The Fluent Show

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

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) Feliĉan 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

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)

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 commu

"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 maki

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 joi

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

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, you’re slowing down. A script comes closest. The purpose of notes in a conversation is to deal with the fact that you’re too busy to add more into your long-term mmory. That’s why it’s 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 ep

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

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 you’re 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 ’sticky' The Language Play Method In addition to associating the concept with an object, you can also use the linguistic characteristics of the word you’re 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

Hooray, it's conference time! In today's episode I'll bring you a mix of language learning goodies straight from Montréal, 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, that’s in April 2020 Polyglot Gathering in Terezin, Poland, that’s 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

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 i

Today’s 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?

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!