Listen UP!

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

TRANSCRIPT

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

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

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

--- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/andrea-schweitzer/support

Listen Up! is a podcast designed to help you acquire English through comprehensible listening interactions.  The more you listen and interact with language content that is COMPREHENSIBLE to you, the more you will acquire that language and improve your ability to use it.  Podcasts that focus on providing comprehensible input have been a tremendous resource for me in my efforts to learn other languages.  If your goal is to become a fluent English speaker and you are at or above the novice-high proficiency range, it is my hope that this podcast will be as helpful to you as other podcasts have been to me. Happy language learning!!  =) 

TRANSCRIPT

Hi! Welcome to Listen Up!, a podcast that helps you acquire English through comprehensible listening interactions. As you LISTEN and comprehend this podcast, it will help to increase or “UP” your English vocabulary and proficiency level.  My name is Andrea and today we will be talking about learning a new language, in particular, English.  Learning a new language can often feel difficult, hard and frustrating. Sometimes it can feel so difficult and so hard and so frustrating that people think they are no good at learning a language. But that is silly!  The brain is capable of acquiring multiple languages.  Look at how you already mastered your first language.  Learning a new language isn’t all that different and it doesn’t have to be difficult.  It just takes time and consistent interaction with COMPREHENSIBLE contexts.  It doesn’t matter how young or how old you are.  What matters most is to find resources that are comprehensible (meaning, you easily understand them) and engaging (meaning, they’re interesting and fun!), such as books, videos, podcasts, games, etcetera. Traditionally, language has been taught as if it were content. In other words, as if it were any other class with rules and vocabulary that can be memorized and transformed into language output.  But spoken language is NOT learned like the content in math class or history class or science class.  Language for communication is a skill. Skills aren’t really “learned” but rather “acquired” over time. Like learning how to ride a bicycle. You can’t read rules about how to put a bike together and then suddenly expect to be able to ride it!  So, while it is possible to “learn” a bunch of grammar rules and while it is possible to “learn” a bunch of vocabulary, your brain won’t really be able to process any of that data spontaneously (in other words, automatically, easily, naturally). That won’t be possible until it is “acquired” or “wired” into the language centers in your brain. AND in order for language to be acquired and wired into the brain, the brain needs to receive LOTS of comprehensible input, that is language that is at or a little above your level and speed of comprehension. It also helps if the language that you hear or read is interesting, engaging, compelling and fun. SO! Whether English is easy for you or difficult for you, stick with it (in other words, continue, don’t stop, don’t give up!), but look for the comprehensible input that meets your needs. It’s especially helpful to find audio interactions that you can comprehend in order to train your ear and brain to process language without seeing written words and pictures or video images. Hopefully this podcast will be a useful companion for you. Thanks for “LISTENing UP” with me. Happy language learning!!

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

INTERACTIVE TRANSCRIPT w/AUDIO and activities: https://www.textivate.com/menu-0jemn1

VIDEO w/vocabulary support for Chinese, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish (by Molly Sturm): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3Bn9Wv0kbo

--- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/andrea-schweitzer/support