How To Run The Show in Language Learning

Reading a language learning blog is a funny undertaking, isn't it? You can find amazing community, new ideas and reviews of products that you have not tried yet. For many people, looking at the language learning successes out there is also a real motivator: When you feel like it's never going to be a thing to really learn 20,000 words in Japanese, it's nice to see others out there who have done it.

As a language teacher, I know how you feel. My Twitter and Feedly are full on inspiration for making lessons more interesting, helping students with grammar and being a better teacher. Websites and blogs are an amazing resource and I love reading about what other teachers have tried, what works and just how they go about language teaching. It's so reassuring to know I'm using an idea that works!

Focusing on Yourself

But every now and then, I have to take a break from all the blogs. The internet is noisy, and I start reading about how it's all about immersion, how "using English in lessons is a big mistake" or "no sensible learner uses paper anymore".

It's all "have to do this" and "useless if you don't do that". And I kind of have to shout "NO!! This is my show! We're using my style!" I am a teacher who likes to get to know and forge a real partnership with my student, I want to teach relaxed, happy people. I don't want a cramped-up forced immersion and I know that this method really does not work when I try it. The atmosphere of trust and joy in my lessons disappears when I turn army general, and I feel like a failure.

Conclusion? I am much better when I run the show my way.

Does that sound familiar to you? Too many blogs telling you to watch 5 hours of TV in the foreign language every day, or to only read articles that are way too difficult? Yes, thanks internet. I don't think you need to do that. In fact, I think what you need to do is chill out.

What is something you can do that you truly enjoy without stressing out? Even if it’s something that people don't blog about, if you like it, you're way more likely to do it more.

The Core Skills Idea

For example, take my strong belief that every language learner needs to work on all four core skills: listening, reading, speaking and writing. What if you could work out a plan that addresses each weakness systematically?

First reveal of the new book cover. Do you like it?

First reveal of the new book cover. Do you like it?

The idea of my book Fluency Made Achievable is to guide you through the right kind of self-assessment without telling you what you absolutely have to do. I provide ideas, methods, showing what works and what has crystallized throughout the years as good advice from language teachers and learners. But what I never want to do is have you feel like you are failing if you are doing things your way.

The book’s sequel, The Vocab Cookbook, will then address how you remember all of the vocabulary you pick up and help you develop good systems for learning it. Again, what I do is give sensible advice. Sensible is sensational but not sensationalist.

Run the show.

If you feel demoralised, and can’t believe you’ll ever improve just because the internet says so, take comfort in knowing that you’re not alone. I hope two books will help you to develop skills to conquer this, but most importantly I want you to feel like you're having fun here.

For me, it's all about trying out my new words on people, looking like an idiot and sticking post-its with vocabulary all ove the house.

What are some things that you love doing in your language study?

  • “Fluency Made Achievable” and “No Forgetting – A Smart Guide To Vocabulary Learning” are out now and available at www.fluentlanguage.co.uk/book

Rise of the Female Language Blogger

So This Is The World We Live In

The other day I was reading the back of my packet of breakfast cereal (a habit I've had since I could read) and noticed that the back of it is addressed to kids. A game, some fun suggestions, some ideas for a family day. One thing was striking: There were about 3 different references to "mum" and not a single one to "dad".

As a woman who grew up in a non-feminist environment (Mama, I hope this is ok to say..) I am more than aware of the world today. Women are still expected to be quiet. We're not as visible on the salary scales, the boards of directors, in most industries and anywhere that people are expected to speak up. Being a woman when I was growing up meant cleaning, cooking and being nurturing. It did NOT mean speaking up, and it certainly didn't mean speaking other languages.

And These Are The Hands We're Given

So looking at the world of language learning, what do we see? The same situation?

Well, yes and no. Here's the accusation:

The internet is full of "polyglots", guys showing their talents and performing for their different audiences. This is great, but can take on quite the characteristics of a (excuse the expression) boys' pissing contest. We all love languages, and we don't all love a show-off. I see very few women in that space - are they welcome?

And here's the defence:

There are many amazing female linguists in the world who should be highlighted and celebrated. As Sheryl Sandberg puts it in her impressive book Lean In: We have to SEE what what want to become in this world. No women of importance means fewer women who will be of importance. Pioneers are all fine, but after the pioneeresses there will be the true followers. So let's go. I'm in great company.

Judith Meyer

“It can be quite surprising actually, thinking back about the past week and realizing how little language study you’ve done, even though you may have the superficial sense of having recently worked on your languages.”
— Judith Meyer, Learnlangs.com

Judith Meyer is well known in the language learning space. She holds her own in the "polyglot" world, and has even created German learning apps. Judith's style is no-nonsense and focused on practical learning tips. She shares what works for her and lives a life dedicated to language learning. [please refer to Judith's most recent works in her comment below - ed.]

Ruth Thao

Ruth Elisabeth Thao writes about learning Vietnamese, but as with all language learning blogs you can actually use many of her insights for learning any language at all. For example, here's good advice on improving spelling.

“Before I launched my blog about Vietnamese, I did some research to see what other single-language blogs were doing. I never thought about gender at the time, but two of the three blogs I used as a model were run by women. It’s only later as I began reading general language learning blogs that I noticed that nearly all of those are run by men.

This doesn’t match up with what I see in the real world - classes I’ve attended have been fairly balanced, most of my language teachers over the years have been female and of course in towns and cities all over the world you meet both men and women who can speak one or more foreign languages.”
— Ruth Thao on being a Female Language Blogger

Jennie Wagner

Our next blogger, Jennie Wagner has been going for a long time. Jennie is an American who moved out to Europe at the start of her adventure. She has actually written about the invisibility of women in the language learning space, too! And as always it's so much more eloquent than I could ever hope to be. These days, Jennie is a bit quieter and I believe she's working on a PhD in Australia. What a world traveller!

Ellen Jovin

Next up - Ellen Jovin, an energetic and dedicated self-identifying linguaphile. Ellen lives in New York, and is working on her 18th language - and here's what I love - because she wants to know her city's languages! So cool, so smart, and a prolific reviewer too. Plus, this is the best-designed language learning website I have ever seen!

Kirsten Winkler

Kirsten Winkler is not a learner of a dozen languages, but she has put her smarts to the task in the area of language blogging. Most learners will know her as the mastermind of Fair Languages and Deutsch Happen, and these days Kirsten's main work is in informing and reporting on EdTech - a true pioneer in the learning industry. I love Kirsten's independent attitude and the way she clearly follows a good story no matter where it's hiding. Find her work at Edukwest.

Jana Fadness

“Adventure is something you take with you. Adventure is an attitude, a spirit, a way of approaching life. You can have great adventures as a world traveller, as a brain surgeon, as a bus driver, or as a housewife.”
— Jana Fadness

Jana Fadness has one of the cutest blogs around. She shares her art and music, her love of travel, her photos and her love of languages, and regularly posts bilingual articles in English and Japanese.

Catherine Wentworth

“I am not a teacher. I am not a fluent Thai speaker. In fact, I’m pretty cacca at languages. Ok, maybe cacca isn’t the word for it: I’m finding learning languages as an insomniac quite challenging. That’s more like it.”
— Catherine Wentworth, womenlearnthai.com/

More Thai! It's such a popular language - man I need to put Thai on my list one day. Catherine Wentworth from Women Learning Thai (and some men too) runs an extremely informative and in-depth website about all things related to learning Thai and other languages too. I love her own description, which once again goes to show that a lot of people out there are keen to express how accessible language learning is.

Conclusion

For me personally, I write in order to represent who I am - a language learner, a language teacher, a person who is interested in the whole way people connect to each other. And yes, I'm also a woman and I will mention that whenever it's relevant! I have other interests too (this blog will reflect them more in the near future), but there's only one Kerstin out there. What I see from ladies around the internet is matter-of-fact advice paired with a lot of enthusiasm. The focus is on these things being practical, and there are many teachers out there who share their work. While women and men are both entrepreneurial in this space (which I love, and I am also participating in very happily through the Fluent Guide books), I have not seen declarations of having found the one answer, and also much fewer promises of how language can be learnt faster, harder, stronger. On the whole, could it be said that the female language bloggers out there prefer a slightly more sober, less achievement-focused style? No matter where you stand, it's obvious that we are not invisible!

Ladies, do you feel like women are represented enough on the internet? Do you think we are different from guys in how we learn languages?

Tell me and tell the world in the comments below, and don't forget that I'm here to help you

Motivation: Why "This Language is Hard!" Is No Reason

Ahh, procrastination. It's a beautiful thing to be doing. On my lazy Sunday morning journey through the wilderness of Pinterest, I discovered a powerful thought and wanted to share it with you language learners. The quote is from John Green, author of The Fault In Our Stars and various other novels.

learning-hard is not fun.jpg

To me, the most important part that Mr Green points out in this quote is

Hard is often seen as the opposite of fun.

All the successful language learners I know have done one major thing at a point in their journey, and that's been to change their attitude and let in fun and curiosity. Sometimes you do go about a project thinking it's going to be easy, and language learning is no different from anything else. But when reality hits and you encounter something that is difficult, hard, complicated or a hassle, it's the real test of a great learner.

Remember my great student I told you about a few weeks ago, who said "For some reason I've got it in my head that there is nothing I can't learn"? If you want to become fluent in another language, then that's an attitude you can adopt for yourself, because it really is true. There is definitely nothing in this language that you can't learn. Like a videogame, you'll get better at it the more you do it - whether you want to or not.

You also would never expect yourself to finish every Angry Birds level the first time. In a videogame, you will expect to work harder as you move into the higher levels. The harder it gets, the better you are. Ever considered how this applies to your learning process?

Motivation In A Nutshell

The main messages that I take from this beautiful quote are these:

  • You've already got all you need for language learning. You've got time, you need commitment.
  • Failing and trying again is what we do all the time, and if there's no shame in it with Angry Birds then there's no shame in it with irregular verbs either.
  • Hard can be really fun. The two are not opposites.

For me, it's Threes by the way. It's bloody hard, yet I still play it and keep trying.

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9 Questions To Discuss With Your Language Tutor

language teacing

Today's post is inspired by a recent episode of David Mansaray's "Language Is Culture" podcast. In Episode 12 of Language is Culture, we hear from computational linguist Judith Meyer - she's German, she loves languages and you can totally hear it in her voice!

Working with a language tutor is something I can recommend for any language learners, especially introverts, because you'll just get more out of the intense environment and focused attention.

Even if you have never worked 1-to-1 before, you can easily to use it as a booster, for example before an exam or as a quick refresher after a quiet spell.

But it's important to get the chemistry and expectations right from the start, so take account of the following key points.

First Conversation with Your Language Tutor

If you are looking for a tutor that works specifically on your goals, then it's much more important to have a clear conversation at the start. The experienced tutors will know what

Some questions I like asking my new students are:

  • Do you want to work with a specific resource only, and do you want me to buy it too?
  • Are you aiming for a specific skill like reading literature, applying for jobs or doing small talk?
  • Are you working towards an exam or moving date?
  • Is your goal about a feeling (confidence, comfort, encouragement?) or about hard data (vocab, grammar?)?

And here is what you should ask them:

  • How long and how frequent are your lessons, and what is the pricing structure?
  • Have you worked with my type of situation before?
  • What kind of lesson structure would you suggest for my situation?
  • What's your approach - strict or relaxed, friendly or formal?

You should know what kind of answer you want to hear, so make sure you have made some notes before the first conversation.

My Perspective

My own style, for example, is very friendly and I like to build up a supportive relationship with my students. If you were looking for a sober teacher, my lessons might not meet your expectations!

How To Use a Language Tutor

Judith's interview is focused on how learners get the most out of working with a language tutor. Here is her theory:

Any 1 to 1 language lesson should be led by either the tutor or the student, so an inexperienced learner should look for an experienced tutor and vice versa.

I thought about this point for a bit, and I do agree. The dynamic between me and my students can be very different depending on how experienced they are at language learning. When a student knows very definitely what they want out of the lessons, I often find that they're less keen to react to my input - it's not a lazier lesson for me, as I then take a role of watching out for errors, prompting the conversation and supporting through extra challenges. With a student who is new to language learning, I am more likely to direct the lesson in many ways and set the topics myself.

A good tutor is sensitive to what the student expects, and able to make adjustments to the teaching style that meet those expectations.

My Perspective

My favourite people are new to tutoring and often they're studying their first foreign language. In those cases, my students are often happy to experiment. They just love a challenge, so we can enjoy the variety that I bring to our lessons and just focus on having fun along with the more complicated parts. As someone with a love of coaching, I like providing those extra services of improving learning methods, finding new exercises and encouraging them along the way.

Thanks for reading this article on Fluent - The Language Learning Blog. Don't forget - if you sign up to our newsletter, you will receive a free Guide to the Best Language Learning Resources!

Which Language Should I Learn?

So you have decided that you want to learn a new language. This is big. This will change your life. If you are wondering which language to learn, here is a little bit of help. Here are a few thoughts that you might find useful:

1) Ignore Thoughts of “Easy” and “Difficult”

Here are some common reasons why you might hold back from learning a difficult language:

The New Alphabet

You might know that my current language learning journey is learning Russian. But this is my 7th foreign language. Until I was 28, I never even considered learning Russian. I thought it was difficult. But then came my first business trip to Kazakhstan: A country where street signs look like this:

Kazakhstan street sign

No English! No Western script! I had to find my way around the streets, and it showed me just how quickly learning a new alphabet can be done. I had been scared of this all my life, and it turned out to be a really small problem.

The New Systems

Now, what about the fact that some languages are just naturally difficult or easy? This is partly true if you measure languages by how similar they are to English. You may find that the ideas listed in this graphic are going to work for you:

But if you have an understanding of the English grammar, you already have a basic understanding of language and you will very quickly find that your existing knowledge makes learning easier. Any langauge makes more sense once you know grammar.

The Bad Experience

Many people tell me that they are not interested in learning German or French because they had to study at school and they were bad at it. It is almost as if a bad grade in school was a message to these people, telling them that they are not allowed to try again.

If you have similar thoughts, please adjust. Language learning is not about how you did in school, or about what you found difficult when you were 13. Most adult learners now look at languages from a different point of view, and as a teacher I have often experienced that even the most basic knowledge of a language will be reactivated when you come back to it after many years. So in other words, if it was difficult at school you must not expect it to be difficult after school.

2) 1000 Speakers Is Enough

Many people decide that they want to learn a popular language spoken by many people everywhere. But did you know that even minority languages like Irish Gaelic or Maltese are spoken by over 100,000 people around the world? This means there are more people than you could speak to in a lifetime.

When you decide to learn a new language, choosing the popular language can help you find more native speakers makes it easier to find materials and fellow learners. But there are also advantages to learning the rare language. For example, native speakers will appreciate your effort so much more. Plus, rare languages can actually boost your career! My friend Mike is a native English speaker and found that his skill in Finnish helped him start his translation business in a smaller market and attract bigger clients a lot more easily. This would be a lot harder if you were working in a language spoken by millions.

3) Your Interest is The Best Guide

The first and strongest bit of advice I can give you is to choose a language that truly interests you. This matters more than the number of speakers, the career prospects, the difficulty or anything else. If you are fascinated by the desert palaces of Rajasthan in India, you should not be looking at learning Spanish!

Every expert will tell you that learning a language just gets so much better when you can make it come alive. Obviously, this means speaking in most cases. But even if a language is hardly used in modern times, you can still become extremely passionate about it. Latin learners will enjoy reading the smart (sometimes really funny) writings of Ovid, and if you are in Europe it will give you a new perspective on your own country. This can be fascinating and rewarding, and we haven’t even started to talk about how useful Latin is for learning Italian, Spanish, French, Romanian and so many more.

So, Which Language Should You Learn?

In my life, I have so far studied 7 languages. It never felt like a waste of time. Now that I am studying Russian I know that each and every one of the other 6 is making it easier for me. But the important thing was that I stuck with those languages, and I didn’t start more than one at the same time. My best advice would be to just make a decision and start learning. Stick with your language. If you become interested in a different one in the future, you have not wasted your time because language study is connected, and teaches you a new way of looking at the world.

Stop wasting your time choosing the easiest language, instead choose the most interesting one.

There is just one thing to think about when you want to learn a new language: You will learn nothing if you stay lazy. New languages are always a lot of work, and the only way to keep going is to motivate yourself all the time. This can be because of cultural reasons, but the interest in your own achievement is just as powerful. For example, I never learnt French because I wanted to move to France. But at the same time, I never gave up on French and I committed my time and effort. Now I am fluent in French, and still have never lived in France. French culture is not my passion, but being able to speak French has always been such a strong goal that I just kept going. The formula I would share with you is a bit like this:

Interest * (Commitment + Engagement) * Time = Fluency

If one of these is zero, you will not achieve fluency.

I hope this article helped you make up your mind. Which language do you dream of? What’s holding you back from studying it?

Further Reading: