Kerstin Cable's Blog, page 29
June 24, 2015
Olly Richards' Language Learning Foundations Course reviewed in Full
In every language learning story, there comes a moment where you start wondering whether you’re doing things in the right way. You may start off with a burst of inspiration and the certainty that you’ll be fluent in just a few months. Then weird things start to happen. You wonder how to work less, remember more, and whether you’re cut out for studying every day. You miss a day, you google “is this normal?”.
And before you know it, you’re caught in “what the hell should I do?” territory feeling...
June 22, 2015
Podcast Episode 18: World Views and Polyglots with Lindsay Dow
Episode 18 is packed full of language learning news and chat with Lindsay fromLindsay does Languages, my trusty and lovely co-host. I hope you'll join us for all the debate and learning!
We discussed
A truly useful and helpful definition ofPolyglotby Richard SimcottWhat the Polyglot Gathering is and how it went down in Berlin in 2015If a language you learn really makes you think differently, andWhether Kerstin should make herself study more Russian or allow herself the fun of exploring a bit...June 19, 2015
Should you accept a Language Challenge? Here are 7 Things to Know before you Decide
Challenge is a big word in today's world, and challenges have started being all around us. There are the language challenges like the italki Language Challenge and the Add 1 Challenge. Then your local gym might challenge you to swim a few miles or do 500 squats. And of course we were all challenging ourselves to drown in ice buckets last year.
What is that makes a challenge rewarding and great? How do you know you're ready? Here are a few thoughts and insides to show you what makes a good chal...
June 16, 2015
My Language Bucket List: Angel Armstead
Ever since I first heard about the idea of building a "bucket list" I have been fascinated by it. It's optimistic, ambitious and fun. It keeps us focused and excited about the opportunities out there. And of course, there's a natural sense of urgency to a list of "things to do before I kick the bucket".
So imagine my excitement when regular Fluent writer Angel sent me her most recent blog article. She's sharing her own language bucket list, the list of languages to learn in her lifetime. It's...
June 11, 2015
How much will you pay for a Language Tutor?
In recent months, I have seen many examples of experienced polyglots and language bloggers who posted guides to finding the perfect language tutor. There was the instructive article from Fluent in 3 Months, then a guide from I will teach you a language, and Judith Meyer also featured tips in her blog Learn Langs.
Experienced language learners agree on one thing: Learning a language with a tutor is a true game changer.
It’s impossible to progress as much if you don’t start speaking your langua...
June 8, 2015
Podcast Episode 17: Discover a Travel-Loving Lifestyle with Gabby Wallace
In this episode, I giggle my way through a football reporter’s discovery that German is a useful language - live! You will also hear my interview with Gabby Wallace, a friendly and experienced teacher who has made the whole world her office.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
Where in the USA they still had a queen in the 1950s
Why Discipline and Sharing are the two most important techniques in language learning
How to combine the best of Japanese learning traditions with the best of the American c...
June 4, 2015
Go Language Mad on Instagram this Month (Plus: I'm Married!)
Before I launch into the blog article today, I want to take just a minute to tell you guys that I just got married! The speeches were bilingual, my parents even spoke a language each. Marrying someone from another country while living in another country is a wonderful proof of what Fluent is all about: open-mindedness, curiosity and a desire to discover the world. I hope you share those sentiments with me.
Just married a man from a different country. consistent with the values of Fluent: curio...
June 1, 2015
Has Language Guilt ever Ruined your Day?
Us humans, we’re an unreliable lot. Making big promises, telling our lovers and our languages that we will be forever faithful to them. And then, we find an exciting new script and go skipping away, never reaching the blissful heights of B2 level! Have you ever abandoned a language? In today’s post, I want to give you a quick life and language update and share my abandonment of Russian along with some ideas of how we can deal with Language Guilt.
Quitting without guilt I’m finding this one v...
May 26, 2015
Guest Post: How to Learn French as a Food Lover (plus a French vocabulary freebie)
Today I'm very happy to introduce a guest post from the megacute Shannon Kennedy who blogs about her love of languages and music over at Eurolinguiste. She speaks French and English fluently and is currently working towards fluency in Mandarin and Croatian. Find Shannon on Facebook, Instagram or Youtube.
Shannon has also created a huge vocabulary list for all Fluent readers who are ready to get to the next level of their food vocabulary. Read to the last paragraph to find out how you can get...
May 22, 2015
How to speak more fluently by building good Conversation Habits
No matter if you are new to language learning or you're a certified multilingualist,I bet you know the conversational wall. It'sthat feeling where you just don’t know how to say something. It could be a missing word, andsometimes you can’t find wordsfor what you’re even trying to say.
The wall createsthat awkward moment with your conversation partner, where you just stall the whole thing. You’re running on empty, grasping around for words,and in fact you’re feeling like an idiot. How frustrati...
