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Benvenuti, Bienvenue, Croeso and Welcome
Hi, I’m Juliet. Join me on my language learning journey and discover my thoughts on different aspects of language learning with the A Language Learning Tale Podcast. Today I’m talking about…
Can I Just Hide in My Cave, Please?
Or
Learning a Language as an Introvert
You may not have guessed this, if you’ve never interacted with any of my content before, or even if you have, but I’m an introvert. I am not the type of person who will walk into a crowd and introduce myself to all and sundry. I probably won’t talk at all. I dislike having to make phone calls. Any kind of interaction drains me, which is why I stopped using social media, because replying to people became just as bad as speaking to someone face-to-face. The only exception to this is if I know someone very well, or if I’m in a comfortable one-to-one situation, or maximum one to … about three situation. And yet, I make content for others to watch and listen to. How does that work? Well, it’s not the same. I don’t have to think on the fly - I plan everything out. I don’t engage in the comment side. And I enjoy the teaching aspect of creating content. When I worked in an office, I was basically pretending not to be an introvert the whole time, so that I could function. I am an introvert. I have plenty of experience in this subject.
Learning languages as a child was definitely not an introvert-friendly situation, because it was in a class. Even though, by the end of four or five years, I knew a lot of my classmates fairly well, I still wasn’t comfortable being picked on to give an answer out loud, or having a very stilted conversation with a language teacher in the language. That kind of language learning didn’t work for me.
These days, of course, there are many resources out there that mean you don’t have to learn in a class. So, how do you learn a language as an introvert?
Well, the first and most obvious thing is to find an app that works for you. You need something to prompt you to do your language learning and to help to correct what you’re doing. That doesn’t mean you can’t learn using a book. You could do the two at the same time. But how are you going to find out if what you’re doing is right, or wrong, if you only use a book? So, yes, I think using an app for language learning, whatever that is, is essential for an introvert. If you have to say something out loud, no one else will hear you. If you make an error, you won’t have a teacher raising an eyebrow. If you just don’t feel like learning that day, you won’t feel obliged to go to a class.
What you can combine this with is language-learning videos on YouTube. There are so many native speakers out there creating content in the language you want to learn, for free, that you are bound to find someone whose approach you like. And it’s important to like whoever you’re watching, because they will be like your class teacher, and they will be interacting with you, you just don’t have to interact back. A good indication of how good their content is, is the comments they get beneath their videos. But, honestly, it’s mostly down to a personality that gels with you. And, obviously, you don’t have to stick to one. You can have multiple teachers. Half a dozen, even. But I probably wouldn’t go higher than that, because there are other things you need to do.
So, that’s the grammar sorted, but what about the language itself? As an introvert, you’re unlikely to go out into the big wide world looking for native speakers in your home town to listen to, or to speak to. What’s the alternative? Well, there are not only language-learning videos on YouTube, but there are native creators providing all sorts of content that you can listen to and absorb the language. There are also lots of podcasts on the various plaftorms. If you’re watching a video, many of these will have, at the very least, auto-generated captions, to help with comprehension.
You can read books, or articles. If you choose eBooks, you’ll likely have access to an electronic dictionary, for those difficult to understand words. Reading will vastly increase your vocabulary and is enjoyable, too. And there’s no interaction with others required, at all.
You can also listen to the local radio - there are a tonne of apps you can search for in the app stores that collect together radio stations from various countries. Some streaming services will also provide foreign language films and TV shows. All of these will get you used to hearing the language in context from native speakers to varying levels of difficulty.
And when it comes to speaking, well, there’s reading out loud, from a book, for example, or simply talking to yourself as you go around the house. And, if you’re feeling confident enough to tackle it, there are also apps where you can practice talking to native speakers, either just conversations, or in a more tutor-student situation.
Learning a language, no matter your personality, is easy these days. You just have to take the time to search out the resources that are good for you.
That’s all for today’s episode. Don’t forget to join me again next time, for more language learning tips, tricks and tales and in the meantime, check out the A Language Learning Tale YouTube channel for additional, non-podcast content.
Ciao, salut, hwyl and bye for now.