Hello and welcome to how to learn a language.
The podcast from Linda's languages all about dot dot dot no surprises how to learn a language.
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I'm recording this episode just after New Year 2023. So maybe you're feeling that new year, that January energy, and you've got a new language goal.
Maybe it's wanting to restart a language that you've learned in the past.
Maybe it's start a completely new language.
Maybe it's just refresh.

Or revisit something that you've studied before and you're still studying, but you just feel you need that extra thing to really help you out and make things happen this year, so.
With all of that in mind, you're possibly having a little browse around for a new online language course, so I wanted to share some things that I look for when I'm picking one to help you make the right choice for you.
And you'll also hear me mention Gymglish a few times in this episode, as they very kindly given me one month free trials for you available across their courses for French, English, German, Italian, and Spanish.
So if one of those languages is on your list right now.
Then you can visit Lindsay does languages.com/gymglish to take them up on that rather new year friendly offer.
That's Lindsay does languages.com/gymglish.
That's GY MG LISH.

All right then, what should you look for when you're picking an online language course?
Chances are there's a few things that you already have in mind that you want from something.
And really when it comes to deciding what you are looking for, that is going to depend very much on you and your current situation with that language, your time available, when and how and how often you want to study all of these things that only you can answer for yourself.
But today we're going to cover some kind of of the broad areas.
That are worth including in that personal question, and that you'll be doing right?
So the first of those is content, because what's in a language course will vary massively, right?
One French course could be covering simply everything that you need to know for travel, whereas another could be great if you're using French for business.

Another could be taking you all the way to sea two level fluency.
And that means that if you're thinking I just want the one for travel.
And you end up picking the one that's taking you all the way to C2 level fluency.
It's kind of overwhelmingly full, right?
Alternatively, if you're looking for that fluency and you pick the travel course, it's going to be a little bit thin on the ground for you.
So it's important to know what you need from a language course in terms of content, in terms of how far you want it to take you, and then look for one that meets those needs.
Right, so for example, if you want to learn the basics of Spanish before going on holiday, then you might not need anything too advanced.

It's easy often to think that we want the biggest, the most complete course in terms of content, but it's best if we actually consider our needs and wants first, right?
It's such an easy trap to fall into to think, ah, I just I'll get the the complete course now and then I'll be sorted from my entire Spanish learning journey, right?
And that's not necessarily the right way to look at this.
So instead putting yourself your wants and your needs from that content first and foremost.
And if you want to know what's inside an online language course, chances are you can cheque the website for that course.
You'll see a bit of an overview of curriculum.
If for some reason you can't find it and you're still kind of intrigued, just feel free to reach out and contact the company and see what they can tell you about the content.

A really good example of this is with Gymglish and.
Their courses for English, French, German, Italian, Spanish.
The way they do this in terms of content is that each day you get a manageable 15 to 20 minute lesson direct to your inbox, designed to really fit neatly into your life without that overwhelm of getting everything all at once right.
And there's a really cute video I'll link to in the show notes that explains everything and how their method works in a really nice, simple, easy, again, easy to digest way.
And yeah, that's what it's all about.
Those kind of 1520 minute lessons in your inbox, that's going to suit one type of learner.
Whereas someone else actually maybe you want to get everything at once.

Maybe you know that you aren't going to feel overwhelmed by that and actually you're going to be able to manage it and to take one step at a time.
So it's really up to figuring out how the content is going to work best for you in terms of delivery, in terms of what is actually included.
Point #2 flexibility.
So flexibility is really key here, right?
Because it's very common that we think if I'm going to start something new, I'm going to Start learning a new language, I'm going to start a new language course that needs to be.
Daily at the same time, for the same amount of time every single day.
And I need to be focused during that time.

And you know, it's it can be like this big demand that you know and maybe by the time you listen to this a few days into the new year, perhaps you're thinking, yeah, yeah, I can relate to that because you may be started January 1st, these good intentions and a few days down the line all of a sudden
one thing slips off here and another thing gets in the way there.
And that commitment can be quite difficult if we're quite rigid with it.
So if you have a schedule that requires you to be kind of in different places at different times each day, then it's important to ensure that the time commitment and the delivery, delivery method of this online language course is going to suit you and that you can fit it in around your life.
And you know, something I have said for years and years and years now.
Is that language learning should fit around your life.
You shouldn't be trying to fit your life around language learning.

Because when it's that first way round, when language learning is fitting around your life, it's much more enjoyable.
It's much more likely to to last.
It's much more sustainable that way because you're not having to sacrifice anything from your life, the things that you probably already enjoy or need to do, right.
You can't just be like, I'm never going to do laundry again, I'm just going to do our languages.
Unfortunately, we can't.
We can't do that.
When when you do it that way around, it's just much more sustainable.

So that's the way that you want to be approaching that too in terms of flexibility.
So thinking, OK, what does this include, you know, what does this online language course include?
Because there's a huge vast difference here, right?
Some language courses offer live elements such as weekly lessons, maybe shorter term commitments like a monthly subscription, or it could be that self study all in one go, pay once, get everything method right.
So if you want more flexibility.
With your schedule, but you still want that access to the quality materials.
How do you want that access?

What do you want that flexibility to look like for you?
And this also like I think I mentioned a minute ago, this includes device, right?
So most online courses will allow you to complete your learning on mobile as well as computer.
Maybe there's an app specifically for it, maybe it's a browser based website that is designed to function well on a mobile device.
Some of them.
They offer lifetime access, while others give you limited time.
And with that, like, don't just think, oh, I want lifetime because there's there's a downside to that as well, right?

It might sound like that's the best option.
First of all, the downside to lifetime access is that you end up thinking, oh, I've got it forever, there's no rush.
So actually you never do it.
Whereas if you've got limited time access, then you're thinking, oh, I've only got six months or 12 months right to to complete this.
I need to get a move on.
I want to take action, right?
So knowing a bit about yourself and about how you work kind of, you know sort of mentally in that way is going to really help here too.

In terms of Gymlish here.
In regards to flexibility, you join on a monthly subscription basis.
So that kind of psychology of the limited time thing can really come into play here, right?
You get to decide how long you want to learn.
I've found monthly subscriptions in the past to be really helpful.
When I'm after a short term boost of speedy gains in a language, and this works for me because I know if I'm paying again next month I want to do as much as I can this month that I'm currently paying for.
Because you know, maybe I can complete why I want to complete and then not need to pay another month, right?

And I know seeing it coming out of my bank every month is like oh, there we go, I need to be taking action.
It's it's I'm I'm still paying for this, right versus that one.
Time payment where it's done and then it's sometimes easier to forget about, you know, so deciding on that as well.
But with Gymglish, it's monthly subscription, so it's nice and easy in terms of flexibility.
The next thing to be thinking about here when choosing an online language course is results.
Of course we want efficiency, right?
You want to find the best course for your needs, avoid wasting time on something that isn't going to help you reach your goals.

And there's a lot of factors that can determine what that looks like, right?
One of the most important things would be student satisfaction.
So who has got results before from this?
So have a look around, see if there's any reviews, any ratings you can find of online courses.
Looking for details as well.
Here you might find things about content, about delivery.
There's those two things we've mentioned so far, the content, the flexibility.

You might find elements of that as you're looking for other people's results, as you're seeing the reviews and ratings and generally you'll find this stuff on the course website, you'll find testimonials, you'll find success stories.
There's a whole host of success stories shares on Gymglish’s website that really help to show you that their course is really get people results.
Again, I'll link to that in the description and it's.
Remembering as well that that's great, right?
Other people got results with this, great.
But they weren't you, they weren't you in the situation that you were in right now in your life.
And it's your results, your own results that probably matter the most to you, right?

So what I would recommend is to do a short term test of this.
So try recording yourself speaking, write a little something, maybe even do a quick language test online today and then give yourself a month.
Set a kind of what I would call a Goldilocks goal.
So nothing overly huge and dramatic, nothing too small either.
Something just right and see what results you can get for yourself just in a month, right cheque back, because you've done that speaking, you've done that writing, maybe that test at the very beginning.
You've got a benchmark to have a little look back on.
And then after that month you'll have a better idea both of firstly, whether you're getting the results you want and secondly, how much you're enjoying the process.

And we'll talk more about this.
In just a minute, enjoyment is is one of our points we're going to get to.
But because you have this free month with Gymglish, you have that chance to to try it out and to see if it's going to get you the results that you're after.
So what's up next?
Progress tracking?
Part of results.
Part of actually seeing results really comes from tracking your progress in some way.

And.
You know, online language courses do this in various ways.
It may be as simple as marking a lesson as complete.
It may be that you get actual feedback or, you know, kind of progress reports, something like that along the way.
And that's really, really important because it's it's unlikely you know that any language learner will make just a 0 to fluent overnight, right?
And I'm not sorry for telling you that truth.
So instead of expecting too much, it's much better to focus on making those small improvements overtime.

So when we're thinking about progress tracking and we're thinking about results, it can be easy to fall into the trap of thinking while I need to be a whole.
Level on the CFR, the common European framework of reference for languages.
I think I've got those words in the right order.
I need to be a whole level advanced by the time my next cheque my progress.
That's not necessarily going to be the case those those levels are can be quite big, you know especially going from like A to B&B to C so that in itself.
Just using kind of these formal markers as you're progress check-ins isn't always the best way.
So those small improvements, what is it that you're looking for for yourself and how can you keep track and how is the course going to help you do that?

So most courses will have some kind of way.
Like I said, whether it's marking is complete, maybe it's an estimate of the time spent using the app or the website.
And Gymglish, again, they do this wonderfully to keep you up to date and to keep you motivated.
After your first few lessons, you get a lesser a lesson assessment.
You get a level assessment rather placing your ability in line with the CFR.
So you're not having to, you know, at the very, very, very, very, very beginning, figure that out for yourself.
A first few lessons you do, you'll get that as your initial benchmark.

Then after six months of lessons, you get a learning report to help you see just how it's all going, which is perfect, right?
This isn't some kind of every month.
Need to go up a whole level like, whoa, that's a lot.
So six months of lessons.
You then get that learning report, which is a really, really good way to do this.
OK, next on the list is culture.
Hmm.

If you have encountered Lindsay does languages for more than 5 minutes, you will know that.
For me, language is much more than just words and grammar.
And if you're taking the right online language course?
Cultural nuance is also really important and should be incorporated there, I believe, so you can get a better understanding of both the language and its speakers, worldviews, and I love that.
With Gymglish.
It's this daily e-mail, right?
At the end you get the dessert right?

Not chocolate based, but possibly still as good.
So you get a short clip from film, TV, literature, music of unmissable culture related to the language that you're learning, right?
Just those fun.
Bite size elements, it doesn't have to be.
OK, so I'm going to learn French and every single night I'm going to sit and watch a 2 hour French new wave film like Ohh, that's that's a lot, right?
That's a big ask.
But maybe every week or every month, you know, you get to decide what that looks like.

But in terms of the course itself, if there's some kind of cultural element, even the dialogues or the stories that they're using to teach you being placed in.
Cities, towns, locations that are relevant to that culture of or to a culture of that language.
Brilliant.
That's what you want to be looking for.
So you know, you know, I'm a huge advocate for bringing these things into your learning.
I literally even have a course called Music Maestro to show you how to do this with music.
So I really, really love that Gymglish include this with those daily lessons.

And finally, our final thing you want to be thinking of is you are deciding what is the right online language course for me.
Enjoyment.
So of course, as we've discussed, your results are key.
Really, really important, right?
There's no point doing something, there's not actually helping you learn a language.
But equally important in my book, whether it's your first or 31st language, is that you enjoy the resources and the things that you choose to do.
So in this case, that you enjoy the online language course that you choose.

And that's not to say, right, that every single second that you spend with your online language course will be like the thrill of jumping out of a plane if that's your kind of enjoyment.
But we want to be aiming for the majority of that time to feel.
More like a leisurely hobby that you want to do, unless like a boring chore that you're obligated to do.
And there will be days when you need to show up and maybe you're not really feeling it.
Of course, of course there will.
And on those days, showing up is enough.
But overall, we're going for that skydiving adrenaline, maybe not quite that much adrenaline, but you get my point, right.

So if you're curious as to whether Gymglish has that kind of enjoyment level for you.
As I mentioned, hop onto that free trial that they've very kindly offered me for you to try this for yourself, because I can't tell you what's fun for you.
You get to decide that bit, and that's part of the enjoyment.
That's part of the fun of learning the new language.
Yay, that's it for episode one of how to learn a language brought to you by Lindsay's languages.
Thank you for listening.
Very excited you're here.

And as I mentioned at the beginning, a couple of things that I recommend before I say goodbye.
Today, #1, subscribe to this show wherever you're listening.
That way you're missing episode #2. Rate and or review the show wherever you're listening.
That way more people can find us and #3. Join our e-mail list and that way you'll be fully updated not only on new podcast episodes, but also blogs, videos and more insights.
All about how to learn a language.
And you can visit Lindsay does languages.com/podcast to sign up.
Now everything I've mentioned and I've said there'll be a link in the show notes have a little click, maybe you need to click more wherever you're listening to see the full description and you'll be able to click through there.

And yeah, thank you for joining me for this first episode.
It's been an absolute joy and I'm excited to bring you more how to learn a language.
Alright, bye.