Intro
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| Peter: Listeners, what’s the best language learning advice you've ever gotten? |
| Chigusa: Do you remember? |
| Peter: In today’s Sunday News, we’re going to reveal 8 pieces of advice that will help you... |
| Chigusa: ...stay motivated with learning languages... |
| Peter: ...speak the language and improve faster... |
| Chigusa: ...improve your memory and retention |
| Peter: .....and we’re giving away a free PDF cheat sheet with bonus learning tactics at the end. |
| Chigusa: Welcome to this episode of Innovative Language Learning Sunday News! I'm Chigusa and I'll be your host. My co-host today is the founder of InnovativeLanguage.com, Peter Galante! |
| Peter: Hi everyone! Peter here. |
| Body |
| Chigusa: Okay, Peter? You’ve been learning languages for... how many years? |
| Peter: Let’s see. Going back to middle school? 1980s…. Over 30 years? |
| Chigusa: That’s a long time! So, based on your years of experience, Peter... What's your best language learning advice? |
| Peter: You really accentuated that long, Chigusa. Are you sure you want to hear it? Because some people like listening to advice but you know, it’s always hard to implement or take that advice. |
| Chigusa: I am sure. I’m listening and I am ready to take action. |
| Peter: Alright Chigusa, well, since you asked. Best advice... number one has to be: Always remember that language learning is a marathon, not a sprint. |
| Chigusa: So, what does that mean? How would you tell the listeners to apply this? |
| Peter: You want to know a secret, Chigusa? |
| Chigusa: Yes! |
| Peter: Learning a language is not that easy. We say it. I think lots of people say it. But it’s actually quite a project. So, instead of going at full speed, studying for 2 hours on your first day… Instead, you have to accept that One: it’s a long-term project. You can’t get it all done in one or two days. Some people can but… I think it’s pretty tough. Two: it’s okay to go slow at your pace. It’s okay to not understand something right now. You’ll eventually get used to it. And three: you must keep at it daily. Or at least, weekly. Consistency is the key. Eventually, grammar rules you don’t understand will start making sense. You’ll start understanding the language and speaking better. But that comes with time. Learning a language is a function of time. You have to put in the time. |
| Chigusa: So, do it every day. Even if it’s just 5 or 10 minutes? |
| Peter: And if you miss a day, don’t beat yourself up. Start again. Just have to be consistent. Because imagine if you try to go for 1 or 2 hours....? |
| Chigusa: ...Yeah, you’ll only tire yourself out and quit. |
| Peter: But by doing it for 5 or 10 minutes consistently, you get used to it... |
| Chigusa: You’ll be able to stick with it and stay motivated. |
| Peter: Exactly. With marathons, it’s not about finishing first...for most people...but going at your pace, sticking with it, and finishing it. |
| Chigusa: Yeah, running at full speed is the fastest way to fail. You have to pace yourself. And the same goes for language. |
| Peter: Well said. Number two: Make use of your spare time. |
| Chigusa: So, if you’re at home and have 5 or 10 minutes to spare... |
| Peter: You can put that time to productive use and learn a new conversation. |
| Chigusa: And our lessons are around 3-15 minutes long so you can easily finish a lesson. |
| Peter: Listeners, here’s a tip. Open up the clock app on your phone, set a timer to 5 or 10 minutes, and start learning. Once the time is up, walk away. You’re going to be shocked at how fast that 5 or 10 minutes goes when you’re actually doing it. |
| Chigusa: Peter, one thing that helps me is, I like to ask, “How much language can I learn in the next 10 minutes.” And then I try really hard to make that time as productive as possible. I don’t focus on anything else. |
| Peter: That’s a great tip Chigusa. You’d be surprised at what you can accomplish if you give yourself a short time frame. |
| Chigusa: So, what’s number three? |
| Peter: Number three is a simple one, but it’s super powerful: You have to commit it. |
| Chigusa: What do you mean by that? |
| Peter: Well, a lot of us, myself included, when we first start learning a language... we just thought it’d be interesting to try out. Just for fun. |
| Chigusa: That’s true. |
| Peter: There’s nothing wrong with that. But at some point, you have to make a decision: on a scale of 0 to 100, how much do you want this goal? Or, are you going to just play around with it or are you really going to try and make progress. |
| Chigusa: How did you commit? |
| Peter: Many learners make the commitment by investing in a textbook, a program, or enrolling in a class. I think that is a very powerful way - that’s one of the ways - when you make a financial commitment to something. That’s a powerful way. Let’s try to break it into a few categories. I call it the physical touch commitment. When you have a textbook or you actually buy something from the store, that’s powerful because it’s constantly around you. You bring it back to your house, you put it down. You can commit to a course online - that’s another powerful way. You can make an appointment with a teacher, a tutor, to have a meeting, you can enroll in a school. These are all steps to making a commitment. And again, it’s the first step, it’s not one step you cross over and you’re there. It’s the first step in a journey. |
| Chigusa: Ok, what’s number four? |
| Peter: Number four is: Start speaking from day 1 by Shadowing. |
| Chigusa: I think when most people start learning, they start reading first. Why do you say speaking? |
| Peter: Well, the fact is... ALL learners, myself included, want to speak at a high level, right? |
| Chigusa: Yes. |
| Peter: So, why delay that? The sooner you start practicing, the better you get it. |
| Chigusa: That makes sense. And by shadowing, you mean: repeat what you hear? |
| Peter: Exactly. And we talk about this tactic often in our Sunday News and Inner Circle lessons. Simply because it works. So, if you’re listening to our audio lessons: in the first minute, you hear a basic conversation. Then, our teacher slows the conversation down and translates every word. Once you’ve gotten familiar with the dialogue, you’ll hear it again. So, repeat what you hear. |
| Chigusa: Or use the dialogue section on the lesson to practice each line one at a time. |
| Peter: Number five: Do 50% input and 50% output. |
| Chigusa: And, input is where you take the language in: by listening or reading. |
| Peter: And output the productive side of the language: |
| Chigusa: Speaking or writing. |
| Peter: Exactly. So, for every minute you spend listening or reading, you’ll want to spend an equal amount of time practicing the language. |
| Chigusa: So, this is so you get to practice. |
| Peter: You need to practice. Taking the language in is not enough. You want to speak the language, right? |
| Chigusa: Right. |
| Peter: ...for that you need to practice speaking. So, shadow the conversation, as we talked about. Okay, Number six. Read along as you take our audio and video lessons. |
| Chigusa: Listeners, this helps you understand the language... |
| Peter: ...because you have something visual to follow along with. You have the transcript, the translations, and the romanization. |
| Chigusa: Right, sometimes it’s hard to understand what you hear in another language... especially in real-life situations. |
| Peter: ...but if you have a transcript of what’s being said, it makes life easier. |
| Chigusa: Listeners, you can do this with every one of our lessons. |
| Peter: Listen to an audio lesson or watch a video lesson... |
| Chigusa: And at the same time, read along with the lesson notes and transcript. |
| Peter: Plus, reading along also makes it easy to shadow the conversation or practice speaking. |
| Chigusa: Yes, you can read out loud... Which helps with speaking. |
| Peter: Number seven: If you’ve been with us for a while, then you’ll recognize this piece of advice. Chigusa, can you guess what it is? It’s about goals. |
| Chigusa: Is it... Set small, measurable goals? |
| Peter: Exactly. For example: Speak 1 minute of conversation by the end of this month. |
| Chigusa: Or, learn 100 words by the end of this month |
| Peter: Or learn the alphabet by the end of this week. The point here is, instead of overwhelming yourself with a huge goal like “I want to be fluent some day” |
| Chigusa: ...you give yourself small, achievable steps. It's a lot easier to learn 100 words in one month... |
| Peter: ...than become fluent in one day. Okay, Advice number eight: Trust the process. |
| Chigusa: Can you explain that? |
| Peter: So, it’s one of the secrets to staying consistent... is you have to trust in what you’re doing. Most beginners try learning for a little bit. Then they start wondering if they’ll ever reach their goal... and they quit. But, if you just trust the process - that what you’re doing will help you... |
| Chigusa: ...you will keep at it, instead of worrying about results or this will work.... |
| Peter: I think what we want to say is, stick with it. It’s not a breakthrough everyday, very similar to any goal in life, you have to save that dollar every dollar, and after a year you have 365, and after 3 years, you have a thousand. You have to stick with it and you will see the results and as you’re saving a dollar a day for the first year, maybe there are a few days in there where that goal shifts to 500 dollars instead of you wanting to save 365 in a year, maybe it changes to 500. All of a sudden, you’re at 500, almost double what you really started with. And sometimes, as you regress, there’s certain measures and goals you’ll push extra hard towards. Same thing with learning a language, sometimes it’s not easy to put in that time but other times, as you get that moment, it’s easier to put in the itime. So, stick with it, is what we want to say. |
| Chigusa: that's very true. By the way, Listeners, we’re giving away a PDF cheat sheet called... |
| Peter: ...“The Mindstate of a Successful Language Learner”... |
| Chigusa: Where you get even more tips on how to approach language learning. |
| Peter: So, if you want it, take action. Leave us a comment and we’ll reply with the link. |
| Chigusa: Exactly. If you want something, go after it. So, leave a comment. |
| Peter: And remember... |
| Chigusa: If you want to start speaking the language with our complete learning program... |
| Peter: Our “Pretty Big Deal” Sale starts now. |
| Chigusa: Get 31% OFF Premium or Premium PLUS |
| Peter: ....and start speaking from your very first lesson.. |
| Chigusa: You learn conversations with our bite-sized audio/video lessons |
| Peter: Our teachers explain every word and grammar rule and get you speaking. |
| Chigusa: We guide you from lesson 1, 2, to 3... until you reach your goals |
| Peter: ...whether you're learning for fun, or if you’re aiming for fluency. |
| Chigusa: You can learn anywhere - even at home - and on any device - on your smartphone or computer. |
| Peter: You get powerful Study Tools to master words, grammar, and conversations fast... |
| Chigusa: And with Premium PLUS, you can even get your own personal teacher. |
| Peter: So, get 31% OFF Premium and Premium PLUS. |
| Chigusa: That’s as low as $6.90/month or $0.23 a day. |
| Peter: But hurry because this sale ends soon. |
| Chigusa: Just click the link in the comments section to get 31% OFF right now. |
Outro
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| Chigusa: Okay, well that’s going to do it for this edition of Innovative Language Learning Sunday news!* |
| Peter: Bye everyone!* |
| Chigusa: Thanks for listening, and we’ll see you all next time. |
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