Alessia, 17 from Verona asks: How to switch quickly from a language to another? Is it just a question of practice? Click or tap here to read the full show notes in my blog article on www.fluentlanguage.co.uk (http://fluentlanguage.co.uk/blog/switching-between-languages) The short answer is that yes, there’s a huge element of practice involved. Sorry, no one likes to hear that there isn’t a secret shortcut! But that doesn’t mean we can’t look into a few ways to practice that could help you get mo...
Feb 25, 2019•23 min
"I don't know how I knew this word, I just knew it." Have you ever found yourself in a conversation where you speak without thinking? In a moment like that, you trusted your gut. But how the heck does your GUT know another language? In today's episode, Lindsay and I talk about the magic of using your language intuition. The episode is a fun discussion, and a bit of a search for answers. Join us to hear about the powerful ways your brain helps you develop a sense of what's correct what your gut f...
Feb 18, 2019•53 min
In this episode, you'll hear about the results of the Fluent Show survey, followed by your questions on my personal language learning thoughts and story. Top 5 Languages Studied by Fluent Show Listeners Spanish French German Italian Russian But that is far from everything, so here is the complete amazing list of 43 languages you guys are studying: Chinese, English, Japanese, Korean, Swedish, Arabic, Dutch, Greek, Persian, Irish, Norwegian, Hawaiian, Vietnamese, Icelandic, Polish, Sign Languages,...
Feb 11, 2019•31 min
This Podcast Episode Is Bilingual: French and English Khady comes from a bilingual family and grew up speaking Wolof and French. And as such, we will be speaking French during some parts of the episode. And my French is far from perfect, so trust that I'm doing mon mieux. If you are not an experienced French learner, there will be some parts of the podcast that you don’t understand. But like all language learners, you’re not alone in that feeling. I always remember what the lovely Ron Gullekson ...
Feb 04, 2019•56 min
Today’s episode is based on an Instagram question from Iye, who is learning Norwegian. She asks Do you have any tips for how I can go about creating my own language learning materials? Listen in to discover how creating your own materials will help you learn faster and better. And there's more: click or tap here to read the full show notes in my blog article on www.fluentlanguage.co.uk (http://fluentlanguage.co.uk/blog/creative-language-learning). Thank you to Evelina from Alaska for this episod...
Jan 28, 2019•25 min
Linguist hour! Lindsay and I bring you an interview with one of our favourite podcasts, the linguistics show Talk the Talk from Australia. Please take 5 minutes to take our Fluent Show survey! (https://goo.gl/forms/zUObpMQZQbxuzb9n1) We don't often have research scientists on the show, so this was a huge opportunity for the Fluent Show to go into science. We posed your "Ask a Linguist" questions on these topics: Is it a language? Is it a dialect? Talk the Talk had a few insights that I had never...
Jan 21, 2019•1 hr
It's January, time for new year's resolutions and long weeks waiting for pay cheques. Please take 5 minutes to take our Fluent Show survey! (https://goo.gl/forms/zUObpMQZQbxuzb9n1) If you're finding yourself motivated but broke this month, don't worry! I've got your back because this week I'm answering the question: What are ways to immerse in the language without traveling or spending a heap of money for studies? Immersion was one of my KEY words for 2018, and that's not just because of the ama...
Jan 14, 2019•28 min
Happy New Year! 🎇 Please take 5 minutes to take our Fluent Show survey! (https://goo.gl/forms/zUObpMQZQbxuzb9n1) In this episode, I hung out with friend of the podcast Shannon Kennedy to talk about saying goodbye to an old year and welcoming a new one. Shannon is an accomplished language learner who's studied over 10 languages including French, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Italian, and Russian. Her year has always been about languages, and with her recent move to work with language app Drops (htt...
Jan 07, 2019•1 hr 7 min
It's so annoying when you say a word in your target language and you're 100% SURE it's going to mean one thing...and then it turns out to mean something completely different. Ugh, awkward! When those words look the same as your native words, you've hit upon false friends. They're a common frustration in language learning, and in this episode I've got some tips that you need to hear if you want to get better at dealing with them. In today's episode: * the most interesting false friends in other l...
Dec 17, 2018•27 min
This week, my guest on the podcast is Cara Leopold, an English teacher who focuses on helping her students enjoy TV and films in English by improving their listening skills. Some of Cara's top tips: Don’t mess around with TV and films initially. They're more challenging than many of us like to admit, and it can be disheartening even at B levels to miss big chunks of action because we insist on switching off the subtitles. Instead, stick to curated materials for learners Look for natural speech o...
Dec 10, 2018•59 min
What's more frustrating than speaking at intermediate level, where we stutter and stumble over words, and leave....lo o o o o ng...um....gaps in sentences because the words just won't come into our brains. This week on the show, I'm answering a listener question from Elisabeth who is stuck in that dilemma. She says: My tutor says I'm very close to B2. I've been hit with a puzzle though. (..) I have a lot of vocabulary but there seems to be a disconnect between my thoughts and my speech. (..) I s...
Dec 03, 2018•27 min
Self-care, backstop, vegan, glamping, problematic - those are evocative words and they have the power to sum up a whole year. Join us as we delve into a selection of wonderful words of the year from many languages, figure out what “self care” even means, and discuss the ban on plastic straws. Dive into this week's extra long link selection to find out more about the many words of the year we covered from Great Britain, Australia, the USA, Japan (it's a kanji!), France, Portugal, and Germany. (I ...
Nov 26, 2018•1 hr 24 min
Click or tap here to read the full show notes on www.fluentlanguage.co.uk (http://fluentlanguage.co.uk/blog/how-to-get-the-perfect-accent) Learning a language is a long journey, and even after many years of dedication it can still feel like you're far from arriving. One of the milestones we hope to hit along the way is to start creating a 'perfect accent' in another language, so we can fit in well. But how is that done? In today's episode you'll hear a listener question all about accents, and I'...
Nov 19, 2018•35 min
Can you imagine how fun it would be to speak to a fellow language lover who's encouraging you to share ALL your language questions, from comma conundrums to relative clause regrets? And how great would it be to have all this language joy just outside your front door? With excitement about any language? Let me tell you, this utopia exists in New York City. In today's episode, I brought back Ellen Jovin, one of the most inspiring language lovers I know. And Ellen has a brand new project to share -...
Nov 12, 2018•1 hr 10 min
Every other week on the Fluent Show, I answer your listener questions. Today a question from Sheela: How to Simplify Your List of Languages To Learn Here are a few options for getting more clarity in your ‘to learn’ list: Do allow yourself a dabble in some languages and choose only one or two big focus languages every year, or even for several years. Your reasons and useful/practical considerations can always vary so of course it’s ok to focus on the languages that are most relevant to your life...
Nov 05, 2018•27 min
Our theme for today’s show is language learning friendship and having buddies who truly love language learning. We are recording this week in Ljubljana from the Polyglot Conference, so in the show you'll also hear from a few of the many language loving people visiting the city this weekend. The polyglots you heard in interviews from the Polyglot Conference were Katie Harris, Ruslan Kokorin, Irena Dahl, and Gabriel Gelman. Congratulations to Alex Rawlings and Richard Simcott for a great event. On...
Oct 29, 2018•1 hr
Click or tap here to read the full show notes in my blog article on www.fluentlanguage.co.uk (http://fluentlanguage.co.uk/blog/) Every month, a staggering amount of new ideas, apps and websites burst onto the scene of language learning. It can be hard to keep up, but here at the Fluent Show we've got your back. We regularly choose our list of top tools in language learning and present them to you in a special episode of the show. Listen to this to find out what apps and tools you have GOT to che...
Oct 22, 2018•1 hr 1 min
In today's episode I discuss the question of how to have the best memory possible for learning a langauge. There are a bunch of rules of thumb to help you work out if memorizing can help you progress from where you are right now. Speaking requires quick recall, agile thinking. Writing requires attention to detail. Rule of Thumb: Understand the concept, learn details on a need-to-know basis. Rule of Memorizing: Know the difference between cramming and acquiring. Rule of Thumb for Learning a Langu...
Oct 15, 2018•25 min
Click or tap here to get inspired with a gallery of inspiring pages from the best instagram journalers (http://fluentlanguage.co.uk/blog/language-notebooks) What if you had a language learning tool that costs you hardly anything, adapts to your own preferences, boosts your memory and helps concentration? Turns out you do, and it's probably in your bag right now: Your notebook! In this episode of the podcast, I'm joined by language lovers Kathryn and Sam who are passionate about taking creative l...
Oct 08, 2018•1 hr 8 min
Every other week on the Fluent Show, I put aside a little time to answer your listener questions. Email your question to me at [email protected] or tweet it to @thefluentshow (http://www.twitter.com/fluentlanguage) Click or tap here to read the full show notes in my blog article on www.fluentlanguage.co.uk (http://fluentlanguage.co.uk/blog/bored-by-duolingo) Luka asks: I have been learning Spanish for 3 months. I started learning with Duolingo and was really into it, and recently I ha...
Oct 01, 2018•29 min
It's the European Day of Languages! Yay! Here on the show, we love to celebrate this day. 3 years ago, Lindsay and I got together to bring you a HUGE quiz (https://www.fluentlanguage.co.uk/blog/european-day-languages-quiz), we’ve made videos, we’ve spoken lots of European languages. We even have a European Day of Languages playlist on Spotify! And today, this special episode will bring you a quiz with a twist and you can play along. How To Play Before recording this show, Lindsay and I enrolled ...
Sep 24, 2018•1 hr 24 min
In today's episode, I had planned a Q&A but what you'll hear is more of a Q&D: a question and discussion session with special guest Olly Richards from I Will Teach You A Language. You already know Olly from our recent episode documenting how we made a German course together (http://www.fluent.show/83), but in fact he's also a language learner just like me. Click or tap here to read the full show notes in my blog article on www.fluentlanguage.co.uk (http://fluentlanguage.co.uk/blog/fun-language-l...
Sep 17, 2018•57 min
After our live episode for number 100, we're rolling 'back to school' and reviewing summer motivation and new routines before cracking on with our topics this month. In The News We discussed this BBC news article (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-45414751) about a pedantic (?) rule in French grammar...and who's trying to get rid of it. The language, ever changing, but who thought THIS untouchable rule would be questioned? How To Refresh Your Language Learning Goals In this episode we focu...
Sep 10, 2018•1 hr 2 min
Listeners, this is a big question and let me tell you I wrote several pages of notes to answer it. Listener Simon from Dublin was feeling a MAJOR case of frustration and wrote in to the show. Here's some of what he said: Sometimes I just cannot seem to lock down a concept in the language I'm learning, no matter how much I try. These mental blocks can be demotivating. They force me to use simpler sentences than I know I can produce. They make me feel uncertain when trying to express certain conce...
Sep 03, 2018•36 min
Lindie Botes is a designer, polyglot, and popular YouTuber sharing videos with her audience of over 55,000 viewers. She loves to study languages from all over the world, including Korean, Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, and Hungarian. In this interview, you'll get to know Lindie and her unique language learning story, including: Growing up as a third culture kid and what that means What language learning is like in Lindie's current home country of South Africa "I don't think there's a single scho...
Aug 27, 2018•48 min
Wow wow wow wow, our episode 100 live show was a blast, with busy chatroom and over 80 listeners tuning in live from all around the world. Today's podcast episode is a replay of that live broadcast, featuring five amazing guests. Long one, but worth it! SHANNON KENNEDY, the musical and multilingual bookworm from California. Shannon is an old friend of the show and never fails to impress with her incredible productivity. Shannon joined us to share her own good, bad and struggling stories. RICHARD...
Aug 20, 2018•1 hr 57 min
5 Lessons From Travelling The World Read Lindsay's 5 lessons from travelling the world and her list of travel phrases for connecting with anyone, anywhere, over on the blog. (http://www.fluentlanguage.co.uk/blog/podcast-episode-worldtravel). For a taster of the world trip, check out this video:
Aug 06, 2018•1 hr 5 min
This week’s question comes from Instagram: I speak French, Arabic, English.. I’d like to start learning German but I really have no idea how to begin because I’ve already started but ended up by giving it up, I’ve found it a little bit tricky and I couldn’t devote a lot of time for it because I’m still working on my English, I’m confused now. We've all probably got that one language we studied in the past...but somehow things didn't really go anywhere. So how can you get back with that language?...
Jul 30, 2018•22 min
Is it possible to start learning a language from scratch when you're in your 30s? With a baby and a dog (and a husband) to look after? Of course it is! In this podcast episode, I am speaking to my friend Daniela. She's a writer and teacher, and about to spend a month in Germany. Daniela wants to learn German, so she got in touch to ask me: How to find resources that will be right for her? If she can really make time for learning a language, even though she's got a busy life and no classes to att...
Jul 16, 2018•1 hr 24 min
This week on the show, I answered a question from Twitter user @akalious: I’m so curious how you learned English to IELTS 9* even before you went to UK... Could you talk abt that a little bit in future episodes? In this episode you'll learn: How Many Formal Study Hours Of English I Took in the first 8 years of studying English...and why that only half matters What I Did Differently To Give Me Native-Like Fluency in English How having No Native Speaker Contact actually helped me grow in English T...
Jul 09, 2018•30 min
