Listen Up! is a podcast designed to help you acquire English through comprehensible listening interactions.  In this episode Andrea talks about her experiences with learning new languages. 

TRANSCRIPT

Hi! Welcome to Listen Up!, a podcast that helps you acquire English through comprehensible listening interactions. As you LISTEN to this podcast, it will help to increase or “UP” your English vocabulary and proficiency level.  My name is Andrea and today we will be talking about my experiences with learning new languages.  English is my first language because I grew up in the United States. I have acquired Spanish over many years. I am also trying to (or, attempting to) acquire Chinese. I grew up in a part of the United States where almost no one that I knew spoke another language other than English. I grew up in a really small town, and I thought that the only person who knew another language was our one high school Spanish teacher.  I started to learn Spanish in high school.  High school in the U.S. begins with 9th grade--when most kids are around 14 years old--and it goes through 12th grade.  Four years total.  In high school I loved my Spanish class and my Spanish teacher.  However, I recall that (or, remember that) my classes had a heavy focus on memorizing long lists of vocabulary, followed by learning and “practicing” grammar rules.  That was common back then (in other words, at that time). I also recall that we spent a lot of time talking about Spanish concepts and culture in English. So, I wasn’t always receiving the comprehensible input that my brain needed to acquire and wire the language into my head.  Back then, I remember that I could read and write in Spanish pretty well, but trying to actually say something spontaneously in Spanish seemed impossible.  I had to stop and think about all of the rules in my head before I could speak.  In college (or, at the university level) I spent a semester abroad in Spain. After six months in Spain, I finally felt like I could somewhat converse with and somewhat comprehend native speakers. When I learned about comprehensible input, I discovered that I could continue to improve (or, raise) my Spanish proficiency level on my own through podcasts, books, YouTube videos and Netflix series.  I don’t have to live in a Spanish-speaking country to improve.  I just need more comprehensible input that is at my level.  More recently I have been trying to learn, or rather, acquire Chinese. I have a great Chinese teacher who focuses primarily on providing us with interesting comprehensible input. We don’t worry too much about grammar at this point, unless it helps us to better understand the meaning of our story or the topic of discussion. We focus primarily on high-frequency words and phrases (in other words, the most commonly used words and phrases). It’s amazing how much easier and how effortless it has been to learn Chinese!!!  What has been your experience with learning new languages? Has it been easy?  Has it been hard?  Have you discovered the comprehensible input in English that helps you?  I hope that this podcast will provide some useful comprehensible input in English that meets your needs. Thanks for “LISTENing UP” with me.  Happy language learning!!

INTERACTIVE TRANSCRIPT w/AUDIO: https://www.textivate.com/menu-nmemn1

ALL TRANSCRIPTS: https://bit.ly/listenUP-transcripts