New Podcast! The Full Online Learning Guide with Breanne Dyck

breanne podcast

Welcome to episode 10, a little milestone for the Creative Language Learning Podcast! Thank you guys so much for tuning in, sharing the podcast and responding to it so often.

Do you have any dream guests you'd like to hear from? Special topics, questions or discussions? Leave them in the comments below.

This time, I am talking to an expert in the area of course design and online education. Breanne Dyck knows how to make people learn, she's got lots of information about neuroscience and learnt quite a few languages herself.

“It’s not abstract motivation that keeps us going. It’s all about checking in along the way.”

In this Interview you'll be finding out about

  • Why languages are the daddy of self-teaching
  • The big mistake all self-learners tend to make
  • Where the MOOC concept comes from
  • What you should consider before you start even looking for an online course
  • The difference between a MOOC, an online course and Duolingo

  • How to avoid wasting money on unsuitable courses

  • What motivation is really about

Click here to Listen on Stitcher and Here to Listen in itunes

Article of the Week

What is a foreign language worth?

Tips of the Week

Out of the following fabulous three tips, Breanne chose number 1 as her Tip of the Week! Keep immersing yourself in the target language through Facebook and practice switching from and to the target language without translating everything in your head.

1) Language Immersion by Facebook on Language Surfer

2) Beat the Leaderboard on Memrise like Leszek Trybala

3) Translate to Beat the Plateau, a tip from Dr Rebecca Braun at the Guardian Live Q&A

Tips and Links from this Podcast

Breanne is holding three major webinars, the Elevate series from 3-6 December 2014. If you're curious about making your own online course, this is THE place to be.

Google, in case you have not heard of it

Rozuku, an easy course creation website

Udemy, an online course marketplace with reviews and thousands of courses

French Grammar for Beginners, my awesome online French course for grammar reference and simple explanations

Lynda.com, online course marketplace

Breanne Dyck's Blog at MNIB, about the science of learning and teaching online

Reddit, where you can find communities about anything and any language

New Podcast: Episode 8 -- Lindsay and Kerstin Do Languages

In Episode 8, my guest is Lindsay Dow, a really enthusiastic and cool independent language teacher from the UK. Lindsay is well-known for her great Youtube videos about all aspects of language learning, and she was also a winner in the Sensational Fluent Giveaway.

“No one learns a language because they want their life to stay the same.”

The show doesn't follow the usual interview format, instead Lindsay came on as a co-host and talked about her favourite blogs and articles, as well as her own story of language learning. She also helped me select the Tip of the Week.

Some of the highlights:

  • How music and lyrics from Sheffield can teach you great English
  • Which Asian language was a total eye-opener for Lindsay
  • Why travelling is the greatest motivation for language learning
  • How to stop getting bored by the language you’re learning (hint: Celebrity crushes help!)
  • Our exclusive permission to you: Learn AS MANY LANGUAGES AS YOU LIKE

Language Learning Tip of The Week

Set yourself some goals and challenges, write them down and try your best to achieve them. For example, making a language video, writing a blog article in another language or reviewing 50 items on Memrise could be a goal.

It's important to make sure that you do go easy on yourself if you don't hit the goal. It doesn't make you a failure, so make sure you know how to do better next time and move on!

Our Tool and Blog Recommendations for the Week

Language Book Recommendations

And Here are the Other Sites and Tools we Mentioned

As always, you can check out the podcast on Stitcher, or head over to itunes.

New Podcast! Randy Glover on Rosetta Stone, Starting at 57 and Why You Should Not Give Up

The new Fluent Language Podcast is out now. We are on episode 6, and I have got something unusual for you. I'm interviewing one of my own students - not a language tutor, a study guru or a 16 language outlier, but instead a busy and dedicated learner who started at 57 and gets better every month. We also reviewed the new version of Rosetta Stone, and there is A LOT in there for you.

Now on Stitcher

If you're using Stitcher, you can now find the Creative Language Learning Podcast on there too. Help us out by giving it some stars! Here's an easy link to Stitcher's website.


New Podcast! André Klein On Storytelling and Being Creative as a Learner

The new Fluent Language Podcast is out now, and I'll be sharing an inspiring interview with author André Klein. We discussed so much - freedom, creativity and other big ideas. Find out how to make things real for you.

Now on Stitcher

If you're using Stitcher, you can now find the Creative Language Learning Podcast on there too. Make it a star by giving it some stars! Here's an easy link to Stitcher's website.

Rise of the Female Language Blogger

So This Is The World We Live In

The other day I was reading the back of my packet of breakfast cereal (a habit I've had since I could read) and noticed that the back of it is addressed to kids. A game, some fun suggestions, some ideas for a family day. One thing was striking: There were about 3 different references to "mum" and not a single one to "dad".

As a woman who grew up in a non-feminist environment (Mama, I hope this is ok to say..) I am more than aware of the world today. Women are still expected to be quiet. We're not as visible on the salary scales, the boards of directors, in most industries and anywhere that people are expected to speak up. Being a woman when I was growing up meant cleaning, cooking and being nurturing. It did NOT mean speaking up, and it certainly didn't mean speaking other languages.

And These Are The Hands We're Given

So looking at the world of language learning, what do we see? The same situation?

Well, yes and no. Here's the accusation:

The internet is full of "polyglots", guys showing their talents and performing for their different audiences. This is great, but can take on quite the characteristics of a (excuse the expression) boys' pissing contest. We all love languages, and we don't all love a show-off. I see very few women in that space - are they welcome?

And here's the defence:

There are many amazing female linguists in the world who should be highlighted and celebrated. As Sheryl Sandberg puts it in her impressive book Lean In: We have to SEE what what want to become in this world. No women of importance means fewer women who will be of importance. Pioneers are all fine, but after the pioneeresses there will be the true followers. So let's go. I'm in great company.

Judith Meyer

“It can be quite surprising actually, thinking back about the past week and realizing how little language study you’ve done, even though you may have the superficial sense of having recently worked on your languages.”
— Judith Meyer, Learnlangs.com

Judith Meyer is well known in the language learning space. She holds her own in the "polyglot" world, and has even created German learning apps. Judith's style is no-nonsense and focused on practical learning tips. She shares what works for her and lives a life dedicated to language learning. [please refer to Judith's most recent works in her comment below - ed.]

Ruth Thao

Ruth Elisabeth Thao writes about learning Vietnamese, but as with all language learning blogs you can actually use many of her insights for learning any language at all. For example, here's good advice on improving spelling.

“Before I launched my blog about Vietnamese, I did some research to see what other single-language blogs were doing. I never thought about gender at the time, but two of the three blogs I used as a model were run by women. It’s only later as I began reading general language learning blogs that I noticed that nearly all of those are run by men.

This doesn’t match up with what I see in the real world - classes I’ve attended have been fairly balanced, most of my language teachers over the years have been female and of course in towns and cities all over the world you meet both men and women who can speak one or more foreign languages.”
— Ruth Thao on being a Female Language Blogger

Jennie Wagner

Our next blogger, Jennie Wagner has been going for a long time. Jennie is an American who moved out to Europe at the start of her adventure. She has actually written about the invisibility of women in the language learning space, too! And as always it's so much more eloquent than I could ever hope to be. These days, Jennie is a bit quieter and I believe she's working on a PhD in Australia. What a world traveller!

Ellen Jovin

Next up - Ellen Jovin, an energetic and dedicated self-identifying linguaphile. Ellen lives in New York, and is working on her 18th language - and here's what I love - because she wants to know her city's languages! So cool, so smart, and a prolific reviewer too. Plus, this is the best-designed language learning website I have ever seen!

Kirsten Winkler

Kirsten Winkler is not a learner of a dozen languages, but she has put her smarts to the task in the area of language blogging. Most learners will know her as the mastermind of Fair Languages and Deutsch Happen, and these days Kirsten's main work is in informing and reporting on EdTech - a true pioneer in the learning industry. I love Kirsten's independent attitude and the way she clearly follows a good story no matter where it's hiding. Find her work at Edukwest.

Jana Fadness

“Adventure is something you take with you. Adventure is an attitude, a spirit, a way of approaching life. You can have great adventures as a world traveller, as a brain surgeon, as a bus driver, or as a housewife.”
— Jana Fadness

Jana Fadness has one of the cutest blogs around. She shares her art and music, her love of travel, her photos and her love of languages, and regularly posts bilingual articles in English and Japanese.

Catherine Wentworth

“I am not a teacher. I am not a fluent Thai speaker. In fact, I’m pretty cacca at languages. Ok, maybe cacca isn’t the word for it: I’m finding learning languages as an insomniac quite challenging. That’s more like it.”
— Catherine Wentworth, womenlearnthai.com/

More Thai! It's such a popular language - man I need to put Thai on my list one day. Catherine Wentworth from Women Learning Thai (and some men too) runs an extremely informative and in-depth website about all things related to learning Thai and other languages too. I love her own description, which once again goes to show that a lot of people out there are keen to express how accessible language learning is.

Conclusion

For me personally, I write in order to represent who I am - a language learner, a language teacher, a person who is interested in the whole way people connect to each other. And yes, I'm also a woman and I will mention that whenever it's relevant! I have other interests too (this blog will reflect them more in the near future), but there's only one Kerstin out there. What I see from ladies around the internet is matter-of-fact advice paired with a lot of enthusiasm. The focus is on these things being practical, and there are many teachers out there who share their work. While women and men are both entrepreneurial in this space (which I love, and I am also participating in very happily through the Fluent Guide books), I have not seen declarations of having found the one answer, and also much fewer promises of how language can be learnt faster, harder, stronger. On the whole, could it be said that the female language bloggers out there prefer a slightly more sober, less achievement-focused style? No matter where you stand, it's obvious that we are not invisible!

Ladies, do you feel like women are represented enough on the internet? Do you think we are different from guys in how we learn languages?

Tell me and tell the world in the comments below, and don't forget that I'm here to help you