7 Bullet Points About Languages - Week 100
A special episode filled with inspiration and gratitude.
Wow. 100. I have to admit, I didn't think I'd last that long with this format! But here we are and I'm glad I stuck it out.
For this 100th-week edition, I've decided to do something a bit different. Instead of giving you one video, article, podcast episode, etc., I want to share with you my favorite creators and channels. And because it’s the season of giving, you’ll get two for each!
If it's not clear, don't worry, you'll get it soon enough once we dive in.
Before we dive in, here’s a tiny pre-announcement:
You should have just received another newsletter with detailed information about how this series will evolve next year (under a new name!) and also a gift for all of you.
I’m psyched about all this so I hope you are too!
Alrighty then. Let's dive into the people who have inspired me most for this newsletter.
🎥 Two YouTube Channels
99% of the videos I shared these past 2 years were from YouTube. Through actively looking for a tad lesser-known YouTubers, I discovered some incredible channels for language learning. Reducing them all to one single video each week was tough because there's so much good content.
And yet, these two towered above the rest when it comes to language-learning advice and inspiration.
I would hate myself if I didn't mention Robin MacPherson's YouTube channel. I've followed him for close to a decade and, while he's less active online these days (which should change soon according to his Patreon update), all his videos are worth a watch for his on-point advice and contagious positivity and energy.
Here's one video about learning a foreign language without talking to strangers to get you started down the (worthwhile) rabbit hole.
I feel the vast majority of polyglots online either speak European languages or East Asian ones but nothing in-between1. I may just not have found them yet but still, this YouTuber is an incredible one worth discovering.
Zoe’s videos are of a very high quality and her advice applies is always both well-presented and actionable.
Here’s one of my favorite videos of hers, about practicing “shadow boxing” to improve our speaking skills.
🎧 Two Podcasts
Finding incredible podcasts is hard. Throughout these past 2 years, I've had to listen to at least a few dozen hours of bad, boring, and anything in-between content. Luckily, I've also had to listen to hundreds of hours of life-changing content. From these, two really stood out because of how different they are.
I absolutely adore Dr. Andrew Huberman's podcast. It's not language-related, but it's life improvement related and that also includes learning so... Anyway, Dr. Huberman's interviews and one-person episodes were all filled with some interesting research. He always goes into the nitty-gritty while still keeping every episode accessible for us non-researched-educated people2. Each episode is super long and yet I still always end up thinking "already finished?!"
My two favorite episodes were the interview with Dr. Wendy Suzuki I shared last week and this episode about the science of making and breaking habits.
On the other end of the spectrum, we have a rather new podcast that's been out for a bit over 7 months. In her daily (yes, daily!) short episodes, Emily supports language learners by reminding us we're good people and we can do it.
If you've never listened to her episodes, you might think that's not useful but give it a go and you'll see if you're not highly motivated and proud of yourself after.
It's a bit difficult to share favorites because some episodes just hit different depending on your mood on the day but I did really enjoy the one about insecurity not being a beginner issue and the one about seeing progress through the eyes of others.
Honorable mentions: Subtitle, Adventures in Language, LingoCast
📚 Two Blogs (Articles I read)
I've never read as much about language learning as these past two years. And, like for every other section, I had to go through loads of bad articles before finding incredible ones. Most of the articles I shared (especially the first year) were from Medium.com but I recognize not everybody has a Medium account so that's not what I'll share here.
Instead, I want to share with you two websites where you can read about languages and language learning for free.
The first is a rather well-known website. FluentU is a (paid) platform to improve your language through watching videos3 but their blog is where they really shine.
The main FluentU blog has long and detailed articles about overall study methods, like this one about learning through movies, and others filled with information for a specific language, like this one about pronouncing the French ‘r’. Even if you don't decide to give them a regular read, I'd advise going through the already existing list of articles once at least!
The second I'd like to share is one I only discovered a few months back, here on Substack. In her wonderful publication "Everybody Talks," Rebecca talks about, well, everything related to languages and linguistics. She's not focused on the "learning" part but more on the "hey, did you know about X?!"
I'd be lying if I said I wasn't in awe while reading (and watching) her piece about dogs and cats "talking" and that I wasn’t inspired by her piece about the revival of Wampanoag.
Honorable mentions: Learned4, Languaging, The Language Closet
✍🏽 Two Pieces of me
I feel a bit weird keeping this section this week but hey, without it it wouldn’t amount to 7 points so my hands are tied!
Instead of giving you specific articles I wrote, I figured it might be better to point you toward two different "series" I've been writing that could interest you. If you've followed my newsletter for a while, you already know them.
In this monthly series, I dive into a language's (and its country's) history and culture before deconstructing the language's structure. I share the most important basic grammar patterns and give example sentences so you can leave each deep dive with some good knowledge about the language. I spend between 20 to 30 hours on each of them. They really are the pieces I'm most proud of.
If you're curious about what that looks like here’s the Ainu one, already available for free and the rest will be available for free within this week!
Thursday's Thousandth Thought (TTT)
Try saying it out loud and you'll understand why I (almost) regret naming this biweekly series about the reflections I share with paid subscribers like that. In each edition, I share personal facts, updates, and worries. The vast majority is about language learning but I also sometimes mention a few reflections about other aspects of life and writing.
Each piece ends with a few words I learned in my target languages because why the hell not?!
If you're curious, the fifth TTT, available for free for the first time, is right here below and in your inbox!
Honorable Mention: The Language Learning Hub, which is my own publication on Medium, is where all my language-learning-related articles are. If you're a Medium member, you have access to all of them already. (If not, you get 3 articles a month.) If you want to become a Medium member, you can use my referral link to support me! Otherwise, I'll keep sharing one of my Medium articles every week with a “friend” link so anybody can read them!
📜 Two Quote Paradises
This section feels weird because the whole point of the usual "one quote to ponder" is to stay simple and incite reflection with a single sentence. So telling you to go on BrainyQuote.com feels wrong. Also, many of their quotes aren't verified so...
Instead, I want to share with you two books I read that provided me with many quotes and inspired a lot of reflection on my part.
Flow, The Optimal Experience by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi.
This book about the experience of "flow" is really a must-read. The concept of flow is often talked about nowadays but Csikszentmihalyi was the first to write about it in an accessible fashion.
While not directly related to language learning, it's possible to reach a flow experience while learning or practicing a language. Recognizing it then would definitely help in making the best of it!
Here are just two of the many great quotes I took from the book:
Pleasure is an important component of the quality of life, but by itself, it does not bring happiness.
The key element of an optimal experience is that it is an end in itself.
Hyperfocus, by Chris Bailey
This book was among the first self-help books I read. It's also one of my favorites to this day. In this book about, well, focusing, Chris talks about what he calls scatterfocus and hyperfocus, and how to make use of both.
It's straight to the point, practical, and full of quotable bits (many of which I've already mentioned in past editions)! Here are two because I want to keep it short but, really, read it and let me know what you thought!
Boredom is the feeling we experience as we transition into a lower level of stimulation.
The insights we unearth in scatterfocus help us work smarter later.
Side note: Chris Bailey is also the host of a podcast I love (and have mentioned in the past): Time and Attention.
🌎 Two Cultural Heavens
Every week for the past year, I've discussed cultural differences found throughout the world. I used to mention very general topics and countless variations of many countries but I've recently modified this to talking about fewer countries per week and staying on the same topic for a month. This makes it more manageable for me and helps me avoid flying through a point I find interesting.
For this 100th edition, I want to share some of the stops I usually make in my research for cultural differences. Once I choose a topic, I'll often go through many websites but these two are always on my list at one point or another.
If you've ever looked (in English) for information about a country you're about to visit, you've certainly fallen on this website. It's a treasure trove of interesting information about habits found in every country possible, along with images.
It's also the kind of website which makes you fall into a rabbit hole of information. It's never-ending and sometimes even funny. The only downside is that they sometimes generalize too much, something I'm really not a fan of.
I discovered this website for the first time earlier this year and am now shocked I didn't know it before. It pops up in most of my research about countries and cultures. It's always a stop I have to make during my research for the deep-dive LKLs too.
Britannica has long, detailed, pages about every country possible and imaginable. They talk about their history, cultural aspects, political situations, and much more.
🌐 Two Lesser-Known Languages Information Treasure Troves
Adding a Lesser-Known Language section was probably the best decision I ever made for my newsletter. It takes a lot of time to research and write but it's so interesting it doesn't feel effortful. Well, except with languages like Khmu (Week 84) which had close to no resources available!
Each week's LKL section is filled with links to where I got my sources. One source I rarely mention, however, is a website that always pops up in my research.
This website has been around for what feels like forever (1998 to be precise!) Its content is quite straightforward which also makes it easy to navigate. Each language has a page. Each script has a page. Done.
Not all languages on earth are recorded there (yet?) but there sure is a damn lot. Simon Ager really shares very basic information about the languages but I think this is also what makes this website useful. It's a starting point rather than an endpoint.
If you're wondering about the difference with my LKL section, I see it as me going into fewer languages but much deeper into their history and structure. (I also only talk about lesser-known languages while Omniglot also has pages about languages like French or Russian.
This website is a pure treasure trove filled with videos, audio files, and documents recorded in languages that are considered endangered. It’s extremely useful and eye-opening to see these languages actually used.
You need to create an account but that’s free and easy to create so I encourage you to do it too and discover some of the hundreds of languages recorded.
Honorable mention: The Atlas of Pidgin and Creole Language Structures (APiCS), an incredible resource to understand Creole languages’ structure and their relations.
Closing words
Well, here we are. The end of the 7BPN has come, only for it to be reborn next week with the first edition of Season 1 of Talk. Learn. Discover. Repeat. (TL;DR).
Again, more on this here!
For the last time this year, thank you SO much for your interest and support. It means the world to me. I look forward to helping you keep learning languages and satisfy your curiosity urges in 2023.
Until then, I wish you happy holidays once again and a Happy New Year in advance!
Can’t judge, I’m one of those!
Read “muggle”
I love it but find it too expensive nowadays considering all the available alternatives.
Before I started to read Joel, I learned one or two new English words per year at most. Now I get to discover at least one each week through his entertaining pieces. A blast to read for those curious!
Wow, so many great resources -- I’m excited to go through them! Thank you for sharing these (and thanks for mentioning my newsletter. Greatly appreciated!).