The Fluent Show

This episode effortlessly covers the full language world, from Sean Paul to the UN Declaration of Human Rights. via GIPHY It's the United Nations Year of Indigenous Languages Up to 95% of the world’s languages might be extinct or endangered by the end of the century. And most of them are indigenous, meaning that they spoken by the indigenous people of a region. In this show, you'll discover What’s...

How can you keep an older language fresh while starting on a new one? Do you have to worry about forgetting everything you've learnt within weeks? This week, head over to the blog for detailed notes and an article on this topic: Click or tap here to read the blog article on www.fluentlanguage.co.uk Conclusions: You can’t just forget a language, but in order to keep it fresh you need to engage in m...

This week, I'm answering a listener question with help from a special guest. Gareth Popkins is a serial language learner with decades of experience. He's a native English speaker but fluent in Welsh, Russian, German, and currently learning Japanese and Basque. He regularly builds preparation for language exams into his study routines, so today I asked Gareth to come on the show and share his views...

How do you feel about your memories of learning languages at school? Did you leave feeling like you were just not a language person? Got tales of cheating on every exam? Perhaps your teacher even threw things? Oof! Language lessons can leave scars, and now that you're an independent learner it's time to break free and purge those bad memories. This week, I'm bringing you real life stories from Can...

“If we can produce proficient, correct language, it seems all is great no matter how we feel about it.” My guest for this week’s podcast is María Ortega Garcia, who you will get to know well during the course of our interview. María is a rebel. She encourages you not to break the rules, but to look beyond the rules. Here are some questions we discussed: How could you play with a language you love?...

I'm continuing the Fluent Show's little business series with a solo episode about online language teaching. Last week you already heard a little bit about how Lindsay and I got started, what we value in our businesses and our brutally honest views about both the sacrifices and the rewards of doing this work. So in today's episode: Effective Teaching! I've got three fundamentals that I believe made...

This week…something completely different. If you ever wondered what it’s like to run an online business in languages, this episode is for you. Lindsay and I offer you one of the most in-depth looks we have ever offered into our businesses, mindsets, and how we work. Did you enjoy this chat? Then there is MORE! We have recorded more episodes in this business series, and they can all be yours. Get o...

This week I'm answering a listener question from Erin who was curious about applying her skills when she cannot attend a language retreat! The key with a retreat is to step out of learner mode and step into speaker mode, so that you apply what you are learning. But do you have to get away for that? This question is HUGE - it could really crack how you approach language learning and make a differen...

It's Top Tools time! In this regular feature, Lindsay and I dedicate the full episode to bringing you our tips for the most exciting language learning tools of the season. In this episode, get to know Music Planet Roadtrip Insight Timer Evertype Teach Yourself Library Genius Pleco Click or tap here to read full show notes and get all links on www.fluentlanguage.co.uk Teach & Thrive Sign up her...

In this episode, I am answering a listener question from Leandro. I'm going through a really hard time on learning languages. I'm a Portuguese native speaker and I'm learning English and French. Most of time I'm really motivated learning English, because I love British 19th century literature and I fancy reading all the books in English. My level is not that bad, I guess. But, most of time I'm so...

Learning a language gives you a huge career advantage over others who don't have a language. One example is working for the EU, one of the world's largest international organisations. But could the EU be for you? My guest for today’s episode is Paul Kaye, language officer of the European Commission's representation in London. Get Paid For Your Languages Paul is the European Commission's language o...

In this episode, I answer a listener question with the listener on the line! My friend Nicky Roberts (near-miss Welsh learner of the year 2018) meet up with me at last year's Welsh national festival and during our long chat he asked this question: When do you stop being a learner and consider yourself a speaker? Is it a problem to hold on to your identity as a "learner" and hide from speaking your...

“The merit of all things lies in their difficulty.” Alexandre Dumas In this podcast, Lindsay and I discuss what makes a language easy or hard to learn, and share our own Top 5 easiest languages. Listen to find out more. Want to Join The Discussion? We have a full blog article to go with this episode, where you can leave a comment to tell us your own thoughts: Click or tap here to read the full blo...

In today's episode, my retreat group from the summer retreat in Munich What happens when you only speak your target language for a week? How do you prepare for a language retreat? What is the most important mindset you can have while doing language immersion? What happens after the retreat? Are you eager to experience a language retreat for yourself? Head to www.fluentlanguage.co.uk/retreats to di...

This episode, I'm bringing you an interview with experimental psychologist and author Dr Roger Kreuz. Along with Richard Roberts, Roger is the co-author of my favourite language learning book ever, Becoming Fluent . “People think about fluency as perfection as opposed to something that’s achievable by almost anybody with some effort. There really is a different way of thinking about it that makes...

Click or tap here to get the free guide to building your language learning habit Thank you to Bonnie Z for this episode introduction. Today’s question comes from Elizabeth - here's a summary of what she's asking: I am attempting to learn Japanese. I’m trying out different methods in order to establish a routine that works best for me. This is starting to frustrate me because I feel like I am going...

Inspired by one of the discussion panels at Women in Language, Lindsay and I dedicated this episode to creativity in language learning. We shared 9 cool ideas that you can use for your own language learning routine, and then got to the deeper question: Why do you feel like creative language learning activities aren't "real learning?" Make sure you read the in-depth blog article on fluentlanguage.c...

¡Hola Radioyentes! This week I'm answering a listener question (asked in Spanish AND English!):  When is it the right time to start learning another language? The question came from Tomás, 45 years old and a native speaker of Spanish. Tomás has good English and regular exposure through books and TV, but he feels unsure about whether he's ready to add a new language like German or English. Thi...

What's it like to realise you're getting good at the language you're learning? Where do you go when you don't need handholding anymore? In today's episode, I'm talking to Nicole Miles, an advanced level French learner preparing for her C1 exam this year. Her language learning story is all about how she made it work as an adult learner with a positive attitude. If you wonder about advanced level st...

Do you love languages, and want to live and learn, create a successful career or travel the world as a multilingual person? This year, let the Women in Language conference show you how! This is one of my FAVOURITE language projects and you'll have SO MUCH FUN with us. Women in Language is a 4-day online event filled with talks presentations from 30+ female language experts who have done amazing th...

Alessia, 17 from Verona asks: How to switch quickly from a language to another? Is it just a question of practice? Click or tap here to read the full show notes in my blog article on www.fluentlanguage.co.uk The short answer is that yes, there’s a huge element of practice involved. Sorry, no one likes to hear that there isn’t a secret shortcut! But that doesn’t mean we can’t look into a few ways t...

"I don't know how I knew this word, I just knew it." Have you ever found yourself in a conversation where you speak without thinking ? In a moment like that, you trusted your gut. But how the heck does your GUT know another language? In today's episode, Lindsay and I talk about the magic of using your language intuition . The episode is a fun discussion, and a bit of a search for answers. Join us...

In this episode, you'll hear about the results of the Fluent Show survey, followed by your questions on my personal language learning thoughts and story. Top 5 Languages Studied by Fluent Show Listeners Spanish French German Italian Russian But that is far from everything, so here is the complete amazing list of 43 languages you guys are studying: Chinese, English, Japanese, Korean, Swedish, Arabi...

This Podcast Episode Is Bilingual: French and English Khady comes from a bilingual family and grew up speaking Wolof and French. And as such, we will be speaking French during some parts of the episode. And my French is far from perfect, so trust that I'm doing mon mieux . If you are not an experienced French learner, there will be some parts of the podcast that you don’t understand. But like all...

Today’s episode is based on an Instagram question from Iye, who is learning Norwegian. She asks Do you have any tips for how I can go about creating my own language learning materials? Listen in to discover how creating your own materials will help you learn faster and better. And there's more: click or tap here to read the full show notes in my blog article on www.fluentlanguage.co.uk . Thank you...