Shannon L. Kennedy's Blog: http://eurolinguiste.com/feed/, page 9
December 27, 2020
6 Goal Setting Methods & How to Set Good Language Learning Goals
The new year is around the corner and many of us are setting our New Year’s resolutions.
Since you’re here you’ve likely set goals related to language learning. But are they good goals?
Wait… what?
No, don’t worry. I’m not judging you.
Rather, I’m here to help you make sure you’re setting good language learning goals.
What does a good goal look like?
For me, a good goal is something that’s specific, has a deadline, and a system for me to work towards it.
Let me share my goal for the new year with you as an example.
I want to learn 2,500 words in Norwegian within 3 months by using my go-to vocabulary app.
I have a specific goal: 2,500 words in Norwegian. I have a deadline: 3 months. And I have a system: my go-to vocabulary app.
How to Set Good Language Learning Goals
A few years ago, if you had asked me what my language learning goal was, it would have probably been something like “learn to speak Chinese fluently!”
But this goal is problematic for a variety of reasons.
First, it’s not specific. What does “fluently” mean? Does it mean at a native-like level? Does it mean perfectly? Does it mean being conversational? There are many different kinds of “fluent”. Which one was I aiming for?
Second, there wasn’t a deadline. When was I hoping to be fluent? Was there a set date? Or was it just something I generally wanted to achieve in my life?
And finally, I didn’t have a system. What exactly was I going to do to reach fluency?
I didn’t have the answer to those questions. So instead, I set another goal. Pass the HSK 4 exam after studying for 1 year. Now that’s a specific goal with a deadline. My system? Taking weekly lessons and completing practice tests. Did I succeed? You bet.
If your goals look a lot like my initial goal, don’t worry. I’m here to help you out and create goals more like my altered goal.
Here are XX goal setting methods and systems to help you achieve your language learning goals in the new year.
SMART Goals
If you’re familiar with any goal setting system, it’s likely SMART goals. SMART stands for:
Specific: you have a specific, targeted goal (like learn 50 words)Measurable: you have steps that get you to your goal (learn 5 words a day for 10 days)Attainable: your goal is realistic (learn 50 words in 10 days [learning 200 words in 10 days is likely not attainable])Relevant: your goal is relevant to you (for example, learning 50 words in the language you’re studying is more relevant than learning 50 words in a random language you don’t have any long term plans with)Time-related: you have deadlines (again in our example, 10 days)
Here are a few of SMART language learning goals:
Learn 50 words in Norwegian in 10 days.Do 15 minutes of Persian listening every day for 1 month.Have one 1-hour lesson in Croatian every week.
OKRs
Familiar with the expression “shoot for the moon, even if you miss you’ll land among the stars”? Those are OKR goals. An OKR goal is where you go big or go home and it stands of “objectives and key results”. And even if you don’t reach your OKR goal, you will still likely get farther in your learning than you would if you set a more conservative goal.
Here are examples of OKR language learning goals:
Have a 30-minute lesson in Russian every day for a month. (You’ll likely miss days, but still have far more Russian lessons than you would have otherwise.)Complete 1 language learning course book every single month. (Again, you might not finish an entire course book every month, but you’ll likely work through a lot more than you would with a more conservative goal.)
4DX
4DX, The 4 Disciplines of Execution, is a goal-tracking framework developed by Stephen R. Covey and Chris McChesney. This method is similar to OKRs, but these bigger goals are things you intend to reach (whereas OKRs focus on overperformance).
The disciplines that make up 4DX are:
Focus on wildly important goals (WIGs): in other words, focus on the most important thingsAct on lead measures: put energy into the work that will yield the greatest results (the 80/20 rule)Keep a compelling scoreboard to track progress: a little friendly competition does wondersCreate accountability: when you have encouragement and community, you have greater chances of success
Speaking of accountability and community, now is the perfect time for me to take a quick commercial break to announce something new and exciting!
Recently, I put together a program called Language Conqueror with my good friend Caitlin Sacasas.
Each month, we release a new language Quest and this coming month’s Quest focus is all about… goal setting! We go in-depth and provide loads of information on how to set good language learning goals and how to build systems to help you reach them. You’ll also get access to our course community where you can chat with other language learners like yourself.
You can learn more about Language Conqueror and join us here.
Now back to 4DX goals.
Here is an example of a 4DX goal:
If you are aiming to learn conversational Japanese, you would most need to focus on speaking and listening comprehension. So you should spend 80% of your study time working on improving your speaking and listening skills. By joining a community of other learners, you can compare how much time you spend working on these skills and even have a bit of friendly competition with them to rack up the most time.
V2MOM
Another method of goal setting is called V2MOM and it stands for:
Vision: what you want to accomplishValues: the principles that guide youMethods: the steps and actions you takeObstacles: any challenges or issues you may need to overcomeMeasures: the goal’s minimum achievement
An example of a V2MOM goal for language learning is:
You want to learn conversational Hungarian (vision) without spending any money on resources because you’re working to keep a tight budget (values). You’ll find exchange partners and other free resources to study, getting creative in your search for tools because finding high quality, free resources is challenging. You’ll measure “conversational” as being able to keep an entire 1 hour exchange in the language at the end of a year.
Onion Goals
My good friend Lindsay of Lindsay Does Languages introduced me to a goal setting system called “Onion Goals”. This is where you imagine goals and systems as the layers of an onion. At the center you have your goal. And each layer you peel is a step you need to take to get to that goal.
You ask yourself how at each stage until you get to a step you can take each day.
Here’s an example of an onion goal in language learning:
I want to learn 50 words. How? By studying them with my favorite app. How? By studying five new words a day. How? By adding the new words that come up in my lessons to the app. How? By asking my teacher to add words I don’t know or understand to the chat during our lessons.
Ladder Goals
Another goal setting method I learned from Lindsay is “Ladder Goals”. This is more about the “what” than the “how”.
So you take a goal and identify what small goals, targets, and tasks need to be achieved to make that top goal happen. You work backwards, or down the rungs of a ladder.
So let’s return to the example of learning 50 words. What do you need to do this?
You’ll need to curate your word listGet that list into MemriseStudy the wordsAnd review them so they stay in your memory
Over to You
What are your language goals? Which of the above methods did you use to set them?
Want to learn more about effective goal setting and goal settings systems? Join us in Language Conqueror.
In the month of January, we’re focusing on goal setting.
You’ll get:
A video lesson introducing the QuestA 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
The post 6 Goal Setting Methods & How to Set Good Language Learning Goals appeared first on Eurolinguiste.
December 20, 2020
30+ Language Learning Gift Ideas for the Holidays
Wondering what to get the language learner in your life? Or maybe, you yourself love learning languages and are trying to figure out what to tell someone else to get you!
You’ll find something for everyone on this list. I hope it inspires you with your gift giving this year!
Holiday Gift Guide for Language Learners
Language learning is typically divided into four different skill sets, so here are gifts organized by the skills you need to develop.
Writing Gifts for Language Learners
Notebook
Many language learners still take notes by hand, even if it’s to quickly complete coursebook exercises or to jot down something useful they’ve come across along the way. Having a notebook handy — especially one they enjoy writing in (or looking at) is important and this makes for a great gift.
Pens
This one goes hand-in-hand with notebooks. You not only need something to write in, but something to write with! You can get them fancy pens like these from Stabilo, or go a more traditional route with ballpoint pens.
Sticky notes
I use sticky notes for all sorts of things — quick notes, adding notes to something I’m reading, to remind myself of things I find interesting, and to label things in another language around the house. These are an endlessly useful gift!
Highlighters
Does the language learner in your life highlight their notes or even the books they’re reading? Then this set of highlighters would be a great, colorful gift you can give them!
Premium online course
There are loads of fantastic online courses available on the market today. Here are just a few of my favorites.
FluentU (here’s my FluentU review)Uncovered Courses: French, German, Japanese, Italian, SpanishLanguage Hacking Book: French, German, Spanish, Italian
Keyboard stickers
These are really useful if you need to type in another language often. No more hunt-and-peck on the keyboard typing with these helpful stickers. They’re available for most languages, but here’s Farsi, Arabic, Korean, Russian, and Japanese.
Script Hacking books
I recently worked through Judith Meyer’s Script Hacking Persian book and I’m hooked (read my Script Hacking review). The great thing is they’re available for loads of languages including Russian, Korean, Japanese, Persian, Arabic, Hebrew, Greek and more.
Calligraphy paper
When I was learning to read and write in Chinese, calligraphy paper was a useful thing to have around.
Listening Gifts for Language Learners
Headphones
Headphones (or earphones below) are a must-have for language learners. They help you focus on what you’re listening to, cutting out background noise, but also make whatever you’re listening to more private.
Earphones
For those who prefer earbuds to headphones.
Netflix gift card
There are loads of foreign language shows and movies available on Netflix for language learners to binge watch. Plus, even shows not originally in a language have overdubs or subtitles available in a variety of language. It’s an incredible resource for learners!
Pimsleur
Pimsleur is one of my favorite audio resources and something that I have used for every language I’ve learned. It’s a series of listen-and-repeat lessons that slowly introduce useful words and phrases in a wide range of languages. Read my Pimselur review.
An all region DVD/Blu-Ray player
Did you know that if you buy a movie from another region, you likely won’t be able to play it on your blu ray or dvd player? That’s because movies are locked by region. But there’s any easy fix that will help you build your international movie library. And that’s to buy an all region player!
Spotify subscription
If you have a music lover in your life (who also happens to learn languages), a Spotify Premium account is a wonderful gift. Spotify has a nice selection of music from around the world accessible for language learners.
Audible subscription
For the reader who prefers to listen to their books over read them. Audible is a great resource for language learners because of their selection of both language learning materials and foreign language books.
Youtube Premium Subscription
Constant ad interruptions when trying to study a new language are no fun. Gifting the language learner in your life a Premium Youtube subscription lets them skip the ads and get more language learning time in.
Speaking Gifts for Language Learners
italki lessons
italki is an online platform with a wide range of tutors of hundreds of languages. Plus, they’re ready to help you learn at affordable prices!
Speechling subscription
Speechling is a fun app and tool you can use to practice speaking a language. You record yourself reading various expressions or phrases in the language you’re learning and you get feedback from native speakers.
Microphone
Help learners improve the quality of their language lessons and exchanges with a microphone. That way, their partners and tutors will be able to hear them clearly and avoid misunderstandings!
Fluent in 3 Months Challenge
The Fluent in 3 Months Challenge promises participants that they’ll have a 15-minute conversation in a new language after just 90 days. It might sound too good to be true, but I’ve done several and it has worked every time!
GoPro
Help the language learner in your life document their learning adventures with a GoPro camera. It’s a great tool for their video calls, for their self-recordings and for the adventures (when we’re able to go back on them).
Courage to Speak
A few years ago, I put together this course with Fluent in 3 Months to help shy and introverted language learners gain the confidence to speak in a new language.
Reading Gifts for Language Learners
LingQ subscription
I love LingQ. It’s an incredible app that offers tons of tools to help learners start reading in a new language. It has a bit of a learning curve, but once you get into it, it’s an irreplaceable tool.
Amazon gift card
Let the language lover in your life choose the tools and resources they want most by getting them an Amazon gift card.
Book holder
I recently bought this exact book holder and it has changed my life. It makes it so much easier to take notes and learn with coursebooks because I’m not trying to hold a book open with one hand and take notes with the other.
Digital pen text scanner
Combine the best of the digital and physical resource realm with this digital pen scanner. Scan useful texts to your computer or device to keep your language learning organized.
Kindle
Give the language learner you care about the gift of digital storage. A Kindle tablet gives them a place to store all of their digital learning tools and take them along wherever they may go.
A great book about language or learning
There are loads of fantastic language books available. Here are just a few:
Through the Language GlassBabel No MoreThe Story of French or The Story of SpanishFluent in 3 MonthsFluent ForeverHow to Speak Any Language FluentlyUltralearning
Bookmark
Don’t let your language learning friends use scraps of paper or other random things as bookmarks — hook them up with a beautiful, meaningful bookmark that will make them think of you whenever they sit down to study!
Short Stories
Olly Richards has several fantastic books published for language learners, notably his series of Short Stories. They’re available for many languages — both common and uncommon.
Language Learning Gifts for Productivity, Habit-Building, and Structure
Planner
Help your language learning pals get organized with a 2021 planner.
Habit app subscription
Habit is a useful app for language learnings looking to establish a language learning habit. It’s free to use, but you can “pay what you want” to hook up your friends with a Premium subscription.
Todoist
Todoist is my favorite project management tool and it’s how I keep all of my projects — both personal and work related — organized.
The Total Language Learning Package
Want something that covers a little bit of everything and will really help the language learner in your life take things to the next level?
Language Conqueror
My good friend Caitlin Sacasas and I recently teamed up to create Language Conqueror, a course created for language learners who are looking for direction, motivation, and more excitement while learning a new language using tried and tested methods.
Each month, we release a new Quest to help you take your language to new heights through passion-driven learning.
Each Quest includes:
A video lesson introducing the QuestA 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
You can enroll in a single Quest, or join us all year as a part of Master Quest.
And that wraps it up!
What are you getting the language learners in your life? Let me know in the comments!
The post 30+ Language Learning Gift Ideas for the Holidays appeared first on Eurolinguiste.
December 13, 2020
Announcing Language Conqueror
I love learning languages.
It’s a big part of who I am, but it’s not the only part.
I’m a mom. A partner. A daughter. Someone who practices martial arts and who has recently taken interest in tumbling. I scuba dive. I love reading, especially history and fantasy. I’m a cooking fanatic. I enjoy video games. And spending time with my friends.
There are a lot of activities and relationships that make up who I am and what I do.
But the thing is, figuring out how to do all these things can be tricky.
And that’s where Language Conqueror comes in.
Introducing Language Conqueror
There’s nothing better than when you get the opportunity to team up with friends to create awesome content, and that’s exactly what I’m thrilled to share with you.
Language Conqueror is all about bringing your language learning to new heights through passion-driven learning. It’s a collaboration between Caitlin Sacasas, another wearer of many hats and a good friend, and I.
Each month, we’re sharing a Quest with you.
These Quests are all about making language learning a part of your life, not about just fitting it in around everything else.
We share ways to rediscover your motivation for language learning, build enthusiasm for your studies, and combine your language with the other parts of your life that make up who you are.
How Does Language Conqueror Work?
Language Conqueror is a platform that releases new content on a monthly basis. Each month features a language Quest with loads of activities and resources to help you dive deeper. You can also commit to a year of Language Conqueror and get 12 Quests as they become available each month as well as bonus content (available for a limited time).
Each month includes:
A video lesson introducing the QuestA 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
Our current month, for January 2021, is called Go-Getting, Goal Setting. And it’s all about… as you likely guessed, goal setting.
I’m going in-depth on the topic, sharing bonus videos and resources, and walking you through several goal setting methods (and systems). And it’s great for beginner and advanced learners alike.
Coming up, we have Quests about using food to learn languages, building language habits, and more.
What’s the Catch?
There is no catch! Language Conqueror is a paid course. Each month is $49, but if you buy the 12-month package, it’s $499 (normally $588).
The course officially kicks off on January 1st, but you can pre-enroll now. And don’t worry, we have content and the community for you while you wait!
Do you offer a trial period of Language Conqueror?
Because the Quests are each a month, we do not currently offer a trial period. But if you want to get a good feel for Caitlin and I, how we teach, and our learning philosophies, you can check out our free podcast, Snack-Sized Language.
Currently, we have episodes of Snack-Sized Language for Japanese, Korean, French, Mandarin Chinese, and general language learning. And we’re always adding new content.
Any questions?
Let me know in the comments or send me an email! I look forward to chatting with you about the new course and seeing you on the inside.
The post Announcing Language Conqueror appeared first on Eurolinguiste.
December 10, 2020
Speechling Review: Gain Confidence in Your Speaking & Pronunciation
Pronunciation is often one of the biggest reasons we feel insecure or lack confidence in our ability to speak the languages that we’re learning.
It’s also one of the hardest things to work on because there are few resources available to help you improve it. Even professional tutors aren’t often able to offer more than “listen and repeat”, so you have no choice but to cross your fingers and hope everything one day clicks into place.
But what if there is a better way?
Meet Speechling: A Way to Get Unlimited Pronunciation Coaching
Speechling is an online language study tool that offers language students a way to get coaching on their pronunciation in French, Spanish (both European and Latin American), English, Japanese, Korean, German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, and Chinese. While it’s not a comprehensive language course, it does hone in on the thing that’s most often overlooked by other tools and does an excellent job of it.
In addition to their focus on pronunciation, they’ve added several new features including: comprehension, multiple choice, fill-in-the-blank, and flashcards.
My Experience Using Speechling
In order to form an opinion on Speechling, I decided to try it out extensively. On my first day alone, I made 140 recordings. I enjoyed getting into the content and having the chance to speak without the pressure of a real-time conversation.
It was fun working through the sentences, too. They’re practical and I found myself jotting things down to remember later on. The topics include everything from asking for help to basic questions, money to personal questions, and administrative to health. My favorite option, however, was one of the two Speechling Conversations features – Answer the Question. Not only do you get feedback on pronunciation, but the coaches occasionally correct any mistakes in grammar or word order when offering feedback on the answers that you come up with.
For English, French and Chinese I had feedback within a couple of hours. I didn’t get feedback on Spanish until about a day later. The site promises corrections within 24 hours. And yes, I tried out the English. I was curious to see if anyone would correct my pronunciation! The answer was no.
What I Like About Speechling
Real Voice Recordings // Rather than the computer-generated recordings used by a lot of language websites, Speechling has recordings of real native speakers. Sometimes they speak a little quickly, but it’s a real person. Plus, you can choose whether you hear a male or female voice which is a great way to get used to the ways different people speak.
Quick & Helpful Feedback // For three of the four languages I tested, I had feedback within a couple of hours. This was extremely useful and it allowed me to re-record the things I needed to work on right away. Plus, it motivated me to do a little more that day than I planned because the turnaround on my feedback was so quick. But just because it’s fast, doesn’t mean that it’s not helpful. In fact, the feedback is very useful. The coaches who went through my materials in each of the languages first repeated the words I needed to work on then re-read the sentences. I could then compare my audio before re-submitting a new recording
Multiple Language Combinations // If you’re into language laddering, or want to take things a step further, you can play with the language combinations. For example, if you already speak French well enough, you can use it to work on your Mandarin pronunciation. If you speak Spanish, you can use it to learn French. It’s really versatile.
Ease of Use // It’s really easy to get started with Speechling and make some serious headway in your learning. The platform is incredibly intuitive and user-friendly. You can record and submit your audio straight from your browser or smartphone, review your feedback, and re-record as necessary.
Everything is Color-Coded // The Audio Journal (where your recordings and feedback are stored) is color-coded, so it’s really easy to see the status of all of the phrases you’ve worked on. It’s also a nice motivation to see everything green (or to get you working towards turning it all green).
No Judgement // No matter how terrible you feel your pronunciation is, Speechling is a safe place to get better. The coaches don’t criticize you for any mistakes. They simply record the right pronunciation and then re-read the sentence. It’s a great place to build your confidence and pronunciation skills.
Test Your Listening Comprehension // You can use Speechling in a variety of ways – with the transcription and it’s translation, with the transcription only but no translation, with the translation only, or neither at all. With Chinese, you can show the pinyin as well (but not in every section). It’s a great way to test your listening comprehension in addition to improving your pronunciation.
All of Their Content is Available on the Mobile App // So you can work on your pronunciation whenever and wherever. And, Premium users can download content to play offline–no internet connection needed!
Get 10% Off Speechling
Things That I Thought Could Be Better
Amount of Content // Speechling has Beginner (A1) up to Advanced (B1-B2) options and several themes you can choose from. However, I noticed that some of the sections seemed limited in content. In working through the prompts, the same sentences kept coming up. It would be nice to see them continue building their library.
Though since the time of originally writing this review, Speechling has tripled their content collection. They now have tens of thousands of sentences available covering a wider spectrum of audiences. For complete beginners, they added Speechling Foundations, which teaches users common words in context, while preparing them for sentences, and later on, conversations.
Sample Audio Was Occasionally Too Fast // Some of the example sentences were read a little too quickly (especially Chinese). There is a ‘slow down’ feature but having them read naturally slower would be preferable to me even if it’s still a little faster than computer-generated half speed.
The Audio Size / Time Limit // I loved using the “Answer the Question” module over just reading or hearing and repeating. My biggest criticism was here, however. It seemed the audio limit is 7.5 sec or 1 mb. Sometimes I had more to say than that. And other times it took me longer than that to get what I had to say out. I understand the limitation but it was easy to exceed. It did force me, however, to reword my answers or say them more fluidly, which is in itself good practice. It was just frustrating that this got in my way a little too often.
To Sum Up
Speechling currently has two pricing plans. Free gets you 35 free corrections per month. The Premium account is $19.99 per month but you get unlimited corrections from a native speaker.
It’s an excellent way to practice speaking and get feedback at a fraction of the cost of private lessons. However, if you’re looking for a program to cover all the basics, this isn’t it. It’s incredible for learning phrases and working on your pronunciation, but it doesn’t teach individual words and assumes you have some prior knowledge of the language. I personally wouldn’t use Speechling as a complete beginner.
That said, I think that Speechling is a really great tool. Especially if you need a bit of a confidence boost and a no-pressure environment to work on your speaking and pronunciation.
The post Speechling Review: Gain Confidence in Your Speaking & Pronunciation appeared first on Eurolinguiste.
November 29, 2020
Clear the List | Monthly Language Learning Strategies Update | December
It’s the most wonderful time of the year! The holiday season is upon us and it’s always such a joy, especially with small children who have such wonder and excitement for the holidays.
But the holidays are also a time where we’re all a little more stressed, occupied, and busy, so finding balance this month is key.
I’m currently working on a language maintenance project, you can learn more here:
And here:
I’m also getting ready to kick off a few new projects I’m very excited about. So if you want to be one of the first to hear about them, be sure to sign up here:
Be in the know!
And… another friendly reminder that I recently updated my course Busy Language Learner. I’ve written more about it below, but you can sign up here. It’s a 7-day course that helps you find the time to learn a new language and it’s just $29. You get actionable steps you can take each day.
The Language Hacking Podcast
The Language Hacking Podcast over at Fluent in 3 Months where I’m co-hosting with Fi3M founder, Benny Lewis is still going strong! We release a new episode every week and we’re up to almost 30 episodes.
Some of our more recent guests have been: yours truly in an episode about Drops, Steve Kaufmann from LingQ, and Michele Frolla from The Intrepid Guide.
If you give the podcast a listen, or if you already have been listening, we’d love your reviews!
Listen on Apple Podcasts Listen on Spotify Listen on Stitcher
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 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
Last Month’s Goals
Continue filling the gaps in my Mandarin vocabulary I’ve noticed since Little Linguist’s arrival. // We’ve fallen off a bit with this over the last month, but there’s a great movie that came out on Netflix called “Over the Moon” that’s available in Chinese and we’ve been watching it quite a bit.
Maintain my vocabulary learning streak. // Yes! I’ve hit over 100 days on Drops and am even further along with several languages in Memrise.
Keep working through my YouTube Queue. // Yes, but I also added several, and I mean several videos to the queue this month as well. I’ve bounced back up to 1,974.
Fluent in 3 Months Challenge // I’m in the midst of another challenge working on Hungarian, Persian, Russian, Croatian, and Japanese!
Keep reading Game of Thrones in Russian. // I only had one Russian lesson this month, so I didn’t get to this.
Get through at least three chapters in each course book I’m working on. // Yes!
Get to lesson 15 of Pimsleur Persian II. // Nope! I’ve been doing a lot of audio book listening and this has stolen the time I would have spent on this.
Maintain my weekly lessons in each language. // Yes, so long as both my teachers and I are available, I’ve been keeping this up.
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.
Keep working through my YouTube Queue. // I definitely want to keep working through this. I’ve been learning a lot!
Fluent in 3 Months Challenge // I’m looking forward to continuing on with this over the next two months or so.
Keep reading Game of Thrones in Russian. // I will pick this back up this month!
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, 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
Surprisingly, I don’t have a big lesson this month. Just reminders of past big lessons. Initially, I was a bit worried about not having a big takeaway to share, but when I thought about it a little more, I realized it’s alright. Not every month needs to have a big, new learning moment. Sometimes just slow, steady progress is enough.
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 | December appeared first on Eurolinguiste.
November 23, 2020
Black Friday Deals for Language Learners 2020
It’s Black Friday, so you know there are going to be some incredible deals for language learners around the web! But with so many fantastic offers, how do you know which products are the right fit?
What’s best for everyone is a little different, but I wanted to share my favorite language learning products currently on sale. These are the language learning tools and resources I use and recommend — and now, you can get them at irresistible prices!
50% Off Language Learning Accelerator
With four jobs, two kids, a blog, and fourteen languages under my belt, I’ve had a lot of experience developing time management and energy management skills. I created this course to share them with you. If you ever feel too busy to learn a language, or too tired, Language Learning Accelerator has all the tools you need to work through it and finally find the time to learn your language.
Price: $73.50 (normally $147)
91% Off the Fluent in 3 Months Collection (Including the Fluent in 3 Months Challenge
As you know, I’m the Head Coach of the Fluent in 3 Months Challenge. But I don’t just coach the challenge, I also take part regularly. Why? Because I know it works.
My thoughts: I’ve now taken part in back to back challenges for around three years. I’ve gotten to a conversational level in Korean, Japanese, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, and most recently Persian with the challenge. The community and weekly tasks help me stay focused and on track with my studies and the accountability is what keeps me coming back.
The Challenge is a language learning challenge where you aim to have a 15-minute conversation at the end of 90 days. You do so with a structured course, a supportive community and knowledgeable coaches.
Price: $147 (usually $1,719)
3 for 1 Language Travel Guides from Intrepid Guide
Intrepid Languages is a series of courses available in Spanish, French and Italian. Each course is a 14-module training program that walks you through exactly how to learn and speak the language in record time.
Each module includes course material from video lessons, downloadable worksheets, and bonus cheat sheets that are designed to help you learn and speak with confidence from scratch.
My thoughts: I went through Intrepid Italian recently and it’s fantastic. The phrases you need are actually related to travel and so incredibly useful. There aren’t random phrases, pick up lines, or marriage proposals. Just what you need to get around.
Get all 3 Intrepid Language courses for the price of ONE, this includes:
Intrepid Spanish: Master Spanish for Travel FAST!Intrepid Italian: Master Italian for Travel FAST!Intrepid French: Master French for Travel FAST!
Price: $97 (usually $291)
$50 Off Your Solid Vocab Memory from Fluent Language
Your Solid Vocab Memory is perfect for you if you are losing confidence because you can’t recall a lot of words and want a holistic view of vocabulary learning and memory, not a hack or a hollow quick fix. The course is packed with examples and tutorials, guiding you through fun and creative techniques for building rich links that mean you will not forget tricky vocab terms anymore.
My thoughts: I love Kerstin’s teaching style and this course is an interesting alternative approach to learning new vocabulary.
Price: $47 (usually $97)
Discount code: BLKCM2020
65% Off Drops Premium Lifetime
Drops is offering an incredible deal for Black Friday. You can get 65% off a Lifetime subscription.
My thoughts: Drops is one of my favorite ways to learn new vocabulary and it’s something I can easily fit into my daily routine because it’s just 5 minutes a day.
Price: $97 (usually $149.99)
67% Off All I Will Teach You a Language Uncovered Courses
I love Olly’s Uncovered language courses. I’ve had the chance to try them out for German and Spanish and I find the way he teaches through story extremely effective. He’s currently offering 67% off ALL of his Uncovered language courses including: Spanish, French, German, Italian and Japanese.
Price: $97 (usually $297)
45% Off Yoyo Chinese Courses
When I first started learning Chinese several years ago, Yoyo Chinese was one of my go-to resources. They way they break down grammar and other aspects of the Chinese language are incredibly helpful and engaging. Plus, there are many lessons using Chinese out on the street so you can hear how the language is really spoken out in the real world.
They have content for both beginner and intermediate learners.
Price: $499 (usually $902)
Get this deal. (after clicking this link, you’ll need to navigate to the “Store” located in the top menu)
67% Off German Uncovered (with Bonuses)
German Uncovered is an in-depth German course that teaches you the basics of the language through story. It’s absolutely my favorite German course. And… if you use the link below, you get TWO bonuses: Kerstin’s German Grammar for Beginners course and her German Accent and Pronunciation Masterclass.
Price: $97 (normally $297)
Discount code: BLKCM2020
77% Off Bite Size Language from Actual Fluency
Bite Size Languages are a series of audio courses from Kris Broholm of Actual Fluency. You can get the 6 language bundle for 77% off, which is an incredible deal. If you’re an auditory learner or if you’re looking for more audio resources for your learning, this is definitely a great resource. It’s available for French, Spanish, Italian, German, Russian, and Danish.
Price: $97 (usually $414)
Don’t wait! All these great deals end soon.
The post Black Friday Deals for Language Learners 2020 appeared first on Eurolinguiste.
November 8, 2020
My New Language Project: Maintaining 5 Languages
Now that my Persian language project is done, I’m kicking off my next language project—taking part in Polyglot in the Fluent in 3 Months Challenge.
What does that mean?
It means I’m doing maintenance on five of my languages—Hungarian, Russian, Croatian, Japanese, and, because I’m not ready to give it up, Persian.
My Plan for Working on 5 Languages
This will be the first occasion in some time that I’m working on multiple languages rather than focusing on just one. And I’m doing it with a focused plan, so I’m really looking forward to seeing what the results are at the end of the three months.
Here’s my plan:
Take a lesson for each language once a weekDaily vocabulary studyListen to Pimsleur everyday (even if it’s not the full 30 minutes)Complete one chapter in a coursebook for each language every weekWatch at least one YouTube video for each language each weekDo some reading in LingQ for each language at least three times a week
This is going to be the most ambitious language project I’ve taken on in quite a while. I’ve been struggling to make a regular habit of Pimsleur, LingQ, and YouTube, plus studying with a coursebook will be a new addition for me. But I know from experience that the accountability of the Fluent in 3 Months Challenge helps me push through and do more than I usually world.
My Goal for the Next 3 Months
Most of the languages I’m focusing on are those that I’m at an intermediate level in, or at the very least, upper beginner (with the exception of Persian). Because my focus in these languages has mostly been conversational, there are a lot of little things I’ve let slide. Possibly even to the point they’re fossilized errors I need to work out.
This means that I’m aiming to work out:
Pronunciation mistakes I’m makingGrammar I’ve been ignoringWidening my vocabularyA more deep-dive understanding of how the language works
The Resources I’m Planning to Use
Here are the resources I plan to use for each language. I may add more if I complete any of these, but for now, these are what I’m using:
For every language:
DropsMemriseThe Fluent in 3 Months Challengeitalki lessonsLingQYouTubePimsleur
For Persian: Assimil and Teach Yourself Complete Persian
For Russian: Assimil and Colloquial Russian
For Hungarian: Assimil and Colloquial Hungarian
For Croatian: Assimil and Colloquial Croatian
For Japanese: Assimil and Genki I
To Sum Up
I’m very excited about this project and about sharing it with you. If there’s anything in particular you’d like to know about what I’m doing, let me know in the comments below and I’ll be sure to include it in my next update!
In the meantime, let me know what your current language project is!
The post My New Language Project: Maintaining 5 Languages appeared first on Eurolinguiste.
November 1, 2020
Script Hacking Persian Review
I recently started to learn Persian. Initially, I focused on the conversational approach, using romanization for my notes and flashcards. But I eventually hit a wall and found myself needing to finally tackle the Persian writing system.
I turned to my favorite go to for learning a new writing system, Scripts, but the writing system isn’t yet supported by the app. So, I went on a hunt for another resource and that’s when I discovered Script Hacking, a series of books by Judith Meyer.
If you want the quick version of this review, I highly recommend this series.
It helped me get comfortable with the Persian alphabet and I plan on picking up the books for other languages, too.
Read more if you want the full Script Hacking review.
What is Script Hacking?
Script Hacking is a series of books currently available for Persian, Hebrew, Greek, Korean, Russian, and Arabic. Hindi is releasing later this month.
It breaks down the writing system for these languages in a way that helps you quickly recognize each letter or character. It’s filled with exercises and reading practice so that you can gain confidence reading and writing in another language quickly.
My Thoughts on Script Hacking
I worked through Script Hacking cover to cover over a period of about two weeks. Within that period, I went from not knowing a single letter in the Persian alphabet to having the ability to read in the language. Slowly, of course, but the fact I was able to do it all — without the help of any other resource — speaks to the quality of the Script Hacking series.
In Script Hacking Persian, each letter is introduced one-by-one. You’re presented with a short paragraph with information on the letter and the different ways it’s written, depending on if it’s at the beginning of a word, the end of a word, the middle of a word, or on its own.
After this, you’re given a variety of exercises to help you gain confidence recognizing each of the letters. Plus, you can access audio for the book online so you can hear how everything sounds.
What I Liked Most About Script Hacking
There was one thing that stood out to me most about Script Hacking, and I’ll get to it in a moment, but first I’ll explain why I liked it so much.
A lot of language materials throw a lot of material at you early on. You’re given a new writing system, new vocabulary, and new grammar all at once and expected to sort it all out. It’s sometimes too much to handle.
Script Hacking doesn’t do that.
The book includes short passages, but you’re not expected to read them. Rather, you’re asked to find the letter you’re being taught. And the words you’re expected to read? They’re words you’re already familiar with — words that are the same across languages.
You learn to read the names of figures you’re aware of, places you’ve heard of, cognates, and other vocabulary you’ll already have a foothold in. You’re not dealing with too much at once. You’re asked to absorb just the right amount of information about the language so that it sticks.
What I Thought Could Be Better
There’s not much I thought could be better with Script Hacking. By the end of the book, after 32 letters, I found the exercises for each letter too similar and I found myself wanting to speed through the last third of the book. More variation in the exercises might benefit the learning experience with this book.
In Conclusion
As I mentioned at the beginning of the article, I highly recommend this book series. In fact, I loved it so much I am looking forward to buying the other books in the series, particularly when I get back to Hebrew and Hindi.
Language Learning Reading Challenge
I read this book as a part of the Language Learning Reading Challenge and Women in Language Book Club. The prompt for October was “a book written by a woman”. It worked out that Judith Meyer wrote a book about the language I’m learning that also covered a part of the language I needed desperate help with! If you’d like to join us, you can find the group on both Facebook and Goodreads.
The post Script Hacking Persian Review appeared first on Eurolinguiste.
October 25, 2020
Clear the List | Monthly Language Learning Strategies Update | November
I recently wrapped up my Persian language project and recorded my Day 90 video where I had a 15-minute conversation in the language. Here it is:
I’m now getting ready to work on my next language project, so read on to find out what it is!
And… I updated my course Busy Language Learner. I’ve written more about it below, but you can sign up here. It’s a 7-day course that helps you find the time to learn a new language and it’s just $29. You get actionable steps you can take each day.
The Language Hacking Podcast
The Language Hacking Podcast over at Fluent in 3 Months where I’m co-hosting with Fi3M founder, Benny Lewis is still going strong! We release a new episode every week and we’re up to 20 episodes.
Some of our more recent guests have been: Johan Tekfak of Français Authentique, Kerstin Cable of Fluent Language, and the footballer Will John.
If you give the podcast a listen, or if you already have been listening, we’d love your reviews!
Listen on Apple Podcasts Listen on Spotify Listen on Stitcher
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 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 InstagramA post shared by Shannon Kennedy (@eurolinguiste) on Oct 13, 2020 at 7:12am PDT
Last Month’s Goals
Continue filling the gaps in my Mandarin vocabulary I’ve noticed since Little Linguist’s arrival. // My tutor and I spent some time reading books I plan to read with the kids together so I could make sure I understood everything I was reading, could read confidently, and don’t misread any characters.
Maintain my vocabulary learning streak. // Yes! I’ve missed days on some languages, but for the most part, I’m successful at this. Currently, my shortest streak is 24 days and my highest is 135 days.
Keep working through my YouTube Queue. // I got through at least 200 videos in the last month and I’m very excited about this!
Fluent in 3 Months Challenge // I completed the challenge I was doing for Persian and recorded my Day 90 video. You can see it above.
Keep reading Game of Thrones in Russian. // I still haven’t started this one, but this next month I have good reason to.
Study Stranger Things in Hungarian. // As usual, same as above.
Finish my Persian Script Hacking book. // Done!
Get to lesson 15 of Pimsleur Persian II. // Not quite yet, but I’m still making forward progress with this course.
Maintain my weekly lessons in each language. // Yes!
Have an awesome birthday with family. // Another yes!
Women in Language // It was amazing and I can’t wait to do it again next year.
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.
Keep working through my YouTube Queue. // I’d like to continue to work on this. Currently, I’m at 1,732 videos in my queue (for accountability) and I add new videos weekly when channels I follow upload new videos.
Fluent in 3 Months Challenge // I’m kicking off my new challenge. It’s a Polyglot challenge which means I’ll be doing maintenance on several languages. Five to be exact. For the next three months, I’m working on Hungarian, Persian, Russian, Croatian, and Japanese!
Keep reading Game of Thrones in Russian. // Since I’m focusing on Russian again, I can pick this back up.
Get through at least three chapters in each course book I’m working on. // These are: Teach Yourself Complete Persian, Genki I for Japanese, Colloquial Russian, Colloquial Croatian, and Colloquial Hungarian.
Get to lesson 15 of Pimsleur Persian II. // Since I didn’t get to this last month, I really want to do it this month. I may also pick up Pimsleur again for some of the other languages I’m studying if I do.
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, 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
I’ll never not be busy.
I can’t stop thinking that once I finish this task or that project, I’ll have some time. But lately, I’ve come to realize that each space in my calendar gets taken up by something new and each finished project is finished by the next.
So rather than wait until I’m not busy any more, I’ve started reprioritizing — in work, in my personal life and with language learning.
The only way I’m going to find time is if I make it.
It’s also why I decided to update my course Busy Language Learner. It’s a 7-day course with actionable steps you can take to fit language learning into your busy schedule and it’s available for just $29.
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 | November appeared first on Eurolinguiste.
Clear the List | Monthly Language Learning Strategies Update | October
I recently wrapped up my Persian language project and recorded my Day 90 video where I had a 15-minute conversation in the language. Here it is:
I’m now getting ready to work on my next language project, so read on to find out what it is!
And… I updated my course Busy Language Learner. I’ve written more about it below, but you can sign up here. It’s a 7-day course that helps you find the time to learn a new language and it’s just $29. You get actionable steps you can take each day.
The Language Hacking Podcast
The Language Hacking Podcast over at Fluent in 3 Months where I’m co-hosting with Fi3M founder, Benny Lewis is still going strong! We release a new episode every week and we’re up to 20 episodes.
Some of our more recent guests have been: Johan Tekfak of Français Authentique, Kerstin Cable of Fluent Language, and the footballer Will John.
If you give the podcast a listen, or if you already have been listening, we’d love your reviews!
Listen on Apple Podcasts Listen on Spotify Listen on Stitcher
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 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 InstagramA post shared by Shannon Kennedy (@eurolinguiste) on Oct 13, 2020 at 7:12am PDT
Last Month’s Goals
Continue filling the gaps in my Mandarin vocabulary I’ve noticed since Little Linguist’s arrival. // My tutor and I spent some time reading books I plan to read with the kids together so I could make sure I understood everything I was reading, could read confidently, and don’t misread any characters.
Maintain my vocabulary learning streak. // Yes! I’ve missed days on some languages, but for the most part, I’m successful at this. Currently, my shortest streak is 24 days and my highest is 135 days.
Keep working through my YouTube Queue. // I got through at least 200 videos in the last month and I’m very excited about this!
Fluent in 3 Months Challenge // I completed the challenge I was doing for Persian and recorded my Day 90 video. You can see it above.
Keep reading Game of Thrones in Russian. // I still haven’t started this one, but this next month I have good reason to.
Study Stranger Things in Hungarian. // As usual, same as above.
Finish my Persian Script Hacking book. // Done!
Get to lesson 15 of Pimsleur Persian II. // Not quite yet, but I’m still making forward progress with this course.
Maintain my weekly lessons in each language. // Yes!
Have an awesome birthday with family. // Another yes!
Women in Language // It was amazing and I can’t wait to do it again next year.
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.
Keep working through my YouTube Queue. // I’d like to continue to work on this. Currently, I’m at 1,732 videos in my queue (for accountability) and I add new videos weekly when channels I follow upload new videos.
Fluent in 3 Months Challenge // I’m kicking off my new challenge. It’s a Polyglot challenge which means I’ll be doing maintenance on several languages. Five to be exact. For the next three months, I’m working on Hungarian, Persian, Russian, Croatian, and Japanese!
Keep reading Game of Thrones in Russian. // Since I’m focusing on Russian again, I can pick this back up.
Get through at least three chapters in each course book I’m working on. // These are: Teach Yourself Complete Persian, Genki I for Japanese, Colloquial Russian, Colloquial Croatian, and Colloquial Hungarian.
Get to lesson 15 of Pimsleur Persian II. // Since I didn’t get to this last month, I really want to do it this month. I may also pick up Pimsleur again for some of the other languages I’m studying if I do.
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, 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
I’ll never not be busy.
I can’t stop thinking that once I finish this task or that project, I’ll have some time. But lately, I’ve come to realize that each space in my calendar gets taken up by something new and each finished project is finished by the next.
So rather than wait until I’m not busy any more, I’ve started reprioritizing — in work, in my personal life and with language learning.
The only way I’m going to find time is if I make it.
It’s also why I decided to update my course Busy Language Learner. It’s a 7-day course with actionable steps you can take to fit language learning into your busy schedule and it’s available for just $29.
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 | October appeared first on Eurolinguiste.
