Clear the List November 2019: No-English Lessons as a Beginner?!
Welcome to my latest check-in on language learning goals. In October, I studied three languages: Mandarin Chinese, Welsh, and a wildcard language that you can read about in this article. Join me in setting new goals for the month!
Clear the List November 2019: No-English Lessons at My Level?!
Hello and welcome to another blog post in the Clear The List series, the monthly language learning round-up about language learning goals and progress.
That’s right - NOVEMBER goals! October was a very interesting month for my language learning as I tried out something I had never tried before. Exciting stuff!
This check-in is part of the #clearthelist round-up hosted by Shannon Kennedy and Lindsay Williams.
What Happened in October?
I was busy signing up participants for the next Fluent German Retreat, and then I travelled to the USA again! This time, my time was spent at a retreat in Colorado and it took up about half of the month. So that means I had half of the month for studying languages.
I don’t usually allow a lot of my weekend to become language study time as I want to spend it with my husband and my inner lazybones, but this month I challenged myself and took several lessons on Saturday afternoons. It was actually great fun, and definitely a time of the week that now feels open for languages.
The Fluent Show in October
I travelled to London to record my first ever interview in person! The interview was with David Peterson, the remarkable creator of languages for TV shows like Game of Thrones, The 100, and Defiance. The resulting show is out on 11 November so look out for it in your usual podcast locations.
Recording in person was a new adventure for me and I travelled up to London with brand new microphones, cables, and mic stands! It’s worth it for a special recording atmosphere, I can’t wait to record in person again soon. If you listen to just one episode from October 2019, I recommend this deep dive into finding a perfect language teacher with my co-host Lindsay Williams.
Reminder: The Fluent Show has opened a Patreon page. This allows all listeners to become involved in making the show with a small monthly pledge. If you want to become a part of the community, please visit our Patreon page.
Language Goals and Progress
During the month of October, I pushed myself to take as many italki lessons as possible in the italki language challenge.
If you’ve never heard of italki, click here to find out more and get $10 credit - it is a platform for finding online language teachers, and it’s excellent.
Now before the big reveal, lemme tell you a thing: italki sets the challenge goals in lesson hours. But for me, language lessons are rarely an hour long when I’m crouching around somewhere at an early level. With the approach I took in Chinese, an hour would have felt very exhausting for me and the tutor so I chose to take lots of lessons but many of them were half an hour long.
And on that note, I totally didn’t meet the goal of 12 study hours. But I hadn’t expected to.
Instead, I took 6.25 hours of study time split over 9 lessons. The results were surprisingly positive, I felt reinvigorated and reminded how much I love languages! Here are the specifics.
Mandarin Chinese
Wow! Considering I was tutor-less a month ago, the italki challenge absolutely pushed me to find a new style and tutor that worked for me. And in Chinese, I tried a whole new approach this time.
Instead of choosing an experienced and formally qualified tutor, I decided to go with what italki calls a “community tutor”, i.e. someone who is ready to help and teach but who hasn’t formally studied the language as much.
This was 100% the right decision for someone like me who is
- an experienced language learner
- already working with 1 or 2 guiding resources
- pretty confident about knowing what to do.
Going for a tutor who approaches teaching less formally suits my own informal style perfectly, especially since I tend to follow up after class and do my own homework without prompting.
By the way, you can learn more about the differences and what they mean in this month’s podcast episode about language teachers.
No-English Lessons at My Level?!
I took inspiration from Scott Young’s interview on the Actual Fluency podcast (episode 164). In this interview, Scott mentioned that he used to hire tutors and tell them beforehand that he doesn’t know a lot but he wants to eliminate English during the class, so he will heavily use google translate.
I had previously taken lessons that involved a tutor working through a textbook with me, and I did not enjoy them so much. So I figured “what the heck” and decided to throw myself in at the deep end and speak terrible internet Chinese to a few people. They get paid, after all!
And the result was totally positive! I enjoyed each class, had lots of fun, experimented, and understood almost nothing my partners said to me. But it didn’t matter! We came away after 30 minutes feeling like there had been some level of conversation.
I am NOT speaking well yet, but or the first time since I started, I was having fun in Chinese.
If you want to try this out for yourself, go for it! The key is having good follow-up.
Each tutor was very diligent about typing what they said for me, so that after the lesson I took time to copy it into my notebook and I reviewed it for myself. This added about 30 minutes of follow-up time to the lessons, but it’s how I was able to remember things, and it’s also writing practice. Worth it!
App and Book Update
I’m enjoying Lingodeer and Assimil’s “Chinese False Beginners” workbook.
LingQ has fallen by the wayside because I’ve now finished the beginner’s material and there is a big gap between beginner and intermediate. No one wants to review 50 expressions after every page.
Welsh
I also took online lessons with a new Welsh teacher, who was lovely! After my US trip I noticed that I was particularly rusty, so getting right back into an hour of conversation was crucial. Looking forward to more!
In other goals, I have finally booked my next trip to Wales! I’m going to Cardiff/Pontypridd for a Sadwrn Siarad on 23 November and I cannot wait. Love Cardiff, and it’s been too long.
Wildcard Language!
My wildcard language for the italki challenge was BSL (British Sign Language), and I loved each of my 2 classes so much that it left me very eager to learn more and more. In reality, this would come at the cost of either Welsh or Chinese…what to do? Maybe I end up being a learner of all my local languages?
Language Goals for November 2019
Let’s get into detail then! November is a month without international travel, and I’m grateful for it.
Listening
When I’m a beginner in any language, listening without the visuals makes me feel more lost than supported. So this is all about my intermediate/advanced language, Welsh. I regularly listen to the radio and watch TV in Welsh, so my goal is to continue the good work with radio 2-3 times a week and TV for at least 2 hours without subtitles.
When I’m in Cardiff, I’ll also see if I can’t make it to a gig in Welsh.
In Chinese I’ll take a bit of Yabla practice but it’s not my main focus.
Reading
In Chinese, I read a lot as it’s my main source of information. My goal is to complete 2 more chapters in the Assimil workbook and to review the handwritten lesson notes I make.
In Welsh, once again I will finish Ffenestri. I WILL!!! It’s an important goal because then I can take it to Cardiff, give it away to another learner, and get a new supply.
Speaking
I want to build on the good work from October and take another 4 italki lessons in Chinese.
In Welsh, I’m obviously going to a whole day about siarad (speaking), and will also try to hang out with local friends when I’m in Cardiff. I am so excited.
Writing
This is one for Chinese study, where I want to continue my discipline in terms of following up on each lesson with hand-written notes that I can review easily.
What About You?
How do you work with online tutors? How was your October? Leave a comment below or if you’re an Instagram fan, click on the post below to share your own goals in your stories with my template.
#clearthelist September 2019: The Eleven Languages I Spoke in One Month
Welcome to my language progress and goals update for the new month. My focus languages are Mandarin Chinese and Welsh.
You’ll read about the 11 languages I spoke in August 2019 and catch up with top episodes of the Fluent Show podcast.
Imagine you’re on a long-distance cycling trip, perhaps through all of a country or state. You know the destination and you’re pedalling every day, always pushing ahead even if you know you may not arrive for many days. On a journey like that, what would you be without a necessary stop to find yourself on the map now and then? Can you do it without GPS? I don’t think I could!
Learning a language is a lot like navigating a long trip like that. We often know our destination before we get going and we set off in the right direction. But without regular check-ins, we may pedal and pedal until we fall over.
Here on the blog, I write a monthly check-in like that to keep you up to date with my own language learning goals. It’s part of the #clearthelist round-up hosted by Shannon Kennedy and Lindsay Williams.
Want to try out this check-in process for yourself?
Why not check out my Language Habit Toolkit, an in-depth course designed to help you set useful language goals, track them easily and achieve a new milestone every month.
What Happened in August?
Last month was dominated by my biggest trip of the year, visiting the USA and Canada to participate in two conferences. First, I attended Podcast Movement in Orlando to learn more about how to make great podcasts and support myself well while doing it.
And while I was across the pond, how could I have missed Langfest in Montréal, Canada? Impossible!
The trip in between these two cities was a lot of fun: I took Amtrak to Charleston in South Carolina, having long wanted to try the American train. My impression was…that Europeans love the train even in America, haha!
The Langfest team another excellent language event this year, with so many highlights including meeting the creators of Klingon and Dothraki, and running my own creative writing workshop with María Ortega Garcia.
The Fluent Show
First of all let me say how amazing it was for me to meet so many listeners on the road in August. I’m over the moon to know that the Fluent Show is popular!
This month contained a whole range of amazing episodes so let me share two with you today:
- Langfest 2019 captured in audio, with almost a dozen interviews and voices directly from the show
- What is the Right Mixture for Language Learning Success?, an episode about why so many methods feel like they’re THE best method
If you’re not a Fluent Show listener already, you’ll find lots more exciting shows to listen or subscribe to at www.fluent.show.
Language Goals and Progress
I had pretty clear goals for August 2019, so this time I’ll run through them without breaking it down too much into listening, speaking, reading and writing.
Mandarin Chinese
- Listen to Mandopop
I neglected this, spending more time on podcasts.
- Get 100 Lingqs on the LingQ app
Overall I now have lots of LingQs, the challenge is becoming more about noting and remembering them all! Still enjoying this app and using it in the mornings.
- Post 2-3 speaking videos on Instagram
I only posted one, then travel threw me off the wagon. I did learn some more Chinese from a new friend at Langfest though, so I feel positive about my speaking.
- Find a new Chinese tutor
So here’s what happened: I wanted a new tutor but felt guilty about ghosting the current one. Then as if by magic, she decided she’s taking a break and sent a messaging saying she won’t be available until December. So yay, I was free for a new tutor.
But then I didn’t book one. Hah! I count this as a goal half achieved 😅
- Figure out how to type Chinese characters on the iPhone
Done!
- Practice characters by hand every week
In the weeks I was at home, this was done.
Welsh
- Book a class to practice speaking
Sadly no, but I still got my speaking practice on one occasion this month in conversation with a Langfest buddy.
- Read the book Ffenestri
This book is LOVELY and I’m nearly finished. I’m reading well at all 3 levels, as I should :)
- Plan my next trip to Wales
Sadly this fell through as I prioritised visiting my family in Germany first. Chwarae teg, wouldn’t you say?
- More stuff!
I can now watch Welsh TV without subtitles! 🎉
Other Languages
It’s impossible to travel without practicing other languages, so August also became an opportunity for me to speak my long-neglected languages.
Counting in Klingon
In bilingual Montréal, I spoke lots of French with people from all over. Québécois French is never 100% comprehensible to me, but as always when I speak French I felt reassured that I’m entirely capable.
I bungled my way through a taxi ride with a lovely Colombian in Spanish, though I never did end up where I originally wanted to be. But I blame Lyft and GPS for that instead of my language skills, haha.
And talking of bungling, I also spoke more Italian than I have done in 20 years. The Italian sounded like that, too. It’s R.U.S.T.Y. and has essentially turned into bad Spanish.
I also attended basic workshops on the fictional languages Klingon and Dothraki, as well as Breton and Signed Languages.
Language Goals for September 2019
It’s handy to start setting goals by remembering the time frame available. In other words, the question is “What do you want to achieve in the next 30 days?” - seems a little less intense than wondering how to achieve a lot.
This month I’ve been inspired by intense learning projects and the book Ultralearning by Scott Young (interview coming up on the podcast). What can I commit to that would stretch me, challenge me?
Listening Goals
In Chinese, I’ll look for a tutor and ask them to help me listen, perhaps through some dictation rather than the pressure of conversing instantly.
In Welsh, I’m getting so much better so I’ll keep up what I’m doing.
Reading Goals
I don’t have firm goals here and want to focus on other skills, so I’ll just commit to the tools and say I want to finish Ffenestri in Welsh and use LingQ 4 days a week in Chinese.
Speaking Goals
Here I would like to take it up a notch!
In Chinese I am still fairly shy about speaking - I wish I had a few sample conversations to practice with. Comment if you can recommend any? Meanwhile it’s a good idea to push ahead and find that new tutor!
In Welsh I so want to practice speaking and everything, so I’m going to book myself 3 sessions to speak bad Welsh at people. Yay!
Writing Goals
I’ll go easy on the writing beyond what I usually do, which is to text people. In Chinese I’m also making vocab lists by hand now and writing down set phrases in characters and pinyin.
Here’s an instagram slideshow showing my vocab system in more detail:
\
And that’s it for September’s #clearthelist!
How are You Getting On in Language Learning?
Comment below and tell me how your month of August went! Did you come to Langfest? Would you like to attend it some time? Have you got any strong speaking goals?
Looking forward to hearing from you!
