Seven Questions Any Language Learner Needs To Answer

Before taking on a new language learning project, these questions will help you focus on a realistic, positive way to bring language into your life and stay motivated so you can become an expert speaker.

Who are the meaningful people in your life?

People in your life are relevant to your results in language learning, because they will influence your thoughts through conversation and behaviour.

Beyond that, it's also important to bear in mind who you are dedicating time and attention to, and how much time and attention you'd want to dedicate to other people.

What's been your contact with other languages so far?

Most people who want to learn a language as an adult have actually learnt a language in their life before. This means you're bringing some experience which can contribute to your success. But it can also mean baggage in terms of past negative experiences.

Have you ever taught someone something?

Every learning or teaching experience you've had in the past has helped you to prepare for learning a language right now. Consider what you did before that worked, and how you felt when you were able to share your knowledge.

What does your week look like?

Even before you start off with your new project, make yourself aware of how much time you have available.

Beware: If you have a lot of things on your plate, this question may make you nervous and doubtful. You do not need to dedicate many hours every single day to learning a language. You can be successful in many ways, but accept that you will be slower.

The purpose of examining your available time is to help you think about what is realistic. If you have a full-time job, coach the local sports team, and spend 2 hours in church every Sunday, you may not currently allow enough time to get fluent in 6 months. If you tried, you'd likely burn out or feel like a failure.

Is it possible to achieve a high language level in few months? Yes. But is it possible unless you put in 20+ hours every week? Nah. So instead, work with who you are and what you've got, and look forward to the progress you will make.

Who can help you learn a language?

Pull in your support team as early as possible! If you have friends who speak different languages, work in the field of languages, or perhaps kids who are studying a language in school, this can make all the difference.

Ask yourself "Who benefits when I learn this language?".

Beyond your circle of IRL friends, consider also where on social media you can build your language circle. If you watch YouTube or spend a few hours a week on Instagram, then make sure you learn with social media. Follow people who post in your target language, get involved by posting something yourself, and share your goals with communities like #studygram on Instagram or the Fluent Language Learners group over on Facebook.

Click Here for 17 Tips for Language Learning on Social Media.

Is there anything that you think might be a stumbling block?

If you talk to an insurance person, they'll tell you that insurance is all about knowing risks. And while I cannot sell you an insurance for failed fluency, I do recommend that you consider what's risky for your own success.

Here are a few common language learning threats:

• You may commit a lot of time but find it hard to maintain that energy.
• You may be scared of practicing your language because you don't want to look foolish.
• If you're motivated by one life event like a trip to the target country, your motivation could fade away after you return home.
• You may overestimate how fast you can learn, and feel demotivated when you progress is slower than expected.
• You may tell yourself "I can't learn languages" and self-sabotage yourself right from the start.

A language coach will help you handle each one of those risks, and many more. It's worth talking to them about it!

Learn more about language coaching

What conditions exist for making you a success?

Imagine you are NOT going to move to the country tomorrow and you won't win the lottery either. How could you still make language learning a success?

Making The Plan

Take the questions listed above to a friend, a supportive group, or book a few language coaching sessions. The coach will help you

• Think positively and discover your strengths.
• Look for opportunities to build a language learning habit so you can speak a language automatically without having to study so much.
• Value the advantages that you have right now, and show you how to use them to stay motivated for many years.

If you want a little more support on how to improve your routine in practical steps after these questions, check out the Language Habit Toolkit. It is a collection of guidance notes and worksheets that will help you set goals and become more productive as you learn languages. The toolkit is designed to be your little self-guided coach in a box.

What About You?

How would you answer the questions I listed above? Who helps you learn languages?

Share in the comments below - I'm excited to hear from you.

The Book That Will Change How You See Language Learning (+ Clever Notes & Action Plan FREE)

One of the most common things I hear from language learners is

"what is the best way to do this?" You want to know how to learn a language, in as much detail as possible.

And it's hard to answer that question once and for all, for everyone. People are different, and no one's going to teach you good habits overnight. I know there are plenty of players out there telling you that their way of doing flash cards or listening to native content is the real answer.

But seriously, guys. What it really takes is that you learn to understand your own smart and capable self. That's where a book like Becoming Fluent comes in.

By the way, I've gone ahead and done a little bit of hard work for you guys. You can now enter your details below and download my book notes for Becoming Fluent along with a fab little action plan template so you know what to do next.

What Is Becoming Fluent?

Becoming Fluent is an impressive book in the field of language acquisition. It's written with the scientific background expected from academics. But that doesn't mean that language learners cannot apply it to their lives: Throughout the book, the authors mix explanations and practical tips. The book is written for adult learners who want to conquer another language, and goes into the following topics:

• What do you have to do to make sure you become a successful language learner?
• How can you choose the right target language to study?
• What are the best
• How important is it to know the culture and norms of people who speak your target language every day?
• How can you get better at memorising and remembering more?

Why It's Awesome

There are many language learning books out in the market that tell you all about how wonderful the author's methods are. Most successful polyglot-style books follow this system. The logic is that if following certain steps made the author fluent in another language, then you can do the same by copying the steps.

In Becoming Fluent, I detected none of this. The authors do work from their own experience in languages but never claim to know all the answers. Each chapter is based on a new aspect of language learning and gives a neutral summary of what the science says, followed by practical advice.

I've never used or endorsed the "copy a winner" approach, and I don't think it's quite how things work for language learners. Success in language learning is about more than just playing the game right. The more you learn and discover about yourself, your habits, your preferences and strengths in language learning, the more you will approach a real ability to learn any language quickly.

So for me, Becoming Fluent was an outstanding book about language learning because it doesn't tell you what exactly to do. This one is about empowering yourself to find your own perfect method.

What Wasn't So Great

Becoming Fluent is smart and thorough and scientific, which is a big rarity in language learning. It's great to read such a sensible voice in our field. The book comes at language learning from so many different angles that some great aspects get a little lost.

I would have liked the book's action-focused tips to be highlighted or separated from the main text, making it easier to find exactly how to put new insights into action. As it is, Becoming Fluent does require you to put in a few hours for reading, but this is time well spent.

My Favourite Parts

• All of chapter 2, which addresses the many lies and misleading beliefs that we hold in our heads before we even start learning. If you can only listen to/read one part of the book, this chapter is going to make a massive difference. It's a small window into how your brain trips you up.
• This sentence in Chapter 3:

"The REAL test of how well you speak a language is how easily you communicate when you are using that language, and the pleasure you derive from speaking it."

• The ideas behind common ground and the zone of proximal development, which are all about how you think of how good you are, how good other people are in comparison, and how you can get better step-by-step.
• The focus on learning and speaking a language like an adult, not a kid or teenager. This focus builds great insights, for example the understanding that it's more important to be yourself in another language than to sound "exactly like all the native speakers".
• The image of tutors and helpers as a Sherpa, i.e. Someone who's climbing the mountain with you, showing you the way, teaching you about the process as you're doing it.
• The concept of cognitive overload, which explains exactly why and how and when you get tired.

Overall, I am very happy that I read Becoming Fluent and recommend you check it out too. I ordered my copy from the local library and am very glad that it's in their catalogue now. You can get your own printed copy in the same way, or order it from Amazon (here's the US link and the UK link).

Don’t forget, you can grab my full book notes (9 pages!) by clicking the button below. They include your own action plan template and a checklist of books to check out, so next you can be prepared on your next visit to the library or to Amazon.

Don’t forget to sign up here to get the free notes and action plan.

Five Tips For Beating Embarrassment When Speaking Another Language

We've all been there: You're up for half an hour of speaking practice in your target language, and right after you say hello, you notice the first mistake tumble out. Not good. Now they think you're an idiot, and you've forgotten the word for "bread" and while you're racking your brain that pause becomes longer and your cheeks are glowing red. Time for the ground to open up!

If all that sounds familiar to you, you are not alone. Millions of language learners experience embarrassment when it comes to speaking practice. Especially when you're trying out your language in another country, it's almost impossible to feel prepared.

My personal threshold for embarrassment seems to be pretty high in most social situations, I have also experienced that crippling sense of looking truly foolish.

I won't get into that one time on a Russian airplane where the air hostess shouted incomprehensible things at me, I smiled throughout with lots of "da, da"...and later found out that they had been debating whether I could safely fly considering they thought I was pregnant. The shame!

But fear not, I've got some good advice to share with you today.

If you're ready to start saying no to embarrassment when speaking another language, here are four tips to help you feel better:

1) Prepare Your Speaking Partner

Chances are you are already pushing the boundaries of your comfort zone by speaking in another language. There is no need to add further discomfort to your challenge by talking to someone who is unlikely to support you. Strangers at the ticket counter, crazy air hostesses and even strict teachers are not the right people to choose for conversation practice when you are suffering from social anxiety or embarrassment.

Instead, try and hold on to what makes you feel comfortable right now. It helps to share your worries with your speaking partner before you start having to speak your target language. If it's a tutor, this will prompt them to be more patient and hold back on the corrections. If it's a friend, it can remind them to slow down and let you build your sentences slowly.

This technique of preparing your partner will help both of you feel more at ease, and ready to tackle this challenge together.

2) Focus On Your Breath

When anxious sensations take hold, your body responds by tensing up, raising your heartbeat and even causing you to sweat and blush. That's the last thing you need when you are already worried about the many ways in which you're about to lose face.

Instead of freaking out about all the words you remember or forget, the best course of action is a simple calming exercise.

Focus on something that is real and constant, for example your own breath. Breathe in slowly for 4 seconds, retain your breath for 2 seconds if you can, and enjoy a long and restorative out breath for 8 seconds. Breathing exercises may not feel like the right tool for a foreign language panic, but you'll be surprised at how much language skill returns once that mental stormcloud is allowed to pass.

For more tips and techniques that help with overcoming stress and anxiety, try the SAM app on your smartphone. It's a little toolkit of instant self-help.

3) Build Up Your Filler Vocabulary

Filler sentences are a wonderful tool when you are getting ready for speaking practice. They're usually uncomplicated, short, easy to remember and very effective. Think of filler sentences as the extra cushioning that is built into conversations so each speaker gets some time to relax. In English, these are lines like "hold on", "let me think for a second" or "let me think".

As a little treat for the German learners among you, I've collected a bunch of fillers and stock sentences in the "Make Your German Sound Amazing" booklet, which you can download for free.

But what should you do if you haven't understood half of what your speaking partner just said?

You can buy yourself a little time by repeating the last words of their sentence, stretched out with some "Hm" sounds. This may tide you over until you can remember how to proceed, for example by asking them to repeat what they just said. It's perfectly acceptable for you to control some aspects of the conversation even if you don't know your target language very well yet.

4) Practice

Even if you follow every single one of the tips above, that feeling of embarrassment is unlikely to just dissolve into thin air. You may still feel discomfort in new situations, and it's still embarrassing to make mistakes. There's no way around this one: At some point, your only way is forward and right through the bad feelings.

Luckily, there is plenty of reward waiting for you on the other side, as you realize that your mistakes and awkward pauses did not cause the ground to open up and swallow you whole.

If you want to push your boundaries and go for speaking practice in a brand new situation, why not take advantage of your next trip abroad? We've got plenty of travel language tips on Episode 41 of the podcast.

Even better, put yourself into an immersion experience with other learners, for example in the Fluent German Retreat led by yours truly. These retreats aim to create a speaking environment that pushes your boundaries without embarrassment, helping you to realize how good you actually are.

It's Not Easy, But It's Worth It

These tips are just a few examples of the many small steps you can take to keep yourself from suffering crippling embarrassment in speaking practice. Keep yourself reminded that this is not easy, and the fact that you are even trying is a testament to your bravery.

And I promise you: The rewards of speaking a foreign language are just as great as you've imagined.

Have You Dealt With Embarrassment and Anxiety About Speaking?

If you've got a story you would like to share, go ahead and share it in the comments section for this post. I'd love to hear your own tips and experiences.