Motivated by Vladimir Putin's Russian (with Kris Broholm)
In episode 55, friend of the show Kris Broholm from Actual Fluency joined me to discuss mindset and accountability in language learning that come from a place of reality and gentle confidence.
In episode 55, friend of the show Kris Broholm from Actual Fluency joined me to discuss mindset and accountability in language learning that come from a place of reality and gentle confidence.
Tune in to hear us chat and share:
- Great advice for English speakers who want to have early success in a new language
- Language learning is such a complicated jigsaw puzzle, so how can we really track what we have actually learnt?
- Is it presumptuous, are you lacking humility if you set yourself a big, impressive goal?
- How the reason you are learning a language is DIRECTLY connnected to the success that you are going to have a week, 3 months, and perhaps 12 months down the line
- The one thing you MUST have in order to get language learning motivated - a sense of "this is who I am"
Four Tendencies in Language Learning
We revisit perspectives on the 4 tendencies framework Lindsay and I discussed in episode 32. Kris is on record as an Obliger, saying:
"It would be Embarrassing to tell people that I gave up."
You can take a test to determine your own tendency here.
Links From This Episode
- Vladimiar Putin interviewed by Oliver Stone (sadly, no bear or horse)
- The Language Habit Toolkit
- Gretchen Rubin
- Kris's Course Language Routine Mastery
- Clear the List on Kris's Actual Fluency blog
- The James Altucher Podcast
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Language Tracking Insider: How To Move Steadily Towards Your Next Breakthrough
You love learning languages, but sometimes you're wondering if all that work will ever really add up to anything? Then look no further and start building a powerful tracking routine today. Tracking doesn't have to be complicated, and with these 4 cool tips you'll quickly get into a true language habit!
Language tracking is so important. It allows you to stay on top of your studies, master busy periods and see your own progress towards fluency. It’s not just an exercise in discipline or productivity.
When you find smart ways to track, it will enhance all the work you’re doing and become one of the greatest motivators out there. And since I recently built and shared my own best practice templates for tracking in the Language Habit Toolkit learners, I’ve been hearing back from students who have some incredible ideas for making this even more effective.
Check out the following creative tracking tweaks and see if they can transform your language learning, too.
1) Track Life Events That Affect Your Study Routine
We all know that rules are made to be broken, and this is true for study routines too! Big and small events such as trips, conferences, and birthdays can knock you off your routine and even break habits.
Look out for these types of events at the start of the week and make a note in your tracker. Give yourself permission to drop off the routine and pay attention to getting back on track in the days after your event. For example, you could schedule 20 minutes of writing for the day after your birthday.
How To Add This To Your Tracker
My favourite trick comes from Catrin, one of my expert testers.
As Catrin started tracking her studies every day, she made little notes of what’s going on in her life.
Remember that it is okay if you are just too busy to study sometimes.
Developing a language habit is not about perfect records of focused study every day. It’s about more than that: Making language feel natural, building structure, and helping you go further simply by coming back to the project every week.
2) Code In Your Activities
The next trick is from Mark, another expert tester. Mark used to be a runner, and found that regular tracking was a key to his training regime. Taking the method into language learning, he built on his tracking expertise by adding little extras to show what he did during those sessions.
Here are a few easy ways of enhancing your Habit Tracker:
- Use different colours to track which skill you trained that day (vocab, grammar, listening, speaking, reading and writing..)
- Use numbers or letters to shorten descriptions of your resources, for example 1 for Duolingo, 2 for Glossika, 3 for your vocab notebook, 4 for a video chat, and so on.
- If you are studying more than one language, highlight which languages you were studying on which day. On the right, you can see how I reserve every Thursday for training French instead of Welsh (using the Language Habit Toolkit, printed at 50% and pasted into my Moleskine notebook).
3) Add A Review Box to Your Habit Tracker
The next tip was shared by Toolkit user Colette. She shared a tweak she uses to make sure she stays on top of what she’s learnt so far.
When you are just finishing a lesson with your tutor or a timed study session, the temptation to close the app/book and do something else is at its highest. You have earned your break! But with just one or two words of new vocabulary, you can hugely increase the benefit of what you just learnt.
Colette’s idea takes this review system one step further, as she decided to write down one word to review from her vocab routine right on the Habit Tracker every day. Just think: If you review just one vocabulary word extra every single day, you save yourself 365 reviews a year. Your Memrise buddies will be very impressed!
How To Add This To Your Tracker
In the Language Habit Toolkit, your Study Tracker sheet also comes with a “What I Learnt” section that prompts you to make a quick note of exactly what you added to your knowledge on this occasion.
Making a note while it is fresh in your mind will help you realise that even just a few minutes spent on a flashcard review can take you further towards becoming fluent.
4) Log in Advance
The final trick in today’s round-up comes from me, and it’s my classic way of kick-starting any activity when I feel like I’m procrastinating a bit too much. I’m a person who can struggle with overwhelm, and sometimes I get nothing at all done because I don’t even know where to start.
One thing I’ve learnt is that I can usually get myself unstuck by creating dedicated times in my week. It doesn’t work if I say “I will study every Monday from 6 to 7”, but it does work when I look just a few days ahead and decide where important work will fit in.
The most effective way to “advance log” is to become extremely specific. Don’t just write “read in Welsh” - it has to be “spend 8 minutes reading MADRON comic”. Instead of saying “do Memrise”, make a specific note of the level you want to complete or the mini-goal you have.
Related article: How to Learn a Language With Smart and Useful Goals
Want To Get Ready-Made Language Tracking Templates?
You’ll find two in-depth tracking worksheets to print and use in the Language Habit Toolkit. These trackers are professionally designed, developed with language learning experts, and will give you an instant set-up for effective tracking.
Find the Language Habit Toolkit in Fluent’s Learning Section.
Do you keep track of your language learning sessions in detail, or do you prefer to sail along and set big goals only? If you’ve got a tip to share, let me know in the comments below!
How to Learn a Language Using Snapchat (Podcast Episode 45)
Everyone's talking about social media, some people are talking about social media for language learning. In today's podcast episode, get the most specific advice possible as Lindsay and I guide you through the Snapchat app for language learning.
Listen to the episode:
Don't forget to catch the mention of our good friends at Flashsticks, the language learning post-it guys. You can purchase vocabulary post-it notes in 8 languages and get 10% off with the code KERSTIN10.
What is Snapchat?
Snapchat is a social media app for any smartphone. It lets you share photos or videos, and your snap only lasts 24 hours unless you make it a "memory".
Of course you can change the menu language, but with such strong visual focus that alone won't teach you a language.
It's designed for camera phones and not available on your desktop computer.
Why is it awesome?
- It's easy, fast and low-pressure. In other photo social networks, you would be tempted to make every picture stunning and impressive and beautiful. But in Snapchat, you'll just play and learn in the process. What does that mean? No more shyness, no more reasons to avoid speaking!
- It allows you to stitch things together into a story, so you can share a 5-second snap, or go ahead and combine several videos to show how you speak a foreign language.
- For language learning, the new Memories feature is a way to track your progress. Record yourself speaking today, save the memory, and try the same thing in a month. You'll be surprised at your own progress!
How to Get The Most Out of This For Languages
You may have to set up a little system in order to get the most out of this, for example an evening review or a regular vocab routine.
1. Document
Lindsay studies every morning and documents her mistakes on Snapchat, while I am more spontaneous and use the system to show and share how languages pop up in my day.
2. Check and Correct Errors
One other idea is to practice what you want to practice, then check back and correct the errors that you made. We go into detail about how important it is not just to make the mistakes, but to correct the mistakes so that you can get better.
3. Make Yourself a Vocab Resource
As you go through your day, why not take pictures of all you see around you and build yourself a little daily vocab resource? You can save the story in Memories at the end of the day, or do an evening review to add the words to your vocabulary bank.
Great Accounts to Follow (Click for the Snapcodes)
- fluentlanguage
- ldlanguages
- irishpolyglot
- flashsticks - recommended!
- bradchase
Links and Further Reading - Become a Snapchat Expert
- How I Use Snapchat For Language Learning on Lindsay's blog
- North American Polyglot Symposium, where Lindsay is giving a talk this weekend
- Ghostcodes app
- Die Sendung mit der Maus, German kids' TV show with bilingual credits
Are You a Snapchat User?
If you use Snapchat for language learning (or not), leave us a comment and share your usernames and snapcodes.
Thank you guys so much for being podcast listeners, chatting to us on twitter (I'm @kerstinhammes and Lindsay is @ldlanguages) and making your voices heard!
How you can make your progess visible with a tracking routine
Here on the Fluent Language blog, we have previously covered the idea of invisible progress and how it affects your motivation. No language learner will find it easy to maintain high motivation and dedication when they feel like they are going along without much direction. So how do we make the progress a little more visible?
This is a look behind the scenes of a language tutor's work - all the prep and track work that students might not see, but that will be an important part of the service. My aim is not just to help my students learn, but to keep them going and keep an eye on what's already been covered and I do track every lesson.
The Eureka moment doesn't come without Eureka work
Think Outliers and practice hours and remember that you are working systematically towards the moment when it all falls into place. Not as beautiful a story, but achievable.
Here are a few steps that you as the language learner can take in order to keep track and stay motivated.
©dmachiavello on Flickr
Step 1: Decide where and how you will keep track
You will need a consistent place to do this, and one that is easy to use and very accessible. Basically, what we are looking for is a template which can be as low-key as a desk calendar or as high-powered as Evernote.
The important things are as follows:
- Make sure it's accessible enough for you to use all the time. If you travel, a paper notebook might be better than an app that needs to be online all the time.
- Make it consistent, so that once the template works for you, you'll only need to fill it in. Predicability is key here.
For me, formatting and printability were more important than universal access so I settled on creating a template that works for me, in MS Word.
Step 2: Write desired objectives
Self-taught learners in particular should have an idea of where they want to get to. The key to planning is to mke sure your objectives actually make sense. So write down a 1 month goal, a 3 month goal and a 12 month goal. This can be as poetic as you like, so "Have a conversation with a real German market trader" can go up there.
Step 3: Break it down into smaller tasks
I insist that you cannot actually have that market chat without taking lots of individual steps, and here's how I may break them down:
- Learn all the numbers and currencies
- Cover question making strategies in German grammar
- Select items I would like to buy
- Learn words for products
- Learn market-relevant verbs and phrases
- Arrange for travel to the German market
You should be looking at the long-term goal and breaking it down into smaller steps, then list the smaller steps as SMART goals.
Smaller steps for arranging travel to the German market?
- Research German market towns
- Choose trip destination
- Ensure trip dates match market opening times
- Choose travel companion
- Book flights
- Book accommodation
- Exchange money
- Sort out visas
- Leave space in my suitcase for purchases from German market
If it looks so simple that it's all obvious now, remember your original goal was to talk to a German market trader. How did you think that was going to happen?
Step 4: Check in regularly
The check in dates are the ones you chose in your objectives, and you are looking for an idea of how much closer you have come to the overall goal. These check ins are a great contribution to knowing whether your language learning project is running on time or behind, and they will also give you a chance to fix anything that's going very wrong.
Should you be checking in and realising you've been way too ambitious, you only need to stay calm and work out what you actually got done. That's your realistic working pace. Apply it to future goals, without judgement. You will now know if you can achieve the end goal in a year or not, and will be able to add 2 months on at the end if required.
Plan, Track and Optimise With The Language Habit Toolkit
If you want a step-by-step guide to creating your personal language learning system, check out the Language Habit Toolkit, featuring language trackers, goal-setting guides and a review sheet to help you cut out the unnecessary and speed up your progress to fluently communicating in any language.
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