7 Bullet Points About Languages - Week 16
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 write in a foreign language as a beginner — By Lindie Botes
I'm never disappointed by Lindie's videos. In this very short one, she explained her method to start writing in a new language and improving quickly that way. I found it very complete and interesting so that'll be the challenge for this week! (see the last point)
One article I read: Why Self-Improvement Cannot Be Removed from Language Learning — By Gladly Global
I loved this article because it expressed something I deeply agree with. Whether you're interested in self-improvement or not, it's impossible not to improve yourself as you learn a foreign language. This piece did a great job proving it in a few words.
One article I wrote: Why Patience Matters More Than Anything Else in Language-Learning
In this piece, I dove back into my journey of learning Japanese and how it took me over 10 years to become really comfortable saying I speak the language. The main lesson is that we need to accept learning a language takes time but there are others I hope you'll like!
One podcast episode: Episode 8 - Interleaving — By The Learning Scientists Podcast
I recently found out The Learning Scientists had amazing old podcast episodes. This one is my favorite by far because it tackled a topic too often overlooked: The interleaving method. While it is difficult to put in use, this method could help you learn and distinguish better between grammar patterns or improve your conjugation.
One tool to try: HiNative (website and app)
I love HiNative so I've already mentioned it many times before but it deserves me insisting on it. The concept of the app is simple. Ask a question and get answers from native speakers. This ranges from asking the meaning of a word/sentence to verifying your own pronunciation or getting example sentences with a word or expression. If you've never used, it, I highly recommend it!
One quote to ponder: "The capacity to learn is a gift; the ability to learn is a skill; the willingness to learn is a choice." — Brian Herbert
One challenge for the week ahead: Write a short text following Lindie's Method
As mentioned in the first point of this newsletter, let's follow Lindie's method this week for a tryout. I'll try to write a short text in German or Burmese so I expect my first draft to be filled with English words but it'll be a good way to push my writing skills and expand my vocabulary. Pick any topic that you could talk about normally and get started as soon as possible!
Last week's challenge was to translate a sentence in 3 different ways to improve our flexibility with the language. I did it for Japanese and Korean and you can find the results here. I've also since then asked for corrections but haven't received them yet. Trying to express in a different way words I knew was an interesting challenge that made me play around with grammar.
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.