The Unconventional Polyglot: A Unique Approach to Learning Languages

In this episode I cover which languages Busuu offers, how their language courses are structured, what makes Busuu different from other apps (particularly Duolingo), and my personal likes and dislikes related to the app.

In this episode, based on recent personal experience, I advocate maintaining a language study routine that encompasses all four major aspects of language: reading, listening, speaking, and writing.

In this episode, I rank the 18 Duolingo courses that I have personally worked through.

In this episode, I lay out the method I use to best ensure that I retain as much vocabulary as possible while I read materials in one of my target languages.

In this episode, I outline a method I use to organize and retain vocabulary into my long-term memory.  I am confident that if you follow the steps in this method, you will be able to add many, many new words into your target-language vocabulary.

In this episode, I look back at my goals for language-learning in 2022 and how well I met those goals.  Then I discuss what my language-learning goals are for 2023.

In this episode, I take a look at a question that any language-learner is likely to ask themself numerous times along the language-learning process, along with tips on how to measure progress toward fluency.

In this episode, I discuss, largely based on my own (extensive) personal experience, why it may or may not be a good idea to study several languages at once, depending on the language learner.

In this episode, I discuss the so-called 'intermediate plateau' in language-learning, its cause, and several ways to overcome it.

In this episode, I discuss the advantages and disadvantages of learning multiple closely-related languages at the same time.

In this episode, I recommend French Short Stories For Intermediate Level, a 3-volume series by Frederic Bibard, Intermediate French Short Stories by LingoMastery, Short Stories in French and 101 Conversations in Simple/Intermediate French by Olly Richards, Le Petit Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, L'etranger by Albert Camus, and Harry Potter à L'École des Sorciers (French version) by J.K. Rowling.

In this episode, I cover five Youtube Channels (Easy French, Français Authentique, Parapluie French, French with Pascal, and C'est pas Sorcier) and four podcasts (Inner French, Français avec Yasmine, Français Authentique, and Français avec Fluidite).

In this episode, I discuss most of the apps that I have used to learn French.

In this episode, I discuss how feasible it is to achieve fluency in a target language using only apps.

In this episode, I discuss the inevitable frustration that occurs in language learning, and how that frustration can either be turned into motivation or it can lead to giving up.

In this episode, I discuss why I highly recommend using a variety of different resources to learn a language, rather than relying on one or two resources alone.

In this episode, I discuss some of the ways that overconfidence, particularly influenced by some apps and level-assessment tests, can arise.  This overconfidence can then easily turn into self-doubt once the reality of how much time and effort remains to reach fluency sinks in.

In this episode, I discuss the self-doubt that commonly accompanies the frustrations that arise during language-learning, and I offer a couple of ways to minimize that doubt.

In this episode, I give suggestions for speaking activities that you can do with nobody else around to help strengthen your ability to think more quickly and naturally in your target language, leading to better speaking.

In this episode, I talk about the importance of being patient as a language learner, and how a lack of patience can result in a lot of unnecessary frustration and self-doubt.

In this episode, I discuss what is perhaps the most important part of language-learning: listening.  When done in a sufficient quantity and with the right listening materials, listening can significantly advance your language learning.

In this episode, I discuss how powerful repetition has been in my language-learning, after having avoided it for a long time.  I give examples of the use of repetition in reading, listening, and usage of apps.

In this episode, I evaluate how close I came to accomplishing the language-learning goals I had set up for myself at the beginning of 2021, and I introduce my goals and 2 "new" primary target languages for 2022.

In this episode, I address the fairly subjective concept of fluency, as well as common-sense benchmarks to indicate how far you are along the path to fluency.

In this episode, I highlight the books of three particular authors (Paco Ardit, Juan Fernández and Olly Richards) who each have series of graded readers for learners of Spanish.  I also mention an app, LingQ, which is a very useful resource for improving listening comprehension, reading comprehension, and vocabulary retention all at the same time.

In this episode, I recommend the following YouTube channels: Easy Spanish, Spanish Around, Español con Juan (for intermediate learners), Linguriosa (for intermediate to advanced learners), Luisito Comunica and Superholly (for advanced to native speakers).  I also recommend the podcasts Español con Juan, Notes in Spanish, and Spanish-obsessed.

In this episode, I review the Spanish offerings for Duolingo, Memrise, Busuu, LingoDeer, Mango Languages, Mondly, and LingoPie.

In this episode, I go over some of the strengths and deficiencies in some of the most popular language-learning apps.Buzzsprout - Let's get your podcast launched!Start for FREEDisclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.

In this episode, I discuss how making mistakes is a key part of language-learning, and that the only mistakes that are bad are the ones for which you don't make the effort to correct.Buzzsprout - Let's get your podcast launched!Start for FREEDisclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.

In this episode, I tackle the (semi-) myth that in order to truly learn a language, you need to immerse yourself in it.  I discuss how I believe that this is actually true in a sense, but that under many people's circumstances, the best they can probably do is limited immersion, i.e. focusing as completely as possible on a language while you're in the process of studying it, without going to the extreme of avoiding all exposure to your native language .Buzzsprout - Let's get your podcast launched!Start for FREEDisclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.

In this episode, I discuss how interest in a language can just as well develop after you start learning as it can before you start learning.   I use the example of my developing love affair with Portugal and Portuguese to demonstrate this.Buzzsprout - Let's get your podcast launched!Start for FREEDisclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.

In this episode, I discuss my objections to the types of ads and videos out there proclaiming that you can learn a language just by watching TV, or that you can learn a language in some ridiculously short amount of time.  I discuss how these claims are not only wrong, but potentially very detrimental to real language-learning.Buzzsprout - Let's get your podcast launched!Start for FREEDisclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.

In this episode, I discuss the widely-held opinion that children learn languages better than adults, and why that is believed to be the case, from the perspective of both children and adults.Buzzsprout - Let's get your podcast launched!Start for FREEDisclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.

In this episode, I cover five possible disadvantages to learning multiple languages at the same time, along with some reasons why they may not necessarily be actual disadvantages.Buzzsprout - Let's get your podcast launched!Start for FREEDisclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.

In this episode, I discuss five advantages to learning languages simultaneously, as opposed to sequentially, including 1. Having a much broader knowledge of languages, 2. Being able to compare and contrast vocabulary, grammar, syntax, etc. of different languages reinforces them in each of the languages you study, 3. The more languages you study, the less likely you are to get bored or burned out from focusing on one single language too much, 4. You can achieve fluency in more languages faster when learning them in parallel, and 5. Learning languages faster turns you into a polyglot faster!Buzzsprout - Let's get your podcast launched!Start for FREEDisclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.

In this episode, I describe my two-stage method of language-learning.  Stage 1 involves input acquisition (most commonly done with the aid of apps nowadays.   Stage 2 involves output (which includes speaking and writing) as well as intense, active input (which includes listening and reading).  I also tie these two stages to the two classes of target languages, primary and secondary.

In this episode, I describe roughly how much I have progressed (as of early September, 2021) in each of my target languages.  I also introduce the classification of target languages into primary (the focus of a majority of my daily language-learning schedule) and secondary (languages that I only spend a comparatively short amount of time on each day).

In this episode, I discuss my motivations for and experiences of learning Spanish and then Mandarin Chinese.  Both of these language-learning experiences came years before my current plunge into polyglot-madness.

In this episode, I recount how I went from not studying any foreign languages to studying 16 foreign languages, all set into motion by a Jeopardy question.