Shannon L. Kennedy's Blog: http://eurolinguiste.com/feed/, page 7

6 Cues Adult Language Learners Should Take From Children

It’s often said that kids are better language learners than adults. While this has been proven not to be the case, there are still many things we can learn from kids and apply to our own language learning to be more effective in our studies.

The following article is a guest post that’s been updated to celebrate the release of our latest Language Conqueror Quest.

The Quest is all about the Power of Play. How we can learn like and with kids to improve our strategies as language learners.

Learn more about the latest Quest and level up your language learning.

6 Cues Adult Language Learners Should Take From Children

It’s no secret: children are language-learning geniuses. They come into this world as blank slates, and after a few years, they’re able to master any language — or even multiple languages — almost without fail. Indeed, it’s enviable the way that children simply absorb words and grammatical rules, as if their brains are linguistic sponges. As adults, we can certainly steal a few tips and tricks from them.

1. Stop using the F word

No, not that F word. I’m talking about “fluency”, the bane of any language learner. When children start learning words, they don’t think about their end goal — they don’t say, “I want to be fluent!” Instead, they simply let themselves learn at their own pace, implicitly knowing that one day, they’ll reach their desired level of linguistic competence.

If you constantly measure your progress in a foreign language based on whether or not you’re fluent, you’re sure to set yourself up for failure. Instead, let yourself learn at your own pace, enjoying the journey rather than obsessing over the destination. Set short-term, accomplishable goals, like being able to read a comic or understand a YouTube clip without subtitles. Trust in the fact that, with some time and effort, fluency will sneak up on you.

2. …and the other F word

Still not the one you’re thinking of! This time, I’m talking about fear. Children are utterly fearless in their linguistic abilities — never in the history of the world has a three-year-old refrained from throwing a tantrum because he was embarrassed by his imperfect understanding of grammar. While having emotional meltdowns in public is not a recommended language-learning strategy, trying to emulate children’s fearlessness is.

Yes, it is daunting to talk to native speakers, especially when you’re a beginner. But if you really want to improve your language skills, you’ll have to let go of that fear. Almost always, native speakers are simply impressed that you are making such an effort to communicate in their tongue.

If in-person conversation is still too scary a prospect, consider participating in forums online — Yahoo Answers or Quora are good forums for jumping in on foreign-language discussions. Or consider finding a foreign-language pen pal to chat with until you’re ready to face the natives in real life.

3. Create background noise

Children are constantly exposed to language; it’s one of the reasons why they learn so fast. They talk to their peers and parents; they overhear chit-chat both at home and in public; they hear songs on the radio and dialogues on TV.

There are several ways you can do this, too, even if you live somewhere that your target language isn’t spoken. Change your Facebook, mobile phone, and email into the target language. Load up your iPod with foreign-language songs. Listen to a foreign-language podcast on your way to work. This way, your target language will always be in the back of your mind, even when you’re not actively studying it.

4. Re-learn how to read

One of the best ways to emulate how children learn language is to bring out your inner child! Reading children’s books is a great way to learn a foreign language for several reasons. First, they use simple language that is ideal for beginners. Second, they typically contain ample illustrations that will help you figure out the plot if you’re getting lost. And finally, they are enjoyable to read — what better way to remember the good ol’ days than to revisit some of your childhood favorites?

5. Do things you enjoy in your target language

You learn language best when you’re having fun. For kids, every playdate or trip to the park is a chance to learn new words and practice speaking. So drop the grammar book and start combining your language practice and your hobbies.

If you like to cook, try to find a cooking class in your target language — and if there isn’t one, find a target-language recipe book and do it yourself at home. If you’re a movie buff, rent some movies in your target language and watch them, making note of the words and phrases you learn along the way.

6. Make yourself need to use your target language

This one may raise some eyebrows: how can you force yourself to need something? Well, think of it from a child’s perspective. If a child is hungry, she has to communicate this to her caretakers — she has no choice but to use language (however incomplete her skills may be) to fulfill her needs.

As an adult, hopefully you can feed yourself. But adult life comes with other challenges that can be great language learning opportunities. If your door is creaky, Google how to fix it in your target language. If there’s a news story you’re particularly interested in, read about it in a foreign-language newspaper. When you absolutely need to understand a foreign language in order to fix a squeaking door or be a well-informed global citizen, you’ll find yourself learning faster than ever before.

We can learn a lot from children, and this is especially true when it comes to learning a foreign language. While we may not ever be able to pick up a foreign language quite as efficiently as a child, we can take cues from them to maximize our language-learning potential.

What other language-learning strategies do you like to use? What other ways can we be more like children when we learn a language? Leave a comment!

And if you’re interested in learning more about this topic or joining a supportive group of language learners, then I invite you to join me in Language Conqueror!

As a part of Language Conqueror, you get:

A video lesson introducing the QuestDaily prompts to guide you along the Quest each dayA workbook with all the exercises and instructions you need to complete the QuestA video demonstrating the Quest in action from one of our hosts (or special guests)Trade secrets: these are tricks you can use to succeed at your QuestA Side-Quest: an action you can take to help you gain the confidence you need to complete your QuestAccess to the Quest community so you can collaborate with other learners, share what you’re working on, and get supportYour Quest: the final assignment you complete to put everything you learned over the month into practice

We hope to see you in the next Quest!

Paul writes for Language Trainers, which provides tailor-made individual and group language classes worldwide. Language Trainers offers Spanish classes in Los Angeles, as well as other foreign-language courses all over the globe. On their website, you’ll also find free language level tests and similar language-learning resources. For more information, visit their Facebook page or email paul@languagetrainers.com.

The post 6 Cues Adult Language Learners Should Take From Children appeared first on Eurolinguiste.

Snack-Sized Language Episode 3: How to Say Hello in Japanese

In this episode of the podcast, we focus on learning how to greet someone in Japanese and you’ll learn the phrases for “hello,” “good morning,” and how to greet someone in a casual way. Wondering how to how to say hello in Japanese? You’ll learn how with these Japanese phrases in this week’s snack-sized lesson.

Want to keep learning with us? Join Language Conqueror.

In This Lesson, You Learned:

How to say “hello” in Japanese – konnichiwa / こんにちは

“Good morning” in Japanese – ohayou gozaimasu / おはようございます ; ohayou / おはよう

Casual Japanese greeting – Using someone’s name + -san / ‐さん

Featured Trade Secret:

Simplify your learning over the holidays by something quick and easy you can do each day to keep up your language learning no matter how busy things get.

Mentioned in this Episode:

Language Conqueror

We hope you enjoyed this episode of the podcast! Let us know what you think by leaving us a review. We appreciate your reviews because they let us know what you enjoy most about the podcast so we can keep doing more of it and it helps other learners like yourself find the podcast.

You can share your thoughts on the podcast at eurolinguiste.com/review

Snag our FREE guide to passion-driven language learning

25 language learning ideas + our top 5 habit building strategies to help you have fun reaching fluency.

Get the Free Guide

The post Snack-Sized Language Episode 3: How to Say Hello in Japanese appeared first on Eurolinguiste.

How to Create Your Goal Setting Map to Conqueror And Succeed

The following is a guest post from Caitlin Sacasas.

How’s your goal setting strategy? Do you stick with your goals? Or do you have a hard time following through, and seem to get lost along the way?

If you fall in the latter category, you’re definitely not alone. While most people are used to setting some kind of goal for themselves, many struggle to make actual change so their goals happen.

But even if you’re someone who normally sticks to your goals, there are always ways to make goal setting more effective.

And since that’s what our Quest for January is all about, let’s dive in.

Goal Setting Definition: What is Goal Setting?

This may seem obvious, but let’s talk about what exactly is a goal.

As a fitness trainer by trade, I often have clients come to me saying: “My goal is to lose weight.”

The thing is… That isn’t a goal. That’s an intention, an idea. A thought.

A popular goal-setting theory is starting from what you want to achieve, and what your life would look like at that endpoint. From there, you flesh out a SMART goal. (And we’ll talk about SMART goals in a moment.)

But to me, that’s not enough. If I ask my clients who want to lose weight, “What does your life look like when you achieve that?”… They likely won’t have a clear answer. It’ll be pretty vague, or something like, “Well, I’d look better” or “I’d feel more confident.”

Those answers aren’t very motivating are they?

No. It’s because the goal is too vague.

So when it comes to language learning, our goal-setting strategy needs to be clear and concise. It can’t be something vague like “to be fluent in X language.” What does fluency look like for you? What is your measure of fluency? It won’t be the same for everyone.

So, my goal-setting definition is: What concrete action can I complete when I reach this goal?

For losing weight, the action might be that when I lose 10 lbs, I’ll also be able to run a mile or squat 100 lbs or something actionable that goes along with it.

As for language learning, the same thing applies: “I’ll have reached my goal when I can train someone in Japanese and follow along with Japanese workout videos with ease.”

Goal Setting: SMART Goals

SMART goals are one of the most popular ways to set goals. SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-bound.

So going back to “I want to be fluent.” That isn’t a smart goal, because it doesn’t meet any of the above definitions. But if we wanted to make it SMART, we could say…

Specific: I want to talk comfortably about fitness and be able to train someone in Japanese.
Measurable: I’ll know I can do this when I can follow along with a workout video and understand it with ease.
Attainable: I can achieve this by practicing vocabulary and grammar patterns I hear other trainers use in Japanese.
Relevant: This goal is relevant to me because I’d like to be able to train in Japan one day.
Time-bound: I’ll achieve this goal in 6 months.

So the whole goal, simplified, becomes: “I want to be comfortable training in Japanese within 6 months of study by watching Japanese workout videos so I can one day train in Japan.”

You can do this too! Here’s a general SMART goal setting template:
“I want to (specific and measurable) within (time-bound) of practice in my language by (attainable) so I can (relevant).”

How to Start Setting Goals for Language Learning

Okay, so how can you start setting goals for language learning that you’ll actually stick with? Well, here are some tips for sticking with your goals, and strategies to make them happen.

1. Create a Big Goal and a Little Goal

What’s your BIGGEST dream with your language? Is it to travel to the country where it’s spoken, and chat with natives and find the best hole-in-the-wall places to eat? Is it to work in the country? That’s your big goal.

But to feel motivated to stick with your goal, you should also create little goals that lead you to the big one.

So if your goal is to get skilled enough to work in the country, that could take a while. But if your little goal is to learn how to introduce yourself to a potential employer, then that’s a small goal you could work towards and succeed at much faster.

Start with one small goal, and then pick the next one once you’ve completed it.

2. Think About Your Goals Like Flights of Stairs

I talked about this in our podcast episode on goal-setting, too. But I like to think of goals as flights of stairs.

The bottom is where I’m at, and the top is that gorgeous rooftop view — my end goal. The platforms between each flight of stairs are my smaller goals that help lead to my end goal. And each step is the smallest individual actions I need to take to keep climbing.

I’ll map this out as best I can, and adjust as I climb my stairs and reach new heights with my goals. But the beauty of this strategy is that the planning upfront saves me time and decision making later.

If I’m ever confused as to what to do to work toward my goal, I can look at my map of stairs and see what I need to do.

If I ever feel so worn out or decision-fatigued (and I often do), I don’t have to make a decision — it’s already mapped out, and I just have to follow through.

3. Write It Down Every Single Day

Every day, pull out your journal and write down your language learning goals. Bonus points if it’s in your target language.

This reinforces in your brain what you need to accomplish and work towards today, and writing it down helps make it feel more concrete and tangible.

4. Habit Stack

If you struggle with having enough time or sticking with a new goal, try pairing it with something you already do and love.

I learned this method from Atomic Habits by James Clear and it’s life-changing.

Instead of making time for something new, you’re including your language with something you already make time for.

My best example is my morning routine: I wake up, I start my pot of coffee and I meditate. Then after I meditate, I study vocabulary in my language while drinking my coffee.

I’ve actually stacked several habits here. I first created a consistent meditation routine by pairing it with the act of starting my pot of coffee and meditating while I wait for it to brew.

Then, I’ve habit stacked my vocabulary drills with my meditation and coffee. I do this because meditating clears my head, while coffee wakes me up. I feel most calm and focused at this point in my day, so I study vocabulary then.

I remember what I learn much better doing this and I save time.

5. Set Your Environment Up For Your Success

This was a big one for me. My house can be very chaotic, and I noticed it affected my ability to focus (I work from home).

So, I set up an office space and I only work in that space.

That helped my productivity levels, and also helped keep all the things I need in one place. So I wasn’t wasting time looking for them or being distracted.

The same can be done with language learning. Make it as easy as you possibly can.

I have my favorite language learning apps right on the home screen of my phone. So, any time I have a moment to myself, I see it right away and remember to work on my language.

Likewise, at home, I have a specific spot I like to sit in when I study. And I tend to keep a Japanese book on my bedside table so that if I feel like reading before bed, I can grab it and read a page or two.

These small changes add up to a lot of little touchpoints in the language!

Join our Goal Setting Quest!

Ready to master your language learning goals and reach new heights with your language? Join us in Language Conqueror! Every month, we go on a new Quest — a language learning challenge — around a topic or passion to help you learn through your hobbies! It’s passion-driven language learning, and it’s powerful.

And you can join our Go-Getter Goal Setting Quest hosted by Shannon! It’s all about developing your language learning Map to guide you through the rest of your Quests. Plus, it comes with an amazing goal setting worksheet and workbook to help you make the most of your journey.

What are your language learning goals? Leave us a comment below and let us know!

The post How to Create Your Goal Setting Map to Conqueror And Succeed appeared first on Eurolinguiste.

Snack-Sized Language Podcast Episode 2: What is Language Conqueror?



In this episode of the podcast, we introduce you to Language Conqueror, our monthly language learning course for learning languages through your passions.

Listen on Apple | Spotify | YouTube | Google

Want to keep learning with us? Join Language Conqueror.

Mentioned in this Episode:

Snack-Sized Language podcast Language Conqueror

We hope you enjoyed this episode of the podcast! Let us know what you think by leaving us a review. We appreciate your reviews because they let us know what you enjoy most about the podcast so we can keep doing more of it and it helps other learners like yourself find the podcast.

You can share your thoughts on the podcast at eurolinguiste.com/review

Snag our FREE guide to passion-driven language learning

25 language learning ideas + our top 5 habit building strategies to help you have fun reaching fluency.

Subscribe

The post Snack-Sized Language Podcast Episode 2: What is Language Conqueror? appeared first on Eurolinguiste.

Snack-Sized Language Podcast Episode 1: Get to Know Us!



In this episode of the podcast, get to know your Snack-Sized Language hosts! Caitlin and Shannon take turns introducing each other and sharing some fun facts about themselves.

Listen on Apple | Spotify | YouTube | Google

Want to keep learning with us? Join Language Conqueror.

Mentioned in this Episode:

Language Conqueror Language Conqueror Instagram Eurolinguiste 5-Minute Japanese Rebel Heart Beauty

We hope you enjoyed this episode of the podcast! Let us know what you think by leaving us a review. We appreciate your reviews because they let us know what you enjoy most about the podcast so we can keep doing more of it and it helps other learners like yourself find the podcast.

You can share your thoughts on the podcast at eurolinguiste.com/review

Snag our FREE guide to passion-driven language learning

25 language learning ideas + our top 5 habit building strategies to help you have fun reaching fluency.

Subscribe

The post Snack-Sized Language Podcast Episode 1: Get to Know Us! appeared first on Eurolinguiste.

Re-Introducing Language Conqueror

Welcome to Language Conqueror, the place where you can bring your language to new heights with passion-driven learning.

I’m thrilled to share my language learning experience with you.

Who is the creator of Language Conqueror?

I’m Shannon Kennedy and I’m thrilled to meet you!

I am language lover behind Eurolinguiste, the Resident Polyglot at Drops, and the host of the Snack-Sized Language Podcast and Language Conqueror. I am also a co-founder of Women in Language, the co-host of the Language Hacking Podcast, and Head Coach of the Fluent in 3 Months Challenge.

While at university, I began seriously studying languages and discovered my passion for independent learning. I earned CEFR certifications for French, German and Italian before going on to study Mandarin Chinese, Croatian, Russian, Spanish, Hungarian, Hindi, Hebrew, Japanese, Korean, and Persian. I’ve also dabbled in several other languages.

What is Language Conqueror?

Language Conqueror is an online platform where you can sign up for monthly Language Quests. Each Quest is centered around ways you can make language learning a part of your life by incorporating it with someone you already love doing. Or by learning to do something new through language.

You can learn more about the Language Conqueror platform here.

In addition to monthly Quests, I also share weekly podcasts. Currently, the podcasts are available for Japanese, Korean, French, Mandarin Chinese, and general language learning. You can learn more about the podcast here.

It’s Nice to Meet You!

I look forward to getting to know you and learning more about your language learning journey. I hope you’ll join me on a Quest to take your language to new heights and share your experience learning with our community.

Have any questions? Just let me know in the comments!

Grab my free guide to passion drive language learning!

25 language learning ideas + our top 5 habit building strategies to help you have fun reaching fluency.

Get it here

The post Re-Introducing Language Conqueror appeared first on Eurolinguiste.

Clear the List | Monthly Language Learning Strategies Update | June 2021

Summer is upon us and I’m excited for what it brings. Like last month, I’m continuing to focus on Russian, but I’m also still working on Japanese, Hungarian, and Croatian.

And, as it has for the first several months of 2021, a new month not only means a new analysis at my language goals as a part of Clear the List, but also a new Quest as a part of Language Conqueror!

And this month… it’s all about learning moving your body! We discuss ways exercise helps your language learning, how to habit stack exercise and language, and what fitness hacks you can steal to apply to your language studies.

What is Language Conqueror? It’s a course I work on with a monthly Quest focused on passion-driven learning. You can learn more, get a feel for my teaching style, and download our free PDF here: Get the Free PDF

And if that’s not enough, you can also get a feel for my teaching style with Snack-Sized Language!

Snack-Sized Language is a free podcast where we teach you snack-sized language lessons. So far we have episodes teaching general language learning tips, Japanese, French, Mandarin and Korean.

You can subscribe to the podcast on your preferred podcast platform.

Listen on Apple Podcasts Listen on Spotify Listen on Google Podcasts

And if you enjoy Snack-Sized language, we would absolutely love it if you left us a review!

And now, on to #clearthelist …

Wondering what #clearthelist is? Let me clear it up for you (see what I did there?). #CleartheList is a linkup where we share our monthly goals, and by we, I mean myself, and Lindsay of Lindsay Does Languages.

We’d absolutely love for you to a part of our community. You can join us by adding a link to your own goal post in the comments below.

So let’s get started, sharing our goals and motivating one another to #clearthelist!

Please feel free to tag your posts or photos with either #clearthelist on your favorite social media channels!

Last Month’s Highlights on Instagram

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Shannon Kennedy (@eurolinguiste)

Last Month’s Goals

Continue filling the gaps in my Mandarin vocabulary I’ve noticed since Little Linguist’s arrival. // We’ve been working on body parts which has been a lot of fun. Mostly it involves me chasing him around the house saying I’ll tickle his dùzi (tummy), gēbó (arm) or jiǎo (feet).

Maintain my vocabulary learning streak. // This was a bit frustrating for me this month. I was only a few days away from a one year streak and then the app updated, erasing my streak. I’ve been working with the support team at Memrise to try to get it restored, but it still hasn’t happened. My Drops streak, however, is well over 200 days.

Keep working through my YouTube Queue.  // I’ve been working on this but I feel like I’ve been adding more than I’ve been getting through. Last month I ended with 1,709 and today, I am back up to 1,774.

Keep reading Game of Thrones in Russian. // I have been keeping this up. The pace isn’t as fast as I’d like, but it is what it is. Consistency wins.

Keep reading Eye of the World in Hungarian. // Yes! I did this 50% of the time this month, but I still feel like it’s a win.

Maintain my weekly lessons in each language. // I took some time off from lessons this past month because I went on my honeymoon, but I jumped right back into them when I got back.

This Month’s Goals

Continue filling the gaps in my Mandarin vocabulary I’ve noticed since Little Linguist’s arrival. // As usual, I’d like to continue to incorporate this more and more until we’re an OPOL household. It’s a work in progress!

Maintain my vocabulary learning streak. // This has been a great way to rebuild my language routine, so it’s staying on the list indefinitely! I share my stats over on Instagram in my stories nearly every day, so if you’re ever curious where I’m at, you can check out my stories.

Keep working through my YouTube Queue.  // There’s even more I need to get through this month than there was the last. I plan to continue to work through this until it gets to a more manageable number.

Keep reading Game of Thrones in Russian. // My tutor and I are working on this weekly.

Keep reading Eye of the World in Hungarian. // My tutor and I are working on this weekly.

Maintain my weekly lessons in each language. // It makes sure I’m using all my languages each week and helps me a ton with accountability.

Resources I Used This Month

A quick recap of the materials I am using.

What I Am Using to Learn Chinese:

LingQ – my favorite tooliTalki Lessons – I have weekly Chinese lessonsMemrise  Drops

What I’m Using to Brush Up/Improve My French:

LingQListening to French radio/podcasts/music

What I am Using to Learn Russian:

Colloquial RussianLingQiTalki LessonsDropsPimsleur

What I am Using to Learn Persian:

LingQPreply LessonsDropsPimsleurTeach Yourself Complete Persian

What I am Using to Learn Spanish:

LingQ

What I am Using to Learn Italian:

LingQ

What I’m Using to Learn Japanese:

Genki IDrops – they just added hundreds of new culture-specific words for Japanese!iTalki LessonsPimsleur

What I’m Using to Learn Croatian:

Colloquial CroatianiTalki LessonsLingQ – they added Croatian, woot woot!Drops

What I’m Using to Learn Hungarian:

Colloquial HungarianiTalki LessonsDropsLingQ – they added Hungarian, too!

Not Currently doing any study for: German, Hindi, Norwegian, Hebrew, Korean

What I’m Using for Little Linguist

Lots of booksDay-to-day interactionitalki LessonsDuolingo ABCDropletsMovies in ChineseGus on the Go Chinese

Resources That Aren’t Language Specific

Fluent in 3 Months ChallengeTodoist (to keep all my language lessons and to-do’s organized)Notion – my new favorite app for taking notes (I just set up a template for the way I use Notion to take notes if you’re interested in duplicating it for yourself)The Biggest Lesson I Am Taking Away from This Month

This month, as I mentioned, I took a bit of a break. I usually don’t like to pause my studies — consistency is key — but I found that it didn’t take me as far off track as I worried it would.

I can’t say the same for my exercise routine, though!

I definitely needed the break. It gave me the chance to recharge and when that happens, it’s a good thing!

Don’t forget that I would love to hear all about your goals for this month! Please join us by adding your post to the linkup below! 

Clear The List Linkup Rules:

1. Share your goal post whether it includes your aspirations for the month or year. Submissions unrelated to the theme or links to your homepage will be deleted.

2. Link back to this post. You can use our button if you wish.

3. Follow the hosts: Lindsay from Lindsay Does Languages and Shannon from Eurolinguiste.

4. THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT RULE: Please visit the site of the person who linked up immediately before you and leave them an encouraging comment! By hosting this linkup, we’re hoping to create a positive community where we can all share our goals. If you do not do this, you will be removed from the linkup.

5. Share on social media using #ClearTheList

The post Clear the List | Monthly Language Learning Strategies Update | June 2021 appeared first on Eurolinguiste.

How Language Learning is Like Fitness Training

Whenever you take on a new skill, like language learning, one of the best things you can do is look at other things you’re already doing and that you’ve already learned.

How did you learn to do it? What resources did you use? How much time did you spend learning it? What didn’t work for you? What was enjoyable about the process of learning that thing?

Relating back to your experience with another skill can give you a big leg up with your new language. Whatever you did to learn that other skill, a lot of it can be applied to language learning, too.

I often relate language learning to music. It’s something that I’ve spent a lot of time studying and I’ve been able to draw on my experience training as a musician in ways that have benefitted my language studies.

More recently, I’ve started to really get into fitness. I have a history with martial arts, but in the last year I’ve also started weightlifting and dance.

And in getting more active, I’ve discovered there are a lot of parallels between training and language learning, too.

Here are just a few of the ways fitness can tie to language learning and how to use the skills you learn exercising to your advance in language.

1 Sustainability is so important.

The reason I’ve only recently gotten into fitness is because, and excuse me for being direct here but, I don’t like it. I did lots of sports as a kid, but I didn’t have the motivation to stick with any of them for long (except softball) and as an adult, I’ve always dreaded going to the gym.

I’d go for a few weeks, not see any changes, give up, and then a few months later start the cycle again while dreading it the entire time. I couldn’t stick with it.

That is, until I discovered my love of martial arts.

As a teenager I had done karate. I only got to yellow belt. It was in a big community center with lots of people, I got really sweaty, and I really didn’t like it. So I stopped.

But then, in my twenties, a friend and co-worker convinced me to try out kung fu with him (he had gotten a groupon package), so we went. After the groupon expired, he dropped out but I stuck with it. I loved it.

At this school, it was taught more as an art than at my previous school. I was able to focus on myself, learn forms, practice movements in coordination with partners, and I got a lot of personal feedback from my instructor. It was exactly what I needed to stick with a sport. And while I’ve switched over to taekwondo, I’m still at it and loving it.

In fact, I love it so much it pushed me to start working on weightlifting so that I would be stronger and in better shape as well as dance so I would be more flexible and fluid in my movements. I’ve been doing weightlifting for nearly a year now and dance for several months. And I don’t plan on giving up any of them.

Whenever someone asks me what the best language learning resource or method is, my answer is always the same. The one you’ll stick with. That’s what it took for me to stick with something I swore I hated—exercise—and it’s what keeps me going with my languages.

There’s no “best” resource out there. Everyone learns different. Everyone is interested in different aspects of their language or its culture. Everyone’s schedules vary enough that certain resources are more accessible than others. There’s no one right resource. Just like there’s no one right form of exercise. That’s why there are so many programs out there—P90X, pilates, yoga, Pelaton, swim, diving, running, you name it.

You want to make sure the resources you’re using support you in a variety of ways… depending on your goals. So, for example, my goals are often conversational. This means I want to find resources for listening, speaking, and learning vocabulary that I’ll keep coming back to day after day.

2 Something is better than nothing.

If I can’t fit an entire workout in or stay for an entire karate class, it’s easy for me to say “meh, I’ll just skip today.” But when it comes to working out, or language learning, something is better than nothing.

Imagine that you planned to study an hour every day this week. If you weren’t ever able to set aside an hour, that’s 0 minutes of study at the end of the week. If you studied 20 minutes here, 15 minutes there. You’d probably have over 2 hours of study at the end of the week that you wouldn’t have had if you skipped a study session because you “didn’t have enough time”.

With a skill like language learning, every minute counts. So if you can’t do a full session, don’t skip it. Just use the time you do have available to you to study.

3 Warm-ups are a good for you.

Before you workout, it’s important to stretch and warm-up. Languages can be the same.

Have you ever shown up for a language exchange or lesson cold? I certainly have. There are plenty of times my lesson is back-to-back with something else I have going on so I don’t have time to get into “Russian mode” or “Japanese mode”. Those lessons typically don’t go as well as the lessons where I get to spend 15 minutes warming up in the language with some reading, vocab review, or study.

Having some sort of transition or warm up into your language practice helps remove some of the resistance and get you feeling more ready and confident.

4 Expect that coming back to it after a break will be tough.

My husband and I recently went on our honeymoon. I was only away from my usual exercise routine for nine days (though we were very active on the trip with hikes, kayaking, snorkeling, swimming, and walks). When I got back it seemed like I lost a lot of what I could do during my workouts. And after, I was sore. Oh was I sore. And as a part of my normal routine, that doesn’t happen often.

After a break, it’s tough to get back into training but it doesn’t take long to get back to where you were. I was gone for about a week and it took me only three days to get back into the swing of things.

I also experienced something similar with my Italian.

You see, when we take a break from our languages, we worry that we’ll forget them. And you do forget a bit, but not as much as you think.

Getting back into your studies, you’ll often find yourself thinking “ugh, I knew that”. But guess what? That’s a good thing. Doing a language refresh, or picking up a language after a break, is a good way to review and better instill what you knew before. You’ll get back up to speed more quickly than you’d imagine. And I find, often enough, that it only takes me a short time before I speedily jump ahead of where I was when I took a break from my language in no time.

5 Overtraining is a real thing.

For a time, I was working out two to three time a day. When I started doing it, I had amazing results, so I thought I had to keep doing it. But then my body rebelled and I was doing more harm than good. Now, I try to limit my workouts to once or twice a day (if I must).

The same is true for language learning.

If you sit down and try to have a ten hour study session, chances are, you’re not going to remember everything you went over in that ten hours. But if you do one hour a day per week, you’re more likely to hang on to what you learned in those seven hours.

Our focus only lasts for so long. And our brain can only handle so much new information in a day

6 You can get over a plateau.

When training, you’ll hit several plateaus with your strength and weight. Breaking through them is a challenge, but you can break through them.

Change things up, take a break, push through it, or push yourself in new ways.

7 You can fit language learning or exercise in, even if you’re really busy.

Finding time and making time for language learning are two different things. I’ve written about time management and making time for language learning on a few different occasions, and with a full-time job, several part-time jobs, kids, and hobbies, it’s a topic that is very important to me.

If you reframe your language learning so that it’s not about a single, solid language learning session each day, you’ll find you’re able to fit more language learning into your schedule.

8 Energy management matters.

Do you find that when it’s time for you to finally start studying your language you don’t have the energy to do it? Figuring out when you have the most energy and how to manage your energy is crucial to getting the most out of your language studies (or workouts).

9 Community is so important.

Remember when I said I fell in love with martial arts when I retried it as an adult? A big part of it was the community at the new school. My teacher was awesome and I enjoyed my fellow students’ company. The same is true of my new martial arts school, my personal trainer for weightlifting and the people at my dance school, too. If I didn’t like the community I became a part of by joining those places, I probably wouldn’t keep showing up.

If you’re not a part of a language learning community. Now is the time to join one. I, of course, recommend Language Conqueror, but there are several more out there including my Reading Challenge community.

What About You?

Do you relate to any of the above? What are strategies you’ve taken from other parts of your life and applied to language learning that have worked for you? Let me know in the comments below!

And if you’re interested in learning more about this topic or joining a supportive group of language learners, then I invite you to join me in Language Conqueror!

As a part of Language Conqueror, you get:

A video lesson introducing the QuestDaily prompts to guide you along the Quest each dayA workbook with all the exercises and instructions you need to complete the QuestA video demonstrating the Quest in action from one of our hosts (or special guests)Trade secrets: these are tricks you can use to succeed at your QuestA Side-Quest: an action you can take to help you gain the confidence you need to complete your QuestAccess to the Quest community so you can collaborate with other learners, share what you’re working on, and get supportYour Quest: the final assignment you complete to put everything you learned over the month into practice

We hope to see you in the next Quest!

The post How Language Learning is Like Fitness Training appeared first on Eurolinguiste.

Clear the List | Monthly Language Learning Strategies Update | May 2021

Welcome to May! We’re almost at the halfway point for the year. I’m still continuing to focus on Russian, but I’m also still working on Japanese, Hungarian, and Croatian.

And, as it has for the first several months of 2021, a new month not only means a new analysis at my language goals as a part of Clear the List, but also a new Quest as a part of Language Conqueror!

And this month… it’s all about learning with mindfulness! It’s a practice I’m fairly new to as I tend to me more from the time management and productivity side of things, but it’s something I’ve really enjoyed diving into.

What is Language Conqueror? It’s a course I work on together with my friend Caitlin Sacasas of 5 Minute Japanese. And each month, we highlight a new topic to help you learn a new language through passion-driven learning. In the month of March, we’re all about dramas. You can learn more, get a feel for our teaching style, and download our free PDF here: Get the Free PDF

And if that’s not enough, you can also get a feel for our teaching style with Snack-Sized Language!

Snack-Sized Language is a free podcast where we teach you snack-sized language lessons. So far we have episodes teaching general language learning tips, Japanese, French, Mandarin and Korean.

Here’s a snippet:

You can subscribe to the podcast on your preferred podcast platform.

Listen on Apple Podcasts Listen on Spotify Listen on Google Podcasts

And if you enjoy Snack-Sized language, we would absolutely love it if you left us a review!

And now, on to #clearthelist …

Wondering what #clearthelist is? Let me clear it up for you (see what I did there?). #CleartheList is a linkup where we share our monthly goals, and by we, I mean myself, and Lindsay of Lindsay Does Languages.

We’d absolutely love for you to a part of our community. You can join us by adding a link to your own goal post in the comments below.

So let’s get started, sharing our goals and motivating one another to #clearthelist!

Please feel free to tag your posts or photos with either #clearthelist on your favorite social media channels!

Last Month’s Highlights on Instagram

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Shannon Kennedy (@eurolinguiste)

Last Month’s Goals

Continue filling the gaps in my Mandarin vocabulary I’ve noticed since Little Linguist’s arrival. // This month hasn’t been as active for us with Mandarin, so I’m hoping to turn things around this coming month.

Maintain my vocabulary learning streak. // Yes! I’ve been keeping this up and it’s a great way to keep my vocabulary fresh while learning new words.

Keep working through my YouTube Queue.  // Yes, I’ve done this. Each week, I add new videos to the list so I try to get through more than I add. As an update on my progress, from the 1,738 videos last month, I’m up to 1,709 in my queue.

Keep reading Game of Thrones in Russian. // Yes, I’ve done this! We’re slowly making progress through the book.

Keep reading Eye of the World in Hungarian. // Even after a week, I wasn’t able to get through the prologue, but I’m happy to be reading a book I love in the language.

Get through at least three chapters in each course book I’m working on. // I’ve been determined to do this for several months now but my focus has been on reading the fiction books.

Maintain my weekly lessons in each language. // I have been doing this!

This Month’s Goals

Continue filling the gaps in my Mandarin vocabulary I’ve noticed since Little Linguist’s arrival. // As usual, I’d like to continue to incorporate this more and more until we’re an OPOL household. Last month wasn’t what I hoped so I am aiming to get back on track this month.

Maintain my vocabulary learning streak. // This has been a great way to rebuild my language routine, so it’s staying on the list indefinitely! I share my stats over on Instagram in my stories nearly every day, so if you’re ever curious where I’m at, you can check out my stories. I’m currently far beyond 200 days.

Keep working through my YouTube Queue.  // There’s still a lot here I need to get through, and there’s just so much good learning content. I plan to continue to work through this until it gets to a more manageable number.

Keep reading Game of Thrones in Russian. // My tutor and I are working on this weekly.

Keep reading Eye of the World in Hungarian. // My tutor and I are working on this weekly.

Maintain my weekly lessons in each language. // It makes sure I’m using all my languages each week and helps me a ton with accountability.

Resources I Used This Month

A quick recap of the materials I am using.

What I Am Using to Learn Chinese:

LingQ – my favorite tooliTalki Lessons – I have weekly Chinese lessonsMemrise  Drops

What I’m Using to Brush Up/Improve My French:

LingQListening to French radio/podcasts/music

What I am Using to Learn Russian:

Colloquial RussianLingQiTalki LessonsDropsPimsleur

What I am Using to Learn Persian:

LingQPreply LessonsDropsPimsleurTeach Yourself Complete Persian

What I am Using to Learn Spanish:

LingQ

What I am Using to Learn Italian:

LingQ

What I’m Using to Learn Japanese:

Genki IDrops – they just added hundreds of new culture-specific words for Japanese!iTalki LessonsPimsleur

What I’m Using to Learn Croatian:

Colloquial CroatianiTalki LessonsLingQ – they added Croatian, woot woot!Drops

What I’m Using to Learn Hungarian:

Colloquial HungarianiTalki LessonsDropsLingQ – they added Hungarian, too!

Not Currently doing any study for: German, Hindi, Norwegian, Hebrew, Korean

What I’m Using for Little Linguist

Lots of booksDay-to-day interactionitalki LessonsDuolingo ABCDropletsMovies in ChineseGus on the Go Chinese

Resources That Aren’t Language Specific

Fluent in 3 Months ChallengeTodoist (to keep all my language lessons and to-do’s organized)Notion – my new favorite app for taking notes (I just set up a template for the way I use Notion to take notes if you’re interested in duplicating it for yourself)The Biggest Lesson I Am Taking Away from This Month

I know it’s something I talked about in the past, but it’s been something I’ve really gotten into in new ways.

Before, I would read in my languages, play video games, and do other things that I enjoyed to have a more enjoyable way to learn languages.

And lately, one of the things I’ve gotten back into is Pokemon. I’ve been diving into content in different languages and… collecting the cards in the languages I speak as well. So far, I’ve been able to find cards in Russian, Chinese, Japanese, and several other languages. And it’s been a great way for me to enjoy a revived hobby in my languages.

So my takeaway is that you can enjoy your languages in all sorts of places if you’re creative and look at other things you’re already doing or plan to do!

Don’t forget that I would love to hear all about your goals for this month! Please join us by adding your post to the linkup below! 

Clear The List Linkup Rules:

1. Share your goal post whether it includes your aspirations for the month or year. Submissions unrelated to the theme or links to your homepage will be deleted.

2. Link back to this post. You can use our button if you wish.

3. Follow the hosts: Lindsay from Lindsay Does Languages and Shannon from Eurolinguiste.

4. THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT RULE: Please visit the site of the person who linked up immediately before you and leave them an encouraging comment! By hosting this linkup, we’re hoping to create a positive community where we can all share our goals. If you do not do this, you will be removed from the linkup.

5. Share on social media using #ClearTheList

The post Clear the List | Monthly Language Learning Strategies Update | May 2021 appeared first on Eurolinguiste.

How to Learn a Language Online for Free: 7 Places to Find Native Content in Your Target Language

So you’ve decided to learn a new language?

It was all going fine, you watched a few videos on the best apps and websites for languages and you’ve found the perfect resource. Let’s say it’s an app. This language thing looks super easy now!

You go to the website of the oh-so-perfect app you found. Looking down their list of languages, your face falls.

Oh no! Your language isn’t on the list!

This is a problem I’ve faced many, many times in my Czech learning because, unfortunately, some languages are just more popular than others for learners.

Don’t worry! You are in the perfect place, because I’ve got a way for you to learn a language for free without needing those pesky apps. If you can find apps, that’s great, but you can do fine without them.

What’s the secret?

The not-so secret here is native material.

Learning with Material for Native Speakers

By this, I mean content made for people living in the country who speak your language as their mother tongue, their first language.

This is brilliant for you because most people’s aim as a language learner is to be able to communicate with and understand natives, not just to have a master streak and complete Duolingo tree.

Native material is readily available in any language where there are native speakers, (which counts for most of them apart from Latin and similar) and can be found for free on the internet if you know where to look.

Where should I be looking, I hear you ask…

Where to Find Native Content Online

Native content can be found anywhere native speakers are, so the internet is full of it!

Depending on the language, it might be found in places you use anyway, for English entertainment. Some countries are more active in their own websites and apps.

For lower levels, throwing yourself straight into adult level and speed television or radio might be a little intense and you probably won’t understand enough to make it very useful. Start with children’s material like picture books and cartoons. These are great because the language is simple, slow and repetitive so you’ll be able to pick things up.

Youtube

The first place to find some awesome content is the places we already spend our time!

To find content on Youtube, search for a keyword in your target language. Whether it is “daily vlog” or “cooking,” it’s best to watch something that you would watch anyway. This makes life easier because you won’t have to force yourself to watch it — it will feel more enjoyable and less like homework.

You can also find shows for children on Youtube, using the same method. For me, the main ‘pro’ of Youtube for Kids is the number of dubs available for things you already have in English. For example, the show ‘Bing’ is dubbed in 15+ languages and is available for free!

There aren’t identical videos on each – you can find some in one language but not another, but that isn’t an issue.

Netflix

As Shannon has mentioned before, Netflix also has films and tv in many languages.

You can set your language, choose subtitles (which are often available in English as well), and watch loads of great shows!

To find more in your target language, many people recommend using a VPN. This will give you even more to watch!

Days of French ‘N Swedish suggests creating a separate profile for watching in your target language because it gives you more options and fewer distractions in English!

Radio Garden

That’s two video options… now for radio!

Radio Garden is a website that lets you select a radio anywhere in the world and play it.
It is very useful for hearing the language in a real, casual format. In short, it’s radio: it’s live, unscripted and often local. It also tells you a lot about the music of the country, which is a bonus!

To use this, click on one of the dots within the country your language is spoken in. It will connect you to a radio station and it will start playing! Be warned: it might just play English music because it’s popular in a lot of the world. Try another station or wait until the song finishes.

For bonus points, try out a few across the country! You’ll be exposed to regional accents and dialects that will broaden your listening and understanding.

Native Television Websites

Some countries don’t really use Youtube, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t on the internet at all! For example, most Czech programs are on ceskatelevize.cz and similar sites. Often, they will have their own equivalents or websites dedicated to certain channels.

Do some research on popular shows, and then search for them. You’ll find the places that the people living there get shows online. If this doesn’t help and it’s not on Youtube, ask Reddit!

My favorite part of these sites is that the advertisements are in your target language! Seems small, but bite-sized fast-speaking advertisements are a fun challenge!

Instagram and other Social Media

For a smaller chunk of target language exposure, Instagram captions and stories are wonderful!

Follow celebrities, singers and reality tv stars to add study to your daily scroll.

There’s also a lot of “daily Czech words” or “learn Czech with so-and-so” accounts that you can find, which are very helpful!

News Sites

Similar to Youtube, articles, and bits of news in your target language are super helpful! Unlike video, you can use a dictionary to help you out here which is a nice break.

News sites are usually available worldwide, so you won’t have a VPN issue here.

Apart from any learning benefits, it’s nice to know what’s going on so that’s another pro for this.

Supplement your Native Material with Other Methods

On a different note, native material can do a lot for your learning, but you will progress so much quicker if you supplement it with some other useful resources. There are a few simple additions that could skyrocket your learning…

A source of guided content like Innovative Language, a good Youtube teacher, or your own tutorA way to practice vocab you pick up like Anki, Memrise, Drops or paper flashcardsSpeaking practice – a language exchange, tutor or even just speaking to yourself out loudWriting practice – your own journal entriesFinal Thoughts

I hope that these recommendations helped you out! Let me know what you thought in the comments below.

If you need specific recommendations or advice, ask native speakers in Discord, Facebook groups or other online communities. I wish you luck in all of your language endeavors and hope I’ve shown you that you can learn any language you want, whether or not it’s popular to learn.

Thank you so much to Shannon for letting me share my advice with you here, and I hope to see you again soon!

About the Author: Lola is the student and language learner behind Mustard Language, where she shares posts for new language learners filled with tips, methods and recommendations to help you along. She loves finding new methods to study czech, meeting new people and writing. If you’d like to read more posts like this, visit the Mustard Language website!

The post How to Learn a Language Online for Free: 7 Places to Find Native Content in Your Target Language appeared first on Eurolinguiste.