408 - How to develop TRUE spoken fluency in a foreign language

In the second of a two-part episode, I continue revealing the 9 easiest ways to start an argument about language learning. Resources Mentioned in Today's Episode: Bulletproof Memory Email Course – free email course to help improve your memory Start Speaking Today: I’d like to thank italki for supporting the show. To claim your free lesson and start speaking today, visit: https://iwillteachyoualanguage.com//italkishownotes Do you have a question? Ask me your language learning questions by clicking here, and I’ll do my best to feature it on the show! Also, please subscribe to the show on iTunes to get automatic updates. Thanks so much for listening to this episode of the podcast! If you’ve got any comments about the show then please leave them in the “comments” section below! If you’d like to help me out, then I’d love it if you could… Share the episode using the social media buttons around you Leave an honest review and rating of the podcast on iTunes (click here to do that) iTunes reviews in particular really help the rankings of the podcast and help me to reach other aspiring language learners out there! See you in the next episode of the I Will Teach You A Language podcast!

2 Helmi 201819min

In the first of a two-part episode, Olly reveals the 9 easiest ways to start an argument about language learning. Start Speaking Today: I’d like to thank italki for supporting the show. To claim your free lesson and start speaking today, visit: https://iwillteachyoualanguage.com//italkishownotes Do you have a question? Ask me your language learning questions by clicking here, and I’ll do my best to feature it on the show! Also, please subscribe to the show on iTunes to get automatic updates. Thanks so much for listening to this episode of the podcast! If you’ve got any comments about the show then please leave them in the “comments” section below! If you’d like to help me out, then I’d love it if you could… Share the episode using the social media buttons around you Leave an honest review and rating of the podcast on iTunes (click here to do that) iTunes reviews in particular really help the rankings of the podcast and help me to reach other aspiring language learners out there! See you in the next episode of the I Will Teach You A Language podcast!

30 Tammi 201813min

26 Tammi 201814min

Nicolás asks: "Do we need vacations from language learning?" Episode Summary: My life is full of examples of doing things better after a long break Our brains can only achieve so much by focused attention The Pomodoro technique works on this principle Focus mode vs diffuse mode Small scale - i.e. my daily writing habits in one day Large scale - i.e. learning patterns over many months Breaks are essential... even many months can be fine It works even better if you can take "study breaks" while also speaking or using the language a lot Resources Mentioned in Today's Episode: 5 Lessons I Learned from Barbara Oakley - a great video from my friend Nasos https://youtu.be/HYkY22pP6go?t=2m7s Start Speaking Today: I’d like to thank italki for supporting the show. To claim your free lesson and start speaking today, visit: https://iwillteachyoualanguage.com//italkishownotes Do you have a question? Ask me your language learning questions by clicking here, and I’ll do my best to feature it on the show! Also, please subscribe to the show on iTunes to get automatic updates. Thanks so much for listening to this episode of the podcast! If you’ve got any comments about the show then please leave them in the “comments” section below! If you’d like to help me out, then I’d love it if you could… Share the episode using the social media buttons around you Leave an honest review and rating of the podcast on iTunes (click here to do that) iTunes reviews in particular really help the rankings of the podcast and help me to reach other aspiring language learners out there! See you in the next episode of the I Will Teach You A Language podcast!

9 Tammi 201812min

Louise asks: "How can I make my own learning material?" Episode Summary: I have a long history of making my own material I want to study with things that interest me In Japan, I would record train announcements and ask a native speaker to transcribe them I often do pieces of writing and get my tutor to correct them I record my language partners giving a monologue about something and transcribe it I often commission transcriptions of YouTube videos, movies or TV series More recently, Conversations has been my big foray into materials creation To make your own materials, ask yourself: "What would I most like to be able to understand?" Resources Mentioned in Today's Episode: How to use virtual assistants to make your own foreign language material Start Speaking Today: I’d like to thank italki for supporting the show. To claim your free lesson and start speaking today, visit: https://iwillteachyoualanguage.com//italkishownotes Do you have a question? Ask me your language learning questions by clicking here, and I’ll do my best to feature it on the show! Also, please subscribe to the show on iTunes to get automatic updates. Thanks so much for listening to this episode of the podcast! If you’ve got any comments about the show then please leave them in the “comments” section below! If you’d like to help me out, then I’d love it if you could… Share the episode using the social media buttons around you Leave an honest review and rating of the podcast on iTunes (click here to do that) iTunes reviews in particular really help the rankings of the podcast and help me to reach other aspiring language learners out there! See you in the next episode of the I Will Teach You A Language podcast!

5 Tammi 201816min

Massoud ask: "I'm worried about what will happen if I learn German. What should I do?" Episode Summary: You may have a language learning dilemma and not know how to resolve it It's always best to discover the answer yourself rather than rely on others You don't have to commit for life! Try setting trial periods, and give it a shot If it's not working out, you can always change your mind Today's Quote: “I've had a lot of worries in my life, most of which never happened.” ― Mark Twain Start Speaking Today: I’d like to thank italki for supporting the show. To claim your free lesson and start speaking today, visit: https://iwillteachyoualanguage.com//italkishownotes Do you have a question? Ask me your language learning questions by clicking here, and I’ll do my best to feature it on the show! Also, please subscribe to the show on iTunes to get automatic updates. Thanks so much for listening to this episode of the podcast! If you’ve got any comments about the show then please leave them in the “comments” section below! If you’d like to help me out, then I’d love it if you could… Share the episode using the social media buttons around you Leave an honest review and rating of the podcast on iTunes (click here to do that) iTunes reviews in particular really help the rankings of the podcast and help me to reach other aspiring language learners out there! See you in the next episode of the I Will Teach You A Language podcast!

27 Joulu 201714min

In this solo episode, Olly discusses whether immersion is all it's cracked up to be. Episode Summary: Immersion is always held up as the "holy grail" of language learning Definition: Spending all day every day in a native-level environment It's not all it's cracked up to be Survival bias is at play: Katzumoto: 10,000 hours of Japanese Gabriel Wyner: 8 weeks in Middlebury Your friend who went to China and was fluent in 3 months Immersion only works if you are able to go full-on enough, for long enough, and stay positive enough to make it to be successful... not practical for most people As a study strategy, it leaves a lot to be desired: You don't understand anything There's no structure Not enjoyable My experiences with real immersion were not good Paris, Japan, Egypt Immersion is much more effective when you can already hold you own Theory of "Comprehensible input" What's the opportunity cost? Resources Mentioned in Today's Episode: Interview with Stephen Krashen - Language learning in the polyglot community Language Learning Foundations - my step-by-step guide to effective language learning Start Speaking Today: I’d like to thank italki for supporting the show. To claim your free lesson and start speaking today, visit: https://iwillteachyoualanguage.com//italkishownotes Do you have a question? Ask me your language learning questions by clicking here, and I’ll do my best to feature it on the show! Also, please subscribe to the show on iTunes to get automatic updates. Thanks so much for listening to this episode of the podcast! If you’ve got any comments about the show then please leave them in the “comments” section below! If you’d like to help me out, then I’d love it if you could… Share the episode using the social media buttons around you Leave an honest review and rating of the podcast on iTunes (click here to do that) iTunes reviews in particular really help the rankings of the podcast and help me to reach other aspiring language learners out there! See you in the next episode of the I Will Teach You A Language podcast!

19 Joulu 201720min

In this solo episode, Olly discusses whether listening to "slow audio" is useful. Episode Summary: News in Slow Spanish-type sites are becoming increasing popular With Yabla you can slow down the audio But are these helpful, or dangerous? There are only two reasons you won't understand something spoken: 1) You don't know the words/grammar 2) You can't understand fast speech If you slow down what you're listening to, you're not helping your listening, because it's not natural, and lacks the features of fast speech It simply gives you more time to process the information, i.e. think about the words used But is this the best way to learn new vocabulary... listening to slow, unnatural audio? This = confusing / misunderstanding the problem, and can severely limited your ability to cope with real language Listening to stuff at your level (comprehensible input) Listen at natural speed, and use the transcript to help you understandInstead, solve the problem of not understanding fast speech by: I do sometimes slow down audio (Speater app), but it's always when I'm listening to stuff that's too hard for me Caveat: Slowing down audio could be useful at the very beginning Resources Mentioned in Today's Episode: News in Slow Spanish Yabla - video with interactive learning tools Speater App - a great app for interactive listening Conversations - transform your listening skills with story-based audio material Manifesto for Better Listening - a blog post I wrote about listening skills Start Speaking Today: I’d like to thank italki for supporting the show. To claim your free lesson and start speaking today, visit: https://iwillteachyoualanguage.com//italkishownotes Do you have a question? Ask me your language learning questions by clicking here, and I’ll do my best to feature it on the show! Also, please subscribe to the show on iTunes to get automatic updates. Thanks so much for listening to this episode of the podcast! If you’ve got any comments about the show then please leave them in the “comments” section below! If you’d like to help me out, then I’d love it if you could… Share the episode using the social media buttons around you Leave an honest review and rating of the podcast on iTunes (click here to do that) </u

16 Joulu 201718min