check out this season. Plus: The events you should not miss this year! And you'll hear why the next thing you'll see is a picture of Lindsay's wedding dress: Script on Lindsay's dress - inspired by Amélie https://uploads.fireside.fm/images/9/9103f3da-a263-4bfe-b5a3-58649ff9b5f7/9akaKpos.jpg If you read the words on her dress thinking "weird", here's an explanation from Lindsay: Amélie is one of my favourite films and I figured a quote from Amelie (http://www.script-o-rama.com/movie_scripts/a/amelie-script-transcript-audrey-tautou.html) was more wedding day appropriate than a quote from A Clockwork Orange or Mean Girls my other favourite films!
In today's episode I discuss the question of how to have the best memory possible for learning a langauge. There are a bunch of rules of thumb to help you work out if memorizing can help you progress from where you are right now. Speaking requires quick recall, agile thinking. Writing requires attention to detail. Rule of Thumb: Understand the concept, learn details on a need-to-know basis. Rule of Memorizing: Know the difference between cramming and acquiring. Rule of Thumb for Learning a Language: Aim to make mistakes and be understood, not to be perfect and silent. Press play and have a listen to the show for more detailed advice about memorizing, plus my personal declaration of love for post-it notes. Thank you to Owain for this episode introduction.
Click or tap here to get inspired with a gallery of inspiring pages from the best instagram journalers (http://fluentlanguage.co.uk/blog/language-notebooks) What if you had a language learning tool that costs you hardly anything, adapts to your own preferences, boosts your memory and helps concentration? Turns out you do, and it's probably in your bag right now: Your notebook! In this episode of the podcast, I'm joined by language lovers Kathryn and Sam who are passionate about taking creative language notes. Listen to discover their experiences, language learning tips and strategies for effective note taking and creating an amazing language journal for yourself. Special Guests: Kathryn (365smallsteps) and Sam Grigg.
Every other week on the Fluent Show, I put aside a little time to answer your listener questions. Email your question to me at kerstin@fluentlanguage.co.uk or tweet it to @thefluentshow (http://www.twitter.com/fluentlanguage) Click or tap here to read the full show notes in my blog article on www.fluentlanguage.co.uk (http://fluentlanguage.co.uk/blog/bored-by-duolingo) Luka asks: I have been learning Spanish for 3 months. I started learning with Duolingo and was really into it, and recently I have been using a textbook as well but have become really demotivated - not because I give up, because I am bored of duo lingo. Iâm tired of the way itâs trying to teach me and I donât feel like Iâm progressing. [..] My question is, if Iâm not using Duolingo, what can I actually do to learn Spanish? Iâve looked everywhere and all the websites have a lot of âtipsâ but not an actual guide saying things like resources to use etc. Tips for Dealing with Duolingo boredom - while using Duolingo! Get on the web version so you can read explanations Restrict yourself to a few minutes a day - pairing is good here, how about Duolingo while waiting for your kettle to boil or your bus to arrive Try out a club so you can compete Beyond Duolingo, the key to stop yourself getting bored and to staying interested in your target language is to take control of your own language routine. If you want to learn more about this, the Language Habit Toolkit (http://www.fluentlanguage.co.uk/the-language-habit-toolkit) is designed to help you set up exactly this way of thinking and create a solid language learning routine. For Spanish Learners You can find my curated list of resources and articles for Spanish learners at www.fluentlanguage.co.uk/for-spanish-learners. Thank you to Andy (https://oregonpolyglot.com/) for this episode introduction.
It's the European Day of Languages! Yay! Here on the show, we love to celebrate this day. 3 years ago, Lindsay and I got together to bring you a HUGE quiz (https://www.fluentlanguage.co.uk/blog/european-day-languages-quiz), weâve made videos, weâve spoken lots of European languages. We even have a European Day of Languages playlist on Spotify! And today, this special episode will bring you a quiz with a twist and you can play along. How To Play Before recording this show, Lindsay and I enrolled an assistant, Josiah who selected a list of 10 European languages for each of us We went away and researched those languages and also found out what they sound like So Lindsay has 10 and I have 10 and we donât know each othersâ lists Weâll now play these languages to each other and to you listenersâŠand try to guess what they are! Europe doesnât just have the obvious languages, so this might get tricky but weâre ready to give it a good go! Get Language Facts And Resources These show notes do NOT include the links for all the different languages mentioned on the show, because that would be spoiling the quiz for you. If you'd like to get a copy of the notes, simply click here to join the Fluent Language Newsletter. (https://fluentlanguage.activehosted.com/f/9) Once you join, I'll send you a password with access to my special membership area on the website where you can download the full show notes document. Help Us Spread The Word Love The Fluent Show? If you have a second, a review on Apple Music or in your Podcasts app would be VERY appreciated. Or you can mention us on Instagram (#thefluentshow), Twitter @thefluentshow, or to your language learning buddy!
In today's episode, I had planned a Q&A but what you'll hear is more of a Q&D: a question and discussion session with special guest Olly Richards from I Will Teach You A Language. You already know Olly from our recent episode documenting how we made a German course together (http://www.fluent.show/83), but in fact he's also a language learner just like me. Click or tap here to read the full show notes in my blog article on www.fluentlanguage.co.uk (http://fluentlanguage.co.uk/blog/fun-language-learning-special-guest-olly-richards) What about you? Do you have fun when you're learning a language? Do you think it's possible to have 100% fun in language learning? Do you enjoy the language learning process? Or do you only really love speaking to people? Join our discussion and share your answers in the comments below! I'm looking forward to reading how you treat "fun" in language learning! Thank you to Olly for this episode introduction and to Live Lingua (https://www.livelingua.com/fluent) for sponsoring our show. Special Guest: Olly Richards.
After our live episode for number 100, we're rolling 'back to school' and reviewing summer motivation and new routines before cracking on with our topics this month. In The News We discussed this BBC news article (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-45414751) about a pedantic (?) rule in French grammar...and who's trying to get rid of it. The language, ever changing, but who thought THIS untouchable rule would be questioned? How To Refresh Your Language Learning Goals In this episode we focused on the big topic of goals. Do you EVER get everything done that you aim to do in language learning? Here's what we discussed How we think about achieving or failing to achieve our own language goals What the word for "failing to achieve" should be (call me maybe, Merriam-Webster) The hidden information you only get from a failed language goal The two sides of reviewing language goals on deadline day: data and motivation 6 Strategies for refreshing your language learning goals and dealing with disappointment What is a good tracking method to make sure you actually work on your goals? Whether to re-set or abandon a goal if you didn't achieve it episode 104 quote https://uploads.fireside.fm/images/9/9103f3da-a263-4bfe-b5a3-58649ff9b5f7/WIrr2RVU.png A Song For When You Wonder If Your Progress Will Disappear Because You Didn't Reach A Goal Everything stays Right where you left it Everything stays But it still changes Ever so slightly Daily and nightly In little ways When everything stays And here's a wonderfully helpful quote from Ira Glass
Ira Glass on Storytelling from David Shiyang Liu on Vimeo.
And finally, more life advice from "Adventure Time"
Listeners, this is a big question and let me tell you I wrote several pages of notes to answer it. Listener Simon from Dublin was feeling a MAJOR case of frustration and wrote in to the show. Here's some of what he said: Sometimes I just cannot seem to lock down a concept in the language I'm learning, no matter how much I try. These mental blocks can be demotivating. They force me to use simpler sentences than I know I can produce. They make me feel uncertain when trying to express certain concepts, and they can cause frustration when they seem like they're always going to be stopping my progress. Sometimes these blocks are the reason a person thinks they're not good at learning languages. Frustration In Language Learning There's a truth about learning any language: Frustration is real and it's normal and it's extemely ennoying! Once you start to feel it, you have reached a new stage of growth...expect to be frustrated for a few years. Frustration's good sides are: * It's a sign that you care. * It pushes you to re-commit to the process of learning a language. You cannot really eliminate all of this and fix every mental block, but you can REDUCE and EMBRACE the frustration. Here's how to do it: 1) Change your outlook. The mental blocks are not hindering your progress. They ARE your progress. 2) Deal with the practical challenges one by one, not all at once. 3) Cut out comparison. Where you are right now is fantastic, and it's important to examine the source of your high expectations. 4) Set the best possible goals for yourself by leveraging the Zone of Proximal Development - not the Panic Zone! frustration language learning https://uploads.fireside.fm/images/9/9103f3da-a263-4bfe-b5a3-58649ff9b5f7/WPdmuj-8.PNG More about all this in the episode - click play and I hope you'll find it helpful. Thank you to Stephen for this episode introduction and to kick-ass language learning app Clozemaster (http://www.clozemaster.com/fluentshow) for supporting this show.
Lindie Botes is a designer, polyglot, and popular YouTuber sharing videos with her audience of over 55,000 viewers. She loves to study languages from all over the world, including Korean, Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, and Hungarian. In this interview, you'll get to know Lindie and her unique language learning story, including: Growing up as a third culture kid and what that means What language learning is like in Lindie's current home country of South Africa "I don't think there's a single school in South Africa that teaches Japanese as a subject" Feeling successful in language learning How to embrace YouTube for everything it's giving the language learning community What Lindie does when she wants to get to the next level in any of her languages The best thing about having a YouTube channel - and the worst! Being real is the only way to have success when using social media for language learning And what is up with language bragging on YouTube? You'll also find out how to say Lindie's name correctly, and what my surname sounds like in Japanese! Special Guest: Lindie Botes.
Wow wow wow wow, our episode 100 live show was a blast, with busy chatroom and over 80 listeners tuning in live from all around the world. Today's podcast episode is a replay of that live broadcast, featuring five amazing guests. Long one, but worth it! SHANNON KENNEDY, the musical and multilingual bookworm from California. Shannon is an old friend of the show and never fails to impress with her incredible productivity. Shannon joined us to share her own good, bad and struggling stories. RICHARD SIMCOTT, one of the most multilingual people in Britain and co-organiser of the Polyglot Conference. KYLIE STURGESS, co-host of the all-round wonderful podcast Talk The Talk, philosophy teacher, and experienced radio broadcaster. GABRIEL WYNER, bestselling author, owner of a huge app project which will make us all Fluent Forever, and definitely not a robot. We pitched Richard, Kylie and Gabriel against each other in Lindsay's fiendish episode 100 quiz - you'll have to listen in to find out who won. Play along - would you have known the answers? And finally, we played "Conversation Starters" with * BENNY LEWIS, the world-famous author of Fluent in 3 Months, Irish person, YouTuber star, "language hacker", and inspiration to language learners around the world. Thank you all SO much for continuing to listen to the Fluent Show! "Skype. Sometimes it works." Plus another thank you to our sponsor Clozemaster (http://www.clozemaster.com/fluentshow), the free language app designed to help you keep up your langauge learning habit with ease. Special Guests: Benny Lewis, Gabriel Wyner, Kylie Sturgess, Richard Simcott, and Shannon Kennedy.
5 Lessons From Travelling The World Read Lindsay's 5 lessons from travelling the world and her list of travel phrases for connecting with anyone, anywhere, over on the blog. (http://www.fluentlanguage.co.uk/blog/podcast-episode-worldtravel). For a taster of the world trip, check out this video:
This weekâs question comes from Instagram: I speak French, Arabic, English.. Iâd like to start learning German but I really have no idea how to begin because Iâve already started but ended up by giving it up, Iâve found it a little bit tricky and I couldnât devote a lot of time for it because Iâm still working on my English, Iâm confused now. We've all probably got that one language we studied in the past...but somehow things didn't really go anywhere. So how can you get back with that language? Step 1: Whatâs done is done You need a clean slate. Shake it off, and put your past experiences behind you. Then note your new wishes. You are starting again. Step 2: Conduct a review This can be very straightforward. Last time you picked up German, you noticed a few difficulties and perhaps they took you by surprise. The good news is that these cannot surprise you anymore. Ask yourself what you could do to prevent the same problems when you start again. Step 3: Get realistic If youâre learning English and youâve got limited time, then you wonât be ultra fluent in German this month. Thatâs no problem. Think about what you can do in German. Believe it or not, you will STILL learn stuff. I have spent about 6 hours on Chinese so far, over 2 months, and still I now know a few characters and words. This is about managing your expectation. Step 4: To get started again, put it all together and add resources. Your Review: How do you want to learn German this time? What worked before? How will you avoid the same mistakes as last time? Who will help you, why are you back? Your Circumstances: When are you going to learn German and how much time and money have you got? Your materials: What are you going to use? Note on materials: Reviews are not always the best thing, but theyâre a good start. Look for reviews of a publisherâs GERMAN course, not the whole series. With all that in place, you are set up for success. Remember, language learning is a habit. If you feel youâre stuck, focus on what you do not what you should see. Thanks to Clozemaster (http://www.clozemaster.com/fluentshow), thatâs it, please rate & review. It helps other people find the Fluent Show. Or tell a friend about us - you'll look so cool and in the know. Thank you to listener David Evans for this episode introduction in Hebrew.
Is it possible to start learning a language from scratch when you're in your 30s? With a baby and a dog (and a husband) to look after? Of course it is! In this podcast episode, I am speaking to my friend Daniela. She's a writer and teacher, and about to spend a month in Germany. Daniela wants to learn German, so she got in touch to ask me: How to find resources that will be right for her? If she can really make time for learning a language, even though she's got a busy life and no classes to attend? How to ensure she stays motivated and benefits from learning German for more than just a month? How to be successful even after a year to *avoid the regret of saying "if I'd done more..." She wants to get there! This is a conversation in which I helped her set meaningful goals and explore how she can benefit from learning. And we recorded it so that you can benefit too! Join Us And Answer My 7 Questions Click or tap here to read the full list of coaching questions in my article on www.fluentlanguage.co.uk (http://fluentlanguage.co.uk/blog/) Special Guest: Daniela Uslan.
This week on the show, I answered a question from Twitter user @akalious: Iâm so curious how you learned English to IELTS 9* even before you went to UK... Could you talk abt that a little bit in future episodes? In this episode you'll learn: How Many Formal Study Hours Of English I Took in the first 8 years of studying English...and why that only half matters What I Did Differently To Give Me Native-Like Fluency in English How having No Native Speaker Contact actually helped me grow in English The one way that polyglots can damage your language learning đČ Why my dream job of "grumpy record store owner in London" helped me imagine my success even when I was 13 Why you must never doubt yourself and it's better to believe than compare 8 Language Mindset Tips You Can Start Using Today OBSESS CONTINUE LISTEN Be confident from day 1. Know that you can do this. Do not doubt yourself. Drill grammar, read books, use what you have. Think long term - I never wondered when Iâd be fluent. Why? I had no one to talk to anyway. Sleep with a dictionary by your bed. Donât overthink it. I didnât worry about how I was learning or whether my vocab study method was the MOST effective. I just did what I did. If there is an actual secret, it is this: Yes, you can simply decide that you're going to be awesome - you don't have to tell anyone or proclaim your amazingness online or with friends. But you can know it on the inside and carry the confidence into everything you do in language. Oh, and grammar drills are effective. đ Thanks to Ashley Williams (husband of co-host Lindsay (http://www.lindsaydoeslanguages.com) for this week's podcast intro. IELTS 9 means roughly a C2 level, on the "International English Language Testing System" endorsed by most British universities and the British Council. You take this test for immigration or for going to university.
It's a philosophical one with Lindsay this week! Quick note on the topic of audio quality: In this week's episode, you'll hear Lindsay coming through at a slightly lower quality than usual. Our apologies! We'll be back to our usual high standards in the next episode. Here are our two big topics. Donald Trump Is A Tweeter If you're au courant with the news these days, you may have noticed that Donald Trump is a prolific user of Twitter. But what do his tweets reveal about him? Language analysis platform Text Inspector has produced a report on the POTUS's twitter archive, and in this episode Lindsay and I examined what it all means. Plus: What do Donald Trump and Regina George have in common? http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m8mvorpsxg1qffo8s.gif Does Culture Stop Us from Learning Languages? Learning German makes you efficient. Spanish is sexy. Arabic speakers talk about terrorism. Russian is a macho language. Would you say you're influenced by statements like this? In this episode, we discuss language attitudes and how they have affected our own stories in language learning. The discussion was powerful - starting with the question "Does culture / perception stop you from learning a language?", we talked about travel, terrorism, stereotypes and machine guns. To round it off, we chatted about the good old Sapir-Whorf hypothesis. Always one to draw us linguists out to the campfire. What About You? Do you think that ideas and perceptions have ever stopped you...or encouraged you in language learning? Say hi on Twitter @thefluentshow or write a little message through this website (http://www.fluent.show/contact).
In this weekâs episode, I have a fascinating Q&A question, which didn't at all bring the answer that my questioner might have been expecting. My question asker Andy is learning Russian, and finding the amount of word changes overwhelming. We started with grammar, but then discovered a meaningful SECOND issue, which you have probably dealt with in the past, too. Why your success depends on knowing how to analyse the problem How a relationship with a language teacher may hold you back How to create a strategy to overcome discouragement Who will be able to help when you're getting stuck PLUS: How to support students as a tutor
Click or tap here to read the full show notes in my blog article on www.fluentlanguage.co.uk (http://fluentlanguage.co.uk/blog/podcast-episode-93-france) Bonjour les auditeurs, and welcome to a special Ă©dition française of the Fluent Show, with my native French speaking guest GĂ©raldine Lepere. Check out GĂ©raldine's AWESOME site Comme Une Française (http://www.commeunefrancaise.com) This show is a bilingual podcast, meaning you'll hear me do my best in French. Bilingual? How does that work? It's simple. Throughout this episode of the podcast, GĂ©raldine and I will switch between speaking English and speaking French. You will hear me make mistakes, forget words, and be right there in the truth of making mistakes. I am a French speaker and have studied French for 20+ years, but my French is NOT perfect. If you are not an experienced French learner, there will be some parts of the podcast that you donât understand. But like all language learners, youâre not alone in that feeling. I always remember what the lovely Ron Gullekson said about listening to a different language: âI want to get used to feeling uncomfortable.â So fear not, trust that we will come back to English again and again, and the interview will still be interesting for you. Get A List Of Vocabulary I Learnt In This Episode + My Main Takeaways (http://fluentlanguage.co.uk/blog/podcast-episode-93-france) Special Guest: GĂ©raldine Lepere.
How do you feel about learning two dialects of a language at the same time? The Dictionary of Linguistics (http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780199202720.001.0001/acref-9780199202720) defines dialect as a variety of a language used by people from a particular geographic area. So in other words, youâre ALWAYS learning a language and often you might be learning one that is a dialect of another. Romanian and Italian are dialects of Latin, if we zoom out far enough. So for you as the language learner, the dialect question is relevant. But do not sweat it because thereâs no single answer. Each language you will learn might handle its dialect question slightly differently. So thereâs only one way to do this, and thatâs to ASK. Itâs the classic âwhatâs a dialect, whatâs a languageâ debate, and whether it really matters. In this episode I discuss the topic in practical terms without going too far into the deep question. Every language has non-standard variants, so letâs just think about what matters most when learning a language. Thank you to my co-host Lindsay Williams (http://www.lindsaydoeslanguages.com) for this episode introduction.
In this podcast and blog article, we're discussing words that mean a lot to many people, answering questions such as: What is "fluency" and how do you know you're fluent? How can I achieve "mastery" in a language? What can you gain from being a "polyglot" or "digital nomad"? enter image description here https://uploads.fireside.fm/images/9/9103f3da-a263-4bfe-b5a3-58649ff9b5f7/CL2CtwvG.jpg Click or tap here to read the full show notes in my blog article on www.fluentlanguage.co.uk (http://fluentlanguage.co.uk/blog/podcast-episode-91-fluency)
You can find language tutors on sites like italki (http://www.fluentlanguage.co.uk/italki), in online communities, or by searching for your target language on social networks. Instagram is particularly great here. Before Your First Lesson With A New Skype Tutor Be clear about what you want to get out of your set of lessons, and communicate this to your teacher. Here's a list of suggested questions (http://fluentlanguage.co.uk/blog/9-questions-language-tutor) to ask them. Decide if you want to follow a curriculum Decide how you want corrections to work Listen to simple texts in the language if you can, even podcasts Before Every Lesson With Your Tutor Do your homework Homework isn't necessarily an explicit set of exercises, but sometimes it's just about reading a text or reviewing what the last lesson covered. This is the way for you to get more for your money â interaction and contact are at a premium if youâre self-teaching, so try to stay focused. If your teacher gives you a flashcard deck, interact with it. Always review new vocab from previous lessons. Research the vocabulary of what you want to talk about You can use a mind map to collect vocab around your target topic
A post shared by Kerstin Cable (@kerstin_fluent) on Jan 26, 2018 at 12:27am PST
Be somewhere quiet with fast internet Ask your tutor for help with what youâre stuck on Ground Rules No matter where you are at in your journey with language tutors, these five tips are going to make your life better and easier when you're working with a tutor. Respect your language tutor (see language exchange podcast) Be open and tell them about yourself Your situation Your experience Ask advice, theyâre an expert! Budget for a few months, budget for your next language goal (time budget, financial budget) Decide how you want corrections to work Final thought: TRUST THE PROCESS Donât doubt yourself too much You wonât get faster just through a few tutoring sessions, but you will move forward through it Donât expect the world - you cannot buy knowledge! Win $25 With Our Sponsor Smartcards+ This month, Smartcards+ is giving you the chance to win a $25 iTunes gift certificate when you download and try out the app. Hereâs how it works: Head over to www.smartcardsplus.com/fluent (http://www.smartcardsplus.com/fluent) and download the app onto your iPhone or iPad Create your account and start your first deck Share what you are learning! Post a screenshot with the hashtag #smartcardsplus on Instagram or Twitter Make sure you follow @appdesignplus so you can be notified by direct message if youâre a winner Hot Tip: If you donât know where to start, select âImportâ and âOnline Resourcesâ, and youâll be able to search the deck library at Anki and Quizlet Thank you to Olly Richards (http://www.iwillteachyoualanguage.com) for this episode introduction.
It's time for our seasonal countdown of what's hot in language learning. Lindsay and I have been collecting our top tools, and we select our list of top 3 recommendations on the Fluent Show. Lingodeer Text Inspector Talkalang /r/languagelearning FutureLearn Babadum A lovely image-based vocab game to play in your browser, made by a non-profit design studio from Poland. The range of langauges is massive! Plus: A news segment on what the French have been up to.. đ«đ·đđ
Todayâs show is based on a question I have been asking myself. And that is⊠âShould I Give Flashcards Another Chance?â The way I learn vocabulary is always changing, and my methods and strategies evolve all the time. For many years, learning with vocabulary notebooks was my prime way of reviewing new words. But there are also other techniques, and recently Iâve started using a flashcard app, Smartcards+. I review vocab with * Labels * Lists (hand written and regularly reviewed and condensed) * Flashcards I have never used * Hand-written flashcards * Anki Source Of Vocab These places above are not always where I find Vocab, and itâs a huge success factor to bear in mind that in a way a list or app is your worst source unless the item is super rich. One of the biggest reasons I havenât used flashcard apps was the quality or relevance of the pre-written courses. Compare learning in class, in real life, in an engaged environment, to just seeing a plain word in a list. Itâs arbitrary, and not everyone likes that. Memrise Memrise does really well when you take one of their official courses. Partly because it does exactly that rich thing well, with videos from Membus. But thereâs also a bit of low quality fluff on this platform and Iâm sad not to see so many mnemonics anymore. Mnemonics In this episode, I use the word "anghysbell" to illustrate how mnemonics work. Recall I donât care if I canât recall a word. Iâll see it very often if itâs relevant and important. Again, apps can be an issue here if you get bothered by seeing the same irrelevant term again and again. I do. In my Vocab lists, I am in charge. And being in charge of your own learning is everything. Activate Learning and recalling new Vocab in a list or flashcard is nice. Itâs pointless if you cannot use that word though. Conclusion: Vocab is not Language Really, we're worrying about a small part of the whole here. Sometimes I feel frustrated because the new wave of apps tells you âlearn a languageâ when really youâre "learning words and phrases". You need to learn a language over time and keep throwing new things in.
This week, I talk to language and grammar fanatic Ellen Jovin. Ellen has spent the last (nearly) decade learning and forgetting over 20 languages, and reviewing hundreds of language learning materials. In this interview, you will learn about How to select the best materials for teaching yourself a language How to grow as a person through using Facebook Why it doesn't matter if a language is hard Why Ellen stopped going to language classes How even the best book can be one you don't enjoy, and what to do when that happens How to use the city, even the building you live in, to learn more languages Why Ellen has reviewed hundreds of materials, but won't tell me (or you!) which one is the best one Why being true to yourself is a better way to learn languages Quotes from Ellen Jovin Ellen is a joy to talk to and to listen to. She has so much love for language and a great way with words, so this interview was packed full of great quotes. "In 2009 I suddenly realised (..) that I can really learn a lot without ever going to class." "I feel a kinship with Slavic languages. There's so much grammar and I love grammar so much that I'm sitting there with my eyes open in disbelief that they could possibly have this many forms." "I feel as though it might really transform my life outlook if I took Latin." "I feel like what I'm doing is true. It's honest. I'm not studying languages because I think I should study them. I'm studying them because it makes me feel happy." "I don't really care about [forgetting languages I've studied]. I did it because I enjoyed the process. It opens up a world into another culture, it enables you to make new friends who are native speakers of other languages....and how is that not worthwhile?" "In a teach yourself environment you really have to tap into the interesting capacity for play, for humour." Special Guest: Ellen Jovin.
Re-learning sounds like a daunting task, but today's episode will guide you through what you need to think about. In this episode, you'll * learn about the difference between conscious and unconscious language acquisition. * discover how to learn vocabulary so you always remember it * and the right learning plan for getting that language skills back. Check out The Vocab Cookbook (http://www.fluentlanguage.co.uk/vocab) for more about the vocab method Acquire, Memorize, Review. Tips For Starting A Re-Learn Plan If you used to speak the language as a child 1. Increase your exposure to as much as you possibly can get (films, music, youtube, consider if you can read/write?) - especially if you first learnt as a kid, because your unconscious skill is likely high 2. Consider whether you need all 4 core skills. If you want to recover language levels as they were when you were 4 years old, chances are youâre thinking of a time when you were pre-writing. So focus on that speaking and listening, and all will be well. If you get there and then discover that youâre missing something, move on from there and consider the new knowledge 3. Reconnect with the language community, or a language community (community is so important especially if you used to learn, and now youâre feeling like you are on the outside) 4. Get yourself a grammar resource, but only use it when you need it If you previously learnt as an adult Consider what you liked and what worked for you last time, and recreate the conditions for success Go with the exposure as well, though you may not âreactivateâ as much Do follow a textbook, but skim as much as you can Speak as soon as you can, with a patient partner on a large range of
When I first moved to the UK, I had no idea that Welsh was a living language. Now it's 15 years later and I can speak it, watch TV in Welsh, and connect with thousands of learners around the world. Welsh is considered a success story by many people who want to revive minority languages. 150 years ago, it was banned by the English speaking government and the English language became the norm. Today, Welsh medium education is on the rise and the Welsh Assembly is promoting a target of getting a million people speaking the language. In today's episode, I bring you interviews with Welsh learners and teachers, sharing their own passions for this ancient language. Click or tap here to read the full story in my blog article on www.fluentlanguage.co.uk (http://fluentlanguage.co.uk/blog/welsh-story-podcast) Special Guest: Gavin.
Great news, everyone! The Fluent Show is now newly available on Spotify, TuneIn Radio, and I Heart Radio. How do you listen? Shout out to our new sponsor, Smartcards Plus (http://www.smartcardsplus.com/fluent). In Today's Show: A Q&A with a question from Shannon on Twitter. She asked: Got advice on how to get bilingual speakers of your native language and your learning language to stick to the language youâre learning? Click or tap here to read the full show notes in my blog article on www.fluentlanguage.co.uk (http://fluentlanguage.co.uk/blog/podcast-natives-language-practice) Got a Language Question? Please send your questions or ideas to @thefluentshow so you can hear them on the show and I can keep making Q&A episodes.
This week on the podcast, I am joined by Olly Richards from I Will Teach You A Language. We present to you a project that we have been working on together for a while: German Uncovered, a course for beginners who want to become fluent in German. I've been working on this for a few months, and we are slowly getting ready for launch. Exciting times! The special thing about German Uncovered is that it is entirely story-based, meaning you will not just learn the language step by step, but you'll also have read a whole book by the end. Listen in to find out how this works! If you're interested in what drives course creators to come up with innovative ideas, and how a language course comes into being, this show will give you great behind the scenes insights. German Uncovered is coming - sign up here to get a notification of our launch! (http://www.german2019.com) Special Guest: Olly Richards.
Rebecca from New York asked Can you talk about how to set up a reasonable weekly schedule for language learning? In this show, I've got five simple steps for you that will help you plan a successful week in language learning. I'll talk about setting goals, managing your energy, analysing your calendar, and matching your activity to your strengths. A reasonable schedule for learning languages is one that doesnât make you groan, but isnât empty either. Here's what matters most: prefer regular to all-in-one Ensure you speak, read, listen, write Have at least one big session, preferably more than one Review after a few weeks
The most rewarding way of practicing your language is by connecting with people on a 1-to-1 basis. It takes commitment to make any language exchange successful. On today's show, we discuss what it takes to have the best language exchange experience possible. We also welcome special guest Jonathan Huggins, who knows lots about language exchanges. Click or tap here to read the full show notes in my blog article on www.fluentlanguage.co.uk (http://fluentlanguage.co.uk/blog/great-language-exchange-podcast) Special Guest: Jonathan Huggins.
Today on the show, I'll share a few tips and considerations about studying languages at university. Plus: My own story of doing Translation Studies at the University of Manchester. Chenelle asks: I wanted to know did you only get your bachelors degree or did you actually go and get a masters degree and languages? Listen to get the full details of my tips. At postgrad level, you tend to go either into research or applied mode. Most specialised ones Applied Linguistics / Linguistics Intercultural Communication Translation and Interpreting Teaching And then it specialises more and more Tips for Choosing a Masters * Consider practical experience vs research * Consider options of FT, PT, distance * Ensure the qualification allows you to pursue the career you want * Consider fees and scholarships, visas, cost of living * Consider your university's reputation, but remember a bad result from a great university can be worse than an amazing result from a less famous university * Rankings: Ensure the ranking reflects what you care about
Click or tap here to read the full show notes in my blog article on www.fluentlanguage.co.uk (http://fluentlanguage.co.uk/blog/podcast-episode-79) In this episode, we caught up, talked about a new directive on language use in a very special setting: Childbirth! We also discussed language learning apps and how to make the most out of them.
Elisabeth asks: âHow do you fit hearing comprehension into your daily routine? I find myself daydreaming a lot during my hearing comprehension time.â What are you training, exactly? Listening comprehension will aid you in understanding spoken language. For most independent language learners, listening comprehension is what starts bridging the gap between reading a textbook and moving on to confident and independent language use. For Elisabeth as a French learner in particular, thereâs a lot to unpack. French has a lot of silent letters, liaisons, weird silent bits that you cannot know from listening. The Speak & Spell Connection Itâs important to train the four core skills - all of them: listening, speaking, reading and writing. About That Daydreaming Problem Is it really a problem to be daydreaming during your listening sessions? There are different levels of listening. What you donât want to do is set yourself up for failure or disappointment, so before you switch that input on itâs worth focusing on whether you are here for pleasure to get the gist to study If youâre too tired for study, donât worry about that aspect and set your expectations differently. Paying lots of attention, extracting 100% of meaning and nuance, listening in detail * Podcasts often require attention and demand a lot of attention * When youâre listening for study, you will want a transcript! Listening for the gist, being happy understanding most * TV can be a good practice element for this, where thereâs a narrative to follow - films too. Decide if you want scripted or spontaneous dialogue. * Subtitles are absolutely ok, and there are strategies for weaning yourself off them Understanding very little, âimmersion listeningâ at an early point * I always remember Ron Gulleksonâs quote about making himself uncomfortable as early as possible * This is great for exposure, but beware - if itâs just a wall of sound, youâre not doing much good. You need to be able to distinguish where a word starts and ends. Listening for Training â How To Go About It Know your target languageâs pronunciation rules Determine what your audio is about, make sure you have some structures and vocab ready to go Listen without reading, just see what you can get, make your notes, stop and start, vary the speeds Repeat Enlist the help of a transcript if available - ideally you do want that transcript there but you can also transcribe the text yourself or summarize it to read it back to a tutor Discuss with a tutor, get them to ask you questionsâŠor if youâve got no one on hand, read a translation of the text PAY ATTENTION to what you got wrong. In my experience, itâs easy to overestimate your skills. Where can you go to find good listening material? During selection of materials, consider: * Level right for you? * Language register (formal/informal) right for you? * Topic interesting? * Affordable and accessible for you? * What do you need to understand, what do you want to understand? Remember: âA polyglot cannot survive on audio aloneâ. Combining with text, visual and even speaking is very crucial for a balanced approach.
As a German native speaker who speaks English all day long, I find the prospect of bilingual parenting both daunting and fascinating. I have been looking for an expert on bilingual parenting, and here she is: Marianna du Bosq, host of the awesome Bilingual Avenue (https://www.bilingualavenue.com/) podcast, a show for parents who are raising bilingual children. Marianna's incredible energy shines through and she's got SO many tips. I came away with so much more knowledge about what bilingual parenting is really like, and I'm convinced you will too. Click or tap here to read the full show notes in my blog article on www.fluentlanguage.co.uk (http://fluentlanguage.co.uk/blog/podcast-episode-77) In the interview, we'll talk about: How much work do you have to put in as the "one language" parent of a bilingual kid What agreements parents should set up with each other when they decide to do this What Marianna does when she needs to reconnect with her husband and tweak her daughter's language environment How to create a more immersive environment for children learning languages Whether you have to hire nannies and tutors and do all the expensive things to make this work How to overcome negative attitudes, and how to help a parent who feels left out when they don't understand their child How to learn a language along with your child What the school experience is like for Marianna's daughter who is in an English-speaking school What the most popular and effective bilingual parenting models are..and which ones are not the best ones to try Which episodes of Bilingual Avenue you should check out next (see below) And most importantly, why raising a bilingual child is so worth the extra work and planning - Marianna makes a passionate case towards the end of our show so don't miss that. I'd love to hear more about your own experiences of parenting in another language. Leave a comment below or find me on Twitter (http://www.twitter.com/thefluentshow). Please don't forget to rate & review this show in the Podcasts app and visit our awesome sponsor Speechling. Special Guest: Marianna du Bosq.
"How Can I Get Off The Intermediate Plateau?" If you're stuck somewhere in the language weeds, this show will help you untangle them and get those wheels turning again. You'll learn Why you're feeling stuck How to start feeling like the wheels are turning again How to re-think your feeling of being stuck for an instant mood boost Why rewards make all the difference How to figure out the next step
In The News This Week A deaf woman wanted to attend a pop concert with her young daughter, but had to fight and even sue the company until she was granted a sign language interpreter. Is this fair? We discuss what 'disability' is, how sign language is very different from other languages in music, and how awesome it is to have interpreter companies in this world. Make sure you watch the great video showing how signers interpret music (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-42776454). How to Learn Several Languages at Once Our show topic this week is all about learning more than one language at the same time. Itâs the polyglot dream! Many people, especially polyglots, want to learn as many languages as possible. But is there enough time? How the heck do we fit it in? We discuss advice from polyglots around the internet and compare it with our own life experiences to get to the ultimate tips for learning multiple languages. Click or tap here to read the full list of tips and show notes (http://www.fluentlanguage.co.uk/blog/how-to-learn-several-languages-at-the-same-time)
It's 2018, guys. Time to admit something major: AIN'T NOBODY GOT TIME FOR A 4 WORD PODCAST TITLE đ As of today, I am so excited to announce that this podcast is now The Fluent Show, and we are going WEEKLY. Every week from today, I'll be bringing you an interview or a short episode full of actionable, practical language learning advice. The Fluent Show is here to encourage and support you in your language learning journey. There is much more to discover such as: A new jingle (no more "Christmas music") New artwork A Twitter account - follow us @thefluentshow I know we're going to have so much fun and I cannot WAIT to speak to more cool people and answer your questions on the show. The podcast also has a new website address - find us at fluent.show đ Get Involved You can send us your questions and comments and hear them on the show! Simply send a tweet to @thefluentshow or use the hashtag #fluentshow. You can also email your questions to me at kerstin@fluentlanguage.co.uk. We read each and everyone of your messages, and they often make our days. Please Rate and Review The Fluent Show If you can, please leave a review for this show on iTunes this week. Here's the easiest to review: 1. Get your iPhone, or perhaps use a friend's phone (or both!) 2. Open the app "Podcasts" 3. Search for "The Fluent Show" or select our show image from the Library section 4. In the main screen, scroll down to "Ratings & Reviews" 5. Tap on the stars to rate quickly, or tap "Write a Review" 6. You don't have to write a lot and if you want you can only leave a title such as "Great show for language learners"
Click or tap here to read the full show notes (http://www.fluentlanguage.co.uk/blog/podcast-episode-74) In the News... Kazakhstan is going to change the official script of its language from the Cyrillic to the Latin alphabet by 2025 - we admire their SMART goal setting skills and discuss what could motivate a country to make such a big change. Main Topic: The Future of Language Learning What does the future hold for language learners? When a device translates what you say directly into another language, is there even a need to learn languages anymore? We discuss * Gadgets and stuff that translates our language into other languages * How AI has made language learning apps a lot more useful * Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality as learning aids * The good and bad sides of tech
Click or tap here to read the full show notes (http://www.fluentlanguage.co.uk/blog/podcast-episode-73) German Learners: Click this link to download a full transcript (bilingual) of our conversation, so you can listen and read along at the same time. (https://fluentlanguage.activehosted.com/f/41) Judith Meyer is well-known in the language learning world for co-founding the Polyglot Gathering event and writing several language books and courses. She's consulted by many and freely shares her own tips and experiences from learning over 14 languages. We covered a lot of ground and as a language learner you will be delighted to hear her excellent advice. One Thing You Need to Know About This Episode This is a bilingual podcast. Judith and I are both Germans who speak a lot of English in our daily lives and even in our off-mic conversations we regularly switch between German and English. If you are not an experienced German learner, there will be some parts of the podcast that you donât understand. But like all language learners, youâre not alone in that feeling. Try to stay with us, trust that we will come back to English again and again, and challenge yourself to become comfortable with not understanding everything. Special Guest: Judith Meyer.
Hello from Kerstin and happy new year! In today's show, I've got notes for you on what really mattered for language learning in 2017, and how you can make the most out of these for your own path to fluency. Lessons from 2017: Best practices arenât going anywhere Ask yourself what you want to achieve Get out of the house and use what you know Contribute to your community Getting organised is the key to actually using those best practices: Plan - Track - Review Setting goals helps me get out of my comfort zone - Iâve never self-studied a language to this level and I can totally do it The Year in Language Learning Events Polyglot Gathering in Bratislava It was warm, busy, and great to visit this Slovak city The organisation was outstanding and there was a real sense of interest in almost every talk A lot of people enjoyed the no-English zone I gave a talk on how to talk to people and the feedback was very interesting (no it was NOT about chatting up girls) Already bought my ticket for 2018 Langfest in Montreal It was warm again, a slightly smaller event, and with so many great volunteers and organisers Langfest stood out in how media-savvy it was, there was live streaming, lots of web coverage, even a little podcasting room MontrĂ©al is an amazing city for any polyglot Languages of London A smaller meet-up, great for connecting The podcast came back this year!! Thank you all so much for listening and supporting us. * Thank you to my wonderful guests this year: Madeline Vadkerty and Marianne Manz, Gabriel Wyner, Chuck Smith, Kris Broholm, Shannon Kennedy * Thank you to our sponsor Clozemaster, and the future sponsors who have shown interest in supporting the Creative Language Learning Podcast * A special thank you to my co-host Lindsay Williams * Please review!!
Click or tap here to read the full shownotes. (http://fluentlanguage.co.uk/blog/language-tools-winter) Follow up on a topic: Pop Music Bilingual lyrics, Spanglish and Justin Bieber of all people winning a Latin grammy. Lindsay brings up the Despacito Effect and we discuss if that's a thing. If you love music, check out our pop music episode (http://podcast.fluentlanguage.co.uk/62). Top Tools for Winter 2018 Here are the nominees - listen to the show to find out how they can help you learn languages. Kerstin: 1. Clairefontaine Vocab Notebook (on Amazon UK (http://amzn.to/2jLiIfB), and here's a comparable one on Amazon.com (http://amzn.to/2kpwi82)) This is a classic notebook for learning and testing yourself on vocabulary. Write down your words, and use the handy cover tabs for testing yourself. Perfect for one of my favourite vocabulary learning techniques of all time, Write-Look-Cover-Repeat. 2. Libby (https://meet.libbyapp.com/) Libby is a library app designed to give you access to ebooks and audiobooks in your local library's catalogue. So that means you can borrow hundreds of books and even language courses right now, for free, on your phone or tablet. Available for iOS, Android, and Windows 10. 3. Lingq (http://www.fluentlanguage.co.uk/lingq) (referral link) After hearing so much high praise for Lingq from Shannon Kennedy on episode 65 of the show, Lingq got a well-deserved new mention. This app is designed to help you read any text in another language, and it remembers the words you study. Check it out as it might plug your gap. Lindsay 1. LĂ©a Knows App (http://leaknows.com) This app takes words that you've looked up on google translate and automatically creates flashcards of them. It's out for Android and iOS, and will "proper plug the gap" if you're stuck on how to study all those new words you've looked up, for example during and after speaking practice. 2. Museum leaflets and other "bumf" from tourist attractions near you Discover a museum near you and check out their leaflets in other languages. Perhaps there's even a walking tour so you can get reading and listening practice at the same time, and play around with the available languages. 3. FlowLingo (https://getflowlingo.com) This app is for Spanish users, and gives you access to a huge library of online videos from cartoons to TED talks. You will be able to listen to the video and see the subtitles, and it even pairs with Duolingo. Great for Spanish learners who want to add more video to their routine. This app is out for Android and iOS
These days, the Polyglot Gathering (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_8BR59zKgBzeWPxFtmHSwA) pulls in hundreds of language learners who share and enjoy community in the heart of Europe. A lot of this is thanks to Chuck's contributions, along with the wonderful Polyglot Gathering team. This year, Chuck published his first language learning app, Amikumu (https://amikumu.com/en/). What is Amikumu? Want to text another person and ask them to meet up and practice a language...without looking creepy? Amikumu will help you find people near you who love languages. The purpose of the app is to help you find people nearby to chat and meet up, and it supports the world's 7,000+ languages (including 100+ sign languages). The idea for Amikumu came out of Chuck's love for the planned language Esperanto. Itâs not a natural language choice, itâs a minority language. Why would anyone bother to learn? Language Learning Apps In recent episodes, we've covered language learning apps on a regular basis. If you have a smartphone and you live in the 21st century, they are an essential component of language learning. More and more developers are working on apps for language learning, and Chuck's experience stands out from the crowd: he is the creator of Duolingo's Esperanto course. In our interview, Chuck explained how he came to work on Duolingo and why he loves gamified learning, how we can bring more soul into language learning apps...and why you could probably learn a language if you have three apps. Check out Chuck's app recommendations in our link list below. Special Guest: Chuck Smith.
Beware listeners: This episode contains a discussion of a few English swearwords, so if you are listening with kids please skip the first 20 minutes. And on to what's in this show: Language Stories: Lindsay has a new podcast, reporting back from her adventures around the language landscapes of cities like Montréal, New York, and more. Even after 20 years of English, I still don't know all the words. We discuss an English slang word that was news to me. Tip: The Psychology of Rewards We discussed why and how you can reward yourself when you reach those study goals. Language Learning Misconceptions Here's the list we discussed on the show: Children learn their first language effortlessly Younger learners learn languages more easily than older learners Intelligent people are better at learning languages Immersion is the best way to learn a language Grammar study is detrimental to second-language acquisition Learning a second language hinders the development of the first language Once a child can speak a language, the language-learning process is complete Consider: All these ideas and beliefs are widespread, but none of them are true when taken at face value!
On this show, I spoke to Gabriel (Gabe) Wyner (http://fluent-forever.com), a well known name to many language learners thanks to his bestselling book "Fluent Forever". In this interview, you will get to know the story of "Fluent Forever", the approach he takes to language learning, and a little bit about what makes him tick as a person. The theme I saw come through in Gabe's approach was that of engineering language learning to be as efficient and productive as it can possibly be. He's an engineer by trade and it shows in how he approaches language learning: find the problem, find a way to solve it, set, and go. It made me curious about his human side, so we also discussed where he finds the joy in learning. Beyond the app, I also took the opportunity to ask Gabe about the inner monologue of self-doubt, and courage in creation and in language learning. But that is not all we talked about...we also discussed what this app is all about In our interview touched on.. how Gabe's own experience of creating over 45,000 (!) flash cards in Anki is going to make language learning so much more efficient what it's like to have created a book that more than 120,000 people have read why the Fluent Forever method started with pronunciation training...then progressed via word lists...and is now ready to take app-based learning to a new level the big, obvious, annoying problem of using ready-made flashcards (this is why you won't remember words) the place for apps in everyday language learning -- is immersion better than apps? is an app better than immersion? Do language learners have to do everything at the same time? how the Fluent Forever has standing based on actual science (and a research book tip if you want to find out more) what to do when you're too scared to start speaking to someone in your target language a Q&A on learning two languages at the same time, where the Fluent Forever app is headed after its HUGE Kickstarter success, and what rewards there are for you when you pledge to support its big Crowdfunding campaign Special Guest: Gabriel Wyner.
Words in the Wild: Equality and Tea I've been out in the wild, seeing and discussing words in the English language, and in this episode I presented the best of them to Lindsay to discuss what they can reveal about us and about society. First, we discussed social justice words. What really IS mansplaining? Is it just a word to describe any occasion when a man explains something to a woman? Or is there more to it? What do you think of the social justice words like hepeating, mansplaining, manel, and the responding #notallmen and broflakes? And our second word in the wild was tea - short and sweet, but is this even translateable? Motivation Tips Even though this is not Lindsay's average October of falling leaves and dropping temperatures, we took a deep dive into the season to discuss how you can get motivated for learning a language in autumn/fall. Plus, we've got some absolute evergreen tips mixed in for you to help anyone learning a language by themselves. Learning a language by yourself is not always easy, and motivation is a huge challenge. There are so many interesting and exciting ways to get going, so here are some of our best: You can read our full list of motivation tips in detail at www.fluentlanguage.co.uk/blog/podcast-episode-67 Little tip: Try our sponsor Clozemaster (http://www.clozemaster.com/cllp) as your new app addiction. Get it done in the morning, and you'll be set for the day.
In this episode, I'm presenting two interviews with women who are working to change people's lives through the power of language. Madeline, Interpreter for Survivors of Torture and Trauma Community Interpreter Madeline Vadkerty gives me an overview of what it is like to interpret for survivors of torture and trauma. This interview was an incredible chance to learn more about interpreting from her, and to hear why helping refugees and toture survivors get their stories heard matters so much. The people Madeline works with were caught in situations that we take for granted in many other countries: running for political office, being a homosexual, or expressing different opinions to the mainstream. She says got into her field "for the love of humanity", and shares what you need to know if interpreting intrigues you. Marianne, Religious education teacher...turned teacher for refugees When Germany accepted a large number of refugees back in 2015, many communities sprang into action. In this interview, I'm learning more from Marianne Manz, a school teacher who decided to put together a motivated group of volunteers to offer language classes in German. Marianne works with a range of untrained language teachers - there are some pitfalls for sure and the group needed to find unusual techniques for teaching. Special Guests: Madeline Vadkerty and Marianne Manz.
In this episode, polyglot expert Shannon fills in for Lindsay - we catch up on our language learning and Duolingo, and then discuss why and how reading makes you fluent and smart and cultured. Remember: If you visit our sponsor Clozemaster at www.clozemaster.com/cllp, you'll be supporting the Creative Language Learning Podcast for free! Listen to find out.. Why did Duolingo wait so long to release Korean? K-Pop and Kimchi lovers, look out for Duolingo's latest offering. We catch up on news with the world's (probably) biggest language learning app, looking at its course offers and money-earning developments. They have a Pro membership now, but we're not mad at them! How early should you read? Reading from day 1 is what it's all about, and we discuss why it can boost fluency and memory when you start by reading right away. Think connecting what you see with what you hear to avoid stumbling blocks like bad spelling, dodgy pronunciation, and all-round low confidence. What about difficult scripts? While I've "elegantly" avoided learning complex writing systems such as Hiragana or Arabic for my languages, Shannon was on hand to advise on what it's like to learn another script. How to find input for your level It's hard to get over these two problems: Coursebooks are obvious, but they're so limited and dull. Books for learners are great, but they take for actual ever to read. In this show, we share a few tips for reading in your target language and in a way that is actually interesting! Shannon reads with her son and loves the Lingq app, and I am a big fan of magazines. Revelation about the Lingq app I have tried reading-focused app Lingq before, but didn't quite get it...while Shannon is their biggest fan! What gives? Shannon shares tips and insights from what it's actually like to use this app. Why you shouldn't just read Harry Potter in another language Translated literature opens up linguistic worlds to you, but you could be missing a trick. There is nothing like reading the words that came from a country, and I make the case that it is always worth it to spend the extra time and effort on finding texts that are originally written in another language. The Language Reading Challenge For more inspiration and a look at what Shannon and other polyglots are reading right now, head to Goodreads to join the Reading Challenge hosted by Shannon. What do you think? What do you read in your target language? And have you tried Shannon's challenge? Special Guest: Shannon Kennedy.
This podcast episode is a bit like a WundertĂŒte - a lucky dip bag of interviews with wonderful people who made the 2017 Langfest event what it was. Thank you so much to all of these lovely people - Langfest was motivating, informative, energising, and of course very, very multilingual. Here's a taste of what you'll find inside the episode: Could you become a multilingual parent? We've all seen the feats of Bella Devyatkina, who speaks 8 languages at age 5. But how does that work? In my interview with conference organizer Tetsu Young, we touched on the everyday actions that he and his wife create a multilingual environment for their three (!) kids. Applying your outside skills to language learning You might not know this, but all of us have hidden skills that help us learn languages. I interviewed Benny Lewis and Tim Pelletier to find out what theirs are. Impressions of QuĂ©bĂ©cois From how to make those dipthong sounds to religious swearing, be a fly on the wall during our French-language lesson on the QuĂ©bec dialect. A few words in Romanian Listen to me try as hard as possible to get my Romanian pronunciation right with the kind help of presenter Mihai. Ooof! Unconventional Motivational Techniques Jana Fadness is a polyglot, translator, traveller, and introvert. She shares her insights on the most popular motivational techniques - and how she found her own unconventional ways of making things work. Jana's interview was amazing, her honesty stood out among the crowd. Special Guests: Benny Lewis and Shannon Kennedy.
Speaking your new language for the first time can be so nerve-wracking! Will they switch to English? Are you good enough? Will you even get the words out? In today's episode, join me to start beating those gremlin questions.
Why does pop music matter for language learning?
- What influence does the industry have for which music gets made and which doesn't?
- Why is English such a convenient language for pop music?
- How should you incorporate pop music into your language learning routine...or should you?
- Where can language learners find music in their own target language?
- Who are our favourite artists in other languages?
Links from this Podcast Episode* How to Use Spotify for Language Learning * Quora: Why do non-English speaking countries listen primarily to English-sung songs instead of producing modern/pop songs in their own languages? * Guardian: Behind the music: What it costs European acts to sing in their own languages
In dance music it's generally more important how lyrics sound than what they actually mean. Artists with English as a second language can be less judgmental about what's deemed a cliche.
- 10 Great Songs That Topped US Charts But Werenât Performed In English
- Foreign language songs that got to Number 1 in the UK
- The Hottest German Lesson in Town: Deutschland 83 and Major Tom (PLUS Free Lyric & Vocab Sheet
- How I Built This, an NPR Podcast
- Honest Reggaeton (not 100% SFW)
The Biggest Pop Genres That Succeed in Other LanguagesLatino popNotable collaborations include Despacito with Luis Fonsi, Daddy Yankee, Justin Bieber, and Bailando with Enrique Iglesias, Sean Paul et al.
- Alt.Latino Podcast
- Residente by Residente), an album exploring the artist's international heritage
K-Pop* New York Times Popcast * KCON Music Festival)
European Music and EurovisionCheck out Stromae, KRO, Prince Pi, Indochine, Robyn (in English).
- Our European Day of Music Live Episode
- Lindsay's #songsaturday Playlist
Welcome to Creative Language Learning Podcast episode 56, with our popular roundup of this season's hottest language learning resources and tools.
Pop Culture MomentLindsay has been watching Terrace House, a Japanese reality tv show.
I found Bore Da, a Welsh breakfast show that displays key vocab right on the screen. Its app even gives you individual items with associated vocab lists.
Anyone remember pop-up video? How could would it be to have pop-up vocab video?!
And now for the top toolsGrab your sunglasses, get out into the sunshine, and try these brand new language learning resources. This season, we're not all about online learning anymore as you'll hear how Lindsay and I are applying our best tips outside too.
1) Prettier Notes* How to: Bullet Journal for Effective Language Learning
2) ClozemasterPlay the game at www.clozemaster.com
3) Charity Shops and Library Sales* Find a charity shop in the UK in this directory
And here's what's awesome too.
Live Lingua ProjectDubbed YouTube Videos* Need inspiration? Start your search with disney classic "Let It Go" * Type your favourite show + your target language into the YouTube search bar
Subasub and SubsceneAdvanced geeks can even create their own Anki cards using the subtitles on offer (we saw a talk about this at the Polyglot Gathering, but it kinda went over my head -- if you want to go for it, start here.
- Search for a word or watch a movie while following the script to get the most out of this for learning languages
- Check out this example of scripts mentioning Twin Peaks in English and Spanish
In episode 55, friend of the show Kris Broholm from Actual Fluency joined me to discuss mindset and accountability in language learning that come from a place of reality and gentle confidence.
Tune in to hear us chat and share:
- Great advice for English speakers who want to have early success in a new language
- Language learning is such a complicated jigsaw puzzle, so how can we really track what we have actually learnt?
- Is it presumptuous, are you lacking humility if you set yourself a big, impressive goal?
- How the reason you are learning a language is DIRECTLY connnected to the success that you are going to have a week, 3 months, and perhaps 12 months down the line
- The one thing you MUST have in order to get language learning motivated - a sense of "this is who I am"
Four Tendencies in Language LearningWe revisit perspectives on the 4 tendencies framework Lindsay and I discussed in episode 32. Kris is on record as an Obliger, saying:
"It would be Embarrassing to tell people that I gave up."
You can take a test to determine your own tendency here.
Links From This Episode* The Language Habit Toolkit * Gretchen Rubin * Kris's Course Language Routine Mastery * Clear the List on Kris's Actual Fluency blog * The James Altucher Podcast
Leave us an iTunes ReviewYour feedback is extremely important to the show. It gives us inspiration, topics, ideas, and it makes us happy. Find us on Twitter and Instagram using hashtag #cllp
You can help our show by going on itunes and leaving us a review yourself - we are invisible without your help!
Special Guest: Kris Broholm.
It's one of my favourite episodes of the year - the live clips are in, so you can experience the Polyglot Gathering in 2017 with the Creative Language Learning Podcast as we bring you interviews, impressions and fun from the conference floor.
Here's just a hint of what's inside:
- Wonderful best wishes to you awesome listeners in German, Indonesian, Esperanto, Portuguese, Slovak, Korean, and more!
- Slovakia Travel Tips and insights into their unlikely national sport
- Fiel's call to arms -- how to bring more love into language learning
- The special vocabulary and handy rule 15 of Esperanto grammar
- What Gareth Popkins taught us about polyglotism...and what it has to do with your love life
Come to an International Polyglot EventIf our episode inspired you to come and participate in a Polyglot event, check out the 2 big international conferences on the calendar:
- Langfest in Montréal, Canada -- get 25% discount when you enter promo code KERSTIN
- Polyglot Conerence in ReykjavĂk, Iceland
"Polyglot" is nothing to be scared of - not anymore!
If this conference has shown me anything, it's that this community called "polyglots" is ever evolving and slowly becoming an ever more supportive, familial group. It's great to see what people of all ages and backgrounds contribute...and of course it feels so fun when you're back home and suddenly realize your phone keyboard now has a Swedish dictionary installed.
To learn more about smaller events near you, check out 8 Life-Changing Language Learning Events Around the Globe here on the blog.
We love having you back with the show. WELCOME if you are a new subscriber. HIGH FIVE if you've always been with us.
A lot has happened over the last 8 months and in this show you will hear stories about...
- The new languages Lindsay has been studying - and why she often changes them
- How we watch TV in other languages
- The joys of learning minority languages
- Our favourite podcasts and blog articles of 2016/17
- Where we are travelling this year
- ...and why we're a polite show
You can catch me and Lindsay at the Polyglot Gathering in Bratislava. Listen to hear more about the talks we'll seek out.
Links From This Episode* The Fault In Our Stars Bench, Amsterdam * Polyglot Bratislava Program 2017 * Langfest in Montréal, August 2017 <- 25% discount with this link * FFasiwn Mecanic, a Welsh talent search show * The Language Habit Toolkit * Guaranà Language * What Gets Easier When You Study More Languages? * The Ultimate Guide to Language Learning Podcasts * Talk the Talk Podcast * SBS News Feeds available in 50+ languages
Your feedback is extremely important to the show. It gives us inspiration, topics, ideas, and it makes us happy. Find us on Twitter and Instagram using hashtag #cllp
You can help our show by going on itunes and leaving us a review yourself - we do read them all.
This episode of the Creative Language Learning Podcast is as fun as ever, covering the ultimate Good, Bad and Struggling and our Top 5 Language Learning Tools of 2016/17.
Our Favourite Language Learning Tools for Autumn/Winter 2016Listen to the show to get the detailed recommendations, and here is a quick index.
1) Lyricstraining.com
This website is awesome!! It pulls in music videos from YouTube and VEVO, adds the lyrics and converts the whole thing into a game. Teachers might call it a "cloze exercise", I call it "fill in the gap", and anyone would call this one a whole lot of fun.
- Get yourself to Lyricstraining.com and give it a go
2) Gus on The Go
A language learning collection created by parents for children. It's fun, it's beautiful, it's available as an app for your smartphone and tablet. In a sea of language learning apps, Gus on the Go stands out for its design and layout. There are apps available in 28 languages. Highly recommended for getting any young person started in a new language!
- Get the link for your chosen language here
3) TuneIn Radio
A language learner's classic for natural input. This app and website lets you listen to radio stations from all around the world. It's perfect if you're at that stage where you're looking for a way to "level up" in your language. There are also podcasts, or you could search by favourite music style. The diverse voices of radio DJs and exciting foreign language music will give you a great new challenge.
- Download the app or listen live at TuneIn.com.
4) Tiny Cards
This is a new app from the team behind Duolingo. It's all about adorable flashcards helping you review and check your knowledge on anything, from language vocab to colour theory. This promises to take the Duolingo design excellence to a new level. Great if you're looking for a new flashcard app.
- Right now this is out on iOS only, but you can register Android interest here
5) Eggbun
Yes, it's another super cute app! This innovative little app works like a text chat, where you're chatting with your new friend "Eggbun", who is teaching you the Korean alphabet and language. If you're addicted to texting on your phone, here's an AI teacher who will reply anytime.
- The app is out for Korean (iOS/Android), Japanese (iOS coming soon, but already out on Android), and soon coming out soon in Chinese. Get your preferred version from the lovely Eggbun website.
Honorary MentionThe All 4 App now has a wonderful "Walter Presents" range, bringing in comedies, dramas and crime shows in a really wide range of languages. If you're in the UK, you go and have a look.
Learn more about how to use TV to learn a language in podcast episode 31.
So The Podcast is Taking a Break..But that does not mean you're going to miss us too much. Lindsay and I have gone through the archives together, selecting our own favourite episodes for you to try.
Here are our essential Creative Language Learning Podcast episodes you should not miss:
- Episode 5 with André Klein, which was a truly inspiring interview about so much more than "German storytelling". André and I discussed why creativity is so important for language learner, and how you can use it to get out of the failures of school learning.
- Episode 21 - Why Your Language Learning Goal Sucks and What to Do About It, in which I originally got on the mic only to tell you about my new course...but then I had a big rant about goals and why they suck.
- Episode 30 - How to Achieve a New Year's Goal of Learning a New Language, which is full of small and actionable tips and you're guaranteed to find good advice for your language learning problem.
- Episode 37 - The Secret Languages of Great Britain, an episode with the incredible Simon Ager of Omniglot in which we discovered that Great Britain actually has more than 10 languages - not just English!
- Episode 40 - Live from the Polyglot Gathering in Berlin, a fun and lively audio-postcard from Berlin
- Episode 45 - How to Learn a Language Using Snapchat, which turned out to be such a great guide show and covered one small topic from lots of fab angles
- Episode 51 - Top 5 Fictional Languages is the podcast episode for listeners who love to spend a lot of time in the land of books, films and video games
Other Link From This Episode* Futurelearn - free online courses provided by UK universities and organisations. They offer some language courses, including Dutch, Danish, Spanish, and Catalan Sign Language (!) * News in Slow French
Do you speak Sindarin?
In this episode, Lindsay and I went full-on nerd and we were loving it! The world of fictional languages is richer than a London billionaire, and we have researched and collected the most awesome fictional languages for you to learn about.
In this episode, you'll hear the new Good, Bad and Struggling followed by the Ultimate Fictional Languages Chart. Here in the shownotes, you'll see our Top 5 and the best of all links available so you can follow along and listen to the show.
Our Top 5 Fictional Languages 1. Elvish 2. Nadsat/ Newspeak 3. Klingon 4. Minionese 5. Simlish
Dothraki, High Valyrian and Game of Thrones * Game of Thrones: Creating the Dothraki language * The Language Creation Society
Elvish, Quenya and Tolkien * The Elvish Linguistic Fellowship * The J.R.R. Tolkien Audio Collection * A free Quenya course from Norway * J.R.R. Tolkien Reads (A Poem In Elvish) * The Ring Verse read in Black Speech
Klingon and Vulcan * Youtube clip of Mark Okrand talking about how he developed Klingon of him describing the development). * The Klingon Language Institute * The Klingon copyright case in 2016 * Klingon teacher on Youtube: Lesson 1 * Klingon phrasebook for your intergalactic needs
Na'vi * Learnnavi.org. * Naviteri, Paul Frommer's blog about Na'vi
Simlish * A little Simlish phrasebook * 15 Songs You Didn't Know Were Recorded in Simlish * Fun - We Are Young in Simlish
Minion Language * "Ramsbottom" Gag in 19 translations * Minions - Trailer on Youtube * Minions say Indonesian on YouTube
Newspeak in 1984 * 1984 - Newspeak on YouTube
Nadsat in A Clockwork Orange * Droogs quarrel in the Korova Milk Bar
Other Links and Resources From This Episode * Do Canadians Say Autumn or Fall? * 6 Fictional Languages You Can Actually Learn * Invented Languages - Opinion Piece on Eurolinguiste
We did it! 50 episodes, and one massive live celebration are behind us and a record number of you guys tuned in to listen live and chat to us
In This Episode You'll Hear Kerstin's story of creating her European Day of Languages video on YouTube with all of the strangers (did you know I knew nothing about Welsh?) * LIVE Good, Bad and Struggling with the Chatroom! * Of course, our Huge* 36 Question European Day of Languages QUIZ * A bittersweet announcement about the show's hiatus after episode 52
Missed the Quiz?Don't miss out! If you want to quiz along, listen to the show recording. We saved all the answers until the end of every round so you can guess along with the live audience.
And if you want a PDF of the Questions and Answers, simply hop over here and join the Fluent Language Cool Kids Club.
Links From This Episode* Kerstin's 25 European Languages Video and Lindsay's 39 European Languages Video * That time Lindsay received a haircut on television * Russian in 10 Minutes a Day, available from Amazon UK and Amazon US * Easy Languages videos on YouTube
Hey everyone, welcome to episode 49 of the Creative Language Learning Podcast.
The Good, The Bad and The StrugglingRoutines lapsing for the summer, looking forward to September, and permission to half-ass online courses in this week's catch-up with Lindsay and Kerstin.
What's your Good, Bad and Struggling?We'd love to hear from you guys on this one. If you want to share what's good, bad and difficult in your languages right now, send your feedback to us. We read every one and your language news could make it to a show intro in the future.
Simply do one of the following:
1) go on Skype and leave a voice message for fluentlanguage
2) or email us at podcast@fluentlanguage.co.uk - include a voice memo from your phone if you can, so we can feature your voice on the show
Topic: Language Learning Can Bring World Peace
Language is a beautiful caress that can make strangers melt into friends, but la gusgen is also a verbal door that can be closed in the face of outsiders. (Eddie Butler)
We went for deep stuff, and discussed the many ways that language learning can improve the world. From individual peace of mind, via tolerance in your everyday life, to changing the outlook of your country.
We found it felt wrong not to talk about moving abroad. Considering what's happening in Britain this year, the discussion turned to migration. Do people miss out when something foreign is added to the community? Our discussion might surprise you, because as always all isn't quite what it seems. And yes, we did say the B-word: Brexit.
And what about language education in schools? If we believe that language learning creates world peace, should we make everyone learn as many languages as possible?
The Power of LanguageFinally, we only need to give you one word that shows something very interesting: migrant. Even when you're not learning a foreign language, the way that people and media around us use language to shape opinions affects everyone's life.
We touch on the idea that language can send signals about all of us, and make or break peace.
In our discussion, Lindsay and I got as close as you can get to saying horrible words. But not all the way there.
We hope you have a listen to find out more, and get in touch to tell us where you stand on language and world peace.
Links and Resources* Lingo Newydd, Welsh Learning Magazine * Lindsay on IWTYAL and Olly IWTYAL on the Creative Language Learning Podcast * Everyone's A Little Bit Racist by Avenue Q * Babel, the Language Magazine is talking about how "migrant" as a word has changed * BBC Article
Hello and welcome to Episode 48 of the Creative Language Learning Podcast!
We started off our episode with some insights into what's going on with our language learning - in a new format! It's called the good, the bad and the struggling. Listen in and tell us what you think!
What's your Good, Bad and Struggling?We'd love to hear from you guys on this one. If you want to share what's good, bad and difficult in your languages right now, send your feedback to us. We read every one and your language news could make it to a show intro in the future.
Simply do one of the following:
1) go on Skype and leave a voice message for fluentlanguage
2) email us at podcast@fluentlanguage.co.uk - include a voice memo from your phone if you can, so we can feature your voice on the show
Topic: You Do Not Need a Native Speaker For PracticeThis one had a controversial statement at the heart of it, and Lindsay and I debated the merits of hunting, finding, selecting, working with and learning with native speakers.
So, do you need a native speaker to learn a language?Or can you learn a language just as well if you don't have a native speaker to practice with?
One of us argued that native speakers are almost "fetishized" in the world of language learning -- listen in to find out which one and see where our debate ended up.
In this episode, we let you guys take us where you wanted us to go with your awesome listener messages.
Some of What We Talked About
Where to go when you travel to Lithuania* (home of our first listener)
-
Great tips for studying Korean, like how to study the grammar and where to go next after learning Hangul script
-
Is there ever a perfect language course that is not too slow and not too fast?
-
How to set yourself little language goals
-
Great apps on your smartphone that help you learn languages
-
How to beat procrastination when youâre supposed to be studying your languages
((Find our homescreen gallery on the blog or at www.fluentlanguage.co.uk/podcast))
We want to thank you guys so much for sending us so much feedback (especially Paulina, Stephen and Andy) in this episode. Keep it coming, we always read your reviews and feedback and definitely want more voice messages.
You Can Be On The ShowYou can submit your message to us anytime. Simply do one of the following:
-
go on Skype and leave a voice message for fluentlanguage
OR -
email us at kerstin@fluentlanguage.co.uk - include a voice memo from your phone if you can, so we can feature your voice on the show
-
leave a comment on this blog post
Make sure you mention your name and which languages youâre learning.
Links and Resources From This Episode
* Polyglot Symposium in Canada, where Lindsay gave a talk about Social Media and Language Learning
-
National Eisteddfod - Eisteddfod Genedlaethol, the National Festival of Wales
-
Lindsayâs Language Script Challenge
-
italki, where you can find informal and formal tutoring
Korean
* How to Study Korean
-
First Step Korean, free online Korean course on Coursera
-
Audio for Colloquial Korean by Routledge
-
Podcasts Talk To Me in Korean and Korean Class 101
-
Naver Dictionary
Welsh
* BBC Welsh Challenge
-
Say Something In Welsh
-
Welsh Language Album of the Year
Apps
* Linq
-
Wlingua, learn Spanish online
-
Memrise
-
HelloTalk
-
Duolingo
-
Innovative Language
-
Meistertask, for organizing yourself
-
Tandem
-
JW Language by Jehovahâs Witnesses (whoah!)
-
LEO Dictionary
There are so many more that we mention on the show, so donât forget to check out our home screen gallery for inspiration.
Beating Procrastination
* Self Control App for Mac Computers
-
Leechblock for Firefox
-
StayFocusd for Chrome
-
30/30 App for iOS
Don't forget to catch the mention of our good friends at Flashsticks, the language learning post-it guys. You can purchase vocabulary post-it notes in 8 languages and get 10% off with the code KERSTIN10 - or just download the free Flash Academy app.
When you reach the higher language levels, it's not enough to just study. How does it feel to reach a level where you are looking for ways to go beyond fluency? How can you move towards mastery?
There's no Lindsay in this episode (don't worry, she'll be back very soon!), so I found myself two experts who know what they are talking about:
- Tristan Foy, an American polyglot who's currently my advanced German student
and
- Gareth Popkins from How To Get Fluent
The episode is full of tips and strategies for reaching the very advanced levels and getting better even after years of study.
Check out the full blog post and show notes for this article at www.fluentlanguage.co.uk/blog/podcast-advanced-language
Key Points:
- It's Not About Fast Progress
- Advanced Level Means Finding "More" In The Language
"Learning a language is a bit like hugging a cactus - you can never get entirely comfortable"
- It Takes Work To Progress
Enjoy the journey, stop for a breather whenever you feel like it and keep going.
- Fluency - No One Cares!
Tristan sums this up with a wonderful sentence: Don't worry about getting fluent. Worry about getting better.
- You Need Humility
Links and Resources Mentioned In This Episode* How to Get Fluent, Gareth's blog - highly recommended * Ellen Jovin's idea of the Polyglutton * Gareth's summary of the Polyglot Gathering, in which he explains what "The Need Principle" is:
Learning another language is a long, hard process, requiring a lot of dedication (..) After all, as an adult trying to learn a new language itâs all about âovercoming human natureâ. You need, erm, âneedâ: youâre either surrounded by the language, you know somebody who speaks it, you have an unusual interest in the country or culture or the language will benefit you at work
- Wade's Russian Grammar
- Hammer's German Grammar
- Teach Yourself Courses
- Our sponsors Flashsticks
Special Guest: Gareth Popkins.
In our introduction, we take you on a tour de force German kids' TV, Icelandic football cheering, and the pronunciation of Montréal.
Don't forget to catch the mention of our good friends at Flashsticks, the language learning post-it guys. You can purchase vocabulary post-it notes in 8 languages and get 10% off with the code KERSTIN10 - or just download the free Flash Academy app.
What is Snapchat?Snapchat is a social media app for any smartphone. It lets you share photos or videos, and your snap only lasts 24 hours unless you make it a "memory".
Of course you can change the menu language, but with such strong visual focus that alone won't teach you a language.
It's designed for camera phones and not available on your desktop computer.
Why is it awesome? It's easy, fast and low-pressure. In other photo social networks, you would be tempted to make every picture stunning and impressive and beautiful. But in Snapchat, you'll just play and learn in the process. What does that mean? No more shyness, no more reasons to avoid speaking! * It allows you to stitch things together into a story, so you can share a 5-second snap, or go ahead and combine several videos to show how you speak a foreign language. * For language learning, the new Memories* feature is a way to track your progress. Record yourself speaking today, save the memory, and try the same thing in a month. You'll be surprised at your own progress!
Great Accounts to Follow (Click for the Snapcodes)* fluentlanguage * ldlanguages * irishpolyglot * flashsticks - recommended! * bradchase
Links and Further Reading - Become a Snapchat Expert* How I Use Snapchat For Language Learning on Lindsay's blog * North American Polyglot Symposium, where Lindsay is giving a talk this weekend * Ghostcodes app * Die Sendung mit der Maus, German kids' TV show with bilingual credits
Are You a Snapchat User?If you use Snapchat for language learning (or not), leave us a comment and share your usernames and snapcodes.
Thank you guys so much for being podcast listeners, chatting to us on twitter (I'm @kerstinhammes and Lindsay is @ldlanguages) and making your voices heard!
Dear listeners,
As this is our first show since the UK's historic EU referendum, we wanted to take a minute to talk to you guys about Brexit, Britain's exit from the European Union.
Lindsay and I both stand firmly on the side of "Remain", the campaign that did not want British people to vote for leaving the EU. For me as a German citizen, it is particularly heartbreaking to see my adopted home country vote for a process that is going to strengthen the lines between our countries. For Lindsay as a Brit, it has created an atmosphere in which it's difficult to feel at home. On a personal level, the result devastated both of us, although we respect the many different opinions that will have gone through voters' minds on the day.
The reports of xenophobic and intolerant comments and incidents since the result were another shock. Racial abuse is not acceptable behaviour, and this is not a time to turn to politicians promising to improve things by hurting foreigners.
Of course, there are also concerns about what leaving the European Union might mean for the UK's other nations and their own languages, especially Wales and Scotland. This is a time of real uncertainty, and Lindsay and I are finding ourselves in the middle of it.
We believe that being British does not exclude being European. We want to live in a prosperous, positive and inclusive Europe, and believe in a philosophy that emphasizes unity, working together and holding our country to the highest possible standard. In the following show, you'll hear our stories of being in other countries, and how amazing the experience can be for growth as language learners and as humans. We hope that Britain will find a path that keeps this freedom and commitment to an international fuutre available to all of its citizens, and all that want to experience languages in the UK.
Thank you guys so much for listening to our show, and for opening your life to all the benefits of language learning. We wish you all the best today.
Kerstin and Lindsay
Episode 44 is kindly sponsored by our friends at Flashsticks. Check out their new app Flash Academy is out now. It's a language playground offering you light lessons, games and quizzes. Go check it out for free at Flash Sticks and get 10% off everything at the site with code KERSTIN10.
Learning a Language In-CountryLearning a language where it is spoken is one of the Top 5 wishes on every learner's bucket list. In this episode, we explore stories and tips about language learning - including Lindsay's travels to Costa Rica, and what Kerstin's English was like on day 1 in England.
- What's different between home learning and in-country learning?
- The risk and benefit of having a "home library" for language learning
- How can you build your in-country vocabulary?
- Why having no choice is the single best thing you can do for your language skills
- The three types of in-country learning: Short Stay, Mid-Stay and Complete Life Change
- How to rank and assess your language level on the "Kerstin Cable Breakfast Food Scale"
- German learners! Kerstin is inviting you to come to Germany and speak for a week at the Fluent German Retreat
- Exactly what to do when people correct you as you speak another language
- What does it mean when you start to dream and think in another language?
Plus: Bonus SecretWe started off the show comparing a few Duolingo notes, and finally find out what happens when you finish a Duolingo skill tree.
Links and Resources from this Show* Becoming Fluent book by Roger Kreuz and Richard Roberts * Creative Language Learning Podcast Episode 32 - the one about habit building * Learn German in Germany with Kerstin at the Fluent German Retreat * Lindsay's "Learning x in x" Series on Youtube * Derren Brown * David Blaine's interview * Paul McKenna - stage hypnotist and self help guy
You Can Be On The Show!Do you want to become a part of the Creative Language Learning Podcast? Then send us your feedback!
We would love you to record a voicemail on your phone and email it to kerstin@fluentlanguage.co.uk -- send us a question or a comment so you can be on the show.
Got Duolingo or Flashsticks Academy on your phone?Then take a picture and send it to kerstin@fluentlanguage.co.uk or tweet @kerstinhammes and @ldlanguages #cllp to see your "learner phone" featured in a future show.
Oour good friends at Flashsticks are back as podcast sponsors - go check out their awesome new app and post-it notes in 8 languages at Flashsticks.com and claim 10% discount using code KERSTIN10.
"This is one of the most important things that we can do as humans - to constantly strive to learn about things that we don't understand."
An organization dedicated to raising awareness of language diversity.
We all know that language is important, but after listening to this episode you'll be amazed at the enormous variety of perspectives on this topic. Non-profit organization Wikitongues looks at languages from all points of view - as a metaphor for life.
What do we lose when a language dies?There are communities that lose their ability to lose their own language - when a language is lost, the individuals in that community lose a part of who they are. Language death is both a loss of history and a loss of identity.
If you oppose racism, mysogyny, genocide and oppresion, you must support language diversity!
And if you thought language discrimination was a thing of the past, think again: Languages like Occitan and Cornish are experiencing it right now.
Links from this episode* Youtube Channel of Wikitongues * Language or Linguistic Rights is the summary of human rights that cover our rights to speak and choose our languages. * Poly, the app by Wikitongues * The World in Words podcast: Who in Japan speaks Ainu? * The World in Words podcast: Welsh is considered a model for language revitalization, but its fate is still uncertain * Yvonne Treis's Book about MoselfrÀnkisch: "Ein Kaffee zum Mitholen, bitte!"
Some cool languages documented on Wikitongues:
- Nafasana, a language of Vanuatu (where?)
- Ainu, a language of Japan
Note for pedants: In the interview, the Universal Declaration for Human Rights was mentioned, but the speaker may have meant the Universal Declaration for Linguistic Rights. I researched this but could not find the exact quote in either one. If you know more details, go ahead and leave a comment or itunes review to help us out.
Today's episode returns to the topic of making money with languages. We ask if that's something you should be doing and how it can work.
In this episode, you get a look behind the scenes of our own careers, the jobs we've had and those that may be yet to come. All I'm saying is "flower lab!" đ·
Three Reasons You Should Work With Languages1) If you love it and you're passionate, it's a great way to bring excitement to your work
2) Working with languages will make you better at languages
3) You get to make great new connections with other speakers of your language
Our sponsor for this episode is Lindsay's new course, the Online Teaching Starter Kit. It's a complete guide to becoming an online teacher in five different parts. Check it out at www.fluentlanguage.co.uk/otsk.
Modern Languages students often look at the list of "related jobs" for their degree and ask "Is that all?!"
What you will hear: What does it really mean to have a passion for something? * You're not meant to be good enough (not perfect) at languages when you go for a job interview * The disappointing list of "jobs related to a Modern Languages degree" on a leading careers website * The weird and wonderful list of "jobs where your Modern Languages degree would be useful" on the same website * How to bring languages into your career without applying for a new job * Our stories from applying for and working in the following jobs: translator, tutor, interpreter, teaching assistant, video game tester, export sales assistant, international recruitment manager * Why we work online and for ourselves, but we're not digital nomads * How to get started as an online tutor in particular, and the fantastic concept of timeboxing*
"Self employment is self improvement." (Lindsay does soundbites)
Links From This Episode* Snapchat - add ldlanguages and fluentlanguage and hear us practice Korean, Japanese, German, Welsh..and whatever else we want to speak * What can I do with a degree in Modern Languages? - Prospects Website * Online Teaching Starter Kit * Fluent's "Behind The Scenes" Blog about self-employment and marketing as a teacher * Get started as an online teacher on italki * The Tutor Pages Reviewed on Fluent * Quit Podcast
You can get in touch with us and tell us what you thought by
1) leaving us an iTunes review by visiting our itunes page and clicking "Ratings and Reviews"
2) using hashtag #cllp on Twitter (I am @kerstinhammes and Lindsay is @ldlanguages).
This episode brings you the best mindset tips for learning a language for your next trip - even if you're completely busy and scared of talking to native speakers.
In this episode you'll hear* Awesome listener feedback, including my top tip for what to do when people keep asking you to perform and "say something in" your target language * Is it rude not to know the language of the country you are visiting? * How I didn't do prep for my Iceland trip in the ideal way - and why a phrasebook would've been better * What's different when you are learning languages for travel, and not "for life" * What we learnt from reading the word "pizza" in lots of languages * What to do immediately after you return home
Catch it all by following us on Snapchat - I am fluentlanguage and Lindsay is ldlanguages.
Links Mentioned In This Episode* HelloTalk - Language Exchange App, where you can find speakers of any language at all * Kerstin's First Vlog in Welsh * Lonely Planet Phrasebooks * Langenscheidt Phrasebooks * Lindsay's Learning X in X Video Series * Delicious Lavtian Cili Pica * Helga's shrine to Arnold on Hey Arnold * Calendars of Longing - a new postcard every week, these are so beautiful
ReviewsYour feedback is extremely important to the show. It gives us inspiration, topics, ideas, and it makes us happy.
You can help our show by going on itunes and leaving us a review yourself - we do read them all.
This episode comes with a bit of a difference, as Lindsay and I were reporting live from the Polyglot Gathering in Berlin.
We bring you reports and impressions from what's going on at the event.
There are opportunities to listen in to the fabulous language introductions. We had the opportunity to learn about all kinds of languages, from Indonesian to Greek.
Itâs about people coming together and accepting each other for who they are. Itâs a life philosophy, in a way. - Jordan
I also brought my microphone to several new people - hear the personal language learning stories of Tristan, Jordan and Stephen who are all English native speakers learning over 5 foreign languages. It's possible!
The Polyglot Gathering is sponsored by our own podcast sponsors, so this time there's a double shout out for italki - you can get started learning languages with native speakers on there. Get started with a "Buy 1 Get 1 Free" Offer at www.fluentlanguage.co.uk/italki
Strange Items That Were Part of The "Qu'est-ce que c'est??" Game
Pretty easy
1) Che cosa Ăš?
What the ...
2) Was ist das hier?
The Kafka referenced after I heard Lindsay's story is "Die Verwandlung" (metamorphosis).
Languages heard on this show: German, Esperanto, Spanish, French, Indonesian, Greek, English...I think that's it!
Catch up with Lindsay's video blog from the Polyglot Gathering.
How Did You Like This Episode? The live reporting format was great fun, but of course we want to hear if it worked for you! Would you like more episodes like this in the future?
You can get in touch with us and tell us what you thought by
1) leaving us an iTunes review by visiting our itunes page and clicking "Ratings and Reviews"
2) using hashtag #cllp on Twitter (I am @kerstinhammes and Lindsay is @ldlanguages).
And once again, thanks so much to our sponsors Italki - please support our show by visiting that link today.
We're getting excited about the Polyglot Gathering in Berlin! Here is a preview of the talks we are not going to miss.
Look out for the very special "live from the floor" reports in episode 40.
Episode 38 is brought to you with friendly support from italki. Do visit their site and check out the awesome Buy 1 Get 1 Free offer to learn from native speakers today.
We Want To Meet You At The Gathering!Are you a podcast listener on the way to the Polyglot Gathering?
Then don't hesitate and come to see Lindsay and me! We'll be reporting from the conference floor for episode 40 so your voice could even be on the show.
Send us a message on Twitter! We are @ldlanguages for Lindsay and @kerstinhammes for Kerstin, and on the hashtag #cllp
Links From This Episode:* The Polyglot Gathering * Full Programme Booklet of the Gathering * North American Polyglot Symposium * Polyglot Conference * 8 Life-Changing Language Learning Events Around the Globe
Topic: The Best Tools for Language Learning in Spring/Summer 2016 Episode 38 is brought to you with friendly support from italki. Do visit their site and check out the awesome Buy 1 Get 1 Free offer to learn from native speakers today.
Kerstin and Lindsay bring you the ultimate Spring/Summer collection of language learning tools. We each nominated three things we regularly use for learning languages and discussed how to make them teach you a language.
"I'm not as good as I think I am - but that's a good thing because it motivates me to work harder."
- Lindsay
And if that's not enough, we then went ahead and created our own language learning chart for you. Listen to the show to find out our absolute top recommendation.
Do You Agree With Our Language Chart?You can get in touch with us and tell us what you thought by
1) leaving us an iTunes review by visiting our itunes page and clicking "Ratings and Reviews"
2) using hashtag #cllp (or #kerstinyouold) on Twitter (I am @kerstinhammes and Lindsay is @ldlanguages).
And once again, thanks so much to our sponsors Italki - please support our show by visiting them today.
Episode 37 is brought to you by italki, where you can find a language partner for any language. We tested it with rare languages like Icelandic, and it totally delivered. Get an awesome free lesson deal at italki.
Today's Topic: Multilingual BritainBritain is not monolingual at all, but in fact it is teeming with languages. In this episode, we present you the real landscape of languages spoken in the British Isles.
Can you guess how many languages are indigenous to this country?
We discovered some amazing things, not lastly you'll NEVER guess what Irish and Spanish bears have in common!
You'll be surprised to find that more than 2 million people in the UK speak British languages other than English. Here is a quick summary of the bigger groups of languages spoken in the UK - not just British languages, but also the immigrant languages most popular in the UK today, for example Polish, Gujarati and Urdu.
Listen to our podcast episode to get a wonderful tour of the British languages, including:
- What does it take to keep a minority language alive?
- Did you know there was a Scots dictionary - and how it's influenced the English language?
- Our pondering of the true official languages of Great Britain
- Turns out children really are the future when it comes to reviving languages that don't have native speakers anymore, for example Cornish
Lindsay does some amazing demonstrations of the Scottish language and accent. And Kerstin says her first "goodbye" in Welsh!
Links and Tips from This Episode* Don't Neglect the UK's Indigenous Languages in the UK Guardian * Blood of the Irish documentary series * Speak Irish To Me, a podcast episode of "The World in Words" * Irish PM refuses to speak English in parliament * Language Death by David Crystal, a book covering endangerment and death of many minority languages across the world * Ffasiwn Bildar "Fashion Builder", Welsh Language reality tv * Omniglot, Simon Ager's absolutely amazing language encyclopedia on the internet - for example check out the Cornish language * The British Term "chav" * Why There Are Two Ways To Pronounce "Celtic" * Hugo Scottish Gaelic in 3 Months - this is a link to Lindsay's old version * Collins Gem Scots Dictionary
Which British Languages Did You Know?You can get in touch with us and tell us what you thought by
1) leaving us an iTunes review by visiting our itunes page and clicking "Ratings and Reviews"
2) using hashtag #cllp on Twitter (I am @kerstinhammes and Lindsay is @ldlanguages.
And once again, thanks so much to our sponsors Italki - please support our show by visiting that link today.
Special Guest: Simon Ager.
A feedback question from James led us to discussing why we chose the languages we are learning right now.
We don't need them for our working lives, or our everyday lives.
We don't have Welsh or Korean family.
We're not travelling there.
There isn't even a big Welsh or Korean community in our towns.
So..what gives?
A lot of you guys might be experiencing the same thing when you're learning a language. It's not the kind of activity that everyone gets up to every morning, so friends and family get curious. We get into the dangers of the "why" question.
We also strayed into discussing the identity of what is "British", and how Britain interacts with language learning. You'll also find out how polyglots are made.
Takeaway from This Episode Should you be asked why you are learning a foreign language (or two...or three), you are not obliged to go looking for a reason that satisfies the other person.
Links from this Episode * How to Study Korean Website
Dear Listener, if you would like to send us a question to discuss on the show, you can simply do so by tweeting with the hashtag #cllp
Episode 35 of the Creative Language Learning Podcast is brought to you with support from HelloTalk. Go visit them now, because you're totally missing out.
Do you remember when you first heard the word "polyglot"?
And what does this word mean to you?
Show Topic: What Is a "Polyglot" and Should You Be One?
In this episode, Lindsay and I went deeper into what's changed in the emerging community of internet polyglots. A few years ago, the YouTube landscape in particular was a nasty place. But things are looking up!
What does the word mean, and is being polyglot desirable?
Far from being entirely opposed to polyglots as a barrage of braggards and internet trolls, we are able to bring you many positive thoughts and perspectives.
Polyglot Guest: Alex Rawlings
In this episode, we have a special guest who is a famous fancy polyglot and known for winning the prestigious Harper-Collins award of being [Britain's Most Multilingual Student]. It's Alex Rawlings, co-founder of the [Polyglot Conference] and "full-time language guru dude".
Polyglots have existed a lot longer than YouTube.
Alex did an amazing job of describing how the polyglot community has changed and also why it wasn't a great place to start out in. It's fascinating how much YouTube comes up in this discussion. He shares the story of bringing a bit of offline magic into the online world, and we agree that the internet is now a nicer place for language learners, and thank God for that.
Takeaway of the Week
"It is what you make it."
There is still a personal challenge to readers, but also a real sense of permission to make the word mean what it means to you. Polyglots might be online, offline, nice, nasty, multilingual or just really curious.
For me, the biggest update to the polyglot label was the idea of it being all about the intention of learning languages, and the interest, and the passion. I love that!
Links and Tips from This Episode
- Alex Rawlings writes at Rawlangs
- Lindsay on Youtube: What's a Polyglot?
- Kerstin speaks (reads!!!!) 25 European languages - the best part of making this video was finding native speakers of 25 languages in one week. I even rang the Icelandic and Luxembourgish tourist offices. ^__^
- My Blog Article from May 2014, summing up all the polyglot negatives
- Polyglot Conference - this year in Greece and the Polyglot Workshops or just search for any of these things on Facebook
- Polyglot Gathering in Berlin
- HelloTalk
Are you going to claim the polyglot title this year? Or still not convinced?
Special Guest: Alex Rawlings.
The first 20 minutes of this episodes are a lot of feedback and catch-up and shout outs to our readers, including:
- Progress reports of how Lindsay and I have both been using our sponsor app HelloTalk. It's a free app for all smartphones and puts you in touch with speakers of 130 different languages, so go ahead and download it. Thank you HelloTalk for making our show possible.
- Important questions about how to pronounce the words of the Messiah by HĂ€ndel (the KANYE of his day), leading to the question of identity and why learning a language will never stop you from being the foreigner. Super interesting conversation about how languages can expand who you are, but they don't change it.
Language Learning is Too Hard and Inconvenient After feedback and wonderful reviews from you listeners, Lindsay and I went hardcore on all the many reasons why people tell us they can't learn a language. Listen to the show to find out all about how to respond to the following arguments:
- "It's confusing, and so much harder now that I'm an adult."
- "I've not got the brain or memory for it."
- "Everyone else is learning English, why should I bother?"
- "It's HARD!!!"
Links and Tips from This Episode * Karl Pilkington's BS Detector * 18 Reasons to Learn a Language * Anthony Metivier who makes Memory Palaces - here's our 50% discount link to his online course, which I reviewed and found really good * Simon Says memory game
Languages spoken badly this episode: Korean, Welsh, Spanish
This episode is all about being inspired by other people and their achievements. We decided to invite a guest, well-known language learning hero Benny Lewis from Fluent in 3 Months.
Benny has done a lot for the promotion of language learning, and these days he gets hundreds of emails from his fans.
In our interview, you'll find out:
- How does it feel to be the big language author and influencer man?
- Who is the mystery man that got Benny excited about language learning?
- Does "Benny the Irish Polyglot" want people to say that he is impressive?
- How can we share the love of language and stop people from asking us how many languages we speak?
- What is the most important difference Benny thinks he's made in the lives of language learners?
- Which polyglots and community members have made an impact to Benny?
- What did Barbie, Shakira and Beyoncé do to get us where we are today?
You also get to find out a lot about how Benny is keen to be promoting many others in the community, and how even a speaker of over 10 languages can be thrown when they're "hit with another language".
"The people around us are the ones that can inspire us even more than those YouTube superstars."
And what about being someone who runs their own business and travels the whole world learning languages? Benny is a pioneer, but knowing the real situation is a different story.
We hope you enjoy this awesome interview with Benny. Tell us what you think as well! Hashtag #cllp on Twitter, or simply comment below and let's chat about our heroes!
GREAT LANGUAGE-LOVING PEOPLE MENTIONED IN THIS SHOWWhy not see them all at once in the fun Skype Me Maybe video!
- Richard Simcott
- Luca Lampariello
- Moses McCormick
- Susanna Zaraysky
- Ellen Jovin
- Judith Meyer
- Kris Broholm
TOP LINKS FROM THIS EPISODE* Lindsay cheats on Creative Language Learning Podcast with the Actual Fluency Podcast * You Just Don't Understand: Women and Men in Conversation * Carl Sagan, passionate astronomer * Notes on "Turn that envy into inspiration" from Lindsay and Kerstin * Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg
Special Guest: Benny Lewis.
This episode is about habits and how we build and create them. Listen to find out what our tendencies are and how we use them to make our language routines.
- What motivates us to do things?
- What motivates us to keep going?
- Do you set yourself goals and always meet them?
- Or do you hate goals?
- Are you likely to spend weeks just looking for the perfect textbook before you start?
- Or are goals only meaningful when others set them for you?
- Or do you only set them when they make sense?
Do This:In the episode, we dove deep into the Four Tendencies Framework developed by Gretchen Rubin, which is all about how you motivate yourself to keep going and to do things.
Take this quiz before or during the show to get the most out of it. Can't wait to read about your results!
We answer a bunch of intriguing questions in this episode such as:
- How can you use your tendency for language learning?
- What is the best ever way of researching language learning methods?
- Which tendency is perfect for the ultimate self-guided language learner?
- Do some tendencies profit more from classes and masterminds than others?
Links and Resources from This Show* Happier Podcast * QUIZ: What's Your Tendency? * Kris Broholm getting up at stupid o'clock in the morning * Terrifying Little Girl with a Clown * Big TV Show Library from Episode 31 * Parkrun
Takeaway Of The WeekTry and be aware of the four tendencies and look for how they influence you, but also people around you.
We Want To Hear From You!!Please comment or tweet us (#cllp, and we're @kerstinhammes and @ldlanguages) and tell us what your tendencies are.
Do you think your tendency influences how you learn a language?
Do you have ideas for how you can work with the tendency?
Brought to you by Lindsay's course Successful Self Study - save $20 with offer code FLUENT.
This episode is about habits and how we build and create them. Listen to find out what our tendencies are and how we use them to make our language routines.
Brought to you by Lindsay's course Successful Self Study.
Topic: Watching TV in a Foreign LanguageWelcome to Episode 31, where Lindsay and I took a deep dive into revealing our TV watching habits and how they aid our language learning. Plus: Listener feedback and over 20 show recommendations.
We are sponsored today by Savvy Brand Academy, a mastermind & brand course for onlinte teachers, as part of our "podcasters are doin' it for themselves month".
1) What type of TV do you watch?* Listener Colin likes to watch with the whole family * Chris Stewart who likes watching reality tv like âCome dine with meâ * For me: Serials * For Lindsay: youtube as part of a routine * My student Randy: Tagesschau
2) HOW do you watch?* Is there such a thing as guilty learning vs. not-guilty learning? * Should you watch with subtitles or without? Subtitles in your own language or the other language? Immersion or full understand mode? * Big debate: How can TV count as "deliberate study time"? * Where can you find shows that are appropriate for your level? * What makes TV for kids a good choice?
3) Where can you find cool things to watch? (Big Link Collection)YouTube and Yabla:
- Yabla - curated videos for language learners in Spanish, German, French, Italian, Chinese, English
- Lindsay's TV Introductions in Different Languages
- Easy Languages on YouTube
TV Apps and Websites Where You Can Find International TV
- Japan Foundation
- VIKI APP
- Walter Presents
**Shows Kerstin Loves (75% contains crime)
- Hwb, Hinterland and Byw Celwydd (Welsh)
- Les Revenants and Spiral (French)
- Salamander (French/Flemish)
- Deutschland 83, Good Bye Lenin!, The Edukators (German)
- The Bridge (Danish/Swedish)
- The Killing and Borgen (Danish)
The TakeawayIf you have not done this already, catch an episode of 1980s German spy show Deutschland 83 - here it is on Amazon.com and here it is on All 4 in the UK
We discuss language progress. Lindsay has been extremely disciplined, and Kerstin's been to a community class.
- How to find the time for language even when you're megabusy
- Community Classes and Polyglot Clubs have lots in common
New Year's Resolutions!* What we think about the resolution that is "I will become fluent in..." or "I will learn the language..." * Why "fluency" is an ambition and not a goal * The unfailing SMART goalsetting technique * Working out what is driving your resolution and "what your problem is" can help you get more motivation to change * How can your resolution serve you even if you don't achieve it? * Why is excitement essential when fear is destructive? * And what are our themes and resolutions for 2016?
The Episode TakeawaySet yourself a theme for the new year!
WEBINAR ON SATURDAYJoin us LIVE on Saturday at "The 5 Step Process to Setting Successful Language Goals"
Links and Tips from This Episode of the Creative Language Learning Podcast* Welsh Club Preston * Mirror.co.uk: 5 Cheap Ways to Learn a Language * BBC Languages * Forget New Year's Resolutions on I Will Teach You a Language * How to Achieve a New Year's Resolution to Learn a Language on Fluent in 3 Months * Onions have layers * The Four Tendencies Framework by Gretchen Rubin * The Inner Game of Tennis
Note the episode contains two mild swearwords!!
Things get real with Michael Schmitz, creator of the SmarterGerman blog and teaching system. Michael is dedicated to bringing German learners to a high level in just a few months. And he has some frank opinions about what it takes to get there.
If you want to learn about efficient German learning, this is your show. Listen to discover:
- Why teaching at Berlitz made Michael want to start his own thing
- Why having fun is way overrated in language learning
- What efficiency is all about
- How to become an efficient and productive learner
- Why a polyglot and a language teacher is not the same thing
- Why you should never need external motivation to learn German
"Language learners need someone to kick their ass sometimes."
Links From This Show * Michael's website SmarterGerman * Binaural Songs: How to use damit in German * Speak German like a Native, my Pronunciation (and Spelling) Course * Irregular Verbs Wizard App
Tips of the Week Michael chose tip 1, and added that productivity and efficiency allows for the opportunity to become a creative thinker. Listen to his advice - excellent stuff!
1) Become a More Productive Learner with 12 tips from 5 Minute Language
2) Plan your Imaginary Trip
3) Sing Grammar Songs
This episode is sponsored by Hello Talk, the most focused language exchange app out there. Visit their website today to download the free app on Android or App Store.
Welcome to Episode 28, a fun collection of language learning news. Lindsay and I shared our progress in Japanese and Welsh, read out wonderful listener feedback, and finally moved on to 3 big news items.
What's it like when your language changes to express who you are? The episode features an interview with J from Compassionate Language Learner who identifies as gender-neutral and has some fabulous things to say about the topic.
- Swedish introduces "hen" pronoun
- Oxford Dictionary introduces "Mx" as a new honorific
- Fluent's Quick Guide to Language Blogging for Beginners
See The World in a New Way with Emoji An emoji is âword of the yearâ, but is it even a word? Is this good? * Emoji word of the year
- Lindsayâs Video: Is Emoji a Language?
African Languages Arenât English The East African Council has just switched its lead language from English to Kiswahili.
- Could Kiswahili become an African lingua franca?
We love hearing from you!
Tips of the Week Lindsayâs tip is using the Interlinear books method of learning a language.
Only two tips in this episode: 1) Make weekly commitment meet-ups such as going to exercise classes with a language buddy 2) Discover Binaural songs and Interlinear Books
And Even More Interesting Links! * List of Placeholder Expressions by Language * Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close * The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness
This episode is brought to you with support from Other Cats to Whip, a super cute book of French idioms. Get 10% off with the code FLUENT at www.othercatstowhip.com.
In this episode, Lindsay went out and discovered the world of Brian Kwong, creator of the #add1challenge. Brian has studied 5 languages and created one of the most successful trends in the polyglot world.
Listen to hear more about how it all works inside the challenge:
- How the Study Groups and Mastermind Groups work
- Which schools approach turns out to be a rocking technique
- How the challenge changed for Brian as he took it again
- How Lindsay once saves a Chinese touristâs world!
Brian also gives us a hint as to what the future holds for the Add1Challenge!
Word of the Week:An English word that Lindsay was struggling with ;)
tout Pronounced taÊt
A person who sells or endorses tickets, accommodation or taxis, often in the street or public places.
Links from the Show:* The #Add1Challenge * Benny Lewisâs Forum * Judith Meyers Talk at Polyglot Gathering in Berlin: From 0 to C1 in Chinese * Brianâs blog: * Kevin Richardson speaks fluent Japanese * Essena OâNeill: The Model Who Changed Her Mind About Instagram
Tips of the WeekAs always, our guest was hugely impressed with our selection of tips. Brian chose tip 3 as his favourite, because itâs the one way youâre guaranteed to build sentences.
- Slow down YouTube videos: Click the cog in bottom right hand corner of video, click speed, and slow down or speed up.
- Use Snapchat: Record multilingual clips throughout the day and theyâre only there for 24 hours, no comments, no pressure on mistakes!
- Find a study buddy to text: Use HelloTalk, Tandem, MeetUp, Facebook groups etc to find a study buddy and start a WhatsApp or iMessage thread where you vouch to only use the language youâre both studying.
Do whatever it takes in this hour so youâll want to learn another hour tomorrow. (Anthony Lauder)
This episode is brought to you with support from Other Cats to Whip, a cute French book that you can buy for 10% off using the code FLUENT.
- What was language learning like before the internet?
- Whatâs so great about an event like the Language Show?
- Our ideas for Langathon and Language Speed Dating
- Language and Careers: Whatâs out there beyond Teaching and Translating?
- Lindsayâs passionate explanation of âPrimary Languagesâ in the UK, and how to instil a language passion for life in younger learners
- Our appreciation of multilingual actors and subtitles in TV and movies
Our podcast also featured a short interview with Dan McIntyre from the University of Huddersfield and our discussion around what fluency involved.
Tip of the Week Lindsay chose Tip 2 as the winning tip for this episode and added more great ideas on how you can present to people, even when they are not learning your language.
1) Draw a trilingual vocab chart to practice vocab divergence
2) Prepare a presentation for your tutor or buddy
3) Swipe in two languages using the Swiftkey Keyboard app
Links and Interesting Stuff from This Show * Podcast: Episode 13 with Becky Morales about raising bilingual children * Daniel BrĂŒhl * Monsters by Gareth Edwards * The Add 1 Challenge * The Lingo Show on the BBC * Babel Language Magazine * Learning English with Phrasal Verbs, Lindsay's new online course
Language Learning Events around the World Language Show Live
Polyglot Gathering
Polyglot Conference
Polyglot Workshops
Take just 2 minutes and win prizes by telling us about you in our Creative Language Learning Podcast Listener Survey.
In Episode 25, I enjoyed a conversation with Shannon Kennedy. Shannon writes the travel, language and life blog Eurolinguiste. She's a musician. And knows seven languages.
During the course of this interview I took the neatest notes I have ever written. My guest Shannon Kennedy just has that effect on you. She's calm, considered and very experienced in language learning.
You'll hear about:
- Why Shannon's blog a language learning blog with travel tips and recipes
- How to take responsibility for your books and apps
- What it takes from you when you study with a teacher
- What it's like to study a language as an introvert
- How becoming a musician can make you a fantastic language learner
- The Benefits of Language Switching
- The lovely lovely word indulge
Tips of the WeekShannon's choice of the week was tip 3, because transliteration can help you no matter if you are learning another writing system or an unusual grammar structure.
1) Join a Choir, learn a language
2) Use Mind Maps for learning a new language (here's an article about this in German)
3) Use transliteration to master foreign writing systems
Tips and Links from this Podcast* The Digital Language Collective * Eurolinguiste * Shannon sings and plays the Sax * Guest Post: How to Learn French as a Food Lover
Don't forget to us about you in our Creative Language Learning Podcast Listener Survey. Thanks so much!
Special Guest: Shannon Kennedy.
Welcome to our first ever LIVE episode of the Creative Language Learning Podcast! In episode 24, we treat you to a piece of the European Day of Languages broadcast which was the first time ever that Lindsay and I tried something like this.
There was so much going on:
- Music!
- Live comments!
- A Revival of the Languages vs. Dialects Debate!
- Reports on Log Sawing in Germany!
And a special:
Kerstin Is British Moment In this podcast I caught myself being super British all of a sudden. I mentioned teenagers "on top of a bus" - rest assured that I didn't mean they ride on top of the vehicle and instead meant the top deck of double decker buses.
European Language Charts! Instead of the Creative Language Learning Podcast tips, this episode featured a collection of as many European artists and European language songs as we could find.
Links and Resources from this Podcast You can also read the list and find out more about genre and languages on our huge Evernote list.
- Quand C'est by Stromae on Vevo
- Justin Bieber doesn't know what "German" is on YouTube
- Verlan - French Slang en revers at About.com
- Insecurities of a Language Learner on Lindsay's Blog
- Information about Expo 2015, the world exhibition in Milan
Did you enjoy the live episode? Were you there? Let us know what you thought in the comments below!
It's episode 23 and I'm back with another lovely and inspiring interview. Tammy Bjelland sparkles with all the energy she brings to language learning and teaching. She teaches, trains, offers curriculum design and runs her own podcast, the Business of Language Podcast. Let her enthusiasm pull you along in this interview!
You'll hear about:
- What you're going to do with that language later
- The many secret benefits of languages in your career
- The 7 superhero skills of language learners: Empathy, Independence, Curiosity, Versatility, Creativity, Autonomy and Self-Discipline
- How group learning can be a HUGE advantage for you
- How to develop your custom curriculum
- Tammy's truly impressive looking course Language Learning Formula
"You have to learn to teach yourself a language. It's a skill in itself"
Tips of the Week Tammy was by far the most decisive guest I've ever had on this podcast. She went straight for tip number one as your Tip of the Week!
1) Practice your pronunciation with Soundcloud
2) Practice your pronunciation and get instant feedback by talking to Siri in a foreign language
3) Make a food log in a foreign language (thanks for the tip to Ron Gullekson
Tips and Links from this Podcast * Language in Bloom * Language Learning Formula course * Master Online Teaching with Fluent's Popular Udemy Training
Special Guest: Tammy Bjelland.
This episode features two core themes of discussion: travel and tutor tips.
"I buy everyone a little lollipop in my lessons"
- Why does "Germany" have so many different names in different languages?
- Should you study pronunciation first or just go all in with vocabulary? (hint: whatever you like)
- When is it too late to learn? (hint: never)
- What do you need to buy before you set off? (hint: nothing)
In the article discussion of this episode, we took apart the step-by-step process of finding a language tutor.
- What do you have to look for?
- Why are some of them expensive?
- What kind of tutor should you try to work with?
Articles of the WeekTips on working with a tutor from Judith Meyer
How much do you pay your language tutor? here on Fluent
Tips of the WeekThis time, Lindsay chose her favourite tip and in line with her own productivity skills she chose Tip 3. Get organized, folks!
1) Download Quiz Up! and play the language sections
2) Read LOCAL lit, not just "Harry Potter in my target language"
3) Get organized with Evernote
Links and Resources from this Podcast* You can sign up for Lindsay's new shop here * My Savvy Brand Toolkit is designed to guide teachers through brand creation * This train goes on a boat!
Great sites for you to find a tutor:
- Italki
- Learn out Live's Private Teacher Listings
In this short solo episode, Kerstin announces the launch of her brand new German pronunciation course. It's been something long anticipated and it's finally here.
Check out Speak German like a Native today to get the special podcast deal and learn how to speak German with your best accent ever.
You also get a special appearance from slightly angry Kerstin to learn home truths about goal setting.
If your current language learning goal is "fluency" or "a 15 minute conversation", then you need to listen to this episode.
5 Steps to Help you Set Better Goals1. List out Specific Steps using the 5 Ws 2. Write down those Goals 3. Work with Tangible Tasks, not Time Chunks 4. Start Small - Halve your Current Goal 5. Get an Accountability Partner
It's important to follow these rules, particularly the first one. Don't be overambitious, instead be specific and accountable. That's the way to achieve goals regularly and be rewarded every time.
Where to Find out More* For more information on the four core language skills as mentioned in the podcast, check out Fluency Made Achievable. * Article on Fluent U * Richard Simcott has a goalsetting video on Youtube
Big news for the ladies of the Creative Language Learning Podcast in episode 20: Lindsay is engaged and Kerstin is married!
In this episode, youâll hear:
- What makes a German wedding and an English engagement special
- Lindsay's and Kerstin's recent language learning updates - we've been learning Semaphore and Welsh!
- How do you use Memrise for language learning?
- Lindsay's exact process for learning a new way of communicating with online resources
- Should you speak early? Is there any reason to hold back?
Article of the WeekCan you really learn a language using mobile apps? on Languages around the Globe
Tips of the WeekSummer is my favourite season, so you won't have to guess hard to work out which tip I chose as the big tip of the week!
1) Get outside and away from all your screens for a summer's learning session
2) Make Language Study your first task of the day with Early Morning Study Sessions
3) Watch your foreign movie...but watch the commentary!
Tips and Links from this Podcast* Memrise Semaphore Course * Collins Easy Learning Dictionaries * Ap Geriaduron, Welsh dictionary app * LEO, German dictionary app and website * Omniglot, a huge language resource * Micro Robert, the French monolingual dictionary
Question of the Week Are you in an international relationship? Maybe a bilingual one? Tell us your story of living across borders in the comments or over on Facebook!
âLanguages are ultimately designed to bring people together.â Welcome to an inspiring interview with one of my favourite language bloggers: Ron Gullekson from Language Surfer. His relaxed language learning attitude will make you so comfortable. In this episode, youâll learn:
- Why Ron's blog is called Language Surfer
- How formal language learners all know what "drawing a line down the middle" means :)
- How Ron structures his on curriculum for language learning
- Which level of language learning you might be at if you studied Arabic for 8 hours a day..for 64 weeks!
- Free listening, and how soon you can start doing this in your own study routine
- How to create your organic SRS system
"I want to get used to the idea of being lost as soon as possible."
Article of the weekTips of the WeekI had secretly expected Ron to choose tip 3 as a music fan, but his own choice was tip 1: Get out and talk to people.
1) Meet up in conversation groups offline
2) Find local podcasts by switching itunes to the country's store
3) Learn with music on Spotify
Tips and Links from this Podcast * Language Surfer * Language Master Key: How to Unlock your Brain's Ability to Learn any Language on Amazon UK or Amazon US * Forvo, a website helping you learn new pronunciations * Readlang, to help you analyze texts and create Flashcards based on what you learn * Readlang review from Fluent's guest writer Ricky Rutledge
Episode 18 was packed full of language learning news and chat with Lindsay from Lindsay does Languages, my trusty and lovely co-host. I hope you'll join us for all the debate and learning!
We discussed
- A truly useful and helpful definition of Polyglot by Richard Simcott
- What the Polyglot Gathering is and how it went down in Berlin in 2015
- If a language you learn really makes you think differently, and
- Whether Kerstin should make herself study more Russian or allow herself the fun of exploring a bit of Welsh
In Episode 16, I'm introducing our new co-host: Lindsay Dow from Lindsay Does Languages Iâm bringing Lindsay in for more Creative Language Learning Podcast because she's just been so much fun for you to listen to.
Article of the Week"How the Language you Speak Changes your View of the World" in the Independent
closely related Does your Language Shape how you Think? in the NY Times
Tips of the WeekLindsay's tip of the week was tip number 1, of course because she is completely involved in the awesome Script Challenge this year. Unplug your computer, get a book from the library and write down those words.
1) Go Old Skool with handwriting
2) Use your internal thesaurus when you get stuck
3) Play video games in another language (here's a relevant article from Learn out Live)
Links for Episode 18 of the Creative Language Learning PodcastThis episode is brought to you by FlashSticks, the printed language learning post-its. Use code KERSTIN10 for 10% off.
- Polyglot Berlin and here is their Youtube channel
- Tuvan throat singing
- Support the podcast with a Patreon pledge and get a lovely card from me
This episode is supported by FlashSticks, the printed language learning post-its. Use code KERSTIN10 for 10% off.
In Episode 16, I'm introducing our new co-host: Lindsay Dow from Lindsay Does Languages Iâm bringing Lindsay in for more Creative Language Learning Podcast because she's just been so much fun for you to listen to.
In Episode 16, youâll hear:
- A discussion of the worldâs many different scripts and writing systems, with Lindsayâs recent forays into Amharic and how I worked in Korea for 2 days
- What makes a dialect different from a language, and where is the line?
- What travelling to Europe and getting your Health Insurance card can do for your world perspectives
- A live recording of my first ever #iglc Instagram Language Challenge video
Tips of the WeekIn this episode the tables were turned and Lindsay allowed me to choose the tip of the week from three awesome creative tips she had researched. I loved it! My favourite tip ended up being tip 3, using a language in order to learn a language.
1) Open your ears and get into the exercises at listeningpractice.org
2) Learn a language with Pinterest. Both Lindsay and I love this social network and we have about how you can enhance your lessons and learning adventures with it. Here they are:
- Kerstinâs 4 Steps to Learning a Language with Pinterest on Fluent
- Using Pinterest for Language Learning on Lindsay Does Languages
3) Learn a new language via a language that you already know
Links for Episode 16 of the Creative Language Learning Podcast* This episode is brought to you by FlashSticks, the printed language learning post-its. Use code KERSTIN10 for 10% off. * Memrise Courses for learning foreign writing systems such as Amharic, Russian Cyrillic or Hebrew * Lindsay Does Languages on Instagram * The Instagram Language Challenge Hashtag is #iglc. view it here * Online Teaching Tricks, my new Udemy course - this deal gets you the course for ÂŁ7
My guest this week is Angelika Davey, owner of the blog angelikasgerman.co.uk. Angelika has been teaching German independently for many years.
Listen to our interview to find out more about
- Keeping your mind agile, and whether it really matters to anyone under 50
- The ultimate showdown: Age vs. Attitude! Which one makes you a better learner?
- Why learning German is your best choice for business
- What itâs like to date someone from a different country
- A new and innovative approach that makes even the best private teacher affordable and accessible to you
Article of the WeekMultilingual Families: Even our Dog uses 3 Languages
Tips of the WeekAngelika chose Tip 1 as her
Tip 1: Read cereal packets, clothing labels and anything you can get (see Language Surfer blog)
Tip 2: Discover foreign culture at home
Find your local Oktoberfest, join the Chinese New Year celebrations and throw it all at the Notting Hill Carnival to hear more natural language and boost your motivation.
Tip 3: Use Eurovision to learn your Target Language (see Koko the Polyglot)
Tips and Links from this PodcastSupport the Creative Language Learning Podcast through Patreon - from just $1!
Angelikaâs Awesome German blog
Angelika Davey on Twitter
Online course Beginnersâ German for Busy People for only $10!
Teach Yourself German books on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk
Links to Amazon and Udemy are affiliate links so they cost you nothing more but they support Fluent Language and this podcast. Thanks for your clicks.
Special Guest: Angelika Davey.
Beyond what it is that the Memory Palace can actually do for you, Anthony and I dug a bit deeper and discussed some really interesting perspectives.
Check out the interview for
- Thoughts on what it is that will stop you from giving up
- Competition in language learning, and where exactly Freud comes in
- The point when giving up might be the right decision
- How a memory palace can be a source of happiness and comfort in your life
- Fifty shades of German
âThere should be some fire under your backside.â
Article of the Week 20 Struggles of Expats living in Germany
Tips of the Week Anthony opted for tip number 2 as his favourite, but actually added such a great perspective to Tip 1 that it became unmissable.
1) Label things
2) Use Instagram (Lindsay does Languages has an article about this)
3) Get onto a MOOC
Tips and Links from this Podcast Support this Podcast through Patreon - every $ helps!
Magnetic Memory Method, the home of Anthony Metivier
The How of Happiness on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk
The Nerdist Podcast
The Vocab Cookbook
National Geographic Documentary: Brain Games
Hey, welcome to lucky episode 13 of the Creative Language Learning Podcast. In this episode, I'll be sharing a delicious foodie article and talking about Kid World Citizens with Becky Morales.
You Will Learn More About:* How Becky went from Maths major to Spanish lover in college * What it takes and what it means to become bilingual * How to put together a golden approach to teaching language * Why pronunciation can be something you master at any age if you only have time, dedication and fun * How to create an environment where you can learn a language to any level from your own home
Article of the WeekTop Five Russian Pasta DIshes on Transparent Language
Bonus! Recipes of the WeekJewish Noodle Kugel
German SpÀtzle
Kazakh Beshbarmak
Tips of the WeekOut of the following three tips, Becky chose number 1 as her favourite tip - personalize your language learning experience by building your own vocab decks.
1) DIY your Memrise Courses
2) Start with Pronunciation (here's Gabriel Wyner's take)
3) Incorporate all the senses into your vocab learning habits (Science Daily)
Tips and Links from this PodcastSupport this Podcast through Patreon
The Top 10 Podcasts to Help you Learn a Language
Heartwarming video of Brazilian students practicing with elderly Americans
Kid World Citizen : Becky's Website
The Global Education Toolkit for Elementary Learners, Becky's book on Amazon.co.uk and on Amazon.com (Buy through this link to support my podcast!)
Thanks for reading this article on Fluent, the Language Learning Blog.
Special Guest: Becky Morales.
In Episode 12 of the Creative Language Learning Podcast, I interviewed a fellow podcaster! Chris Broholm is a language learner with a big mission: 10 Languages in 10 Years!
âAs long as youâre doing something, youâre doing it right.â
â Chris on Language Learning Methods
Article of the WeekDuolingo is Getting More Serious by Kay Alexander on Fair Languages
Tips of the WeekChris chose Tip 1 as his favourite, because goal setting is still WAY undervalued in learning a new language.
- Tip 1: set your chosen Fluency level (travel fluent, job fluent?)
-
Tip 2: Be a historical linguist
- Word origins and vocab divergence can help with remembering words
- Look up "etymology"
- Tip 3: Sprint with the Language Challenge
Tips and Links from this PodcastSupport the Creative Language Learning Podcast through Patreon - from just $1!
Actual Fluency Indiegogo Campaign
The italki New Year Challenge: Study 20 Lessons and Win
Actual Fluency Episode 32 with me talking about how to be an independent online teacher
Handbook of Russian Affixes
Russian in 10 Minutes a Day by Kristine Kershul
Special Guest: Kris Broholm.
You wanna learn a language? Then I've got the guy for you! In today's podcast episode, I'm speaking with Olly Richards, the man behind I Will Teach You a Language. Olly is an expat Brit with a lot of travel experience under his belt, and his considered and smart answers really put me to shame.
You Will Learn More About: * Our Dreams of how Education can Make the Language Learning World so much Better * What to Look Out for When Taking a Teaching Qualification * How to Make Motivation Work * What Beginners should Read - and why reading Children's Books is not a good idea * Why Olly Advises that you DON'T Track Your Progress
Articles of the WeekMost Language Students unable to do more than understand Basic Phrases on the UK Guardian
The Best Way to Learn a Language is the Opposite of the Usual Way on Forbes
Tips of the WeekOut of the following fabulous three tips, Olly chose number 2 as his favourite tip - not without a lot of careful consideration though!
1) Use online self-tests as check-ins, not tutorials
2) "Makers Classroom", like at Raw Learning - follow foreign recipes, sewing patterns, directions?
3) Join Parleremo, a virtual town that teaches languages
Tips and Links from this PodcastSupport this Podcast through Patreon - from just $1!
The 60 Second Fluency Test by Olly Richards
My Article that Sparked some Polyglot Debate
Der Weg zum Lesen, simple German short stories
Le Petit Nicolas et Les Copains, fun story in simple French
French Comic Books for Language Learners
Thanks for reading this article on Fluent, the Language Learning Blog. If you are feeling stuck right now, why not subscribe to Fluent and check out our language book shop.
Special Guest: Olly Richards.
This time, I am talking to an expert in the area of course design and online education. Breanne Dyck knows how to make people learn, she's got lots of information about neuroscience and learnt quite a few languages herself.
âItâs not abstract motivation that keeps us going. Itâs all about checking in along the way.â
In this Interview you'll be finding out about Why languages are the daddy of self-teaching * The big mistake all self-learners tend to make * Where the MOOC concept comes from * What you should consider before you start even looking for an online course * The difference between a MOOC, an online course and Duolingo * How to avoid wasting money on unsuitable courses * What motivation is really about*
Article of the WeekWhat is a foreign language worth?
How Learning a Foreign Language Changes the Brain at Any Age
Tips of the WeekOut of the following fabulous three tips, Breanne chose number 1 as her Tip of the Week! Keep immersing yourself in the target language through Facebook and practice switching from and to the target language without translating everything in your head.
1) Language Immersion by Facebook on Language Surfer
2) Beat the Leaderboard on Memrise like Leszek Trybala
3) Translate to Beat the Plateau, a tip from Dr Rebecca Braun at the Guardian Live Q&A
Tips and Links from this PodcastGoogle, in case you have not heard of it
Rozuku, an easy course creation website
Udemy, an online course marketplace with reviews and thousands of courses
French Grammar for Beginners, my awesome online French course for grammar reference and simple explanations
Lynda.com, online course marketplace
Breanne Dyck's Blog at MNIB, about the science of learning and teaching online
Reddit, where you can find communities about anything and any language
Thanks for reading this article on Fluent, the Language Learning Blog. If you are feeling able to give $1 to keep the podcast and the blog going strong, please head over to Patreon and become a supporter!
Welcome to episode 9, where I'm featuring an AMAZING article of the week and an interview with Benny Lewis from Fluent in 3 Months.
In this interview you'll be finding out about
- The single one problem that's stopping everyone from language learning
- Why the "Learn my language, I won't learn yours" is NOT just an English world view
- Confidence vs Discipline: Which one is more important?
- What you should focus on when you start learning a new language
- How important it is to personalize your learning experience
- How to be a creative language learner with very limited vocabulary
- Where Benny is going to live next!
- Top tips for travelling the world on a budget
- How to create a virtual immersion environment without travelling even a single mile
"The fun part is at the end of a lesson when I realise I've made some progress."
You can hear that Benny and I had some debate on the following issues - what do you think of this:
- Textbooks and Group Classes - Are they useless?
- If it really is all that important to take the personal approach, why is the mass approach of Duolingo so popular?
Article of the WeekWhy The Growth Mindset is the Only Way to Learn on Edudemic
Very Highly Recommended!
Tips of the WeekOut of the following fabulous three tips, Benny chose number 1 as his Tip of the Week! He stated that he loves working with Mini-Missions and assessing his progress continuously as he goes a long.
1) System of Milestones and Post-mortems
2) Tutor a fellow learner
3) HiNative
Tips and Links from this PodcastTune In Radio
Wikipedia, accessible in hundreds of languages
Meetup.com, where you can find local language friends
Couchsurfing.com, for affordable travel
Special Guest: Benny Lewis.
In Episode 8, my guest is Lindsay Dow, a really enthusiastic and cool independent language teacher from the UK. Lindsay is well-known for her great Youtube videos about all aspects of language learning, and she was also a winner in the Sensational Fluent Giveaway.
âNo one learns a language because they want their life to stay the same.â
The show doesn't follow the usual interview format, instead Lindsay came on as a co-host and talked about her favourite blogs and articles, as well as her own story of language learning. She also helped me select the Tip of the Week.
You will learn:
- How music and lyrics from Sheffield can teach you great English
- Which Asian language was a total eye-opener for Lindsay
- Why travelling is the greatest motivation for language learning
- How to stop getting bored by the language youâre learning (hint: Celebrity crushes help!)
- Why J-Lo has insured body parts - and what that's got to do with Germany
- How everyone (certainly the two of us!) feels the pressure of maintaining language skills
- Our exclusive permission to you: Learn AS MANY LANGUAGES AS YOU LIKE
Language Learning Tip of The Week Set yourself some goals and challenges, write them down and try your best to achieve them. For example, making a language video, writing a blog article in another language or reviewing 50 items on Memrise could be a goal.
It's important to make sure that you do go easy on yourself if you don't hit the goal. It doesn't make you a failure, so make sure you know how to do better next time and move on!
Our Tool and Blog Recommendations for the Week * Wordreference and Linguee, two great online dictionaries * Language Surfer * Koko the Polyglot * A Frog's Life - un blog BD français * Omniglot * Oh My God My Wife is German * Itchyfeet
Language Book Recommendations * The Meaning of Tingo: and Other Extraordinary Words from Around the World * Through the Language Glass by Guy Deutscher
And Here are the Other Sites and Tools we Mentioned * Feedly and Bloglovin for following all the blogs your heart desires * The Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis * The Next Tango in Paris by Ta-Nehisi Coates on the Atlantic * 12 Mind Blowing Number Systems from Other Languages
Welcome to episode 7 of the Creative Language Learning Podcast with Kerstin Hammes! In today's episode, I'll be sharing a news article about getting lost in translation, an interview with yours truly and a great announcement about the first Fluent Meetup in London!
My interviewer for this episode was John Colley, a business strategist with his own Online Learning Podcast.
Rushing to competency with the 80/20 rule is fine for Tim Ferriss, but maybe I prefer a stroll.
In today's interview and podcast, John asked me about:
- What the Number One Mistake is that language learners make before they even get started
- How to create and maintain a good online course
- Why the 80/20 rule an help you rush through languages
- How to learn vocabulary quickly and easily, without the boredom
Important Links for Episode Our Meetup in London - Please RSVP NOW
Eleven Years Lost in Translation on Medium.com
The Online Learning Podcast
The Complete French Grammar for Beginners - Level A1 as a special offer for just $49!
In Episode 6 of the podcast, Iâm talking to an everyday language learner. My longest-standing student Randy is our guest, and he talks about what itâs like to become a language person later in life and one tool that got him right through his first 6 months of learning: Rosetta Stone.
Review Podcast for Rosetta Stone Advanced
Randy and I have both been trying Rosetta Stone to test their new system, Rosetta Stone Advanced, and we decided to record our verdicts in a podcast for all of you.
So in this episode, you will hear all about:
- The one event in Germany that motivated this all-American guy to start learning a foreign language
- How Randy balances his busy career as a lawyer, his family life and his commitment to studying German every day
- What starting a language at age 57 is REALLY like
âI thought âWouldnât it be cool if I could understand a little bit of this?ââ
- How the basic immersion system in Rosetta Stone works, and how we think the new online system is much improved
- The most important differences between Rosetta Stone and Duolingo
- What impressed me most about the system -- and where Randy sees the main drawback (say grammar and vocabulary!)
- How to break through plateaus and come back for more practice again and again
âThe answer is that Iâm gonna gradually just get a little better as I do the work.â
- How Randy committed to studying every single day in his first 6 months of learning German
- The little frustrating things that everyone feels â and how to get over them!
âUnder the theory that Iâm not dead yet, Iâd like to keep learningâ
Randyâs Top 3 Tips for Language Learning These tips are really simple: Be patient and committed, try out lots of methods until you find the right one for you, and donât be afraid!
If you have enjoyed our discussion of the Rosetta Stone system and would like to try it out for yourself, here are some fabulous special offers for UK and US readers.
Important Links for Episode 6 What Makes a Language Attractive? in the UK Guardian
Through the Language Glass, book by Guy Deutscher on Amazon UK
What German Sounds Like Compared to Other Languages on Youtube
Free Trial on Rosetta Stone Europe
Hey everyone, welcome to podcast episode 5! The interview in today's episode was one of the most amazing and inspiring ones that I have ever recorded. I loved talking to André Klein, a fellow German native speaker and teacher of German. It is really a gem, there is so much in there just for you to take a new, fresh, alternative approach to language learning.
Fluent NewsMy books Fluency Made Achievable and The Vocab Cookbook are finally here, and you can buy them to really improve your language learning methods. There is a special discount for early buyers, available only until 31 July! Full info over at www.fluentlanguage.co.uk/book
News Article: 20 BBC readers who lost fluency in their languageWhen we find ourselves in an immersion environment, sometimes it can be hard to remain entirely at ease with the language we grew up with. The BBC collected stories and opinions from 20 readers who shared their own stories.
Examples include swearing in your native language versus swearing in a foreign language, saying "I love you" and losing your native dialect.
Here is a sound sample of MoselfrÀnkisch, my fun German home dialect (does NOT sound like German)
Send me your own opinions to kerstin@fluentlanguage.co.uk
- Have you lost fluency in your own first language?
- Is immersion worth losing your languages over?
- Do you fear this ever happening to you, or would it make you proud?
Main Event: Interview with André KleinAndré is a writer, teacher, linguist and creator. He runs learnoutlive.com, a fabulous blog and learning resource for language learners AND teachers. What I love about André is how he innovates quietly, and in his own way. A total pioneer. His books are now read in schools teaching German, and students get to enjoy language learning much more!
An App shows you smiley faces, but if you don't go out and speak to someone you will never know where you are on the scale.
Stories help learners get the feeling of relating to the language as a whole, not just individual parts of it.
You can't torture people with the Konjuktiv 2 and sentences that go on and on forever and nobody knows where the verb is!
We must not treat learners as empty receptacles - go out and explore!
Main Points:
- Which Language is André learning right now - and why doesn't he find stories to study with?
- Why it's so tricky to speak to those native speakers!
- André's surprising tip: What is the best genre for finding simple and engaging language learning content?
- Where is the riskiest aspect in learning a language through reading by yourself?
- André's amazing and innovative Choose Your Own Adventure Kindle Books -- and what happens when you misunderstand something in one of those
- How has the internet changed language learning? Forums, Duolingo and exchanges, are they actually making learning easier?
- How are Andrés self-published story books different from classic textbooks?
- Why are we independent language teachers, writers and educators? Yes, we finish by talking about uncompromised freedom!
Great Links for Today's EpisodeLearnoutlive.com, home and online store of André Klein Online
André's Twitter Account, the Learnoutlive Twitter Account and the German-focused account
A Fluent Review of Genowrin
Duolingo, an online language learning resource
Have you learnt a language through André's books? Do you use Duolingo and feel like it's missing something? Have you developed a feel for your new language?
Get in touch and let me know by email or in the comments below, and we'll discuss it in the next podcast. I would currently love to bring in a call-in line or voicemail facility, so if you know how this works please find me on Skype as "fluentlanguage".
With lots of independent greetings - can't wait to hear from you!
Kerstin
x
Hey folks, welcome to episode 4 of the Creative Language Learning Podcast. This one is a solo show, just me sharing what's new and what's been catching my attention recently. We'll be getting nerdy and practical!
Here is the Itunes Link Where you can Subscribe and Leave Comments in iTunes
img ©HBO and Marvel
Over the past few weeks I have been writing a lot for my new book which is due to come out on the 31 July so I figured it was time to speak to you instead of writing even more! We will cover:
- Unhelpful (?) Words For Language Learning
Language used to describe language learning does not have to be intimidating. In fact, it is just like going to the gym; if you push yourself too hard, you might end up doing yourself more damage than good. Both going to the gym and learning a new language involve some level of self-discipline, an element of focus and a sense of goal achievement. Learning is very personal driven and cannot be compared to the learning progress of another person.
Listen to the podcast to discover a simple process for establishing the right style for you. Here are some quick tips:
- Try lots of freebies before committing to buy
- Make good use of guarantees and free trials available with what you are looking for
- Follow up by investing in what is right for you
- Language in Pop Culture: X-Men & Game of Thrones
Learning a foreign language creates a positive impact as demonstrated in two amazing pieces of work; the first of which is the amazing TV show called Game of Thrones, involving the story of Danaerys Targaryen, a young woman and how she uses her ability to learn a new language as a source of self-empowerment and control. The other piece is associated with the âshapeshiftingâ character, Mystique in the X-Men movie series.
Based on this idea, do you think the language you speak can influence your personality?
Do you take on a different personality when you speak in another language?
- Psychological barriers to language learning
Are you aware of any obstacles that may hinder your learning progress? The more language learners I tried to speak to If so, donât worry: language learning doesn't have to be an abstract form of learning and it doesn't have to be restricted to your books. It is meant to be fun and a break away from your usual studies!
Useful Links for Episode 4:
The babla Top Language Lovers competition
An Economist Article about Language and Personality
The X-men Movie Wiki - All About Mystique
Danaerys Targaryen on Game of Thrones
How Languages Are Made for Game of Thrones
Effortless Language learning? A discussion on the Fluent Blog
In today's episode, you will hear from Jade Joddle, a coach in English and Speaking Skills from Jadejooddle.com. Jade and I found something in common: We are both very strong examples of the introvert and extrovert personalities. Jade is an introvert and uses her experiences to help others. In today's podcast we make a start in exploring that both introverts and extroverts have their strengths in language learning. Here is the Itunes Link Where you can Subscribe and Leave Comments in iTunes
Jade and I will be talking about * How Jade found out that the "Teaching English Abroad With TEFL" model is not right for her * How a speaking and group classes feel to an extrovert and an introvert * Why introverts are not always shy, but sometimes stand in their own way when they want to speak a new language - and what this has to do with your childhood * How 1 to 1 coaches and teachers are useful tools for introvert language learners * What you should consider about your native speaking skill before you think about what you can do in another language * And finally, that being bad at languages in school (especially in England!) means absolutely nothing about your language learning talent
Some Useful Links* Jade's Youtube Channel * Jade's Website where you can hire her for speaking skills coaching on Skype * Fluent Tips for Speaking Skills * Creative Language Learning Podcast on iTunes
In today's episode, you will hear from Jason Levine, the Fluency MC - one of the most creative and unusual language teachers out there. Jason has brought his passion for HipHop and rap into language teaching and now uses his skills in English teaching through a bunch of excellent rap songs. Fluency MC and I will be talking about * What the science of collos is all about and how they can help you learn a language more easily * What learning your times tables in Maths has to do with success in language learning * Why many adult learners are WRONG about their own progress and repetition * How Fluency MC aims to make studying fun rather than making HipHop really simple * Parappa the Rapper, cult PS2 game
Plus, there's a freestyle rendition of his storytelling song "Get a Life", which featured as a lyrical contribution to our collaborative storybook Learn Natural English through Storytelling: 8 Stories for Intermediate and Advanced Learners.
Some Useful Links about ELT with HipHop* Collo and Spark, online home of Fluency MC * Fluency MC Fanclub on Facebook * ESLHipHop.com, a killer blog about the topic * Priming in Language Learning on the Fluent Blog * Stick Stuck Stuck, the song out on mp3 soon * Learn Natural English through Storytelling on Amazon
We know that learning more about another language and culture is at the heart of success in international business, and also that Britain is way behind the rest of the world.
Business English, Business Chinese, Business German.. In today's interview, you will meet Peter Rodway. He's a co-founder of Specialist Language Courses, an education consultancy and training provider for companies all over the world. Specialist Language Courses focus on bringing language skills to the companies that need them, and in our surprising interview you'll hear more about:
- How teaching English in Asia got Peter to the job as director of his own company
- Who in your company decides that it's time to teach you a language
- Why your company loves you if they are teaching you a language
- What Peter thinks is the biggest barrier to language learning - and how to fix it
- What intercultural intelligence means in business (and how it shows with English, German and Japanese people)
- And most importantly: What are Peter's tips for becoming more employable through your language skills!
Take Action Want to show your boss why you or your team should learn a language?
Then please take the initiative and revisit your CV. Putting languages on top of the CV can make a difference to your confidence, your interview and particularly the way your boss sees you so get the news out there. Update your CV today, and show us where you're putting those impressive skills!
I'm so excited about today's article, which has a new format that I am trying out for you guys: It's a podcast (in your RSS readers this shows up as podcast, though no artwork or intro have been created yet)! The first interview features a great guest: Mr Levi Antrim from Learn German with Herr Antrim. Levi is a German teacher in a US high school, but he's doing excellent work with a brand new approach to the classroom.
Listen to the interview below:
Here's what Levi and I discussed* How this small-town American guy discovered a love and passion for German and started producing creative and entertaining videos for his classes * How the students in his high school classes have changed the way they approach German as a school subject * Herr Antrim's YouTube success and the new series he's working on - teaching with puppets! * How quickly you can really experience the full benefit of immersion learning in the country * How to deal with the eternal problem called "They all speak English to me!" * What Levi loves about Germany, and our shared love of the beautiful city of Berlin * Why you shouldn't use "MÀnner" by Herbert Grönemeyer in classes with under 21s * Levi's top picks for bands and videos to use while practicing German
Links to what we chatted aboutFluency MC and Mickey Mangan in the Fluent Language Interviews
Döner Kebab - the classic German (Turkish?) fastfood
The ASDF movies and Charlie the Unicorn in German
Herr Antrim's YouTube playlist of German songs
"MÀnner" by Herbert Grönemeyer
I need your comments - what do you think about a podcast?As you can tell, I'm considering the launch of a whole Fluent Language podcast format featuring interviews, music and other excellent content that you can listen to wherever you are. As you can hear in today's recording, I think the improvements in my own speaking and microphone skills would be significant with regular practice, and I'd like to share the journey with you. There are so many creative learners and teachers out there, and a lot of fun to be had - and what's better than hearing language as well as reading it?!
What do you think about a Fluent Language podcast? Are you as excited as I am? Please leave your reply in the comments today so the project can start with your support!