This week on the show, I answered a question from Twitter user @akalious:

I’m so curious how you learned English to IELTS 9* even before you went to UK... Could you talk abt that a little bit in future episodes?

In this episode you'll learn:

If there is an actual secret, it is this: Yes, you can simply decide that you're going to be awesome - you don't have to tell anyone or proclaim your amazingness online or with friends. But you can know it on the inside and carry the confidence into everything you do in language.

Oh, and grammar drills are effective. 😅

Thanks to Ashley Williams (husband of co-host Lindsay for this week's podcast intro.

Sponsored By:

• Clozemaster: Visit our sponsor Clozemaster, the free addictive language app in over 50 languages

Links:

• High Fidelity by Nick Hornby | Goodreads
• IELTS 9-band Scale
• Free Music Archive: JA Milton Perera — I found my calculating music on the free music archive.
• ESA Programmes - ESA — Intensive "business administration" course I took in foreign languages. This course was HUGE in helping me improve my French and English, and teach me conversational Spanish.
• Kerstin | The Fluent Show (@thefluentshow) | Twitter

It's a philosophical one with Lindsay this week!

Quick note on the topic of audio quality: In this week's episode, you'll hear Lindsay coming through at a slightly lower quality than usual. Our apologies! We'll be back to our usual high standards in the next episode.

Here are our two big topics.

If you're au courant with the news these days, you may have noticed that Donald Trump is a prolific user of Twitter. But what do his tweets reveal about him? Language analysis platform Text Inspector has produced a report on the POTUS's twitter archive, and in this episode Lindsay and I examined what it all means.

Plus: What do Donald Trump and Regina George have in common?

Learning German makes you efficient. Spanish is sexy. Arabic speakers talk about terrorism. Russian is a macho language.

Would you say you're influenced by statements like this?

In this episode, we discuss language attitudes and how they have affected our own stories in language learning. The discussion was powerful - starting with the question "Does culture / perception stop you from learning a language?", we talked about travel, terrorism, stereotypes and machine guns.

To round it off, we chatted about the good old Sapir-Whorf hypothesis. Always one to draw us linguists out to the campfire.

Do you think that ideas and perceptions have ever stopped you...or encouraged you in language learning? Say hi on Twitter @thefluentshow or write a little message through this website.

Sponsored By:

• Clozemaster: Visit our sponsor Clozemaster, the free addictive language app in over 50 languages

Links:

• LangFest 2018 — Get 15% off your ticket with the code KERSTIN
• LanguageCon – The Shanghai Language Learner’s Conference
• Polyglot Conference
• Khairuldeen Makhzoomi was kicked off a flight for speaking Arabic | World | News | Express.co.uk — quite the comment section
• But WHY!!! Would You Learn a Language? Is Learning a Language Useful? by Fluent Language
• Language Attitudes PDF — French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu argued

In this week’s episode, I have a fascinating Q&A question, which didn't at all bring the answer that my questioner might have been expecting.

My question asker Andy is learning Russian, and finding the amount of word changes overwhelming.

We started with grammar, but then discovered a meaningful SECOND issue, which you have probably dealt with in the past, too.

Sponsored By:

• Clozemaster: Visit our sponsor Clozemaster, the free addictive language app in over 50 languages

Links:

• The Fluent Show: Q&A: How To Prepare For Language Lessons on Skype
• The Vocab Cookbook

Click or tap here to read the full show notes in my blog article on www.fluentlanguage.co.uk

Bonjour les auditeurs, and welcome to a special édition française of the Fluent Show, with my native French speaking guest Géraldine Lepere.

Check out Géraldine's AWESOME site Comme Une Française

This show is a bilingual podcast, meaning you'll hear me do my best in French.

It's simple. Throughout this episode of the podcast, Géraldine and I will switch between speaking English and speaking French.

You will hear me make mistakes, forget words, and be right there in the truth of making mistakes. I am a French speaker and have studied French for 20+ years, but my French is NOT perfect.

If you are not an experienced French learner, there will be some parts of the podcast that you don’t understand. But like all language learners, you’re not alone in that feeling. I always remember what the lovely Ron Gullekson said about listening to a different language:

“I want to get used to feeling uncomfortable.”

So fear not, trust that we will come back to English again and again, and the interview will still be interesting for you.

Get A List Of Vocabulary I Learnt In This Episode + My Main Takeaways

Special Guest: Géraldine Lepere.

Sponsored By:

• Smartcards+: Smartcards+ is a smart and user-friendly flashcards app. Download flashcard decks, make your own, and then just review and go while the app tracks your language progress. Check it out for free on any iPhone or iPad.

Links:

• Youssoupha - Entourage (Clip Officiel) - YouTube — Rap en français
• Come - Jain musique et vidéo — Jain - chansons en anglais
• LaFourchette - Réservez dans les meilleurs restaurants de France
• TripAdvisor : lisez des avis, comparez les prix et réservez
• OrelSan - More Rap in French
• Stromae music, videos, stats, and photos | Last.fm
• English to French, Italian, German & Spanish Dictionary - WordReference.com
• France.tv - Pluzz et Replay TV des chaînes France Télévisions
• Bienvenue sur le site officiel de Juliette !
• Comme Une Française School — Géraldine's AWESOME culture and language programme - perfect for intermediates who want to start speaking French for real

How do you feel about learning two dialects of a language at the same time?

The Dictionary of Linguistics defines dialect as a variety of a language used by people from a particular geographic area.

So in other words, you’re ALWAYS learning a language and often you might be learning one that is a dialect of another. Romanian and Italian are dialects of Latin, if we zoom out far enough.

So for you as the language learner, the dialect question is relevant. But do not sweat it because there’s no single answer. Each language you will learn might handle its dialect question slightly differently. So there’s only one way to do this, and that’s to ASK.

It’s the classic “what’s a dialect, what’s a language” debate, and whether it really matters.

In this episode I discuss the topic in practical terms without going too far into the deep question. Every language has non-standard variants, so let’s just think about what matters most when learning a language.

Thank you to my co-host Lindsay Williams for this episode introduction.

Sponsored By:

• Smartcards+: Smartcards+ is a smart and user-friendly flashcards app. Download flashcard decks, make your own, and then just review and go while the app tracks your language progress. Check it out for free on any iPhone or iPad.

Links:

• How a dialect differs from a language - The Economist explains
• What is the difference between dialec... | Oxford Dictionaries
• Language and Linguistics: Dialects | NSF - National Science Foundation
• Wikitongues
• Podcast Episode 43: Language is Everything: Talking Language Activism with Wikitongues by Fluent Language
• Difference between a dialect and a language
• Which language should I learn?

In this podcast and blog article, we're discussing words that mean a lot to many people, answering questions such as:

What is "fluency" and how do you know you're fluent?

Click or tap here to read the full show notes in my blog article on www.fluentlanguage.co.uk

Sponsored By:

• Smartcards+: Smartcards+ is a smart and user-friendly flashcards app. Download flashcard decks, make your own, and then just review and go while the app tracks your language progress. Check it out for free on any iPhone or iPad.

Links:

• #clearthelist April 2018: Now I Know My Language Level by Fluent Language — A Clear The List Article From Kerstin
• Language Learning Goals: Clear The List - May 2018 - Lindsay Does Languages — A Clear The List Article From Lindsay
• Podcast Episode 35: Polyglot Club Certificates Available Now by Fluent Language
• The Digital Bromad: How Toxic Masculinity Thrives Abroad
• Amazon: The 4-Hour Work Week: Escape the 9-5, Live Anywhere and Join the New Rich — Famous book written by a dude
• Getting Through: The Pleasures and Perils of Cross-Cultural Communication (MIT Press)
• Language Mastery | How to Learn Japanese the Fun Way with John Fotheringham

You can find language tutors on sites like italki, in online communities, or by searching for your target language on social networks. Instagram is particularly great here.

Be clear about what you want to get out of your set of lessons, and communicate this to your teacher. Here's a list of suggested questions to ask them.

Homework isn't necessarily an explicit set of exercises, but sometimes it's just about reading a text or reviewing what the last lesson covered.

This is the way for you to get more for your money — interaction and contact are at a premium if you’re self-teaching, so try to stay focused. If your teacher gives you a flashcard deck, interact with it. Always review new vocab from previous lessons.

A post shared by Kerstin Cable (@kerstin_fluent) on Jan 26, 2018 at 12:27am PST

No matter where you are at in your journey with language tutors, these five tips are going to make your life better and easier when you're working with a tutor.

Final thought: TRUST THE PROCESS

Win $25 With Our Sponsor Smartcards+

This month, Smartcards+ is giving you the chance to win a $25 iTunes gift certificate when you download and try out the app. Here’s how it works:

Hot Tip: If you don’t know where to start, select “Import” and “Online Resources”, and you’ll be able to search the deck library at Anki and Quizlet

Thank you to Olly Richards for this episode introduction.

Sponsored By:

• Smartcards+: Smartcards+ is a smart and user-friendly flashcards app. Download flashcard decks, make your own, and then just review and go while the app tracks your language progress. Check it out for free on any iPhone or iPad.

Links:

• What You Need to Know Before Spending Money on Language Learning [EN] Kerstin Cable at PG 2016 - YouTube
• What's The Secret To The Greatest Language Exchange Ever? by Fluent Language
• How to prepare for your first Skype language lessons
• 9 Questions To Discuss With Your Language Tutor by Fluent Language
• italki -- Find Tutors In Any Language — Special Offer
• The Fluent Show: Q&A: How Can You Train Your Listening Skills?
• Intermediate Welsh: A Grammar and Workbook (Grammar Workbooks) on Amazon.co.uk
• Glossika
• Speechling — Use discount code FLUENT for a special deal
• The Language Habit Toolkit

It's time for our seasonal countdown of what's hot in language learning. Lindsay and I have been collecting our top tools, and we select our list of top 3 recommendations on the Fluent Show.

A lovely image-based vocab game to play in your browser, made by a non-profit design studio from Poland. The range of langauges is massive!

Plus: A news segment on what the French have been up to.. 🇫🇷🍔🌭

Sponsored By:

• Smartcards+: Smartcards+ is a smart and user-friendly flashcards app. Download flashcard decks, make your own, and then just review and go while the app tracks your language progress. Check it out for free on any iPhone or iPad.

Links:

• French MPs force vegetarian food producers to mince their words | Life and style | The Guardian
• Best Language Exchange Community | Shared Talk |Talkalang
• LingoDeer
• Reddit: languagelearning
• Ba Ba Dum
• The world’s most mysterious book - Stephen Bax | TED-Ed
• Learn Welsh with Nicky - YouTube - YouTube
• Free Online Courses - FutureLearn
• Text Inspector

Today’s show is based on a question I have been asking myself. And that is…

“Should I Give Flashcards Another Chance?”

The way I learn vocabulary is always changing, and my methods and strategies evolve all the time. For many years, learning with vocabulary notebooks was my prime way of reviewing new words. But there are also other techniques, and recently I’ve started using a flashcard app, Smartcards+.

I review vocab with

I have never used

These places above are not always where I find Vocab, and it’s a huge success factor to bear in mind that in a way a list or app is your worst source unless the item is super rich.

One of the biggest reasons I haven’t used flashcard apps was the quality or relevance of the pre-written courses. Compare learning in class, in real life, in an engaged environment, to just seeing a plain word in a list. It’s arbitrary, and not everyone likes that.

Memrise does really well when you take one of their official courses. Partly because it does exactly that rich thing well, with videos from Membus. But there’s also a bit of low quality fluff on this platform and I’m sad not to see so many mnemonics anymore.

In this episode, I use the word "anghysbell" to illustrate how mnemonics work.

I don’t care if I can’t recall a word. I’ll see it very often if it’s relevant and important. Again, apps can be an issue here if you get bothered by seeing the same irrelevant term again and again. I do. In my Vocab lists, I am in charge.

And being in charge of your own learning is everything.

Learning and recalling new Vocab in a list or flashcard is nice. It’s pointless if you cannot use that word though.

Really, we're worrying about a small part of the whole here. Sometimes I feel frustrated because the new wave of apps tells you “learn a language” when really you’re "learning words and phrases".

You need to learn a language over time and keep throwing new things in.

Sponsored By:

• Smartcards+: Smartcards+ is a smart and user-friendly flashcards app. Download flashcard decks, make your own, and then just review and go while the app tracks your language progress. Check it out for free on any iPhone or iPad.

Links:

• The Vocab Cookbook on Amazon
• The Vocab Cookbook in my online shop
• Clairefontaine 141820C 11 x 17 cm Koverbook Lined and Margin Wire Bound Vocabulary Book: Amazon.co.uk: Office Products — A vocabulary notebook
• Memrise
• Magnetic Memory Method — If you're into the "remember everything" memory palace thing
• How To Create The Best Vocabulary Learning Technique In Any Language by Fluent Language

This week, I talk to language and grammar fanatic Ellen Jovin. Ellen has spent the last (nearly) decade learning and forgetting over 20 languages, and reviewing hundreds of language learning materials.

Ellen is a joy to talk to and to listen to. She has so much love for language and a great way with words, so this interview was packed full of great quotes.

"In 2009 I suddenly realised (..) that I can really learn a lot without ever going to class."

"I feel a kinship with Slavic languages. There's so much grammar and I love grammar so much that I'm sitting there with my eyes open in disbelief that they could possibly have this many forms."

"I feel as though it might really transform my life outlook if I took Latin."

"I feel like what I'm doing is true. It's honest. I'm not studying languages because I think I should study them. I'm studying them because it makes me feel happy."

"I don't really care about [forgetting languages I've studied]. I did it because I enjoyed the process. It opens up a world into another culture, it enables you to make new friends who are native speakers of other languages....and how is that not worthwhile?"

"In a teach yourself environment you really have to tap into the interesting capacity for play, for humour."

Special Guest: Ellen Jovin.

Sponsored By:

• Smartcards+: Smartcards+ is a smart and user-friendly flashcards app. Download flashcard decks, make your own, and then just review and go while the app tracks your language progress. Check it out for free on any iPhone or iPad.

Links:

• Columbia University in the City of New York Official Bookstore | Textbooks, Rentals, Sweatshirts, Tees, Hats — Columbia University's Bookstore in New York
• Books, Fiction, Childrens & lots more | Foyles Bookstore — Foyles Bookshop - one of the best language book shops in the UK
• Ellen Jovin - Language Utopia! One Polyglot’s Product Fantasies - YouTube — Ellen speaking at the Polyglot Conference in 2016
• Pimsleur® Official Store | Pimsleur Method
• McGraw Hill Language and Reference Books — Practice Makes Perfect
• Polyglots (The Community) on Facebook
• Apprendre une langue étrangère avec la méthode ASSIMIL
• Differences Between Extrinsic and Intrinsic Motivation
• Children interrupt BBC News interview - BBC News - YouTube
• No More Hoarding! How to Organize All Your Language Learning Resources by Fluent Language