The distinction between good mistakes and bad mistakes when you use your foreign language

First, let’s be clear! There’s lots of scope for errors when you’re learning a foreign language. You might choose the wrong word, make a grammar mistake, use the language in a way that’s technically correct but just doesn’t reflect the way a fluent speaker would naturally use it.

Making errors and mistakes in your foreign language is inevitable and it’s a sign that you’re out there actually using it.

That’s something to celebrate and, indeed, a willingness to dive in and not to be afraid of making mistakes is a characteristic of the successful language learner, as these enthusiasts told me at the Polyglot Gathering a few years ago:

At the same time not all mistakes are created equal.

Good mistakes happen when you’re trying to stretch yourself, when you’re using new structures or words, pushing yourself forward on the long road to fluency.

Bad mistakes are rather different. They are MUCH more common and they are the mistakes that are in our sights in this post.

I’m talking about those repetitive errors in bits of language that you’ve already been taught, studied and already come across many times before.

There’s no admirable s-t-r-e-t-c-h-i-n-g going on here…

…More like (unconscious) slouching!

These are foreign language mistakes that you probably could avoid, if only you paid a little more attention. If a teacher or other helpful advanced speaker points them out to you, you’ll often realise at one what you’ve done wrong.

The thing is, though, that most people, most of the time, won’t point out your mistakes..

The onus is on you to root them out.

Otherwise you run the risk that they become a “fossilised” feature of your personal version of the language.

Here’s a three step process to stop this happening.

Step One: spot your common mistakes using these three techniques

In order to blitz these bad boy recurring mistakes, you first need to shine a searchlight on them.

For this first step, you can use any of the three techniques below. You could use each one without the help of a teacher or other advanced speaker. If you do have access to an expert, though, we’ll flag exactly how they can help.

Then come two more steps, which we’ll briefly explain at the end of the post.

Compile a personalised mistake list

Sit down, take a pen and paper, reflect and then write down the, say, five most irritating slips that you think you regularly make.

These could be individual items of vocab or word combos (short phrases or “chunks”) that you mix up or regularly mispronounce. Or they could be mangled points of grammar, such as misusing a verb tense or getting word order wrong in a certain type of expression.

It may be that you’re not sufficiently aware of your errors to make a list at once. In that case, put it together gradually, by reflecting after your next two or three times “in action” (speaking or writing the language).

Once you have the list, try to get somebody with whom you use your new language (teacher, language exchange, friend or relative) involved.

Don’t show them your list (yet). Instead, ask them to tell you the five most grating mistakes that they notice you making time and time again. To focus their attention, you might ask them to compile their list over the course of several conversations with you (or, if you’re having written work corrected, as they read several texts that you’ve written).

Then, you can compare both lists (preferably with the other person’s help and explanation).

There’ll probably be some overlap, but you might be surprised to find that what they think needs attention is different from what you were worrying about most yourself. Now, combine the lists so that you have up to ten items (less if there was some overlap between you).

If you don’t have anybody to help you, you could write down examples of your supposed mistakes and use a text auto correct to confirm your hunch (or not!). Then move on to step two.

Record self and listen back

Pick a relevant topic that you could talk about briefly.

Take your mobile phone and record yourself speaking to yourself on a topic that’s relevant and interesting to you.

You can do this as a monologue or as a conversation where you imagine what the other person would say (you don’t have to play their part as well, but it may be fun to do that).

To keep this quick and concentrated, speak for not more than two or three minutes.

This experience may feel a bit weird at first. Just why, then, is it so different from a from a real two-way exchange?

Well, it’s not just that nobody else is as sparkling a conversationalist as you.

In a live interaction, the pressure is on to focus on the other person (and rightly so). We have to take in the wider scene, including the non-verbal reactions from our conversation partner. We’re also braced for the ball to come back over the net, in the form of the next utterance from that other person.

In stark contrast, when you’re doing a short “record self and listen back” exercise, all that live performance pressure is taken away, leaving you free to hear your own voice much more even as you speak.

Next listen back to the clip through several times, giving it your undivided attention until you have a put together a short list of your suspected mistakes.

You could, of course, record an actual two-way conversation as your “sample”.

But remember, the magic of this technique comes not just from listening to the recording but from the initial total focus on yourself as you speak.

Plus, the idea is that this is a simple little exercise that you can do often, without needing to line up somebody else.

Where a helper can come in handy is when you’re unsure whether something in your recording is wrong, when you’re collecting examples of correct usage and when you’re ready to practise them “live”. If you don’t have a helper, you could prepare a transcript (typing or using voice to text AI) and then use an auto correct (just as in the writing technique that we’ll discuss next).

Make a list of the mistakes that you’ve managed to identify from your recording(s).

Stream of consciousness writing

Choose an appealing topic.

Take a pen and paper and write a short text about it in your target language (200 to 300 words is ideal).

Usually, when writing, you’d want to think carefully about accuracy. This time, in contrast, try not to overthink it. Just write what comes naturally, for better or worse. If you hit a vocab or grammar block, write your way round it (by expressing yourself differently or even leaving the thought out).

Why the stream of consciousness approach to writing in this exercise?

Because it will help make clear how accurate your more or less spontaneous use of the language is at this stage on your learning journey.

Once you’ve finished, review your text.

Underline any obvious mistakes and things that might be wrong (but you’re not quite sure).

It could be that quite a bit of you’ve written is spot on. But you’ll probably also have written some phrases that are technically correct, but don’t sound natural, or something that’s just plain wrong.

If you have access to a tutor, exchange partner or other advanced speaker, you can now ask them to point all this out for you.

If you don’t have somebody to help, you could type up your text in software that has a mistake highlighting function (Google Docs will do this pretty accurately for many languages).

Note what Google (or whatever) flags up as wrong.

Step Two: Understand your mistakes and collect examples of correct (natural) usage

Using any one (or more) of these three techniques, you can come up with a personalised list of, say, the top ten killer errors that you’d like to cure.

If there are corrections that you’ve received from a native speaker (or from a text auto correct function) that you still don’t understand, try to find explanations from a teacher, another advanced speaker, in your course materials or online.

Is the problem that you’ve chosen the wrong word, mangled a set phrase or that you’re making a mistake of grammar? Is it that you’re saying something that’s grammatically correct but just doesn’t sound natural?

Once you’re sure you understand what was going wrong in each case on your list, arm yourself with three or four on-point examples of the correct usage for each. Embed the point in a short phrase that you could actually see yourself using. A teacher (or ChatGPT) can help here.

Step Three: Make the corrected usage your automatic default

It’s a fair bet that once you’ve identified and corrected your own common mistakes, you’re more likely to notice the correct usages again and again in your regular listening and reading.

You can take more active steps, too to make the native-style pattern on your own language production (speaking, writing).

For a start, you can regularly review your stock of illustrative examples.

You could practise writing them (by hand, please) or saying them out loud (with a bit of dramatic verve) every few days for a couple of weeks, for example .

In subsequent months, go back and practise your illustrative phrases every now and again,

Then, try to use them too, of course, in your writing practice and, above all, when you speak, both in a learner context such as in class or during a language exchange and out and about “in the wild.”

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So there we are. Three techniques and three steps to identify, understand and correct mistakes and to make sure that you actually use the correct version as a habit.

Of course, don’t constantly obsess about your errors that you make in your foreign language, whether they are new or repeat ones.

But if you want to do some deliberate work on your accuracy every now and again, those are three techniques that could really help.

If you give one of them a try, don’t forget to let me know how you do in the comments below.

The post How to find and fix mistakes in your foreign language speaking and writing appeared first on How to get fluent, with Dr Popkins.

But not to worry! It’s still festive enough here at Howtogetfluent Towers.     

I do love a bit of Christmas kitsch, not least the light-up holly berry number that augments the mantelpiece in the dining room each year:

In this post, let’s keep it festive, with five fun Christmas foreign language practice ideas to spice up your language learning in the last days before Christmas (because we’ve none of us got anything else to do at this time of year, right?) 

Idea one: master the Christmas menu

What’s on the menu for a typical Christmas meal in your target culture?

In 300 words in your new language, describe the elements of the main meal.  For a different slant, find the recipe for a typical dish (in the language, mind!).

Extra sprinkle of spice: try making the recipe… or even the full meal. 

Idea two: write about how they spend Christmas

How are Christmas Eve and Christmas Day typically spent in your target culture?

Go for a 300-word composition again. You could flag any big points of contrast with what you know back home.

Extra sprinkle of spice: introduce one of the traditions that you’ve discovered into your own celebrations this year.  

Idea three: read the Biblical Nativity

Locate the story of the birth of Jesus from a standard modern version of the Bible in your target language. Yes, you do remember correctly: Matthew 1:18 to 2:12 and Luke 2:1 to 21.

Read, mark and inwardly digest both the vocab and the grammar.    

Exotic spice: find a classic, older translation in your language and compare the differences.  

Idea four: learn a Christmas song

Find the lyrics of a Christmas carol or a popular modern Christmas song in your target language. Try to get hold of an audio version as well, for example on YouTube or Spotify.

Work through the lyrics and listen to the audio.

Large pinch of spice: perform the song for your family or (if you’re feeling bashful) just for yourself into your phone’s voice recorder or video camera. 

Idea five: explain some Christmas pictures

Find five images of items that are typical of Christmas in your target culture (excluding food). I”m thinking wreaths, candles, a model nativity…plastic holly, even!

Write a couple of short sentences to describe each picture (about sixty words per pic).

Extra sprinkle of spice: obtain one of the items to decorate your own home. Ok, maybe it’s a bit late for that now…so how about just printing off some of the pictures and hanging them on your fridge door to get you in the mood? 

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Whichever one of the five Christmas language practice ideas that you choose, you could then consolidate by using what you’ve done as the basis for a conversation and feedback in your next one-to-one with your tutor, exchange partner or with a friend or relative who speaks the language.  

If the culture of the language you’re learning doesn’t do Christmas, no problem!

Try out similar activities for the next big festival that they do celebrate, instead.

Just some ideas, but I hope you’ll give one or two of them a try.

Even if it has to wait until after the Christmas rush.  

Merry Christmas! Nadolig Llawen! Frohe Weinachten! Joyeux Noël! Buon Natale! Kellemes Karácsonyt! Hyvää Joulua! Cчастливого Рождества! Feliz Natal! Eguberri On! Selamat Natal! Gleðileg Jól! Kαλά Χριστούγεννα! メリークリスマス!

Related posts:

Christmas YouTube videos to stay engaged with your language

The post Five fun Christmas foreign language practice ideas appeared first on How to get fluent, with Dr Popkins.

Of course, a twice-weekly conversation or once monthly in-person meetup can be a vibrant pulse in your language learning life. In this post, though, I want to share my experience of how recurring, annual events in (rather than about) your foreign language can pace out the year. I haven’t posted on the subject before, but I have vlogged it, from Hyde Park in London.

I was reminded of this when back there on Friday, to visit the summer pavilion at the Serpentine Gallery.

This is a temporary structure: up and ready to open in June and it’s taken down in early October.

Since Zaha Hadid’s first pavilion in 2000, there’s been a new design each year. Only 2020’s was not built and you know why. Each structure is the result of a competition open to architects and artists around the world.

I try to visit the new pavilion at least once.

It was from 2019’s low slate canopy by Junya Ishigami of Japan I looked ahead a few weeks before my 2019 trip to that country. In 2018 I riffed to camera on today’s blog topic from the shade of a cement lattice-walled, Mexican-inspired courtyard by Frida Escobedo.

This year’s sombre cylindrical structure, Black Chapel, is by Chicago-based Theaster Gates. Inside, you do indeed feel like you’re in a quasi-religious space.

In the UK, we often complain about the weather. Yet we do (or did) get proper seasons, nature’s way of pacing our year.

For me, the annual pilgrimage to the pavilion, complete with an overpriced espresso or cup of tea in the café inside is a much-enjoyed little part of summer.

Events in the target language (not events about it)

Vlogging aside, my pavilion trips aren’t language-learning focussed but there’s part of a pattern. Take a peek and you’d find a range of other, more directly-relevant annual events in my diary.

To underline the point: I’m not talking here principally about events for language learning such as my beloved Polyglot Gathering and Polyglot Conference (though they also give me an annual inspiration infusion).

Nor do I mean an annual trip to take part in a language course (though I know some learners like to make one of those a highlight of their language learning year).

What I have in mind are things that happen through the medium of the language but that are essentially about something else.

You may attend in person as the life-and-soul or be an unobtrusive but in-person presence. Or you may be a passive observer from a distance, watching on TV or writing mistake-ridden comments in a social media feed.

Some personal stand-out events in my own target languages

German

When I lived in Heidelberg, Germany, some of the milestones of my year were local. Each 30 April saw a torch-lit procession up the hill opposite the town: Walpurgisnacht (Saint Walpurga’s NIght). June through August was time for the SchlossfestspieleIn (theatre, opera and music against the backdrop of the famous castle). In the autumn there were trips to local small-scale wine producers for wine tasting and maybe to buy a few bottles.

I also grew to anticipate events with a wider resonance: the annual asparagus season (die Spargelzeit). yes, this really is a thing. It runs from late April to a prompt end on 24 June. Schwetzingan, Germany’s asparagus capital, is only a few miles away from Heidelberg Then, of course there was the Christmas market on the Universitätsplatz and fireworks viewed from the bridge at New Year (they were not a thing in the UK back then).

I no longer live in Germany and there’s no event there that I try to travel to specially to take part.

With Welsh, though, there is.

Welsh

In the first week of August it’s time for the National Eisteddfod (Eisteddfod Genedlaethol). It’s a peripatetic festival, a moveable, Welsh-speaking pop-up metropolis. Many organisations such as learned societies, charities, cultural and political associations hold talks and events around the main pavilion where Welsh poetry, literature and music are centre-stage. In the evenings there are gigs, stand-up comedy and theatre.

Basque

As a Basque learner, I enjoy two or three events that the London Basque Society puts on every year.

In late March or early April every two years there’s a mini “korrika” to celebrate the mass run that weaves its way through the Basque Country to raise money for Basque language education (and to raise consciousness of the cause).

In July there’s their mini San Fermin bull run with a member dressed up as a bull. I follow the real event in Basque news broadcasts and the website of the newspaper Berria.eus. Then, in September, there’s the Society’s Basque Diaspora Day meal and, in December, the Christmas one.

Russian

As a Slavicist, I’ve learned a lot about the Russian year. Whether it’s the tradition in February of a whole pancake week (Maslenitsa) rather than a measly pancake day, celebrating the old new year (fourteen days behind the “real” new year) or the revived Orthodox Easter traditions, such as a generous slice of kulich, blessed by an Orthodox priest). Of course, there are also recurring secular highlight and, when I lived in Moscow, these included several art shows.

The annual events, then, don’t even have to involve the language at all.

Japanese

As a new Japanese learner, I took notice for the first time of the importance of spring cherry blossom viewing in the Japanese year. I haven’t been in Japan at that time of year yet but I now have a heightened appreciation of the cherry blossom in my local park for the week or so when it’s in bloom.

Like all good habits, some “my” events have become something I do (or at least that I’m aware of) each year because. In a sense, they’ve become a small part of who I am. And expanding our identity to encompass aspects of life through our chosen language language is one of the most powerful things we long term language learners can do.

Now it’s your turn and here are my tips

So, can you build events which happen each year into your language learning?

Find maybe three or four different times of the year that you enjoy and that you could take part in physically or follow online year after year, whether they’re cultural, sporting, religious, whatever it is. Maybe one for each season, to begin with.

Do that today and put them into your calendar.

Also put in a reminder a couple of weeks in advance so that you can start to schedule some “me and my event” time. It could be simply viewing or reading or you might want to bone up on some relevant background or vocabulary that will help you to understand what’s going on. You might even want to make conversations about the upcoming event the focus of a one-to-one conversation session with your online language tutor or exchange partner.

Regular participation, even if passive and unnoticed, has firmly established some of “my” events as anticipated beats in the rhythm of my language learning year. Calendar crafting as we might call it is, to mix up the metaphors, a great way to weave the language into the warp and weft of your life over the long term and, in real language learning, that’s the timeframe that counts.

Vlogs from the summer pavilion

Related resources

Language learner’s year compass

Four language learning mini habits

What’s the Eisteddfod like?

Russian Easter in London

Interested in a course to help you establish your language learning habits? Check out the Language Habit Toolkit from my old friend and fellow long-term Welsh learner, the inspiring language teacher and coach Kerstin Cable of Fluent Language.

The post Enhancing the rhythm of your language learning year appeared first on How to get fluent, with Dr Popkins.

These days, I mainly use tutors in one-to-ones via Skype or Zoom. I book them through the site italki.com. But I’ve also had one-to-ones in person and I’m no stranger to group classes. The tips below apply equally to these contexts as well.

So, let’s set those foreign language tutor expectations!

Explaining and illustrating the language

First of all, you can, of course, expect your foreign language tutor to explain and illustrate the language.

By explain, I mean setting out grammar rules and unlocking vocabulary in general and deciphering particular examples of usage that you might be stuck with. Illustration would be providing more examples to go with the explanations.

It’s a mistake to study too much grammar or items of out-of-context vocab. We don’t want to mix up knowing about the language in theory with acquiring the language in the context of actually practising the four skills of speaking, reading, listening and writing.

But that doesn’t mean that clear explanations don’t help.

It pays to get a quick explanation of a rule with exceptions or examples of common patterns.

This saves us having to work things out from context (or guess incorrectly).

It helps us notice things in context when we’re using the language, in a virtuous circle of reinforcement.

I get nearly all the explanations that I need from self-study courses (books, online) or works of reference.

But if you prefer your instruction direct and you can use a tutor to great effect to help you through a course. If the course was designed for self-study, all the better. You can do what you can on your own and preview or review the material with the tutor.

Or just go to a tutor with the sticking points of grammar or vocabulary that arise from your course work or your less structured, “natural” practice.

Practising the four skills

Instruction in the language may be useful but you’ll never get fluent without hundreds and hundreds of hours of practice.

You’ll never be able to get ENOUGH practice even with a team of round-the-clock personal tutors. After all, even full-time taught courses require a lot of extra out-of-hours engagement from students.

No, you’ll need to read your language, listen to your language and live your language loads.

But hey, what a tutor can do, even in infrequent sessions is SOME focussed, quality practice.

Here one-to-one sessions really are more effective than a group class simply because, in one-to-one the spotlight is on you all the time.

As to what to practise, well, I don’t want to pay for a teacher’s time while I am reading or listening. To my mind, these activities I can do best on my own.

But you may want to do these activities along with a teacher. This may make sense, for example if you’re stuck on a particular piece of content or can’t find content that’s easy enough for you to use independently. Maybe you lack the discipline to engage on your own.

I also practise writing in my own time but bring in the teacher for correction.

Where a teacher really comes in is for speaking practice or, rather, two-way conversation practice. After all, you won’t just be practising speaking. You’ll also have the chance to improve your listening ability as you try to understand the teacher’s side of the exchange.

If you get nervous speaking in real-life situations, practising with a sympathetic tutor can help you to build your confidence where the stakes feel lower.

A cheaper way to do this is with an exchange partner. The drawback of exchanges is that you will then have to spend equivalent time offering your language to the other person.

Giving feedback

Next, the teacher can provide you with corrective feedback on your speaking and writing skills.

You can get personalised help with pronunciation, intonation and other aspects of the physical sound of the language.

A good tutor will give you appropriate feedback on points of grammar, style and register in your speaking and writing.

Tutor feedback is not just for beginners.

If you’re already at an intermediate or an advanced level you may have mistakes in pronunciation, grammar and vocab, that you don’t even know about because people still understand you. These are “fossilised” mistakes that you make again and again.

As for writing: I do written work before the class, rather than putting pen to paper in class when the meter is ticking. It’s not reasonable to expect a teacher to correct your work outside lesson time for free. Of course, you could pay them extra to do this outside the lessons. My preference, though, is to have them correct the work live during the lesson. We do this through screen share or us both hopping on Google Docs in another window.

Advising on materials and methods

A course or less comprehensive materials (such as worksheets or individual exercises) can really help to cover the key bases and provide some structure and progression.

I always find teachers who are willing to work with the materials that I bring to the party. For you, though, a big advantage of working with a tutor may be that they offer to structure sessions around their own materials or one preferred course (or a choice of them).

In addition to core courses and other materials for use in the sessions, a good language teacher will be able to suggest supplementary reference works. These could be dictionaries, workbooks, grammar, collections of vocabulary) that can help you as you engage with the language in your own time.

Your tutor should also be a ready source of advice on things listen to, watch and read in the language, as part of your engagement outside the lesson.

Boosting your motivation and engagement

Not all teachers have the perspective and knowledge to help you set goals, build a routine and a language learning habit and keep you accountable.

For these things, a language coach can provide more bang for your buck.

Yet the sheer fact of an upcoming lesson can help with routine and force you to show up and perform.

If you try to cancel or reschedule lessons booked through italki within the final twenty-four hours, you still have to pay. When you’re boxed in that way, motivation suddenly takes care of itself.

If you ask your tutor to set you homework, this can also help keep you on the straight and narrow.

When I was working intensively with tutors to prepare for my advanced German and Russian exams, I needed to come up with a piece of written work for correction in each session.

If you find the teacher inspiring, enjoyable to spend time with, that can be a great motivator too. The longer you work together, the deeper and more rewarding the relationship will probably become.

Wrap-up

So, what to expect from a foreign language tutor?

Well, no, a language tutor can’t beam the language into your head. Yet he or she can explain and illustrate and provide you with some skills practice. Your tutor can provide good corrective feedback, help with materials and methods and help keep you motivated and engaged. No wonder so many successful language learners work a lot with tutors.

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Next post in the series will be: specific ideas of what to do at the different levels.

Do share your expectations of a good teacher. What are you looking for? What do you think it’s realistic to expect from an online teacher? Share your stories or any further questions in the comments below.

Related posts

How to choose an online language tutor

Group language classes: for, against and what to do

The post What to expect from a foreign language tutor (and what not to expect) appeared first on How to get fluent, with Dr Popkins.

Lesson price

On italki teachers of the same language can set their own prices and there’s quite a bit of variation. On that platform, teachers with a qualification are called “professional”, while those without are “community tutors”. The latter tend to be cheaper, but it doesn’t always follow. 

Check whether the teachers offer a free, shorter taster session.  These days not so many do, but you may have the option to get to know the person a little before committing your cash. 

Some teachers may offer different prices for different types of lessons (such as informal conversation, work with a textbook, exam preparation).

Sometimes an online language tutor will offer a package of five or ten lessons, which brings the overall price down slightly.  Don’t commit to a package until you’ve had a few “one off” lessons. 

Availability 

On most platforms, you’ll be able to see a teacher’s calendar for upcoming weeks.  Are there slots throughout the day and across the week or does the teacher just work, say, in the mornings or three days a week?

We’re talking online language teachers, remember! Don’t assume your French teacher is going to be sitting in France. He or she could be in Vietnam. Make sure you’ve set your local timezone correctly in your student profile otherwise that apparent mid-afternoon lesson could turn out to be in the middle of the night. 

Check the range of lesson lengths that a teacher offers. When I’m a beginner or lower-intermediate, I find thirty minutes enough.  Many teachers, though, only offer 45 minute or one hour slots.  For hardcore learners, some do offer 90 minutes.  

Booking flexibility

What is your platform’s general cancellation policy? 

On italki, if you cancel within the last 24 hours with any teacher, you’ll lose your money. If you do have to cancel at short notice, it’s good manners to let your teacher know and some may override the system to let you reschedule (more likely if you’re a long standing student who’s usually reliable).  

Before the twenty-four hour cut-off, italki lets you cancel without penalty, again, regardless of teacher. You can also find another open slot on the teacher’s calendar and ask the teacher to approve it. 

What if you’re late for the lesson? Here, italki tutors can set their own policies. Some teachers will only wait ten minutes. If you are held up, it’s only good manners to message the teacher and let him or her know. 

Reliability 

I have a 100% attendance rate on italki but I have had flakey online language teachers who fail to show.  If that happens, you are given the option to reschedule or get a refund.  

And what about reliability over the upcoming weeks and months?  Everybody needs a holiday and, during the summer in particular, some teachers disappear for several weeks. That’s a good reason to work with more than one teacher. After all, even if you find a teacher who never takes holidays, they could fall ill or simply give up teaching on the platform.  

Technical setup and know-how

You don’t want to spending half of a thirty minute lesson redialling due to a frozen screen or dropped connection. Most teachers don’t include information on their wifi and microphone in their profile but some do.  Book a trial lesson and you’ll soon be able to judge for yourself.  

You’ll soon get a feel for how tech savvy your online language tutor is. Can they use screen share, take notes for you or read your written work on Google Docs and so on?  Message the teacher before you book if you have questions. 

Teaching qualifications and experience 

Teachers will be keen to mention their qualifications. The best platforms, such as italki, will verify their certificates. 

Yes, a qualification is a good sign of basic competence and of commitment to teaching as a craft. But don’t fixate on this.  There are qualified teachers who just aren’t very good and people without stamped pieces of paper who are just great.  

Enthusiasm and experience can take a teacher a long way, especially if you’re just looking for some conversational practice rather than, say, help with a particular exam. 

On italki you can see how many lessons a teacher has taught over the last three months and their “all time” total of lessons.  

Specialism and interests  

Some teachers specialise in a particular area, for example pronunciation, informal conversation, exam preparation or business language.  Are they a good fit for you? On italki, the teacher search filter setting helps you narrow down the field here. 

You may also be able to find somebody with wider shared interests. 

One of my German teachers was a former nurse, for example. She was a great teacher, but if you’re learning German for nursing, she would have had even more to offer.  

Preferred method and materials?

Most teachers use a pretty eclectic mix of methods but some prefer to use just one. I had a French teacher who used the so-called “silent method”. This involves the teacher taking a passive back seat to allow the student to speak as much as possible. 

Some may have a preferred course book that they will encourage you to work from. Will this suit you and will the teacher be flexible enough to work creatively with the materials that you want to use? 

Of course, with lesser-learned languages you may have struggled to find materials. In that case, has the teacher developed their own that aren’t available elsewhere?

If you’re impressed with a teacher’s profile but are worried they will be too wedded to one approach or one set of materials, or you need materials and are unsure whether they’ll be able to provide them, check their reviews and then, if you’re still unsure, message them and ask!  

Native speaker or fellow learner? 

This is another filter category you can set in your italki teacher search. 

In the earlier stages, when you’re a beginner and lower intermediate, some learners find it useful to have a teacher who’s actually had to learn the language just like you and understands the challenges first hand. 

When you’re at the upper intermediate level and the advanced level, you may prefer the absolute “native” accuracy you’ll get from a native speaker, though some non-natives have reached incredible “near native” heights and do a brilliant job for you even when you’re an advanced learner.

Variety of the language? 

It makes sense to choose a teacher who speaks the variety of the language that you want to speak yourself.  

This is particularly important with languages such as Portuguese, Spanish or Vietnamese with several major varieties. Don’t worry, a German teacher won’t try and speak the Bavarian or Swabish dialects at you but there are some differences in accent and vocabulary between the standard German of the Federal Republic and Austria, for example.  

In some languages, like Japanese, there are differences in usage according to age or gender, so it might make sense to choose a teacher who resembles you in those ways. 

Personality 

Italki teachers have to post a short presentation video which is your best chance to get the measure of their personality in advance. Cut them some slack, though as the vids don’t always show them off at their best. You may need to a couple of lessons to find out whether or not you’re going to click.  

There’s nothing worse than an online language tutor who appears to be bored, gazing out of the window or checking their phone as you speak.  I want a teacher who is easy to take to but also lets me do most of the talking. First impressions can be misleading, though. It’s sometimes worth sticking with a teacher for a few lessons as first impressions can be misleading. You may warm to each other, for example if you discover that you have shared common interests in a certain type of film, sport or music.  

Student reviews

Just as you wouldn’t take every review you read on Amazon or on TripAdvisor at face value, be careful to look at student reviews in the round. There are always going to be times when a teacher just had a bad day or there’s a personality clash. On italki, reviews tend to be very positive but they are worth skimming for useful intel (and check for any red flags around poor internet connections, for example).  

__________________________________

So, those are my tips for how pick the right language tutor online. You can check out italki.com (that’s my recommendation link and if you book through that we’ll both get bonus credit when you book your first USD20. Good luck in your search, enjoy your lessons and don’t forget to let us all know how it went in the comments below!  

Related posts

What to expect from a foreign language tutor (and what not to expect)

The post How to choose an online language tutor appeared first on How to get fluent, with Dr Popkins.

But “life” will sometimes totally get in the way of your language learning plans.

That much is sure.

The trick is to make sure you’re all set up to get back on track when things calm down.

In a recent post, we looked at how to keep things ticking over at a much lower level when you’re hit by a heavy patch at work, a health or family crisis or just during some scheduled time away. 

This happened to me last September.

My dad had to have major surgery and I spent a month at his place, much of it focussed on travelling to and from the hospital to visit and supporting in whatever other way I could.

While I was away, there was a water leak at my own place.

Cue more disruption.

Then I had a major work trip: two weeks of intense preparation and a week away training colleagues in sunny Dubai.

All in all there were a couple of months when I didn’t have much space for language learning. 

But things settled down in the end (and my dad is now back on form).

In our language learning, we’ll never be able to engineer away life’s disruptions but what we can do is set things up so that we’ll find it easier to get back into the language learning groove. 

I find it a bit easier to re-start some wholesome, focussed engagement, thanks to what I call my language anchors: 

1) A regular thirty-minute “focussed study” slot.

I’ve long since discovered the time of day that works best for me (first thing after getting up) and so it’s just a matter of sliding back into the habit.  You might not be so keen on deliberate language study, but you can make a regular habit around the three anchors below.

2) Compelling materials for listening and reading practice

I have my goodies lined up. That means that once I’m ready to get back “in the game”, I’m not procrastinating, trying to find the right materials. 

My favourites are podcast and YouTube channels in my languages and a pile of books I’ll have on the go (“graded”, easier reading for my lower-level languages, native material for my upper-intermediate to advanced ones).

I’ll also have my preferred courses and reference works to hand, both “dead tree” and online resources.

3) Relationships with teachers (or exchange partners)

I’ve already found people I get on with and I’m naturally keen to catch up with them again. My chosen platform for finding teachers is italki.com.

4) A web of relationships through your language

Here the language is incidental to the main motivation: shared interests. Your interactions might be as passive as joining and following a group on social media, then, as you get more confident, starting to comment (or even moderate). You could be a regular at events where speakers of your language gather (for example a church, community club or cafe).

Those shared interests don’t go away just because I have for a while. 

______________

Now, your anchors may be similar to mine. Or they may be completely different.

What matters is to build the steel-girdered scaffold of your language learning house quite deliberately and to build it while the sun is shining.    

Sometimes a strong wind will blow off the roof.

Heavy rain might even bring it crashing down.

But, when the storm has passed, the structure underneath will still be standing. 

And it won’t be so hard to get everything will be up and running once again.

Mmm.  Anchors, roofs…up and running? I’m mixing my metaphors here, I admit. 

But you get the idea, I’m sure!

Related posts:

Six tips for keeping going with your language learning

How to learn a language at home in the crisis

How to keep learning a language when life’s turned upside down

Language learning as an infinate game

The post Language learning “anchors” and getting back on track appeared first on How to get fluent, with Dr Popkins.

This post is addressed to you if you’re a beginner, a false beginner or rusty.

That said, much of what you’ll read will also help intermediate learners who are ready to move swiftly to the next level.

Rapid Portuguese: a reality check

Portuguese has a reputation as a relatively “easy language” for native English speakers. All the same, there’s no hiding it: getting good at Portuguese is a big undertaking that takes a lot of time. You’ll need maybe 300 hours study for a basic, functional “working knowledge” at the “lower intermediate” level (sometimes called “B1”). 

But here’s the thing! If you’re motivated and follow the advice in this post, you can achieve specific goals a lot more quickly. 

Then, once you get airborne, anything is possible!

Another home truth before we start!

To learn Portuguese as quickly as possible, you need to take responsibility for your own progress.

No teacher can beam the language into your head.

“School style” group Portuguese classes very inefficient if you rely on them on their own, though group language classes can give your learning a clear framework, a welcome social dimension and help with motivation.

Much more efficient are one-to-one classes with a paid teacher. If you can’t afford that, you could do language exchanges (where half the session is in Portuguese to help you and half in English to help your Portuguese-speaking, English learning exchange partner).

If you’re an adult learner, make effective self-study and lots of practice your two French rapid progress boosters.  

And let’s be clear from the get go on one other thing: nobody ever got fluent in Portuguese just by using an app. Some apps are better than others, many are “gamified” to, erm, keep you on the app. What are they good for? As a supplement or for some extra down-time engagement (if you don’t feel like doing something more effective instead).

1. Learn with your specific Portuguese goals in mind

Follow the advice in this post and you can get yourself ready to use your Portuguese in the sorts of basic everyday contexts that we all need or in highly specialised contexts that are personal to you.

This post is addressed to you if you’re a beginner, a false beginner or rusty.

That said, much of what you’ll read will also help intermediate learners who are ready to move swiftly to the next level.

You might want to be able to connect with in-laws or grandchildren or use the language to get things done and make wonderful memories when you’re travelling. You might already be into aspects of Portuguese, Brazilian or wider “Lusophone” culture and want to experience it from within.  You may want to forge new business contacts by giving a presentation in the language or bond less formally with potential customers afterwards.  

You’re clear on what you want your Portuguese for?

You’re sure you REALLY want it?

And you want it, like, yesterday?  

Ok, let’s look at what you need to do to learn Portuguese fast.  

2. Master pronunciation fundamentals

Time may be short, but don’t be tempted to neglect the key elements of the Portuguese soundscape. If you haven’t tuned your ear in properly, your listening skills will suffer even if you know the words or grammar “on paper”. 

You’ll sound dire, too.  

Focus on sounds that are different from English. Understand that getting the rhythm and intonation of phrases right can be even more important than the pronunciation of individual sounds and words. 

Be alert to the substantial differences between how Continental Portuguese and Brazilian Portuguese sound. Choose which one you want to speak from the very beginning. Also learn the main differences between them and listen to both. Try to model your new Portuguese voice on a speaker of your chosen variety is of your gender and of a similar age.

You don’t need to polish so much that you could pass for a native. but if you pay attention to the right things and you can “sound” better than you are. 

That matters because you need to win the confidence of the fluent Portgueuse speaker you want to talk to. 

If you fail at key aspects of accent, talking with you can be a real strain for them.

There’s a risk they’ll just switch to English…or avoid you altogether. 

3. Get the main sentence patterns 

If you want to learn Portguese fast, don’t get distracted by abstract Portuguese grammar for its own sake.

Don’t get bogged down in tables showing Portuguese verb and case endings. 

Instead, think of grammar as the most important repeatable Portuguese sentence patterns. Focus relentlessly on these patterns. 

Grasp rules of thumb that explain what’s going on and that you can apply on the wing. Learn the highest frequency exceptions. 

Later, when you’ve developed more of a feel for what sounds right, you can work some more on “grammar” to help you fill in the gaps, refine your expression and explain surprises. 

4. Learn the most frequent Portuguese vocab

Raw “word power” matters but did you know that just 250 words or so make up about 50% of everyday Portuguese? 

Build up to six or seven hundred “essential words” and you’re very much in business. 

Reach 1000 words, you can understand 80% of an everyday Portuguese text and say a lot of what you want, even if you have to explain things in a roundabout way.  

Your “first thousand” should include the 650 most common words (the top 50 Portuguese verbs are of course, important among them).

5. Add three types of fluency booster vocabulary 

Add to those 650 or so most common words another three classes of words and phrases (think of them as special fluency weapons in your drive to learn Portuguese quickly): 

Filler and conversational connector words such as “bom”/”bem”…” (well…), “tipo (assim)” (like), “então” (so), “né” (isn’t it, right, so), “na verdade” (actually). They pepper natural speech and can really help move a conversation forward or save a millisecond as you search for the right word or phrase. 

“Tool kit phrases” that help you keep up and learn as you go, without switching to English: “Como se diz … em português?” (What is X in Portuguese?), “Por favor fale mais devagar” (Please speak more slowly) “Pode repetir isso, por favor?” (Please say that again) and so on. 

Your own personal “islands of fluency”, that’s to say, bespoke words and phrases that may not be so common but which relate to your personal need for Portuguese: talking about your profession, hobbies, goals and so on. 

6. Learn how to get Portuguese into your memory (and out again)

Ok, Dr P, but how do I actually remember the key grammar patterns and essential vocab well enough to use them in real life? 

Not by accident! Not in your sleep! Not even with one magic method! 

First, you need to get words into your memory (“encoding”). 

To help you remember, understand how Portuguese words are formed, look out for similarities with English. Understand how Portuguese makes bigger words out of smaller parts by gluing smaller words into bigger ones (compounding) or adding prefixes and suffixes.  

Use memory association techniques to remember individual words. 

Learn “chunks”, that’s short phrases for every situation that native speakers of any language deploy without thinking.  

Second, you need to make sure you don’t forget what you’ve just learned. 

It’s been shown that reviewing material as soon as the day after you first tried to learn it and then at increasing intervals is the way to make it stick. The method is called the spacing effect.      

Paper flashcards or a flashcard app with the English on one side and the Portuguese on the other are great for this.

Flashcards not your thing? Then you can double down on lots of reading and listening practice with your course materials and other sources that interest you.   

7. Make your learning more effortful for maximum efficiency

Work creatively with your new vocab, chunks and grammar patterns you want to focus on. 

Make up your own short dialogues with your Portuguese words and phrases and practice with a conversation partner. Do the questions and other exercises that come with your course make your own. Dictation and translation back and forth can be powerful activities to get you working intensively with new examples of Portuguese that you’ve just come across. 

Test yourself to turn vocab and grammar review from just repetition into more effective recall.

Working with flashcards or translation from English into Portuguese makes for more effortful interaction, great for consolidating memories! 

Go back to your dictation, translation and or other exercises at intervals.  

In short, don’t be passive, be interactive with your Portuguese texts and audio.

Make your learning effortful. 

If you’re tired after focused study, that’s a good sign. No pain, less gain!

Yes! Deliberate practice like this is hard.

You may well finish a session feeling more frustrated than when you began or even that you’re going backwards. 

Master your mind, stick at it and trust the process.  

8. Get a good beginner’s Portuguese course

With new sounds, grammar patterns and vocab to master, you could easily waste a lot of time gathering scattered materials for yourself. You can end up overwhelmed and not knowing where to start. 

If you want to learn Portuguese fast, do yourself a favour and begin with a well designed course that introduces the high-frequency Portuguese that ALL beginners need in a step-by-step way. 

Portuguese is a world language with different standard accents and differences in vocabulary. The most widely-spoken varieties are, of course, Brazilian Portuguese and Continental Portuguese (that’s to say, Portuguese from Portugal). It makes sense to follow the version you want to use as a model for your accent and turn of phrase. So, choose a course that teaches that variety or one that explains key differences between the varieties.

You’ll find a wider range of Brazilian Portuguese courses available but there are also some great materials for Continental Portuguese and the best courses will point out the key differences between the two (in their texts and audio) expose you to examples of both types.

Working through your course unit by unit, week by week is a great way to pace your learning. 

You can also refer back to your course materials if you hit questions when you’re out using your language “in the wild”. 

Make sure the course is dialogue based, has audio with transcript and parallel translations into English. 

Go for courses that have some explicit grammar explanation but made accessible and with a light touch. If you like exercises, make sure your course also supplies self-correct answers. 

9. Get lots of enjoyable reading and listening practice

Focussed study with the aid of a good course will accelerate your progress in Portuguese remarkably, but it’s not enough on its own.  

If you want to learn Portuguese fast, you also need a lot of exposure to the language: listen, read.  Don’t just limit yourself to the variety of Portuguese you want to speak. Aim to get used to speakers from different Portuguese-speaking countries, of different ages and background.

Once you’ve got some basics through your course – or earlier if you feel the urge – get started earlier with more relaxed “extensive” listening and reading. 

Here the aim is to get enough to follow main thread of conversation or a story. 

Extensive listening and reading are great helping you remember what you’ve already seen. 

Plus: if the material isn’t too difficult for you, you’ll be able to “acquire” more Spanish as well in a natural context, sub- or semi-consciously, without deliberate effort.  

So, find books to read aimed at learners at your level.

Try podcasts for learners in the language, ideally with transcripts. 

Some successful learners love diving into authentic content (i.e. made for natives) asap too.

To make reading native-level material easier, choose short articles on factual topics, read stories that you already know in English or use a parallel text with Spanish on the right and an English translation on the left

As for listening, you may find it easier to watch the Portuguese (original or dubbed) films or series that you already know in their English versions.

As you start watching authentic Portuguese films, TV shows and YouTube vides, don’t be shy of switching on the subtitles to help (but, beyond the very earliest stages, use the Portuguese ones). 

The golden rule for “extensive” reading and listening practice is this: find things you find interesting and would want to listen to or watch in English anyway.  That way, it’s going to be so much easier to clock up hours and hours of enjoyable practice.  

10. Should I start speaking Portuguese from the beginning? 

Whether you should speak from the very beginning depends on your personality. 

If you’re the gregarious type who loves talking, learn the absolute basics and then throw yourself into using the language. Otherwise, there’s a risk your motivation will flag and you’ll give up. 

If you’re not so social, it’s also not a problem.  For you, conscious vocabulary and pattern building, reading or listening will be much more efficient activities in the early stages.  When you start to speak, you’ll have a larger vocab and more experience of what sounds right and better listening skills. All these will help you activate your speaking more rapidly than somebody who focusses on speaking from the very beginning.

Most of us want to speak as well, though, and you can’t get good at speaking without speaking a lot. 

Don’t put off speaking too long, just because you don’t “feel ready”. You don’t want to pass up on opportunities to make new friends in your language.

More than that, if you want to learn Portuguese quickly, don’t be a perfectionist. 

Don’t fixate on mistakes. Nobody cares. Instead, focus on your message and on the other person.

Prepare and practice short, relevant “scripts” on conversation topics that you’re going to need. 

Guess intelligently, pick up non-verbal clues to meaning, use those filler and conversational connector words to sound more authentic and win some time. Ask questions for the same reason and to check you’ve understood.  

If you already know Portuguese speakers with whom you can practise, great.

That said, will they always have time to help you as you strive to move forward at pace? Will they have the knowledge of the language to explain why things are said a certain way?  Do they know how to give feedback constructively?

Don’t pay for a teacher to explain things you can get much more cost and time effectively from a good course.

No, where a teacher can really help is to explain things you’re stuck on and to ensure that you get consistent deliberate practice speaking. A good teacher will be able to give you reasoned feedback on your speaking and writing.  

Try out different teachers over Skype or Zoom on a platform like italki.com. When you’ve “clicked” with one or two, book a series of sessions in advance to make sure they really do happen.

The platform I use for this is italki.com. I’m such a fan, I’ve had over six hundred lessons (for several languages).

Want to learn Portuguese fast? Let’s recap   

• Get real! It takes hundreds of hours to get really fluent, but if you’re clear on what you need your Portuguese for and you use smart methods, you can make rapid progress.
• Don’t skimp on sound. Get key aspects of pronunciation right and you’ll win friends and influence people (well, they won’t run away or switch to English, at least
• You don’t need all the grammar, just the main sentence patterns.
• You must learn the highest frequency vocab. The first 650 words. Then “toolkit phrases”, conversational fillers and connectors and the bespoke vocab that matters for your, personal needs.
• Apply “brain savvy” methods to remember patterns and vocab. Effortful intensive, deliberate practice will speed things up.
• Use a course to present you with just what you need, to avoid wasting time, confusion and overwhelm.
• Read and listen for pleasure as much as you can. You don’t have to “speak from day one” but to get good at speaking, you need to start and practise, practise, practise. One-to-ones with a teacher or exchange partner are great for this.

Related posts

Ten reasons why you should learn Portuguese…and why Spanish can wait

The post How to learn Portuguese fast appeared first on How to get fluent, with Dr Popkins.

Just what I needed!

It never rains, but it pours (as they say).

As I’m sure you can imagine, one result of these unexpected misfortunes was that my usual language learning routines were up in the air.

Come to think of it, that’s something that happens several times a year in more normal times as well, when I’m on an extended trip abroad with work, for example. 

I’m sure you, too, experience periods of life crisis when it’s suddenly much more of an ask to keep up with a regular daily slot, whether it’s for focussed study or for plugging away at deliberate practice with your language (however you get it). 

Yet there are often things we can do to keep the language gently ticking over through the turbulence.

Things that might even provide a dollop of language learning balm to keep us occupied when we’re on a long flight…

…or take our minds off worries as we sit in a hospital waiting room.  

Here are three of my “easy fixes” for times like these:   

Passive audio  

I’m subscribed to several beginner level podcasts in Japanese and I can also use my phone to tune in to native-radio stations in my advanced languages.

If you’re following a language course, make sure you’ve got the audio in portable form.

Switch it on when you’re on the train, exercising or in the shower.

If you fancy live radio, try playing around with the site radio.garden

There, you’ll find a globe.

You can spin it round, zoom in and out and lock on to a station from any location you like and, after a few seconds, it’ll start streaming.

Great fun to play with and you might just find something new:

Something to read

As for packing books, when I packed for Oxford at short notice, my rucksack was already loaded with two laptops, folders and papers from work, ready for an indeterminate period away.  On the language front, all I could carry was a 91-page novella in Basque.  

Maybe it’s time I tried a Kindle.

Your emergency reading matter could be printouts of the dialogues from your language course, a magazine or something on that Kindle. 

Something to scroll

Oh, and I like to keep a deck of vocab flashcards in my jacket pocket (and a flashcard review app like Anki on my phone).

If flashcards aren’t your thing, do you have a separate social media accounts where you just follow people who post in your target language? 

Whether it’s a German Twitter feed, your fave Spanish Instagrammers or Russians on TikTok…when you just feel like scrolling, do it in the lingo  

_____________________________

Of course, there may also be times when you’re simply not able to engage at all.

Days or weeks might pass when your language has to be fully “on hold”.

But, if you’re already a serious student, a complete pause in itself is nothing to worry about.

I often find that a total break can have real benefits at the level of sub-conscious consolidation. 

Then, when things are back to normal and I’m ready to “get regular” again, my language learning anchors help stabilise the ship as the engines fire up. 

But that’s a topic for a later post.

For now, I’m happy to report that my dad made a full and relatively rapid recovery.

Fixing the ceilings in my dining room and study has taken rather longer and has been massively disruptive (partly because I had far too much stuff piled up in my study and everything needed to be sorted and moved).

But, this week, after a five month wait, the plasterer has been round. He’s done a great job.

Next up: the painter.

Here’s a vlog on the “keeping things ticking over” theme. I shot it from my dad’s village when I was over there last September.

Related posts:

Six tips for keeping going with your language learning

How to learn a language at home in the crisis

Language learning anchors and getting back on track

The post How to keep learning a language when life’s turned upside down appeared first on How to get fluent, with Dr Popkins.

Why you’re good enough to get fluent, even if others are better

If you’re anything like me, you may sometimes look at other people and wish that you had their language talents.

Maybe you know a great learner who has the natural ability to mimic accents.

Maybe you know someone with a superior memory for words and phrases.

It could be someone with more self-discipline…

…or a more outgoing personality.

But don’t let that be a cause of despair!

First, let’s remember that aptitude for language learning involves a bundle of skills.

Everyone’s stronger in some and weaker in others.

Second, you may be able to develop some of your weaker ones with the right training and practice.

Still, however much we compensate, innate differences will always remain.

And there’s nothing we can do about it.

It might not be fair…

…but it won’t stop you getting fluent.

That’s because the common-or-garden human brain is predisposed to recognise patterns, including the patterns that make up a new language.

This isn’t only true of children.

Today the specialists stress the importance of neuroplasticity: the ability of many parts of the brain to rewire to perform different or new functions; how the system as a whole can go on learning deep into old age.

The brain, I’ve heard neuroscientists such as Thomas H. Bak from Edinburgh University explain, really is a language learning machine.

What you have to do is to feed that grey matter with lots of material.

You have to give your language your effective attention.

You can greatly help things along with what’s called deliberate practice: focus on aspects of your language through interactive activities with constructive feedback.

Your engagement doesn’t have to be optimal.

It does have to be ongoing.

Sort that out and a big part of the trick to getting fluent boils down to patience.

You need to trust the process, trust your brain.

It may not feel like it, but actually, dear Language Learner, you’re an absolute natural!

Why “your pace” is fast enough

I’ve been wrestling with my advanced level languages for several decades now.

Thanks to that, I’ve got quite good at them…

…though not as good as I’d like, perhaps.

Anyway, one thing I’ve noticed over all this time is that, out there in the real world, these languages are always changing.

In French, Welsh, German and Russian there’s a whole new “internet” vocab that wasn’t there when I started.

A common feature of these and many other languages is that there are lots more loan words from English.

Even the British English that I hear in the UK has become more Americanised than it was in my childhood and youth, in the 70s and 80s.

But here’s the thing.

These changes stand out because they’re actually pretty marginal.

We can still read nineteenth century authors like Dickens or Melville, Balzac or Dostoevsky with our twenty-first century English, French or Russian.

At the start of the pandemic, just to get myself in the mood, I read Daniel Defoe’s Journal of the Plague Year. It’s a fictional diary set in London in the year of the Great Plague (1665) and published in 1772.

Sure, some of the English seems pretty archaic, but I could still follow the action.

Go back a bit with some languages and you’ll find bigger changes.

Turkish vocabulary, for example, was extensively modified in the 1930s to “purge” the language of foreign influences.

But most of us won’t be learning a new language with the primary intention of reading literature from a century or five ago.

Yes, your new language is a big beast.

But it’s a slothful, lumbering one.

Keep going at a moderate pace and you’ll be the one who’s moving faster.

You can “head your language off at the pass”, no sweat!

Why you don’t need to worry about the judgment of others

Here’s a thought that’s actually much more cheery than it might, at first, sound:

Nobody cares about how good you are at your new language anyway.

Well, that’s not quite right.

I care, your teacher will care and you obviously care.

And, out “in the field”, using your language, you may come across the odd stickler who’s more than happy to correct you as you go.

But take any unsolicited feedback in good part.

As you speak, don’t let the fear (or the inevitable fact) of making lots of mistakes cramp your style.

After all, you’ll often be dealing with busy passers-by, train station staff or shop assistants.

They just want to “get” your message so they can give you directions, sell you that ticket or pass you your chosen loaf of bread as quickly as possible.

Other times, you’ll be speaking with colleagues or clients, with relatives or new acquaintances.

They’re more interested in your work, your background, hobbies and opinions.

So, let’s re-label our fear of making mistakes and our desire for perfection and put them in a box marked “language vanities”.

With a sense of relief, we can simply engage with others in our new language.

Yes, throw yourself into the fray with merry abandon!

Whoever you’re trying to connect with, be secure in the knowledge that they’re probably not paying much attention to your language prowess (or lack of it).

They might actually be more focussed on a humble loaf of bread

In summary

So, those are the three language learning truths:

You don’t need a special talent to get fluent. We’re all language learning naturals.

Languages change over time, but very slowly. Your pace is fast enough. You’ll catch your target.

People aren’t too worried about how well you speak. So cut yourself some slack, relax and use your language to get things done and to make connections.

Related posts

A talent for languages? Yes, no and what to do

How long does it take to learn a language? The truth

Have you got the fluency mindset?

Great inspirational quotes for language learners

The post Three encouraging language learning truths appeared first on How to get fluent, with Dr Popkins.

This post is addressed to you if you’re a beginner, a false beginner or rusty.

That said, much of what you’ll read will also help intermediate learners who are ready to move swiftly to the next level.

Rapid Spanish: a reality check

Spanish has a reputation as a relatively “easy language” for native English speakers. All the same, there’s no hiding it: getting good at Spanish is a big undertaking that takes a lot of time. You’ll need maybe 300 hours study for a basic, functional “working knowledge” at the “lower intermediate” level (sometimes called “B1”). 

But here’s the thing! If you’re motivated and follow the advice in this post, you can achieve specific goals a lot more quickly. 

Then, once you get airborne, anything is possible!

Another home truth before we start.

To learn Spanish as quickly as possible, you need to take responsibility for your own progress.

No teacher can beam the language into your head.

“School style” group Spanish classes very inefficient if you rely on them on their own, though group language classes can give your learning a clear framework, a welcome social dimension and help with motivation.

Much more efficient are one-to-one classes with a paid teacher. If you can’t afford that, you could do language exchanges (where half the session is in Spanish to help you and half in English to help your Spanish-speaking, English learning exchange partner).

If you’re an adult learner, make effective self-study and lots of practice your two Spanish rapid progress boosters.  

And let’s be clear from the get go on one other thing: nobody ever got fluent in Spanish just by using an app. Some apps are better than other. Remember, many are “gamified” to, erm, keep you on the app. What are they good for? As a supplement or for some extra down-time engagement (if you don’t feel like doing something more effective instead).

1. Learn with your specific Spanish goals in mind

You might want to be able to connect with in-laws or grandchildren or use the language to get things done and make wonderful memories when you’re travelling. You might already be into aspects of Spanish culture and want to experience it from within.  You may want to forge new business contacts by giving a presentation in the language or bond less formally with potential customers afterwards.  

You’re clear on what you want your Spanish for?

You’re sure you REALLY want it?

And you want it, like, yesterday?  

Ok, let’s look at the other things that you need to do to learn Spanish fast.  

2. Master pronunciation fundamentals

Time may be short, but don’t be tempted to neglect the key elements of the Spanish soundscape. If you haven’t tuned your ear in properly, your listening skills will suffer even if you know the words or grammar “on paper”. 

You’ll sound dire, too.  

Focus on sounds that are different from English. Understand that getting the rhythm and intonation of phrases right can be even more important than the pronunciation of individual sounds and words. 

You don’t need to polish so much that you could pass for a native. But, pay attention to the right things and you can “sound” better than you are. 

That matters because you need to win the confidence of the fluent Spanish speaker you want to talk to. 

If you fail at key aspects of accent, talking with you can be a real strain for them.

There’s a risk they’ll just switch to English…or avoid you altogether. 

From the very start, find a speaker to model yourself on. Ideally, this will be somebody of your gender and roughly your age. It should certainly be somebody who speaks the variety of Spanish you’d like to speak, for example somebody speaking standard Spanish from Spain, Mexican, Argentinian Spanish…

3. Get the main sentence patterns 

If you want to learn Spanish fast, don’t get distracted by abstract Spanish grammar for its own sake.

Don’t get bogged down in tables showing Spanish verb and case endings. 

Instead, think of grammar as the most important repeatable Spanish sentence patterns. Focus relentlessly on these patterns. 

Grasp rules of thumb that explain what’s going on and that you can apply on the wing. Learn the highest frequency exceptions. 

Later, when you’ve developed more of a feel for what sounds right, you can work some more on “grammar” to help you fill in the gaps, refine your expression and explain surprises. 

4. Learn the most frequent Spanish vocab

Raw wordpower matters but did you know that just 250 words or so make up about 50% of everyday Spanish? 

Build up to six or seven hundred “essential words” and you’re very much in business. 

Reach 1000 words, you can understand 80% of an everyday Spanish text and say a lot of what you want, even if you have to explain things in a roundabout way.  

Your “first thousand” should include the 650 most common words (the top 50 Spanish verbs are of course, important among them).

5. Add three types of fluency booster vocabulary 

Add to those 650 or so most common words another three classes of words and phrases (think of them as special fluency weapons in your drive to learn Spanish quickly): 

Filler and conversational connector words such as “bueno…” (well…), “pues…” (well…), “a ver” (let’s see), “digo” (I mean), “y tal” (and so on). They pepper natural speech and can really help move a conversation forward. 

“Tool kit phrases” that help you keep up and learn as you go, without switching to English: “¿Qué es X en español? (What is X in Spanish?) “Por favor habla más despacio“ (Please speak more slowly) and so on. 

Your own personal “islands of fluency”, that’s to say, bespoke words and phrases that may not be so common but which relate to your personal need for Spanish: talking about your profession, hobbies, goals and so on. 

6. Learn how to get Spanish into your memory (and out again)

Ok, Dr P, but how do I actually remember the key grammar patterns and essential vocab well enough to use them in real life? 

Not by accident! Not in your sleep! Not with one magic method! 

First, you need to get words into your memory (“encoding”). 

To help you remember, understand how Spanish words are formed, look out for similarities with English, understand how Spanish makes bigger words out of smaller parts by gluing smaller words into bigger ones (compounding) or adding prefixes and suffixes.  

Use memory association techniques to remember individual words. 

Learn “chunks”, that’s short phrases for every situation that native speakers of any language deploy without thinking.  

Second, you need to make sure you don’t forget what you’ve just learned. 

It’s been shown that reviewing material as soon as the day after you first tried to learn it and then at increasing intervals is the way to make it stick. The method is called the spacing effect.      

Paper flashcards or a flashcard app with the English on one side and the Spanish on the other are great for this.

Flashcards not your thing? Then you can double down on lots of reading and listening practice with your course materials and other sources that interest you.   

7. Make your learning more effortful for maximum efficiency

Work creatively with your new vocab, chunks and grammar patterns you want to focus on. 

Make up your own short dialogues with your words and phrases and practice with a conversation partner. Do the questions and other exercises that come with your course make your own. Dictation and translation back and forth can be powerful activities to get you working intensively with new examples of Spanish that you’ve just come across. 

Test yourself to turn vocab and grammar review from just repetition into more effective recall.

Working with flashcards or translation from English into Spanish makes for more effortful interaction, great for consolidating memories! 

Go back to your dictation, translation and or other exercises at intervals.  

In short, don’t be passive, be interactive with your Spanish texts and audio.

Make your learning effortful. 

If you’re tired after focused study, that’s a good sign. No pain, less gain!

Yes! Deliberate practice like this is hard.

You may well finish a session feeling more frustrated than when you began or even that you’re going backwards. 

Master your mind, stick at it and trust the process.  

8. Get a good beginner’s Spanish course

With new sounds, grammar patterns and vocab to master, you could easily waste a lot of time gathering scattered materials for yourself. You can end up overwhelmed and not knowing where to start. 

If you want to learn Spanish fast, do yourself a favour and begin with a well designed course that introduces the high-frequency Spanish that ALL beginners need in a step-by-step way. 

Spanish is a world language with different standard accents and differences in vocabulary from country to country. It makes sense to follow the version you want to use as a model for your accent and turn of phrase, so choose a course that teaches that variety or one that explains key differences between the varieties.

Working through the course unit by unit, week by week is a great way to pace your learning. 

You can also refer back to your course materials if you hit questions when you’re out using your language “in the wild”. 

Make sure the course is dialogue based, has audio with transcript and parallel translations into English. 

Go for courses that have some explicit grammar explanation but made accessible and with a light touch. If you like exercises, make sure your course also supplies self-correct answers. 

My recommended beginner’s course is Spanish Uncovered, from StoryLearning (with 67% off for Black Friday 2022 only).

9. Get lots of enjoyable reading and listening practice

Focussed study with the aid of a good course will accelerate your progress in Spanish remarkably, but it’s not enough on its own.  

If you want to learn Spanish fast, you also need a lot of exposure to the language: listen, read.  Don’t just limit yourself to the variety of Spanish you want to speak. Aim to get used to speakers from different Spanish-speaking countries, of different ages and background.

Once you’ve got some basics through your course – or earlier if you feel the urge – get started earlier with more relaxed “extensive” listening and reading. 

Here the aim is to get enough to follow main thread of conversation or a story. 

Extensive listening and reading are great helping you remember what you’ve already seen. 

Plus: if the material isn’t too difficult for you, you’ll be able to “acquire” more Spanish as well in a natural context, sub- or semi-consciously, without deliberate effort.  

So, find books to read aimed at learners at your level.

Try podcasts for learners in the language, ideally with transcripts. 

Some successful learners love diving into authentic content (i.e. made for natives) asap too.

To make reading native-level material easier, choose short articles on factual topics, read stories that you already know in English or use a parallel text with Spanish on the right and an English translation on the left

As for listening, you may find it easier to watch the Spanish (original or dubbed) films or series that you already know in their English versions.

As you start watching authentic Spanish films, TV shows and YouTube vides, don’t be shy of switching on the subtitles to help (but, beyond the very earliest stages, use the Spanish ones). 

The golden rule for “extensive” reading and listening practice is this: find things you find interesting and would want to listen to or watch in English anyway.  That way, it’s going to be so much easier to clock up hours and hours of enjoyable practice.  

10. Should I start speaking Spanish from the beginning? 

Whether you should speak from the very beginning depends on your personality. 

If you’re the gregarious type who loves talking, learn the absolute basics and then throw yourself into using the language. Otherwise, there’s a risk your motivation will flag and you’ll give up. 

If you’re not so social, it’s also not a problem.  For you, conscious vocabulary and pattern building, reading or listening will be much more efficient activities in the early stages.  When you start to speak, you’ll have a larger vocab and more experience of what sounds right and better listening skills. All these will help you activate your speaking more rapidly than somebody who focusses on speaking from the very beginning.

Most of us want to speak as well, though, and you can’t get good at speaking without speaking a lot. 

Don’t put off speaking too long, just because you don’t “feel ready”. You don’t want to pass up on opportunities to make new friends in your language.

More than that, if you want to learn Spanish quickly, don’t be a perfectionist. 

Don’t fixate on mistakes. Nobody cares. Instead, focus on your message and on the other person.

Prepare and practice short, relevant “scripts” on conversation topics that you’re going to need. 

Guess intelligently, pick up non-verbal clues to meaning, use those filler and conversational connector words to sound more authentic and win some time. Ask questions for the same reason and to check you’ve understood.  

If you already know Spanish speakers with whom you can practise, great.

That said, will they always have time to help you as you strive to move forward at pace? Will they have the knowledge of the language to explain why things are said a certain way?  Do they know how to give feedback constructively?

Don’t pay for a teacher to explain things you can get much more cost and time effectively from a good course.

No, where a teacher can really help is to explain things you’re stuck on and to ensure that you get consistent deliberate practice speaking. A good teacher will be able to give you reasoned feedback on your speaking and writing.  

Try out different teachers over Skype or Zoom on a platform like italki.com. When you’ve “clicked” with one or two, book a series of sessions in advance to make sure they really do happen.

The platform I use for this is italki.com. I’m such a fan, I’ve had over six hundred lessons (for several languages).

Want to learn Spanish fast? Let’s recap   

• Get real! It takes hundreds of hours to get really fluent, but if you’re clear on what you need your Spanish for and you use smart methods, you can make rapid progress.
• Don’t skimp on sound. Get key aspects of pronunciation right and you’ll win friends and influence people (well, they won’t run away or switch to English, at least
• You don’t need all the grammar, just the main sentence patterns.
• You must learn the highest frequency vocab. The first 650 words. Then “toolkit phrases”, conversational fillers and connectors and the bespoke vocab that matters for your, personal needs.
• Apply “brain savvy” methods to remember patterns and vocab. Effortful intensive, deliberate practice will speed things up.
• Use a course to present you with just what you need, to avoid wasting time, confusion and overwhelm.
• Read and listen for pleasure as much as you can. You don’t have to “speak from day one” but to get good at speaking, you need to start and practise, practise, practise. One-to-ones with a teacher or exchange partner are great for this.

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