006: Which is better - intensive or extensive reading?

Learning French completely changed my life. It set the stage for learning 7 more foreign languages, writing dozens of language learning books, and starting a language learning company that employs dozens of people and reaches millions of people around the world. In this episode of the podcast (originally published on my YouTube channel), I share the story of how I learned French and how it all started with heartbreak... Download a FREE Story in French! Click below to get free access to my French StoryLearning pack and discover how to learn a new language quickly and naturally through stories: https://iwillteachyoualanguage.com/cu-fr-storylearningpack Do You Have A Question? This show exists to answer your language learning questions! Send me your questions by visiting: https://www.iwillteachyoualanguage.com/ask ...and I’ll do my best to feature it on the show! Leave a Review If you'd like to support the show, the best way to do that is to: Leave an honest review of the show wherever you get your podcasts. (You can normally do this within the app you're using.) Share this episode with a friend (use the share buttons on your screen) My Language Courses If you're learning a new language, or improving an existing one, then check out my language courses. From complete beginner courses, to grammar and listening training, I've created unique, story-based programmes to help you reach you language goals. Please visit: https://www.iwillteachyoualanguage.com/language-courses-select-your-language

31 Aug 202114min

In this live episode of the podcast, I answer YouTube user Kay Koopmans' excellent question: "I have a month before I go to Germany for a 10-month foreign exchange program, but I don’t know any German. With a month's time to prepare, what do you suggest I do? Just learn like anyone else? Just memorize vocab? What’s the most effective thing to focus on when you only have a very short amount of time before being thrown into the deep end?!" Free Download: StoryLearning Kit Click below to get free access to my StoryLearning Kit and discover how to learn a new language quickly and naturally through stories: https://iwillteachyoualanguage.com/kit Do You Have A Question? This show exists to answer your language learning questions! Send me your questions by visiting: https://www.iwillteachyoualanguage.com/ask ...and I’ll do my best to feature it on the show! Leave a Review If you'd like to support the show, the best way to do that is to: Leave an honest review of the show wherever you get your podcasts. (You can normally do this within the app you're using.) Share this episode with a friend (use the share buttons on your screen) My Language Courses If you're learning a new language, or improving an existing one, then check out my language courses. From complete beginner courses, to grammar and listening training, I've created unique, story-based programmes to help you reach you language goals. Please visit: https://www.iwillteachyoualanguage.com/language-courses-select-your-language

24 Aug 202113min

If you've listened to this podcast or watched some of my videos, you may be thinking to yourself: "Wait a minute... Olly's method seems to be ALL ABOUT READING! What about listening and speaking? Does this guy think you can get fluent by reading alone?!" In this episode of the podcast (originally published on my YouTube channel), I answer this exact question. Note: I refer to a simple graph in the episode that I drew out on a white board in the original video. It's a very basic graphic and you should be able to understand what I'm explaining from audio alone. However, if you want to see the graph for more context, go to 3:46 in the video here: https://youtu.be/u14dqvLu66E?t=226 Free Download: StoryLearning Kit Click below to get free access to my StoryLearning Kit and discover how to learn a new language quickly and naturally through stories: https://iwillteachyoualanguage.com/kit Do You Have A Question? This show exists to answer your language learning questions! Send me your questions by visiting: https://www.iwillteachyoualanguage.com/ask ...and I’ll do my best to feature it on the show! Leave a Review If you'd like to support the show, the best way to do that is to: Leave an honest review of the show wherever you get your podcasts. (You can normally do this within the app you're using.) Share this episode with a friend (use the share buttons on your screen) My Language Courses If you're learning a new language, or improving an existing one, then check out my language courses. From complete beginner courses, to grammar and listening training, I've created unique, story-based programmes to help you reach you language goals. Please visit: https://www.iwillteachyoualanguage.com/language-courses-select-your-language

17 Aug 202111min

Imagine that you got a letter in the post announcing that you will be put on a plane to Korea in just 9 weeks, where you will stand on a street corner and talk to strangers about your faith IN KOREAN. Add to this the fact that you don't yet speak a single word in the language! That is precisely what Derek Driggs experienced when he trained to be a Mormon (LDS) missionary at the Missionary Training Center (MTC) in Provo, Utah, before being sent to live in Korea for 2 years back in 2012. In this episode of the podcast, my colleague John Fotheringham interviews Derek about his experience learning Korean and what lessons you can apply in your own language learning adventures. Note: All commentary in the video is about language learning, NOT religion. Also, please note that though Derek was formerly an instructor at the Provo Missionary Training Center following his time in Korea, he is not an official representative or spokesperson for the MTC or LDS church. Free Download: StoryLearning Kit Click below to get free access to my StoryLearning Kit and discover how to learn a new language quickly and naturally through stories: https://iwillteachyoualanguage.com/kit Do You Have A Question? This show exists to answer your language learning questions! Send me your questions by visiting: https://www.iwillteachyoualanguage.com/ask ...and I’ll do my best to feature it on the show! Leave a Review If you'd like to support the show, the best way to do that is to: Leave an honest review of the show wherever you get your podcasts. (You can normally do this within the app you're using.) Share this episode with a friend (use the share buttons on your screen) My Language Courses If you're learning a new language, or improving an existing one, then check out my language courses. From complete beginner courses, to grammar and listening training, I've created unique, story-based programmes to help you reach you language goals. Please visit: https://www.iwillteachyoualanguage.com/language-courses-select-your-language

10 Aug 202140min

In this LIVE recording of the I Will Teach You A Language Podcast on YouTube, I answer YouTuber user @Bash Fakosh's question: "Do you think learning 2 languages together works? Or is it a recipe for disaster?" Free Download: StoryLearning Kit Click below to get free access to my StoryLearning Kit and discover how to learn a new language quickly and naturally through stories: https://iwillteachyoualanguage.com/kit Do You Have A Question? This show exists to answer your language learning questions! Send me your questions by visiting: https://www.iwillteachyoualanguage.com/ask ...and I’ll do my best to feature it on the show! Leave a Review If you'd like to support the show, the best way to do that is to: Leave an honest review of the show wherever you get your podcasts. (You can normally do this within the app you're using.) Share this episode with a friend (use the share buttons on your screen) My Language Courses If you're learning a new language, or improving an existing one, then check out my language courses. From complete beginner courses, to grammar and listening training, I've created unique, story-based programmes to help you reach you language goals. Please visit: https://www.iwillteachyoualanguage.com/language-courses-select-your-language

3 Aug 202112min

In this LIVE recording of the I Will Teach You A Language Podcast on YouTube, I answer the question: "I'm a complete beginner. How can I possibly start reading?" Many assume that my StoryLearning method only works for more experienced learners, but the truth is that there is a way for even complete beginners to start reading books and learning through stories. You just have to get 3 things right first... Resources & Links Mentioned How to learn a new language with stories Olly's language courses Olly's short story books LingQ: Learn Languages from Content You Love Free Download: StoryLearning Kit Click below to get free access to my StoryLearning Kit and discover how to learn a new language quickly and naturally through stories: https://iwillteachyoualanguage.com/kit Do You Have A Question? This show exists to answer your language learning questions! Send me your questions by visiting: https://www.iwillteachyoualanguage.com/ask ...and I’ll do my best to feature it on the show! Leave a Review If you'd like to support the show, the best way to do that is to: Leave an honest review of the show wherever you get your podcasts. (You can normally do this within the app you're using.) Share this episode with a friend (use the share buttons on your screen) My Language Courses If you're learning a new language, or improving an existing one, then check out my language courses. From complete beginner courses, to grammar and listening training, I've created unique, story-based programmes to help you reach you language goals. Please visit: https://www.iwillteachyoualanguage.com/language-courses-select-your-language

27 Jul 202117min

In this live recording of the I Will Teach You A Language podcast on YouTube, I answer a question from @rightinfrontofmysalad! about whether you should read a book straight through or stop to look up words you don't know. This is a really good question, and one that I get a lot. And my answer to this is a really important part of making StoryLearning work... Resources & Links Mentioned The 10 Rules Of StoryLearning English with Stephen Alex Rawlings Free Download: StoryLearning Kit Click below to get free access to my StoryLearning Kit and discover how to learn a new language quickly and naturally through stories: https://iwillteachyoualanguage.com/kit Do You Have A Question? This show exists to answer your language learning questions! Send me your questions by visiting: https://www.iwillteachyoualanguage.com/ask ...and I’ll do my best to feature it on the show! Leave a Review If you'd like to support the show, the best way to do that is to: Leave an honest review of the show wherever you get your podcasts. (You can normally do this within the app you're using.) Share this episode with a friend (use the share buttons on your screen) My Language Courses If you're learning a new language, or improving an existing one, then check out my language courses. From complete beginner courses, to grammar and listening training, I've created unique, story-based programmes to help you reach you language goals. Please visit: https://www.iwillteachyoualanguage.com/language-courses-select-your-language

20 Jul 202112min

In this live recording of the I Will Teach You A Language podcast on YouTube, I answer the question: "When is the right time to start speaking a foreign language?" I also answer: Why is this question asked in the first place? What are the most popular theories and methods? What are people's actual experience in real life with these methods? What is my personal perspective on the best approach to speaking? How can I get my question answered on the podcast or YouTube? Do You Have A Question? This show exists to answer your language learning questions! Send me your questions by: Recording an audio message here: https://www.iwillteachyoualanguage.com/ask Asking me during the next live recording on my YouTube channel (every Friday at 5:30 pm UK time). Make sure to subscribe to the channel and turn on notifications. Resources & Links Mentioned How to develop TRUE spoken fluency in a foreign language My mission to learn Italian in 3 months Stephen Krashen on Language Learning in the Polyglot Community Where to find native speakers to practice speaking with The Silent Way (developed by Caleb Gattegno) The Communicative Approach (a.k.a. Communicative language teaching or "CLT") Free Download: StoryLearning Kit Click below to get free access to my StoryLearning Kit and discover how to learn a new language quickly and naturally through stories: https://iwillteachyoualanguage.com/kit Do You Have A Question? This show exists to answer your language learning questions! Send me your questions by visiting: https://www.iwillteachyoualanguage.com/ask ...and I’ll do my best to feature it on the show! Leave a Review If you'd like to support the show, the best way to do that is to: Leave an honest review of the show wherever you get your podcasts. (You can normally do this within the app you're using.) Share this episode with a friend (use the share buttons on your screen) My Language Courses If you're learning a new language, or improving an existing one, then check out my language courses. From complete beginner courses, to grammar and listening training, I've created unique, story-based programmes to help you reach you language goals. Please visit: https://www.iwillteachyoualanguage.com/language-courses-select-your-language

13 Jul 202115min