The Fluent Show

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 étrange 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

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:

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 wan

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://lyrics

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 co

Welcome back! I start by sharing my love for 爱情公寓 (iPartment) on Yabla, and answer Sara's question: What’s 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 you’re 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 you’re tracking. I recommend a review of some kind. Reviewing is more of a journaling based activity b

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 Crystal’s 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 Zóltan 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

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 It’s 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 that’s 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, you’re ready to go You’re 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 t

"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 wan

Word of the day: Hamsterkaufen - to hoard or panic buy.

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 (https://www.lindsaydoeslanguages.com/

It is difficult to learn several languages together. You may forget some, you may lose some, BUT hey you’re 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 you’ll actually get extremely solid knowledge. Tip 2: Keep saying YES, don’t 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 “solidification”-

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. "There’s a kinda type of person out there who I hadn’t 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

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 t

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

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 app

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 (h