7 Bullet Points About Languages - Week 15
Hi everybody,
I hope your study of your language(s?) is still going strong!
Each week, I share 7 things that could be useful to your learning odyssey. I hope they can help you improve your journey, tickle your curiosity, and inspire you to keep exploring.
Let's dive right in!
One video: How to Take Language Notes (4 Tips) — By Gadly Global
This video was both instructional and funny. I love these. And, as the cherry on the cake, it's a topic too often overlooked in all the How-Tos we see. Before I spoil it all for you, go have a look and enjoy her excitement and amazing tips!
One article I read: 7 Painless Ways to Learn a Language in Your Already-Super-Busy-Life — By Boz Del Mundo
I loved this article full of actionable tips to add to a language-learning journey. I've been doing most of them already but I might add some foreign language yoga now! Also, I found his insistence on the importance of repeating on point. The only part I don't fully agree with is his advice on using Pimsleur. To complete more structured learning, that's a good tool, but beware of using it as your main resource!
One article I wrote: 12 Ways to Maintain a Language When Learning It Isn’t Your Priority
As a polyglot, I have to choose which language to focus on at any given time. I can't be learning every language every single day. There are times when I need to replace "learning" with "maintaining". In this article, I detailed 12 different methods I've used throughout the years to avoid forgetting completely any of my languages. Hopefully, you can make use of them as well!
One podcast episode: How Long Does It Take To Learn A Language — By Steve Kaufmann
In this short episode, Steve breaks down why it doesn't matter at all how long it takes to learn a foreign language and why we should focus on whether we're enjoying the journey. Understanding the difference between "jouer de" and "jouer à" (in French) matters less than whether the language makes more and more sense to us.
One tool to try: Youglish
This website allows you to search for a word or expression and will find a YouTube video where it appears. That's an awesome tool to hear the word used in context, along with subtitles, and improve both your listening comprehension and pronunciation if you practice repeating as well.
One quote to ponder: "Language is the road map of a culture. It tells you where its people come from and where they are going." ‒ Rita Mae Brown
One challenge for the week ahead: Express the same information in 3 differently-built sentences.
This week, let's practice our capacity to express ourselves. Write a sentence in your native language that would be difficult (for your current self) to say in your target language. Then spend the next few days trying to convey the same meaning in different sentences. You could make the subject the object instead or make the sentence longer to explain a word you don't know in the language. I'll choose a sentence in the next two days and announce it on my Twitter. We'll see what I can come up with!
Let's aim for three versions but bonus points for you if you can find even more!
Last week's challenge was to record yourself speaking the language every day of the week. I spent the week so focused on learning ASL for a (different) challenge that I missed 3 days in a row. I felt bad but got back on track at the end of the week. Listening to the difference between the beginning and the end of the week was quite strange but I feel my accent improved slightly. German didn't sound as robotic this Sunday and that's a start. I'll probably try to record a few sentences on a weekly basis to see how good I can get.
Let me know how it went for you by sending me a mail at barra.mathias(at)gmail.com !
As always, thanks for reading!
Mathias Barra
For more of my articles, you can find them here.