7 Bullet Points About Languages - Week 25
Hi everybody,
I hope your week was amazing!
To prepare for a friend's wedding I attended this past weekend, I spent the past week going to bed later so I wouldn't fall asleep before midnight. It worked as I was able to enjoy my friend's celebration until 4 am! From today onwards, it's time to go back to a less strenuous schedule though. going to sleep at 2 am on weekdays is exhausting!
Also, if you still haven't gotten it yet, you can download my new ebook about highly efficient learning methods for free by clicking on this link!
Alright, let's dive right in!
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.
One video: 16 Reasons To Learn A Language Through Story — By Olly Richards
If you've been wondering about learning through stories, this should convince you. In this video, Olly gives all the reasons why we should all learn with stories. Bonus point: he's got a free "toolkit" (that's actually an interesting free short course on Teachable) at the end!
One article I read: A Beginner’s Guide to Learning Languages Effectively — By Toffy Char
In this piece, Toffy goes over the most important factors of a good language-learning journey. She doesn't talk about apps and others tools, but instead about the process of learning a language. In the end, that's what matters most because no matter how amazing a tool can be, if your process is wrong, you won't get anywhere.
One article I wrote: Learning Any Language Can Change Your Life If You Let It
I've been in love with languages for over a decade and I can say without a doubt they've changed my life. It's not just about career opportunities, it's about changing your perspective of yourself and the world. In this piece, I talked about perception and tried to show the readers what a life with languages changes. I hope it worked!
One podcast episode: How to discover your "why" in difficult times ― Simon Sinek
While this isn't about language learning itself, everything said in this interview can help when you struggle with keeping on going with learning your language. I've gone through such difficult times more times than I can count. Most of them, I was able to get out of my rut thanks to friends and/or communities online.
One tool to try: Focusmate (Website)
I haven't tried this one yet but Lindie Botes recently talked about it after using it for a Spanish learning session. The concept is to have an accountability partner doing their own thing during the same period. No talking, just someone working alongside you. You can get 3 free sessions per week and that can be great if you struggle with focusing.
One quote to ponder: “You want the 3 golden rules to learn any language? Use it or lose it. Love it or leave it. Feel it or fail it.”― Safir Kassim Boudjelal
One biweekly challenge for the weeks ahead: Read for 15 minutes each day in your target language
Reading helps a lot (see Olly's video if you still don't believe it) so let's dive into it for the next two weeks. The goal will be to read 10-15 minutes per day at the minimum. You can find short stories in your target language by typing "short stories in [Language]" and adding "free" if only paid options arise.
The last challenge was to tweet in the target language of your choice to get some practice and accept making errors. I wasn't extremely regular but I feel it got easier the second week. I also got into a habit of tweeting right before I close my computer, which will certainly make keeping this habit for a while easier. Writing in Chinese was hard but I loved finding that "divorce" is 離婚 (líhūn) and "wedding" 婚禮 (hūnlǐ). Even though the "li" part is different, it's still the rather close!
Let me know how it went for you by sending me a mail at barra.mathias@gmail.com!
As always, thanks for reading!
Mathias Barra
For more of my articles, you can find them here.