Shannon L. Kennedy's Blog: http://eurolinguiste.com/feed/, page 8

April 10, 2021

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

It’s April and we’re now entering the second quarter of the year. A lot of exciting things have happened this month, and now, I’m turning my focus to Russian.

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

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is join-language-conqueror-1024x390.png

And this month… it’s all about learning with dramas, tv, and movies! I recently wrote a post to share my experience learning with tv, so I’m very excited to hear all about how Caitlin uses dramas to learn languages since she’s the host for this month!

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
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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 a lot on adjectives this month and I’m slowly working new words into his vocabulary each day.

Maintain my vocabulary learning streak. // I had a couple of misses this month with a few of my languages, but for the most part, I’ve kept this up. I have a 301 day streak for Croatian and 190 for Persian!

Keep working through my YouTube Queue.  // I’ve been keeping this up and am making good progress! But, this month, I added a lot more videos than I was able to watch. As an update on my progress, from the 1,517 videos last month, I’m up to 1,738 in my queue.

Keep reading Game of Thrones in Russian. // Yes, I’ve picked this back up, particularly now that Russian is once again my focus.

Learn Norwegian with Drops // I finished 90 Days with Drops with Norwegian! I’m not sure what my plan is with Norwegian going forward, but I enjoyed spending three months learning loads of Norwegian words.

Get through at least three chapters in each course book I’m working on. // I again didn’t do this last month, so I’d love to get back to it this month. These are still: Teach Yourself Complete Persian, Genki I for Japanese, Colloquial Russian, Colloquial Croatian, and Colloquial Hungarian.

Maintain my weekly lessons in each language. // I was able to do this, but due to some personal stuff going on (see my Instagram photo above), I took a couple weeks off. But I have lessons scheduled to start again this month.

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.

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 still a lot here I need to get through, and there’s just so much good learning content.

Keep reading Game of Thrones in Russian. // My tutor and I have a plan to do this weekly now that I’m resuming lessons.

Get through at least three chapters in each course book I’m working on. // I will do this in April! These are still: Teach Yourself Complete Persian, Genki I for Japanese, Colloquial Russian, Colloquial Croatian, and Colloquial Hungarian.

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 isn’t so much a takeaway, but a request for help!

My Persian teacher, whom I loved, let me know she was offered an incredible opportunity to take a position abroad so she won’t be teaching Persian online any more. I’d like to continue studying the language, so if you have any recommendations for tutors, please let me know in the comments!

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

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Published on April 10, 2021 20:32

April 7, 2021

Can You Learn a Language by Watching TV Shows?

Do you enjoy watching tv?

If so, you may be wondering if you can turn your cinema hobby into a tool for language learning.

You may have heard the stories. The one about the Hungarian speaker who learned English watching Friends. The French speaker who grasped the English language while watching The Simpsons. Or the Korean learner who used their love of K-dramas to help them become fluent in the language.

When people first get to know me and they hear about my passion for language learning, I am often asked how I’ve managed to learn so many other languages.

And yes, tv and movies are tools I’ve used to learn them!

But it’s not as simple as pressing “play” and sitting back. Learning with dramas or films only works if you’re engaging with what you’re watching.

So why do I like movies and shows as language learning tools?

I am all about passion-driven learning techniques. And that means using my hobbies and interests to learn languages is something I regularly do. I’ve shared how I’ve used my love of food and martial arts to improve my languages, and now I’m excited to share how I use watching television and movies in foreign languages to accelerate my language learning.

Can watching foreign films help you learn another language?

First, when it comes to using film or tv to learn another language, there are two very important worth noting:

Passive learning won’t workLearning with movies and tv shows will work only if they’re a part of a larger language learning strategyWhy Passive Learning Won’t Work

While I was in middle and high school, I attempted to watch foreign films and absorb the languages I was learning, but I didn’t really ever feel like I was improving.

One of the mistakes we make when setting out to use tv to learn another language, and that I was certainly making at the time, is that we sit down and expect to learn via osmosis.

If that’s the way you go about it, you may find you’re not gaining ground in the language.

Unless I was constantly pausing, rewinding, listening, and taking notes while watching tv, the only time films really worked for me was once I was already quite proficient in a language and could read the subtitles in the original language rather than my native language.

If your plan is to relax, watch tv, and not interact with what you’re watching in some way, you won’t maximize tv shows and movies as a resource.

Today, whenever I watch something in another language with the goal of learning, my finger is constantly on the remote. I pause the movie, rewind, then rewind again. I listen to the phrases and expressions used by the characters, writing down those I think might be useful to me and actively engage with whatever I’m watching.

From there, I’ll take what I’ve written down to my tutor so that she can proofread what I’ve written to make sure it’s correct. Then, as a last step, I’ll add it to my flashcards to study.

Other things you can do to make tv a more active learning experience include:

ShadowingImprovising your own responses to questions asked by charactersMemorizing linesMirroring the accent and speech patterns of a characterLearn facial expressions and gesturesWatch the shapes the characters’ mouths take when they speak the language and try to recreate them yourselfTaking notes

Try one of these out the next time you’re watching something on Netflix and let me know how it goes!

Foreign Films & TV as Immersion

Watching foreign-language films can be a good way a way to immerse yourself in a language when the real environment is unavailable. This is one area where I might agree, however, if one does not already have the basic tools of another language (some vocabulary and grammar), then this form of immersion won’t work.

How can you expect to absorb a language let alone understand what is happening on a screen without any entry points to the language? I would compare it to picking up a novel in a foreign language and trying to learn to speak it using that book without any previous knowledge – it’s an awfully difficult way to go. I wouldn’t say it was impossible, but I wouldn’t say it was easy either.

One might say that children learn their first language through osmosis, but I’m quite certain that many linguists would argue this isn’t the case.

Children are born with the natural ability to decipher the complex system of language by picking out repetitive sounds, eventually words and then finally phrases.¹ The total language learning process takes them a total of five years to complete with 24/7 immersion in the language and endless interaction with speakers that are trying to help them learn the language.

So the next time you feel like you aren’t learning fast enough—think again! You’re doing just fine.

So how do you use foreign movies and tv for immersion?

Again, by giving yourself a foothold. Use subtitles to your advantage. Read a wikipedia summary of the show or movie in the language first. Figure out the plot, recurring themes, and prepare by learning relevant vocabulary in advance.

How to Make Movies and TV Work for You As a Language Learning Tool

If you are looking for a shortcut to language learning – a fast way to learn a new language and skip steps, watching foreign films aren’t it. Because, spoilers: there are no shortcuts. And when it comes to visual media, you’ll have a heard time without a basic understanding of the language and entry-level vocabulary already built up. And not if you’re passively watching, not interacting with what you’re seeing or hearing.

The reason that television, if used incorrectly, is an ineffective means of language learning is because it is missing one incredibly important element – interaction. It is a form of passive rather than active learning and therefore can be seen as less effective than other means.

By watching others’ conversations in films or even by being read to by a computer, one is missing one of the most important learning elements, that of interaction. When a mother reads to her child, they discuss the book, what is happening, what might happen next and what the child thinks, allowing them to become involved with the story and use the language they are developing.

One could argue, however, that if one is actively engaged with the movie or television program, it could be considered active learning. Instead of merely watching the film, one could repeat expressions or mimic dialogue, and thus, make the activity interactive rather than passive.

And if you’re looking for more tips on how to use tv and movies to learn a language effectively, then I invite you to join my friend Caitlin Sacasas and I in Language Conqueror!

And if you’d like to take learning with food further, you can join us this month in Language Conqueror.

Caitlin is hosting this month and it’s all about learning with dramas. 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 from Shannon and Caitlin: 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 this month’s Quest!

1. Countless studies have been conducted on the brain activity of infants when hearing different sounds and as early as only a few months it has been demonstrated that they are capable of discerning meaningful sounds as “their” language.

Can you learn a language watching tv?

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Published on April 07, 2021 01:08

March 13, 2021

How to Learn a Language Through Food

I love food.

I love making it, eating it, discovering it, and just about everything about it.

And as I learn new languages, one of the first things I start talking about is, you guessed it, food.

During lessons, I’ve done everything from describe a restaurant outing to cook with my tutors. And almost every lesson, food comes up.

Food just might be one of my love languages.

Learning a Language with Food

One of the best ways to learn a new language is through your passions, and by making food a part of my language learning process, that’s exactly what I’m doing.

Food, whether your love it or feel pretty meh about it, is an important thing. You don’t have to be a foodie to eat. In fact, eating is just something you need to do.

And food comes up in a lot of conversations:

Food planning: what you plan to eat, what you plan to cook, what you need to get from the store or order in.Asking someone how they are: a common question in many cultures is “did you eat?” – it’s actually how someone asks how you’re doing in many languages!Food experience: a story about a restaurant you went, a dish you tried, a dish you made.Food routine: when you eat, what you eat, and how you prepare it.Food identity: are you a vegetarian? Doing keto? Vegan? Pescatarian? Intermittent faster?Food safety: do you have food allergies? Intolerances? Are you gluten free?Food preferences: can’t stand spicy? Not that into sweets? Hate eggplant?

There are lots of ways you can talk about food, and that you’ll end up talking about, whether it’s an important or significant part of your life or just your routine.

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A post shared by SoCal Food Lovers (@socalfoodlovers)


How to Get Started Using Food to Learn a Language

Here are three steps to making food a part of your language learning routine:

Step One: Learn Some of the Basic Food Vocabulary

The first thing you’ll want to do is decide how food fits into your life. Figure out what things are important to you to share and go from there.

Here are a few things you can learn to get started:

Learn the names of a few of your favorite foods in your new languageLearn the names of dishes from the culture tied to your language you’d like to tryLearn to discuss your routine: when and what you eat regularlyLearn your food identityLearn to discuss any food safety preferences, allergy or intolerances you haveLearn the names of a few foods you don’t likeLearn how to describe the kinds of tastes you like: savory, crunchy, sweet, etc.

Here’s my sample script:

I love most foods, but my favorites are probably cheese, sushi, and barbecue. I’d love to try plov, shashlik, and blini with caviar. I typically don’t eat breakfast, but I have a cup of coffee. I usually eat two meals a day. I’m a total foodie, so I’ll eat pretty much anything and everything. I don’t have any food allergies or intolerances. There isn’t really anything I don’t like, except chocolate though I can eat it if it’s a small part of another dish. I prefer savory foods.

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A post shared by SoCal Food Lovers (@socalfoodlovers)


Step Two: Learn How to Order Food at a Restaurant

Once you’ve got a handle of the basics, you can go to the next step and learn how to order from a restaurant. You can practice this with an exchange partner, call in an order to a local restaurant, or even do it in person.

Here’s how to prepare:

Pick a restaurant in advance, visit their website and take a look at the menu (you can do this step whether you’re pretending to order or really ordering)Brainstorm a list of phrases restaurant staff usually use you when visiting a restaurant or calling in an order (how many people are in your party, if you’d like to sit inside or outside, what you’d like to drink, what you’d like to order, what sides you’d like, etc.)Translate that list of phrases into your language and then start to work out your answers in the language as wellPick out something from the menu you’d like to order and learn to ask for it, making any modifications or preference requestsPractice making your order
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A post shared by SoCal Food Lovers (@socalfoodlovers)


Step Three: Try Your Hand Cooking in the Language

Recently, as a part of Language Conqueror, I tried my hand at making a Hungarian dish—in Hungarian!

It turned out really well and was a fun experience.

In fact, it’s something I’ve done in the past in Russian and Chinese. My Chinese tutor and I often cook together, describing the ingredients and steps in the language.

Here’s how you can get started:

Find a recipe in your target language by learning the name of a dish and how to say “recipe” in the language, then do a Google (or Youtube search)Translate the recipe into your native language so you can get familiar with it and understand what’s askedConvert any ingredient measurements needed (for example, Hungarian recipes use kg while American use cups or lbs)Review the lesson in the language (I went over the Hungarian recipe with my tutor in Hungarian and as we did so, she made suggestions to improve the recipe based on her experience)Try your hand at making the recipeAnd That’s It!

For now at least, there are lots more ways you can make food a part of your language learning journey. Is there anything you do that I missed? Share it with me in the comments!

And if you’d like to take learning with food further, you can join us this month in Language Conqueror.

I’m hosting this month and it’s all about food. 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 from Shannon and Caitlin: 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 this month’s Quest!

And if you’d like to follow along on my foodie adventures, I share them here.

How to learn another language using food

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Published on March 13, 2021 09:07

March 2, 2021

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

I’m heading into the final stretch with my latest language — Norwegian — and I’m still immersed in both the study of the language as well as the cultural immersion with tv shows (Vikings), books (The Last Kingdom) and video games (Assassin’s Creed Valhalla). I’m taking part in 90 Days with Drops and still keeping my five core languages in focus.

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

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is join-language-conqueror-1024x390.png

And this month… it’s all about food! As you know, I’m a total, total, total foodie, so I’m very excited to share how to use food to learn languages with you!

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 food. 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!

Women in Language

This month is also when Women in Language is happening! You can still get your tickets until this Sunday, March 7, so don’t miss out!

We have 30+ speakers and panelists this year and it’s going to be an incredible event with a lively chat and inspiring talks. Tickets are only $29 for the four-day, online event.

And however you identify, you’re welcome to join us. The “women” only refers to the hosts of the event and most of our speakers.

Hope to see you there!

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
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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 consistent with this, though we could always do more. Little Linguist has been teaching anyone who will listen French, so that’s going well, too.

Maintain my vocabulary learning streak. // Yes, yes, and yes! I’m at 200+ days for almost all my streaks.

Keep working through my YouTube Queue.  // Another big yes!

Restart reading Game of Thrones in Russian. // I started in the last few days of the month, so it still counts, right? Right?!

Learn Norwegian with Drops // I’m more than two thirds of the way through this challenge now and haven’t missed a day.

Get through at least three chapters in each course book I’m working on. // This one I didn’t do.

Maintain my weekly lessons in each language. // Yes! I’ve done this as consistently as possible.

This Month’s Goals

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

Maintain my vocabulary learning streak. // This has been a great way to rebuild my language routine, so it’s staying on the list indefinitely! Plus, I’m really seeing the impact of this study. 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.  // I’ve been keeping this up and am making good progress! As an update on my progress, from the 1,809 videos last month, I’m down to 1,517 in my queue. And I’ve even added a lot of new videos lately.

Keep reading Game of Thrones in Russian. // My tutor and I have a plan to do this weekly.

Learn Norwegian with Drops // I’m almost done with this project!

Get through at least three chapters in each course book I’m working on. // I didn’t do this last month, so I’d love to get back to it this month. These are still: Teach Yourself Complete Persian, Genki I for Japanese, Colloquial Russian, Colloquial Croatian, and Colloquial Hungarian.

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. Plus, as I mentioned last month, now that I’m maintaining five languages, this is more important than ever.

Resources I Used This Month

A quick recap of the materials I am using.

What I Am Using to Learn Norwegian:

Drops

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 Hebrew:

LingQiTalki LessonsDropsPimsleur

What I am Using to Learn Korean:

LingQDrops – they just added several hundred new culture-specific words for Korean and I’m so excited about the new content!iTalki LessonsPimsleur

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

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 notesThe Biggest Lesson I Am Taking Away from This Month

That I can’t do everything.

Lately, I’ve been trying out a lot of new things. I think it’s important to continue growing and learning about ourselves, but I made the mistake of not making room for the new things. Instead, I just tried to cram them into my already super full schedule.

And when I miss doing something, I had a hard time actually letting myself miss it. Instead, I’d put it into the backlog with the intention of making it up later.

What this looked like?

Everytime I missed studying a chapter in my coursebook, I kept it in my to do list rather than just rolling over the missed study session. So if I missed two out of four chapters in a month, I’d have a backlog of two chapters on my to do list rather than just being okay with having done two and leaving it at that.

I was doing the same with workouts and lots of other things.

I was encouraged to just delete all that stuff. It was tough, but I did it and it feels so much better to not be overwhelmed by all of those incomplete tasks!

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

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Published on March 02, 2021 22:22

February 20, 2021

7 WAYS TO FIRE UP YOUR LANGUAGE LEARNING AT WOMEN IN LANGUAGE

In two weeks, the fourth-ever Women in Language event is happening. It’s an online conference hosted by Lindsay Williams of Lindsay Does Languages, Kerstin Cable of FluentLanguage.co.uk, and, of course, yours truly. At the event this year, we have more than 30 incredible speakers, three panel discussions, two speak easy language exchange sessions, live chat, a supportive Facebook group for the event, and the chance to win more than $3,000 in prizes through our raffle.

Our themes for this year are:

Dream TeamsReasons to be CheerfulLanguage Learning LabRemote Education

Attending an event like Women in Language is an irreplaceable experience–you can listen to inspiring talks, get to know other learners around the world who share your passions, and have the opportunity to get your language learning questions answered by experts.

If you don’t have your ticket yet, you can get it here.

But in addition to these events being fun social events and a chance to learn, they’re also a great chance to fire up your language learning and give your motivation a boost. Here are seven ways you can do just that at this year’s Women in Language:

1. Attend a talk that you’d normally skip

At events, there are always a few talks that may, on paper, seem like they’re not the best fit for you. Normally, I’d fully recommend skipping talks that don’t seem like they’d interest you and use that time to catch up on other tasks or chat with other attendees. But just because a talk doesn’t sound like something you’d go to doesn’t mean that you should skip it.

For example, if someone’s giving a talk on raising bilingual children but you’re years off from having kids, there are still things you could takeaway:

Ideas for activities you can do when learning with someone elseEasy, entry-level resources that you may not have heard ofTime management tips

As another example, someone may be giving a talk on a language you don’t intend to learn. Why should you attend?

You learn more about our world’s linguistic diversityYou may learn techniques that are used to approach that particular language that can be applied to yoursYou may discover a love for a new language (even if you choose not to study it later)You learn about resources that may also be available in your languageYou support speakers who you wouldn’t see at other events (yet) — we focus on championing lesser head voices

This Women in Language event, I challenge you to attend at least one talk you’d normally skip. You never know what you may learn!

2. Get to know some of the members of our amazing language community

Language learning can be lonely. You spend a lot of time with your head buried in resources doing this whole thing on your own. Language events a great opportunity to meet with like-minded individuals who get you and share your love of languages. And who knows, you may find a study buddy or exchange partner at an event. At the very least, you’ll certainly make new friends.

3. Ask questions

At events, it’s easy to sit in the background and just observe. There’s already a lot to take in. But if you don’t ask questions, you’re missing out on a valuable chance to have any doubts or concerns you may have answered.

You may have questions that can’t be answered by a certain speaker, but even if you ask them, there’s a good chance that someone else participating in the chat will be able to help you out. Take advantage of the fact you’ll be hanging out with learners and experts at different stages in the game than you.

And it’s not just during the talks you can ask questions! Your ticket also gets you access to the event Facebook group for six weeks, so you can ask questions of the community there at any time during that period.

4. Attend a Speak Easy

Speak Easies are 1-hour, no-pressure language exchange sessions where you’ll be put into groups with other learners working on the same languages as you so that you get the chance to practice the language your learning. And with hundreds of attendees, there’s a very, very high chance someone else is studying your language.

5. Participate in the Women in Language Facebook group

Leading up to, during, and following the event, attendees are invited to participate in the Women in Language Facebook group. It’s a supportive community where you can share takeaways from the talks you attend, get to know the other attendees, share your successes and struggles in your language, and more.

If you’re struggling with motivation, the community is a great place to get the support you need to pick things back up.

6. Get excited about the raffle!

When you purchase a ticket to the Women in Language event, you are immediately entered into the raffle. There are no extra steps required.

This year we have more than $3,000 worth of prizes that will be fairly split up amongst three raffle winners. These prizes include language learning tools and resources from Drops, Fluent in 3 Months, Language Conqueror, Lindsay Does Languages, Fluentlanguage.co.uk, and more.

Getting new language swag is a great way to boost your motivation and by buying a ticket, you’re automatically entered to win.

7. Support a good cause

Every year, we support a charity. 10% of all profits go to charity and this year, we’re donating to Madre, an incredible organization that does a lot of truly needed things around the world. In past years, we donated to Girl Up!, Wikitongues, and Kiva. We’re also helping fund scholarship tickets to attendees who may not be able to afford a ticket to the Women in Language event.

After buying your ticket, you have the option to help fund another learner’s ticket by making a donation (of any amount).

So there you have it. Just seven of the ways you can fire up your language learning at the Women in Language event–there are plenty more!

If you haven’t yet got your ticket, you can sign up here.

And if you have questions about the event, feel free to share them in the comments below. I look forward to seeing you there!

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Published on February 20, 2021 23:05

January 30, 2021

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

It’s a new month and I’m deep into my new language — Norwegian — enjoying both the study of the language as well as the cultural immersion. I’m taking part in 90 Days with Drops and still keeping my five core languages in focus.

And a new month not only means a new look at my language goals, but also a new Quest as a part of 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 February, we’re all about habits. 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:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Language Conqueror (@languageconqueror)


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 keeping up our weekly Chinese lessons, but I’d definitely like to increase this.

Maintain my vocabulary learning streak. // Yes! I’m up to 200+ days for most of my languages.

Keep working through my YouTube Queue.  // I’ve been working through this, but this month I think I added more videos than I watched.

Fluent in 3 Months Challenge // Done! I didn’t do my 90 day video, but I got a lot out of participating.

Keep reading Game of Thrones in Russian. // Definite no. :/

Learn Norwegian with Drops // Yes! I’ve kept up my streak since starting this project.

Get through at least three more chapters in each course book I’m working on. // Another no. Incorporating course book study has been the most difficult part of my language study.

Maintain my weekly lessons in each language. // Yes! I’ve been keeping up weekly lessons for each of my core five languages: Japanese, Hungarian, Russian, Croatian, and Persian (plus, Chinese).

This Month’s Goals

Continue filling the gaps in my Mandarin vocabulary I’ve noticed since Little Linguist’s arrival. // I’d like to continue to incorporate this more and more until we’re an OPOL household. And, as I mentioned last month, I’m actually thinking of re-incorporating French as well.

Maintain my vocabulary learning streak. // This has been a great way to rebuild my language routine, so it’s staying on the list indefinitely! Plus, I’m really seeing the impact of this study. 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.  // I definitely want to keep working through this. I’ve been learning a lot and am making good progress! As an update on my progress, I have 1,809 videos in my queue. I know it’s more than last month, but I’ve added a lot of new videos lately.

Restart reading Game of Thrones in Russian. // I definitely noticed my confidence pick up when I maintained this habit and I want to continue this.

Learn Norwegian with Drops // I have a solid 30 days as a part of 90 days with Drops and I’d like to keep it up.

Get through at least three chapters in each course book I’m working on. // These are still: Teach Yourself Complete Persian, Genki I for Japanese, Colloquial Russian, Colloquial Croatian, and Colloquial Hungarian.

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. Plus, as I mentioned last month, now that I’m maintaining five languages, this is more important than ever.

Resources I Used This Month

A quick recap of the materials I am using.

What I Am Using to Learn Norwegian:

Drops

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 Hebrew:

LingQiTalki LessonsDropsPimsleur

What I am Using to Learn Korean:

LingQDrops – they just added several hundred new culture-specific words for Korean and I’m so excited about the new content!iTalki LessonsPimsleur

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

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 notesThe Biggest Lesson I Am Taking Away from This Month

This month, I started to dive deep with my habit building and since I’m so stats driven, have focused on logging a lot of stats related to my learning and habits I’d like to build. I want to dive even deeper going forward, but for now, I’m focusing on building the habit of… logging my habits.

I use Notion to keep track of everything and it’s become a helpful practice for me to be more mindful of the things that are important to me and the daily actions that define who I am.

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

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Published on January 30, 2021 22:05

January 23, 2021

Language Learning Habits: Little Ways I Bring More Language Into my Day

Struggling to learn a new language with any consistency?

Establishing a new routine or habit can be challenging. But habits are so important in our day-to-day lives.

Did you know about 40% of our behaviors happen because of habits?*

That’s why it’s so important to establish good language learning habits.

But it’s not just forming habits you need to consider. You want to think about:

Building strong habitsBreaking bad habitsMaking habits lastWhat makes a good language learning habit?

A good language learning habit is something that starts small. It’s something quick and easy you can do each day so that you can build momentum with easy wins.

From there, you start increasing your habit in very small ways. And once it starts to get big, you break it into chunks.

And finally, when you get off track, it’s something that you get back to as quickly as possible.

So, for example, a good language habit could look something like this:

Start small: 5 minutes a day on Drops learning new vocabularyIncrease your habit in small ways: Add 5 minutes of podcast listening and once you start to comfortable with that, increase it to 10 minutes and then 15 minutesBreak your habit into chunks: Don’t do your 20 minutes of study all in one block, instead, do your 5 minutes of Drops with your morning coffee and do your 15 minutes of podcast listening while washing dishes after dinnerHow do you break bad language learning habits?

Do you have bad language learning habits?

For example… you let your tutor dominate the speaking time during your lessons rather than speaking yourself? Or you skip all the exercises in your course book?

James Clear states that bad habits are caused by one of two things: stress or boredom. Can you relate to this in your language learning?

Perhaps if you let your tutor do most the talking, the idea of speaking stressing you out. Or maybe those course book exercises are boring to you.

So how do you break a bad habit?

Get accountability!

When you’re aiming to make changes, accountability is one of the best things you can give yourself.

Sharing your intentions with someone is one of the best ways to make changes, but what can be even better is teaming up with someone with the goal of making the same change together.

Which makes this the perfect point for me to share Language Conqueror!

This upcoming month in Language Conqueror, we’re talking all about habits. How to set good language learning habits, how to deal with time constraints, and so much more.

You can join us and learn more here.

Plus, you’ll get fantastic accountability with our community.

Make Your Language Learning Habits Stick

Sometimes, things get busy… or, busier.

The key to keeping up your habits long-term is to plan for when (not if) that happens.

James Clear suggests:

Reduce scope: temporarily reduce your habit and do less so that you can still keep up your learning even if you’re not doing as muchDevelop a contingency plan: for example, “if I am not able to listen to my podcast while doing dishes, then I will listen to it later in the evening and watch 15 minutes less of Netflix”

These two tactics can help you stay on track even when something unexpected comes up.

Examples of Language Learning Habits

I’ve been thinking a lot about how I might divide up my study time and I realized, I change this up quite a bit. I thought I’d create a roundup of all the different tactics I use and share them with you if you need a little bit of inspiration.

Here are just a few of the “snack-sized” language learning habits I’ve set up to help me make sure language learning is a part of my day:

Rather than use the emoji keyboard I switch to my Chinese keyboard and type the emotion in Chinese – the emoji usually shows as one of the resultsMy phone is in Croatian but Siri is in Chinese (it’s great for pronunciation practice!)I tie language learning to location: any time in my car is attached to a language podcast or audio lessonI tie language learning to a set time: 10am every day is when I have a one hour lesson for one of my languagesI tie language learning to a marker: I take notes until the end of the page in my notebook, I study until I reach the end of a chapter, or until the end of a video, or until I’ve copied over all the new words into my flashcards, or when a page ends with a period – especially when reading in a language (I hate to end on a page that ends with only half a sentence)I tie my language learning to stats: I count my habit complete for the day once I reach a certain number of points in an app, a certain number of learned words, or some other stats goal I’ve setOver to You

What about you? What are some of the language habits you have or are trying to set? Let me know in the comments below!

And don’t forget, we’re starting a new Quest as a part of Language Conqueror next month and there’s still time to join us!

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Published on January 23, 2021 19:29

January 10, 2021

New Year, New Language: My Plan for Language Dabbling

It’s a new year and I’ve been thinking about my language learning plans over the next 12 months.





And this year, I’ve decided to do something different.





For the first time since I started along the independent language learner path, I’m going to dabble.





Dabbling vs Learning a Language for Keeps



Usually, when I pick up a language, my intention is to continue on with it. Once I start a language, I’m committed. I may take a break or focus on another language for a short time, but with only a few exceptions, I return to the languages at some point.





This year, as a part of 90 Days with Drops, I’m doing something different and I’m going to try out dabbling in a language for the first time.





And that language?





It’s Norwegian.





Why I’m Learning Norwegian



As you know, I am the Resident Polyglot at Drops. And Drops recently became a part of the Kahoot! family, a Norwegian company. I thought it would be fun to kick off the new year learning the native language of many of my new teammates and what better way to do it than with Drops itself?





How I’m Dabbling in Norwegian



My goal is to learn every [relevant] word in Drops in Norwegian by the end of 90 Days with Drops.





I broke down exactly what I’m doing as a part of the first Quest in Language Conqueror, but I’ll share a quick summary of what I’m doing with you here as well.





Drops has more than 2,500 words in Norwegian available. That’s a lot!





But there are also a lot of words in that list I’ll likely never use. So as I’m learning in Drops, I’m hiding the words that aren’t personally relevant to me and focusing on the words that are.





This cuts that total word list down significantly — I’m likely learning just over half the words available. And because I’m focusing on relevant words, I’m enjoying the process.





Currently, Drops is the only resource I’m using to get a feel for the language. I’m still unsure about whether or not I’ll continue with it after the 90 days, but you’ll certainly be the first to know if I do!





How I’m Staying Motivated to Learn a New Language



Norwegian is my 15th language, and because it’s a language I don’t have long-term plans with (yet), staying motivated to learn it over languages that I am committed to might be a challenge.





But I have a plan to help me stay on track and maintain my motivation.





And that’s to find ways to stay connected with the language outside of my studies.





First, I absolutely love mythology. And along side Celtic and Greek mythology, Norse mythology is one of the best known mythologies in the West. It’s a big motivator for me because of how it connects me to the language and culture.





Prior to deciding to learn the language, my partner and I started watching Vikings and were all caught up on The Last Kingdom. I love learning about history — even if it’s fictional.





Additionally, I started playing Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla (you all know I’m a gamer at heart). And despite all the game glitches and issues, I’ve had fun immersing myself in the game.





Finally, after deciding to learn a bit of Norwegian, I started re-reading Norse Mythology by Neil Gaimon.





Both of these are fun ways for me to connect to Norse history and culture, and they motivate me to keep up my language studies.





Follow my Norwegian Progress



I’m sharing my learning stats over on Instagram each day. If you’d like to follow along with my progress, be sure to follow me!





What About You?



What are your plans for language learning in the new year? I’d love to hear all about them. Let me know in the comments below.





And if you learned or are learning Norwegian, I’d love to know if you have any resource recommendations in case you decide.






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Published on January 10, 2021 00:17

January 3, 2021

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

It’s a new year and while I love setting goals, I don’t particularly tie them to this month. They happen for me throughout the year.

Though this year, I am kicking off a new language learning project… Norwegian.

And not only am I kicking off a new language, but I’m also starting a new project — Language Conqueror.

It’s a course I’m putting 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. You can learn more, get a feel for our teaching style, and download our free PDF here:

Get the Free PDF

And, not only did we launch Language Conqueror, but we also launched… 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:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Language Conqueror (@languageconqueror)


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 wasn’t the best month for Chinese. Because of the holidays, we’ve been watching a lot more holiday-themed movies in English. There are some that are available in Chinese on Netflix, and I also ordered Home Alone in Chinese, but English definitely dominated this month. In the new year, I hope to fix this.

Maintain my vocabulary learning streak. // Yes! This goal is working really well for me and it’s a solid part of my routine.

Keep working through my YouTube Queue.  // Last month I had 1,974 videos in my queue. This month, at the time of writing, I have 1,745. So some decent progress here. I made it through lots of Easy Languages videos.

Fluent in 3 Months Challenge // I’ve been studying my five focus languages consistently — Croatian, Russian, Hungarian, Japanese and Persian.

Keep reading Game of Thrones in Russian. // I make it a goal to read outloud a little bit each day to improve my Russian pronunciation.

Get through at least three more chapters in each course book I’m working on. // Yes, I’ve been steadily doing this though not quite at the pace I’d like.

Maintain my weekly lessons in each language. // Yes, as much as my teachers are available.

This Month’s Goals

Continue filling the gaps in my Mandarin vocabulary I’ve noticed since Little Linguist’s arrival. // I’d like to continue to incorporate this more and more until we’re an OPOL household. And I’m actually thinking of re-incorporating French as well.

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

Keep working through my YouTube Queue.  // I definitely want to keep working through this. I’ve been learning a lot and am making good progress!

Fluent in 3 Months Challenge // Another month or so is left!

Keep reading Game of Thrones in Russian. // I’m definitely noticing my confidence picking up and I want to continue this.

Learn Norwegian with Drops // I’m aiming to learn all the relevant-to-me words in Drops for Norwegian over the first 90 days of the year. I want to get one month under my belt!

Get through at least three more chapters in each course book I’m working on. // These are still: Teach Yourself Complete Persian, Genki I for Japanese, Colloquial Russian, Colloquial Croatian, and Colloquial Hungarian.

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. Plus, as I mentioned last month, now that I’m maintaining five languages, this is more important than ever.

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 Hebrew:

LingQiTalki LessonsDropsPimsleur

What I am Using to Learn Korean:

LingQDrops – they just added several hundred new culture-specific words for Korean and I’m so excited about the new content!iTalki LessonsPimsleur

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

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 notesThe Biggest Lesson I Am Taking Away from This Month

This month has been all about getting caught up and organized. It’s something that I’ve been working towards over the last few months, but this particular month is when I really started to notice and feel “caught up”. I still have a ways to go to really be where I want to be, and when I get there, I’m sure I’ll find more to do, but I’m celebrating where I’m at today because it’s infinitely better than where I was last month.

A lot of the stuff I wanted to catch up on was personal or work related, but it’s allowed for more space in my life for languages and other projects, so I’m very grateful for that.

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

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Published on January 03, 2021 20:59

Clear the List | Monthly Language Learning Strategies Update | January 2020

It’s a new year and while I love setting goals, I don’t particularly tie them to this month. They happen for me throughout the year.





Though this year, I am kicking off a new language learning project… Norwegian.





And not only am I kicking off a new language, but I’m also starting a new project — Language Conqueror.









It’s a course I’m putting 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. You can learn more, get a feel for our teaching style, and download our free PDF here:






Get the Free PDF




And, not only did we launch Language Conqueror, but we also launched… 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:





View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Language Conqueror (@languageconqueror)






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



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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 wasn’t the best month for Chinese. Because of the holidays, we’ve been watching a lot more holiday-themed movies in English. There are some that are available in Chinese on Netflix, and I also ordered Home Alone in Chinese, but English definitely dominated this month. In the new year, I hope to fix this.





Maintain my vocabulary learning streak. // Yes! This goal is working really well for me and it’s a solid part of my routine.





Keep working through my YouTube Queue.  // Last month I had 1,974 videos in my queue. This month, at the time of writing, I have 1,745. So some decent progress here. I made it through lots of Easy Languages videos.





Fluent in 3 Months Challenge // I’ve been studying my five focus languages consistently — Croatian, Russian, Hungarian, Japanese and Persian.





Keep reading Game of Thrones in Russian. // I make it a goal to read outloud a little bit each day to improve my Russian pronunciation.





Get through at least three more chapters in each course book I’m working on. // Yes, I’ve been steadily doing this though not quite at the pace I’d like.





Maintain my weekly lessons in each language. // Yes, as much as my teachers are available.





This Month’s Goals



Continue filling the gaps in my Mandarin vocabulary I’ve noticed since Little Linguist’s arrival. // I’d like to continue to incorporate this more and more until we’re an OPOL household. And I’m actually thinking of re-incorporating French as well.





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





Keep working through my YouTube Queue.  // I definitely want to keep working through this. I’ve been learning a lot and am making good progress!





Fluent in 3 Months Challenge // Another month or so is left!





Keep reading Game of Thrones in Russian. // I’m definitely noticing my confidence picking up and I want to continue this.





Learn Norwegian with Drops // I’m aiming to learn all the relevant-to-me words in Drops for Norwegian over the first 90 days of the year. I want to get one month under my belt!





Get through at least three more chapters in each course book I’m working on. // These are still: Teach Yourself Complete Persian, Genki I for Japanese, Colloquial Russian, Colloquial Croatian, and Colloquial Hungarian.





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. Plus, as I mentioned last month, now that I’m maintaining five languages, this is more important than ever.





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 Hebrew:





LingQiTalki LessonsDropsPimsleur



What I am Using to Learn Korean:





LingQDrops – they just added several hundred new culture-specific words for Korean and I’m so excited about the new content!iTalki LessonsPimsleur



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





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



The Biggest Lesson I Am Taking Away from This Month



This month has been all about getting caught up and organized. It’s something that I’ve been working towards over the last few months, but this particular month is when I really started to notice and feel “caught up”. I still have a ways to go to really be where I want to be, and when I get there, I’m sure I’ll find more to do, but I’m celebrating where I’m at today because it’s infinitely better than where I was last month.





A lot of the stuff I wanted to catch up on was personal or work related, but it’s allowed for more space in my life for languages and other projects, so I’m very grateful for that.





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 | January 2020 appeared first on Eurolinguiste.

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Published on January 03, 2021 20:59