Intro
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| Chigusa: Welcome to a special Inner Circle Audio Lesson! I'm Chigusa and I'll be your host. My co-host today is the founder of InnovativeLanguage.com... Peter Galante! |
| Peter: Hi everyone! Peter here. |
| Chigusa: In this Inner Circle, we’re talking about… |
| Peter: Building Your Personal Language Learning Profile |
| Chigusa: You’ll Learn... |
| Peter: One - How to Keep Language Learning Fun and Relevant |
| Chigusa: Two - How Peter is Advancing His Language with Netflix |
| Peter: And Three - How to Create Your Language Learning Profile |
| Chigusa: All so you can master your target language and reach your goals! |
| Body |
| Chigusa: Listeners, welcome back to the Inner Circle. |
| Peter: Last time, you learned all about language output... |
| Chigusa: ...in other words, speaking and writing in your target language. |
| Peter: ...and the importance of starting easy. |
| Chigusa: And you set some goals for this month! |
| Peter: Ah, yes, I promised... to continue doing 1 FrenchPod101 lesson a day. |
| Chigusa: You also promised to send... 2 messages a week to your Premium PLUS teacher... and finish 5 FrenchPod101 extensive reading books. |
| Peter: Wow, what a memory, Chigusa. All done. And I’m used to doing lessons so 1 a day was easy. |
| Chigusa: And the books? |
| Peter: I did the Absolute Beginner level Extensive Reading books. Those were easy to finish. |
| Chigusa: The Absolute Beginner level ones... they’re like kids’ books aren’t they? Just a few words per page. |
| Peter: Thank you Chigusa...but yes, exactly. Maybe.... a bit too easy but that’s the point of the extensive reading learning strategy. |
| Chigusa: Listeners, the point is to read a ton and get exposed to a large number of words... |
| Peter: ...at a level that’s comfortable for you. It’s all about quantity. |
| Chigusa: And the Premium PLUS goal? |
| Peter: With my Premium PLUS teacher, we perfected my self introduction. And I started sending her messages of what I did over the week in French. Just the basics, for example “I will take my family to a restaurant. I will take my kids to their friends house on Saturday.” Just talking about my everyday routines in the present tense. The things I want to talk about in French... and that are relevant to my life. |
| Chigusa: Nice! So, you’ve hit your goals. |
| Peter: I did and that brought me to about 2 or 3 minutes of French conversation... I simply talk about myself and what I’m going to do that week. |
| Chigusa: And if we talk about...the economy? |
| Peter: Not quite yet, Chigusa, not quite yet. |
| Chigusa: Actually I think talking about yourself is a good way to improve your language skills. |
| Peter: Exactly. Self interest IS a strong motivator. |
| Chigusa: Yeah, we all want to talk about ourselves and share our interests and our passions with others. |
| Peter: ....and it’s fun. |
| Chigusa: It’s relevant to who you are. |
| Peter: Well said. Actually, Chigusa, speaking of fun. I did not devote ALL of my time to French ... |
| Chigusa: Oh? |
| Peter: I’ve also been working on my language learning profile. |
| Chigusa: What exactly is a language learning profile? |
| Peter: Let’s jump into the first part of this Inner Circle. |
| Chigusa: Part 1 - How to Keep Language Learning Fun and Relevant |
| Peter: So, before we jump into language learning profiles... |
| Chigusa: Yes? |
| Peter: We’re at the end of the third month of the year. And by now, all that New Year’s Resolution excitement... |
| Chigusa: ..It’s worn off. I don’t feel it any more, Peter. |
| Peter: Exactly, Chigusa. This is when most language learners fall off. If they haven’t done so already. |
| Chigusa: That’s very true. So, where are you going with this? |
| Peter: Trust. Well, to keep going, in month 3, in month 4 and so on... it needs to be fun. It’s important to have fun learning a language. |
| Chigusa: Hmm, you're right. It’s easy to set the routine that you think is "best".... |
| Peter: ...and then drop out because it’s ACTUALLY so dry and strict. |
| Chigusa: Yeah, you might think that you’ll be waking up at 7AM to fit in 1 hour of study a day... it sounds great... |
| Peter: ...until you have to stick with it every day. After the first week or two, it’s not fun or so motivational, it’s now work! |
| Chigusa: So what have you been doing to keep things fun? |
| Peter: Well Chigusa, I actually, I watch a ton of Netflix so, I’ve started using Netflix to create my language learning profile. |
| Chigusa: What is that? |
| Peter: A language learning profile is...a set of words and phrases that are unique to you as a person. You actually have one in your native language. For example, age, gender, geography, interests... |
| Chigusa: I see, the characteristics that make up who you are, right? |
| Peter: Exactly. And they influence how you speak. For example, someone in their 40s is probably talking about different topics... |
| Chigusa: ...than someone in their 20s. |
| Peter: Exactly. Someone in their 40s would talk about family, kids, their work.. |
| . |
| Chigusa: ...and health problems! |
| Peter: ..haha, Chigusa, you’re very positive today. But it is a popular topic. |
| Chigusa: And someone in their 20s would want to talk about going out, dating, parties, and dreams... |
| Peter: Very well, said Chigusa. What’s that word. A little age discriminatory. But yes, very good, I agree with that. So, also what’s different is the slang they’d use, The pop culture references. |
| Chigusa: Those would be totally different depending on the age. |
| Peter: Chigusa, have you heard of the movie Jumanji? |
| Chigusa: Yes. |
| Peter: Have you seen it? |
| Chigusa: Not yet. |
| Peter: So, in the movie, there’s a person that’s been in the game for 20 years and the way he speaks is, the slang he uses, is very different than the new people in the game. who’ve just arrived and they’re 20 years younger. So this is a really good example that illustrates how age can factor into a language profile. |
| Chigusa: You’re right. |
| Peter: Then, there’s geography. That influences your speaking style. So I was raised in New York so... there are words and some phrases that someone from another state might not fully understand. |
| Chigusa: There’s the accent! |
| Peter: You’re so direct today, Chigusa. Yes there is the accent. But jumping back to the geography for a minute, because I’m from New York, i tend to talk about things in New York in other languages. The New York sports teams. The food. Locations around Manhattan. So I need to know these words in the language im speaking. |
| Chigusa: And then there are interests. If you’re passionate about baseball... |
| Peter: ...it’s all you talk about, so you’d want to talk about it in the language you’re learning. |
| Chigusa: So having this language learning profile... |
| Peter: ....The words and phrases unique to you... |
| Chigusa: ...makes language learning more relevant to you... |
| Peter: Exactly. And let’s be honest Chigusa, Netflix is FUN. It’s fun to take a break from the recommended lessons... |
| Chigusa: ...and learning about something you love. Peter, you’ve been doing this for French? And how are you using Netflix? |
| Peter: Actually, Chigusa. While I’ve been studying French, I’ve been revisiting Japanese. |
| Chigusa: But isn’t that one of your stronger languages? |
| Peter: It is. But this tactic is a little bit advanced so i’m using it to build my profile which requires a bit of proficiency in the language. So it’s a bit of an advanced tactic. |
| Chigusa: Oh.... |
| Peter: Let’s get into the second part. |
| Chigusa: Part Two - How Peter is Advancing His Language with Netflix |
| Peter: Yea, I don’t know if I’d believe that if I was a teacher. Sounds like i'm kind of cheating in a way. So the technique I’m using is actually quite simple. It just requires a higher level of proficiency. So, not so ideal for new learners but someone who has a bit of proficiency, it’s a great tactic. You leverage pop culture like a TV show.... |
| Chigusa: So, just you learn from TV shows? |
| Peter: Not quite. The key part here is... it should be relevant to you. Basically, you pick a character that you identify with or like...and want to talk like, and then you mimic them.. |
| Chigusa: How are you doing this? What are you watching? |
| Peter: So, I’ve been doing this with a show called the Mentalist. I’ve seen it in English. Actually, I’ve seen every show in English.... |
| Chigusa: Then you know the plot and all the conversations. |
| Peter: Exactly and this gives me the base. So I know what's going on. And now, I’m rewatching it in Japanese. And since I’m in Japan, all the Netflix shows are dubbed in Japanese. |
| Chigusa: Oh, I know the show. I bet you’re copying the main character... Patrick Jane. |
| Peter: Exactly, Chigusa, I am. And I chose him because he’s very clever and likes to provoke people. He has a very dark sense of humor. |
| Chigusa: But you’re listening to his Japanese version. The voice actor. |
| Peter: Exactly. I want to know how a Japanese person would speak like him. |
| Chigusa: That makes sense. So, listening to the dubbing is super helpful. |
| Peter: And I also have the Japaneses subtitles on. I've learned a lot of new phrases along the way because actually the dubbing and the subtitles don’t match. Because the way you speak and the way the subtitles are created are different. Subtitles are made so that you quickly understand what’s going on, where the dubbing gets into the interesting and kind of funny phrases that’s used in spoken language. |
| Chigusa: But how can our listeners do this? This might be too hard for beginners. |
| Peter: Well, it’s always fun to try. Give it a shot. And the beauty of Netflix is you can listen again and again. Write down things that you understand and things that you don’t understand. And then you can review with a native speaker.. Or, if you have Premium PLUS, you can message that to your Premium PLUS teacher. So, let’s get into this third part where we might have some further explanation there. |
| Chigusa: Part 3 - How to Create Your Language Learning Profile |
| Peter: Listeners, last time you added language output to your learning routine... |
| Chigusa: ...and since you’re now in month 3 of learning... |
| Peter: Now is a good time to vary your routine to keep things fun... |
| Chigusa: How? |
| Peter: By creating your language learning profile. |
| Chigusa: Remember, your language learning profile is a set of words and phrases that are unique to you as a person. |
| Peter: So, words and phrases related to your age, gender, geography and interests... or how you want to speak, in another language. |
| Chigusa: Age-wise, 20 year olds want to talk about different things than 40 years olds... |
| Peter: So, think about the topics that you already talk about in your native language, in your everyday life. |
| Chigusa: Geography wise, you’d want to talk about where you’re from. |
| Peter: Then, listeners, there are your interests. |
| Chigusa: If you’re passionate about sports, you’ll want to learn the must-know vocabulary and phrases. |
| Peter: if your hobby is learning languages, you’ll want be able to talk about... |
| Chigusa: ...learning languages in your target language. |
| Peter: The first thing you can do is write down a list of things in your native language: your name.. |
| Chigusa: ... your work, your school, where you grew up, your interests.... |
| Peter: Once you’ve written out this list... |
| Chigusa: Start learning words and phrases related to these topics. |
| Peter: You can do this with our audio and video lessons or our vocabulary lists. |
| Chigusa: For example, if you’re interested in baseball... there are vocab lists on this topic. |
| Peter: If you want to talk about where you’re from, there are lessons that teach you how to introduce yourself... |
| Chigusa: ...and how to talk about your nationality. |
| Peter: Plus, If you’re a Premium PLUS member... |
| Chigusa: ... ask your teacher to help you translate some of these phrases into your target language. |
| Peter: The second way you can build your profile is by using TV shows... or YouTube. |
| Chigusa: Think about a realistic character that you identify with... |
| Peter: Maybe you like their personality... or you share the same personality... |
| Chigusa: And watch that TV show dubbed in your target language. |
| Peter: Shadow their conversations, their speech patterns, and their phrases. |
| Chigusa: By doing this, you get to learn the language in a way that interests you... |
| Peter: ...that’s relevant to you are as a person... |
| Chigusa: ...which makes it fun. Alright, Peter, what’s your plan for next month? |
| Peter: I kind of like this Netflix routine... BUT... I’ll aim to hit 5 minutes of French conversation. |
| Chigusa: Deadline? |
| Peter: Deadline is April 30th. |
| Chigusa: Listeners, how about you? |
| Peter: What’s your small, measurable monthly goal? And what’s the deadline? |
| Chigusa: Let us know. |
| Peter: Email us at inner dot circle at innovative language dot com. |
| Chigusa: And stay tuned for the next Inner Circle. |
Outro
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| Chigusa: Well, that’s going to do it for this special Inner Circle lesson! |
| Peter: Bye everyone! |
| Chigusa: Thanks for listening, and we’ll see you next time. |
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