A Language Learning Tale

Spotify: Click here for Spotify Podcast YouTube: Click here for the YouTube Podcast   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, the subject is … I THOUGHT I KNEW THAT! Or THE U-SHAPED LEARNING THEORY When I was researching something for this podcast, I came across a concept I’d never heard of before, the U-shaped learning theory. This, it seems, can be very easily applied to language learning. So, what is it? Well, the theory says that you will start out at a very high level with your learning, then your level will drop significantly and you’ll start making mistakes with what you thought you knew already, causing a big dip in the graph’s curve, and then you will get better again. So the shape of the learning curve is like a U. There may be multiple dips, creating a wave-like graph. But why is this? Surely what y...

Spotify Link: Click here for Spotify Podcast YouTube Link: Click here for YouTube Podcast   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, the subject is … NOT THE FIRST THING TO DO Or IS IT TIME TO GET COLLOQUIAL? One of the first things some people do when starting to learn a language is to go on a search for colloquialisms, slang and swear words, in the language they’re learning. But is this a good idea? And if not, why not? So, the first thing you’re going to go up and say to a native is something only the locals ever say, or, swear at them? You do realise that if you do that, bad things might happen? The problem with any slang, offensive, or not, is that it’s just too easy for a foreigner, with little knowledge of the language, or even with a significant amount of knowledge, to get the context completely wrong. ...

Spotify Link: Click for Spotify Link YouTube Link: Click here for YouTube Podcast   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, the subject is … BUT THEY SAID TO DO IT THAT WAY Or WHEN IT DOESN’T WORK FOR YOU There are a lot of language learners, or polyglots, if you prefer, giving advice on language learning on the Internet. Ahem. Everyone has their favourite people they follow on a particular platform, often the people with the biggest followings, because they get recommended most often. And many will attempt to learn a language in the way these people say languages should be learnt, to the letter. The problem with this, of course, is that not everything a particular person mentions will work for everyone. Some people, for example, swear by using a spaced repetition app, like ANKI, to learn vocabulary, whereas o...

Spotify Link: Click for Spotify Link YouTube Link: Click here for YouTube Podcast   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, the subject is … WHERE’S THE CALENDAR Or SHOULD I SCHEDULE MY LANGUAGE LEARNING? Do you schedule your language learning? I don’t formally make a schedule, but I do regularly do the same things at roughly the same time of the day. I’m lucky, because I don’t have to go out to work, so I can organise my own days. Many people won’t have that luxury, but might also think that creating an actual schedule is a waste of valuable learning time. Well, before you throw the idea out, here are some known benefits to scheduling learning that might change your mind. Scheduling will allow you to create for yourself a balanced programme of learning. What do I mean by this? Well, if you just randomly grab ...

Spotify Link: Click for Spotify Link YouTube Link: Click for YouTube Podcast 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, the subject is … LEARNING BY DOING Or THINGS I’M LEARNING BY WRITING It’s a few weeks now since I spoke about writing in Italian. Today, I wanted to do an update on what I’m learning by doing this. First up, the subjunctive, or congiuntivo. I remember when I started learning Italian seeing it said, I don’t remember where, but more than once, that many Italians don’t even know when to use the subjunctive and don’t, which kind of rang true with me, because I know many people don’t use the limited subjunctive we have in English. But then, I also saw it said that Italians would be impressed by a foreigner using the subjunctive. Hang on a minute. If many Italians don’t know how to, or don’t use the subju...

Spotify Link: Spotify Link YouTube Link: YouTube Link   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, the subject is: NO SCALES REQUIRED Or HOW DO I GAUGE MY LEVEL? So, I don’t measure my language competence on any of the available scales. Is it because I’m scared I’ll fail, or is it because of something else? Well, my problem with the concept of measuring myself against a scale, truly measuring myself, would be that it would mean taking an actual exam of some sort. That’s the only way you can judge yourself against a scale with other people also learning the same language, because judging yourself against a scale without an exam is fraught with problems, not least the fact that you might inadvertently inflate your abilities. Even if you take sample exams in your bedroom that is not a true test. It’s not an exam sit...

Spotify Link: Spotify Link YouTube Link: YouTube Link   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, the subject is: TWO LANGUAGES AT ONCE? Or IS LEARNING MULTIPLE LANGUAGES AT THE SAME TIME CONFUSING? A good question. Well, it can be, but that depends on a number of factors relating to you and the languages. What you have to remember is that learning languages is always difficult and confusing, no matter whether it’s one, two or three plus languages you’re learning. There will be things you don’t understand, at first, because they don’t fit with how your native language works. There will be sounds that you find difficult to pronounce and combinations of letters that are perplexing to deal with on many levels. There might even be whole concepts that don’t exist in your native language. Let’s break it down, though, ...