You know about vocabulary lists, flashcards and pronunciation guides, but sometimes there’s more at stake than just knowing the language. In this article, you’ll learn about the hidden ingredient you need for avoiding misunderstandings (even offence!) worldwide.
Read moreNew Podcast: Chris Broholm on Challenges, Information Overload and Book Club (and the Owl!)
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!
Listen to our interview to find out more about
Who everybody's favourite owl is!
How Chris built up his own support community of inspiring language learners through the Actual Fluency Podcast
Whether there is a best way to approach language learning methods
What to think about when you set yourself an ambitious goal like Chris Broholm's 10 Languages in 10 Years
The importance of bewaring information overload
The language learning method that you absolutely must try out
And why trying it out is all that we can tell you to do!
“As long as you’re doing something, you’re doing it right.”
And most importantly...
We talk about Language Book Club and how much we're looking forward to it!
Article of the Week
Duolingo is Getting More Serious by Kay Alexander on Fair Languages
Tips of the Week
Chris 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 Podcast
Support 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
Russian in 10 Minutes a Day by Kristine Kershul
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.
How can Music help you learn a Language?
Hi guys, after a few days coping with winter's inevitable health hazards I'm finally getting started on this post. The topic has been going round my head for weeks, and it's such a great one - let's look into some ways to involve music in language learning. This topic is so big and important, I'll break it up into two parts:
In Part 1, we'll have a look at many great reasons why putting music into the language learning is a real booster.
Remembering - it's a song
from http://www.orbwallpaper.com
You know how catchy a good song or jingle can be. I can still recite 85% of the lyrics of anything that was a hit when I was a teenager. Embarrassing? Who do you think I am? Melodies and rhythm serve as excellent memory aids, and can help you rattle down whole sections of language when you haven't got the slightest idea what they even mean. My favourite example: Dragostea din Tei. You might remember this as the Numa Numa song?
Gangnam Style = Korea's real!
Pop from your target language's country in particular has the excellent benefit of inviting you into their culture. When you've only ever read about the Brandenburg Gate in a textbook, it can be wonderful to see it made real by an artist dancing around it in their video. Or it's not just pop music, since of course the music of Brazilian carnival and Oktoberfest couldn't fail to get you in the mood for getting the dictionary out!
Motivating Music
What's more, music has got the feel good factor! When you're losing motivation or hitting a dip along the way, it's good to take your learning adventure easy. Break it up with a familiar song perhaps, and suddenly you'll realise "oh, I know that verb form!" Or get into composing and make a jingle out of your revision.
Here's a great example from ProfaT on Youtube:
In Part 2, I'll be scouring the web for some of the coolest resources I can find for German and French language learners - and perhaps touch on some of the other languages out there. Do you use music in your revision? Recommend your favourite pages in the comments!