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Hi Judith, and Richard, thanks for focusing on writing.

Great episode! 🤩

A passion for language is a lovely thing.

I don't use songs to learn a language, but I am a musician, and the trained ear of musicians can help them to grasp the "music of languages", to grasp the sounds (the pronunciation) particular to any language. This helped me at least learning seven languages so far (and I'm learning my eighth and ninth).

I prefer looking at Jess than that other guy.

مرحبا فادي

Fadi is cool

Amoo❤

Amooo❤

Saya daftarkan Kresna Adhiatma.

what about in the dark?

Love the podcast! Thanks for sharing your knowledge!

I just finished War and Peace in Spanish. I speak English and got a kick reading a book written in Russian translated to Spanish.

In my experience, reading makes me speak much more fluently.

But I think you have to be fluent to read

this was so wonderful, I love her perspective. Also, the first time I've heard of someone learning Lingala, very exciting!

Great insights from Olly. I've found writing out the language through telling my own stories. AI LLMs like ChatGPT have helped me decode books and my own stories. Awesome point with Japanese by the way. I've been learning Japanese for 20 years. It's only in the last 2 that I've successfully learned enough Kanji to begin reading very slowly in Japanese. That's after 5 years living and working in Japan, grinding podcasts, and making friends with Japanese people. Extremely time consuming, but very much worth it.

In the Harry Potter Spanish audiobooks that are available on TH-cam, they do pronounce it “private drive.” 🤣 Maybe you already knew that, and that’s why you pointed it out. I figured I’d mention it just in case. Because it is a good point. Also it’s funny.

Why are you not on spotify?????

I've learnt that Oli's not fussed about "keeping up" languages that he doesn't have a reason to use right now. That's really interesting, because I always have a twinge of regret, after all the work I put in to get fluent in a language. This applies most to me with Italian, as I loved it, so would like to still be able to speak like I used to, but less for Japanese, as I've never really found reading material that grabbed me and made me want to get better. For Catalan, I do miss it in a way, but it's easier to rationalise because it doesn't have that many speakers, so it can't really "compete" with other more widely spoken languages like Spanish or Portuguese. I wonder though if Oli doesn't feel it's worth keeping up home languages in the family, even if everyone around a child speaks totally fluent English as well as these other languages? I have many friends who kind of regret the missed opportunity to grow up with a "heritage" language, because their parents didn't really stress that, and then when these friends are adults, they feel embarrassed about their limited ability and "foreignness" in the language. If my parents had different home languages, I would really hope they would bring me up in those languages, even if I would never need to speak them going out of the house. But I do agree that all of these are totally personal decisions, and the only important thing really is being okay with your own choices.

DAMN! How does it have just seven thumbs up? If I could click million times I'd do! Thank you Richard for this Podcast, I just feel a bit sad because doesn't have it on Spotify unfortunately! I will share this channel with everyooone!

I tried to look up a lot of words while reading Spanish and it was soooooo boring lol. I prefer to just be immersed and just re-read or re-listen to the same thing!

I liked this interview, he has confidence and knows what is speaking! Congrats! Thank you! Did Luca Lampariello appear in one episode? I am a big fan, and I 've been reading his book

This is very informative. I am on my second foreign language (German), and it is a challenge, even though the first (French) was and is relatively straightforward. I have learnt such a lot about language acquisition, and gradually came round to the views expressed here i.e. most people underestimate the amount of work involved, rote learning does not work and intensive grammar study does not work. Unfortunately I don’t like reading, and I hate novels. That said I regularly put time aside to listen to a video while simultaneously reading the transcript. That has been one of the most beneficial exercises that I do. As an aside, I have used Duolingo, Busuu, Babbel and LingQ. The only one I recommend is LingQ because it uses natural material. The others were not effective.

Reading out loud had helped me a lot with understanding better what I'm reading and paying more attention. Even in my native language I read out loud when I want to remember better the text 😅

Not necessarily. I don’t even have a clue what people are saying in manga for God’s sake. 😢

Since I began learning English (and because I speak English very seldom) and keep my English "fresh" just reading and listening BBC World Service. But reading is so important when you are learning another language.. Not only you improving your new Vocabulary, the pattern of the written it will be fixed in your memory.. Keep on reading and keep on learning 👍

I found your story learning books to be incredibly helpful for Russian!

Though i agree with Olly, a lot of his views are subjective. Reading out loud aids in confidence when speaking even if it's your mother tongue. Additionally, flashcards and spaced repetition will assist in remembering words and it's a proven technique used for many university studies.

I loved this podcast! Every morning I put my earphones and listen to it! Thank you, Richard! It has helping me a lot with my English!

Thank you. Read first. Listen second. Talk last. In the good old days that was the only possible order. To tell a person to never say anything they have not seen in an authoritative book is a hard sell. But in the long run the read first method saves lives. It is unfortunate, but in Latin America saying something one has heard only can lead to one's instant death! Will a Cartel member post a comment to this effect? No! That is not how they work. They are not linguistics. They do not devote their lives to scholarship. Al Capone is to me one of the greatest language instructors who ever lived. Here is Capones view on what results when one is not circumspect and tactus in speech. th-cam.com/video/KdNSlyrbcDY/w-d-xo.htmlsi=gOCa3k7nd1WNWL8E

Superb video! Many thanks to the author of the channel for the recommendations! The problem with many people is that they want to take a "magic pill" or get "secret knowledge" and immediately have skills and abilities. However, the truth of life is that knowledge, skills, and abilities do not come by themselves. You can't learn a foreign language without doing anything, without wasting your time and effort, just like you can't learn to ride a bike lying on a comfy couch, listening to lectures and watching videos about "modern methods of learning" on a bike. To really learn something, you have to really practice every day. You're going to fall down while you're learning, and you're going to get bumps - that's normal! The ups and downs of learning are an integral part of our lives. Motivation from success and depression from failure will always be your study companions. However, every student has problems in his or her studies that he or she lacks the knowledge to solve. It can be: poor memorization of words; no progress in language learning; the student can speak, but does not understand speech by ear; misunderstanding of grammar; incorrect pronunciation, etc. Agree that a problem you don't know how to solve is very demotivating. In order to find the answer to our question we have to spend a lot of time to read videos, articles and books by polyglots. In today's world, we have to solve problems as quickly as possible. I don't have time to study and analyze a huge amount of information. My goal is to master the basic knowledge of a foreign language as quickly as possible and already start earning money effectively in the international arena. I settled on the practical guide by Yuriy Ivantsiv " Polyglot Notes: practical tips for learning foreign language". This book is always in my bag. If I have a problem while learning a language, I quickly find the answer in this book. There are many different techniques and tips for learning a foreign language in Polyglot Notes. I have made my own individual schedule and plan for language learning. Now I know what I am going to study, how I am going to study, when I am going to study and what results I am going to achieve. No problem could stop me! With an effective language learning plan my professional skills are more and more in demand internationally every day. Friends, don't stop there! Everyone has talents that millions of people around the world need! Learn the language and make your ideas and dreams come true! Thanks to the author of the channel for the informative and useful video! Your videos motivate me.

Olly, you are absolutely right about reading being something which unlocks foreign languages. I just wish I could do more of it

Reading is amazing, when you're learning another language

Just seeing this now.. I love learning through music.. Actually last year when i just started learning Greek, i sang a song with a taxi driver in Rhodos. I had listened to this song for many years (and sang along with all the wrong words of course lolol) and before i started learning the language i didn't know what the song was about at all.. we sang it together and then i got honest with him, saying that i didn't know half of what the song actually meant. Even now i've translated it,. without his explanation it would have been difficult as some of it was just the way Greeks expres themself so a word for word translation would not have told me what the actual meaning of it was. I loved it and he did too.. The song was ti simera ti avrio ti tora by Marika Ninou.. Love her and traditional Greek music as a whole. Thank you for this interview both of you !! Sweet greetings xxx Juliette from Holland...(ooo and i am so sorry your teacher gave you such a bad song as there are some good ones around haha) Going to Corfu in September jihaaaa... o yes by myself for the first time in my life at 47.. wish me luck lol oke byieee

As a teacher of Japanese (and a couple other languages), I agree with almost all of Olly’s points except the point of reading out loud. Studies have indicated that reading out loud facilitates language acquisition, and I believe it’s especially important for Japanese to reenforce the “sounds” of the kanji. Other studies have shown that people who are successful at learning kanji can also associate them with their respective pronunciations. So you definitely should use reading as an opportunity to strengthen the sound-meaning connection, because it’s one of the few ways to do so. On the other hand, learning to quickly scan through a text and pick up meaning without focusing on sounds can be an essential skill for passing the JLPT and working in Japan. Scanning like this can also be a good way to prepare yourself to read a text with many unfamiliar words and readings.

Good, this chatting.

I would ask how to make individual letters plural. It's something that I always wonder about in the moment but don't look up. I did look it up though and it's split. Oxford says to italicize the letter and add s or put the letter in quotes with an s (e.g. "i"s). The Chicago Manual of Style says to use an apostrophe s for lowercase letters. I'll go with Chicago on this one. It seems cleaner, especially with handwriting.

In the Netherlands, "coffeeshop" exclusively refers to a shop that sells marijuana. Which is something I had to get used to when I moved from the United States.

Since I began learning languages, instinctively I started to make playlists in those target languages. Knowing songs in russian and arabic have been great conversation starters with new people I've met recently.

Hello! Thanks for this very interesting conversation! Can you please help this American English speaker with what is Michael Dempster's favorite Scot's term? At about 30:48 or so he says something that I cannot understand and the context does not help clarify what the word is. Also the cc are USELESS as they don't seem to hear it either and don't even try. And honestly, I would love to know the spelling of the word that Len says is hers. The CC spells it Korean! Ha ha ha! Perhaps a wee overlay of some graphic text here would have helped us! Thanks sooo much!

Okay dude you're way too you got to consider the lighting I can't even look at this image you need a producer to produce you it can't be like this this is a scary image

IMO, Complete Swedish is one of the best self teaching books that exists for any language!

I couldn't agree more! This is generally known as the "articulatory approach to teaching pronunciation" (the Wikipedia article with the same name has some great references to dig deeper), and unfortunately it's often dismissed in teacher trainings because of the apparent level of technicity it requires. Of course, as Anneli Haake says here, it's mostly a matter of priorities: if you believe it a good thing to be able to teach good pronunciation, then it's the way to go for sure.

Mr Atherton : I started reading your book on old English and found it an enjoyable instructive read , the only problem was with the pronunciation. I think it would have help ed learners a lot more if you had used the international phonetic transcription to be found in the DANIEL JONES ENGLISH PRONOUNCING DICTIONARY . BY the way , would it be possible to get a CD at a cheaper price ? 146 Euros on Amazon! From a French speaking reader

awesome podcast Richard! I think I will try the transcription method, keep those coming and good luck on this wonderful new project :)

Quite interestingly a few musicians, among them French Horn player Sarah Willis from the Berlin Phil, did the same MRI stuff also. Her recordings of it are on YT. Teachers in the musical field, if I may add that, always emphasize on the importance of starting very very slow, and only then speed up gradually. Good talk, liked it.

Here we go...

I'd like to leave a review as mentioned in the show notes, but you need to tell me where to do it! This was so interesting for me as a language learner and language teacher. I like to do both at once, and I often give my own struggles with Portuguese pronunciation as examples for my learner of English. I am also focusing a lot on pronunciation of new sounds, intonation, and sentence stress. A lot of my learners are currently older people, who might feel they can't improve their pronunciation, but realise that focusing on what their mouth muscles are doing, and what's happening to the air in the process, might seem over the top, but they can feel the results and they find it is actually interesting and rewarding, and also confidence building. They realise they don't actually have to learn loads of new vocabulary or perfect grammar rules to feel they are speaking more fluently. It's reassuring to know that my own at home intuitive approach in learning and teaching is also mirrored out there. It doesn't surprise me that Anneli finds it very natural to link language and music. The homework I set for this week was to use the "Lyrics Training" website to pick out the words of a song of their choice. Maybe I should recommend Abba. I also wanted to say to you Anneli that you are the best advert for your own approach, because your English pronunciation is so impressive. It's not many people that get to that level of pronunciation in a second language, so those MRIs obviously paid off in more than teaching Swedish.

I feel standard english is strong, it has a good furure internet safeguards its future, but there are varietys and allways has been, on a local identity level you can hear englishes but people allways switch back to standard english as its more to do with comprehension.