Education
**The Fluent Show**

Learn a Language…Or Maybe Three!
The Fluent Show is on a mission to help you get excited about language learning. We learn languages every day in our lives, and have learnt over 15 different languages between us.

We share stories, news, tips, and ideas that will make you fluent…eventually. Subscribe to the show today to get your regular dose of Fluent love.

It is worth clarifying that we actively want to support anti-racism and will highlight and advocate for the equality of all. Language learning means committing to tolerance of other world views, and this open mind is a core value for me. This topic deserves well considered words so here are [the best Kerstin managed to put together.](https://www.fluent.show/blacklivesmatter)

Latest Episodes:

Top 5 Fictional Languages Oct 16, 2016

Show notes

Do you speak Sindarin?

In this episode, Lindsay and I went full-on nerd and we were loving it! The world of fictional languages is richer than a London billionaire, and we have researched and collected the most awesome fictional languages for you to learn about.

In this episode, you'll hear the new Good, Bad and Struggling followed by the Ultimate Fictional Languages Chart. Here in the shownotes, you'll see our Top 5 and the best of all links available so you can follow along and listen to the show.

Our Top 5 Fictional Languages

Elvish
Nadsat/ Newspeak
Klingon
Minionese
Simlish

Dothraki, High Valyrian and Game of Thrones

Elvish, Quenya and Tolkien

Klingon and Vulcan

Youtube clip of Mark Okrand talking about how he developed Klingon of him describing the development).
The Klingon Language Institute
The Klingon copyright case in 2016
Klingon teacher on Youtube: Lesson 1
Klingon phrasebook for your intergalactic needs

Na'vi

Simlish

Minion Language

Newspeak in 1984

1984 - Newspeak on YouTube

Nadsat in A Clockwork Orange

Droogs quarrel in the Korova Milk Bar

The Good, The Bad and The Struggling

Routines lapsing for the summer, looking forward to September, and permission to half-ass online courses in this week's catch-up with Lindsay and Kerstin.

What's your Good, Bad and Struggling?

We'd love to hear from you guys on this one. If you want to share what's good, bad and difficult in your languages right now, send your feedback to us. We read every one and your language news could make it to a show intro in the future.

Simply do one of the following:

1) go on Skype and leave a voice message for fluentlanguage
2) or email us at podcast@fluentlanguage.co.uk - include a voice memo from your phone if you can, so we can feature your voice on the show

Topic: Language Learning Can Bring World Peace

Language is a beautiful caress that can make strangers melt into friends, but la gusgen is also a verbal door that can be closed in the face of outsiders. (Eddie Butler)

We went for deep stuff, and discussed the many ways that language learning can improve the world. From individual peace of mind, via tolerance in your everyday life, to changing the outlook of your country.

We found it felt wrong not to talk about moving abroad. Considering what's happening in Britain this year, the discussion turned to migration. Do people miss out when something foreign is added to the community? Our discussion might surprise you, because as always all isn't quite what it seems. And yes, we did say the B-word: Brexit.

And what about language education in schools? If we believe that language learning creates world peace, should we make everyone learn as many languages as possible?

The Power of Language

Finally, we only need to give you one word that shows something very interesting: migrant. Even when you're not learning a foreign language, the way that people and media around us use language to shape opinions affects everyone's life.

We touch on the idea that language can send signals about all of us, and make or break peace.

In our discussion, Lindsay and I got as close as you can get to saying horrible words. But not all the way there.

We hope you have a listen to find out more, and get in touch to tell us where you stand on language and world peace.

Links and Resources

Lingo Newydd, Welsh Learning Magazine
Lindsay on IWTYAL and Olly IWTYAL on the Creative Language Learning Podcast
Everyone's A Little Bit Racist by Avenue Q
Babel, the Language Magazine is talking about how "migrant" as a word has changed
BBC Article

Don't Avoid Language Speakers Aug 28, 2016

Show notes

Hello and welcome to Episode 48 of the Creative Language Learning Podcast!

We started off our episode with some insights into what's going on with our language learning - in a new format! It's called the good, the bad and the struggling. Listen in and tell us what you think!

What's your Good, Bad and Struggling?

Simply do one of the following:

1) go on Skype and leave a voice message for fluentlanguage
2) email us at podcast@fluentlanguage.co.uk - include a voice memo from your phone if you can, so we can feature your voice on the show

Topic: You Do Not Need a Native Speaker For Practice

This one had a controversial statement at the heart of it, and Lindsay and I debated the merits of hunting, finding, selecting, working with and learning with native speakers.

So, do you need a native speaker to learn a language?

Or can you learn a language just as well if you don't have a native speaker to practice with?

One of us argued that native speakers are almost "fetishized" in the world of language learning -- listen in to find out which one and see where our debate ended up.

A Good Handle on The Hangul Aug 14, 2016

Show notes

In this episode, we let you guys take us where you wanted us to go with your awesome listener messages.

Some of What We Talked About

Where to go when you travel to Lithuania (home of our first listener)
Great tips for studying Korean, like how to study the grammar and where to go next after learning Hangul script
Is there ever a perfect language course that is not too slow and not too fast?
How to set yourself little language goals
Great apps on your smartphone that help you learn languages
How to beat procrastination when you’re supposed to be studying your languages

((Find our homescreen gallery on the blog or at www.fluentlanguage.co.uk/podcast)))

We want to thank you guys so much for sending us so much feedback (especially Paulina, Stephen and Andy) in this episode. Keep it coming, we always read your reviews and feedback and definitely want more voice messages.

You Can Be On The Show

You can submit your message to us anytime. Simply do one of the following:

go on Skype and leave a voice message for fluentlanguage
OR
email us at kerstin@fluentlanguage.co.uk - include a voice memo from your phone if you can, so we can feature your voice on the show
leave a comment on this blog post

Make sure you mention your name and which languages you’re learning.

Links and Resources From This Episode

Polyglot Symposium in Canada, where Lindsay gave a talk about Social Media and Language Learning
National Eisteddfod - Eisteddfod Genedlaethol, the National Festival of Wales
Lindsay’s Language Script Challenge
italki, where you can find informal and formal tutoring

Korean

How to Study Korean
First Step Korean, free online Korean course on Coursera
Audio for Colloquial Korean by Routledge
Podcasts Talk To Me in Korean and Korean Class 101
Naver Dictionary

Welsh

Apps

Linq
Wlingua, learn Spanish online
Memrise
HelloTalk
Duolingo
Innovative Language
Meistertask, for organizing yourself
Tandem
JW Language by Jehovah’s Witnesses (whoah!)
LEO Dictionary

There are so many more that we mention on the show, so don’t forget to check out our home screen gallery for inspiration.

Beating Procrastination

Self Control App for Mac Computers
Leechblock for Firefox
StayFocusd for Chrome
30/30 App for iOS

Mastery and Advanced Level Language Learning Jul 31, 2016

Show notes

Don't forget to catch the mention of our good friends at Flashsticks, the language learning post-it guys. You can purchase vocabulary post-it notes in 8 languages and get 10% off with the code KERSTIN10 - or just download the free Flash Academy app.

When you reach the higher language levels, it's not enough to just study. How does it feel to reach a level where you are looking for ways to go beyond fluency? How can you move towards mastery?

There's no Lindsay in this episode (don't worry, she'll be back very soon!), so I found myself two experts who know what they are talking about:

Tristan Foy, an American polyglot who's currently my advanced German student

and

Gareth Popkins from How To Get Fluent

The episode is full of tips and strategies for reaching the very advanced levels and getting better even after years of study.

Check out the full blog post and show notes for this article at www.fluentlanguage.co.uk/blog/podcast-advanced-language

Key Points:

It's Not About Fast Progress
Advanced Level Means Finding "More" In The Language

"Learning a language is a bit like hugging a cactus - you can never get entirely comfortable"

It Takes Work To Progress

Enjoy the journey, stop for a breather whenever you feel like it and keep going.

Fluency - No One Cares!

Tristan sums this up with a wonderful sentence: Don't worry about getting fluent. Worry about getting better.

You Need Humility

Links and Resources Mentioned In This Episode

How to Get Fluent, Gareth's blog - highly recommended
Ellen Jovin's idea of the Polyglutton
Gareth's summary of the Polyglot Gathering, in which he explains what "The Need Principle" is:> Learning another language is a long, hard process, requiring a lot of dedication (..) After all, as an adult trying to learn a new language it’s all about “overcoming human nature”. You need, erm, “need”: you’re either surrounded by the language, you know somebody who speaks it, you have an unusual interest in the country or culture or the language will benefit you at work
Wade's Russian Grammar
Hammer's German Grammar
Teach Yourself Courses
Our sponsors Flashsticks

Special Guest: Gareth Popkins.

How To Learn a Language Using Snapchat Jul 18, 2016

Show notes

In our introduction, we take you on a tour de force German kids' TV, Icelandic football cheering, and the pronunciation of Montréal.

Don't forget to catch the mention of our good friends at Flashsticks, the language learning post-it guys. You can purchase vocabulary post-it notes in 8 languages and get 10% off with the code KERSTIN10 - or just download the free Flash Academy app.

What is Snapchat?

Snapchat is a social media app for any smartphone. It lets you share photos or videos, and your snap only lasts 24 hours unless you make it a "memory".

Of course you can change the menu language, but with such strong visual focus that alone won't teach you a language.

It's designed for camera phones and not available on your desktop computer.

Why is it awesome?

It's easy, fast and low-pressure. In other photo social networks, you would be tempted to make every picture stunning and impressive and beautiful. But in Snapchat, you'll just play and learn in the process. What does that mean? No more shyness, no more reasons to avoid speaking!
It allows you to stitch things together into a story, so you can share a 5-second snap, or go ahead and combine several videos to show how you speak a foreign language.
For language learning, the new Memories feature is a way to track your progress. Record yourself speaking today, save the memory, and try the same thing in a month. You'll be surprised at your own progress!

Great Accounts to Follow (Click for the Snapcodes)

Links and Further Reading - Become a Snapchat Expert

How I Use Snapchat For Language Learning on Lindsay's blog
North American Polyglot Symposium, where Lindsay is giving a talk this weekend
Ghostcodes app
Die Sendung mit der Maus, German kids' TV show with bilingual credits

Are You a Snapchat User?

If you use Snapchat for language learning (or not), leave us a comment and share your usernames and snapcodes.

Thank you guys so much for being podcast listeners, chatting to us on twitter (I'm @kerstinhammes and Lindsay is @ldlanguages) and making your voices heard!

Be Like a Waffle (Language Learning in Country) Jul 03, 2016

Show notes

Episode 44 is kindly sponsored by our friends at Flashsticks. Check out their new app Flash Academy is out now. It's a language playground offering you light lessons, games and quizzes. Go check it out for free at Flash Sticks and get 10% off everything at the site with code KERSTIN10.

Learning a Language In-Country

Learning a language where it is spoken is one of the Top 5 wishes on every learner's bucket list. In this episode, we explore stories and tips about language learning - including Lindsay's travels to Costa Rica, and what Kerstin's English was like on day 1 in England.

What's different between home learning and in-country learning?
The risk and benefit of having a "home library" for language learning
How can you build your in-country vocabulary?
Why having no choice is the single best thing you can do for your language skills
The three types of in-country learning: Short Stay, Mid-Stay and Complete Life Change
How to rank and assess your language level on the "Kerstin Cable Breakfast Food Scale"
German learners! Kerstin is inviting you to come to Germany and speak for a week at the Fluent German Retreat
Exactly what to do when people correct you as you speak another language
What does it mean when you start to dream and think in another language?

Plus: Bonus Secret

We started off the show comparing a few Duolingo notes, and finally find out what happens when you finish a Duolingo skill tree.

Links and Resources from this Show

Becoming Fluent book by Roger Kreuz and Richard Roberts
Creative Language Learning Podcast Episode 32 - the one about habit building
Learn German in Germany with Kerstin at the Fluent German Retreat
Lindsay's "Learning x in x" Series on Youtube
Derren Brown
David Blaine's interview
Paul McKenna - stage hypnotist and self help guy

You Can Be On The Show!

Do you want to become a part of the Creative Language Learning Podcast? Then send us your feedback!

We would love you to record a voicemail on your phone and email it to kerstin@fluentlanguage.co.uk -- send us a question or a comment so you can be on the show.

Got Duolingo or Flashsticks Academy on your phone?

Then take a picture and send it to kerstin@fluentlanguage.co.uk or tweet @kerstinhammes and @ldlanguages #cllp to see your "learner phone" featured in a future show.

Episode 47: What We Think About Brexit Jul 03, 2016

Show notes

Dear listeners,

As this is our first show since the UK's historic EU referendum, we wanted to take a minute to talk to you guys about Brexit, Britain's exit from the European Union.

Lindsay and I both stand firmly on the side of "Remain", the campaign that did not want British people to vote for leaving the EU. For me as a German citizen, it is particularly heartbreaking to see my adopted home country vote for a process that is going to strengthen the lines between our countries. For Lindsay as a Brit, it has created an atmosphere in which it's difficult to feel at home. On a personal level, the result devastated both of us, although we respect the many different opinions that will have gone through voters' minds on the day.

The reports of xenophobic and intolerant comments and incidents since the result were another shock. Racial abuse is not acceptable behaviour, and this is not a time to turn to politicians promising to improve things by hurting foreigners.

Of course, there are also concerns about what leaving the European Union might mean for the UK's other nations and their own languages, especially Wales and Scotland. This is a time of real uncertainty, and Lindsay and I are finding ourselves in the middle of it.

We believe that being British does not exclude being European. We want to live in a prosperous, positive and inclusive Europe, and believe in a philosophy that emphasizes unity, working together and holding our country to the highest possible standard. In the following show, you'll hear our stories of being in other countries, and how amazing the experience can be for growth as language learners and as humans. We hope that Britain will find a path that keeps this freedom and commitment to an international fuutre available to all of its citizens, and all that want to experience languages in the UK.

Thank you guys so much for listening to our show, and for opening your life to all the benefits of language learning. We wish you all the best today.

Kerstin and Lindsay

language
diversity — **Language is Everything: Talking Language Activism with Wikitongues** Jun 19, 2016
Show notes

Oour good friends at Flashsticks are back as podcast sponsors - go check out their awesome new app and post-it notes in 8 languages at Flashsticks.com and claim 10% discount using code KERSTIN10.

"This is one of the most important things that we can do as humans - to constantly strive to learn about things that we don't understand."

An organization dedicated to raising awareness of language diversity.

We all know that language is important, but after listening to this episode you'll be amazed at the enormous variety of perspectives on this topic. Non-profit organization Wikitongues looks at languages from all points of view - as a metaphor for life.

What do we lose when a language dies?

There are communities that lose their ability to lose their own language - when a language is lost, the individuals in that community lose a part of who they are. Language death is both a loss of history and a loss of identity.

If you oppose racism, mysogyny, genocide and oppresion, you must support language diversity!

And if you thought language discrimination was a thing of the past, think again: Languages like Occitan and Cornish are experiencing it right now.

Links from this episode

Youtube Channel of Wikitongues

Language or Linguistic Rights is the summary of human rights that cover our rights to speak and choose our languages.

Poly, the app by Wikitongues

The World in Words podcast: Who in Japan speaks Ainu?

The World in Words podcast: Welsh is considered a model for language revitalization, but its fate is still uncertain

Yvonne Treis's Book about Moselfränkisch: "Ein Kaffee zum Mitholen, bitte!"

Some cool languages documented on Wikitongues:

Nafasana, a language of Vanuatu (where?)

Ainu, a language of Japan

Note for pedants: In the interview, the Universal Declaration for Human Rights was mentioned, but the speaker may have meant the Universal Declaration for Linguistic Rights. I researched this but could not find the exact quote in either one. If you know more details, go ahead and leave a comment or itunes review to help us out.

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The Fluent Show

Our Top 5 Fictional Languages

Dothraki, High Valyrian and Game of Thrones

Elvish, Quenya and Tolkien

Klingon and Vulcan

Na'vi

Simlish

Minion Language

Newspeak in 1984

Nadsat in A Clockwork Orange

Other Links and Resources From This Episode

In This Episode You'll Hear

Missed the Quiz?

Links From This Episode

The Good, The Bad and The Struggling

What's your Good, Bad and Struggling?

Topic: Language Learning Can Bring World Peace

The Power of Language

Links and Resources

What's your Good, Bad and Struggling?

Topic: You Do Not Need a Native Speaker For Practice

So, do you need a native speaker to learn a language?

Some of What We Talked About

You Can Be On The Show

Links and Resources From This Episode

Korean

Welsh

Apps

Beating Procrastination

Links and Resources Mentioned In This Episode

What is Snapchat?

Why is it awesome?

Great Accounts to Follow (Click for the Snapcodes)

Links and Further Reading - Become a Snapchat Expert

Are You a Snapchat User?

Learning a Language In-Country

Plus: Bonus Secret

Links and Resources from this Show

You Can Be On The Show!

Got Duolingo or Flashsticks Academy on your phone?

What do we lose when a language dies?

Links from this episode

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