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: Your First Steps to Learning a Language |
| Chigusa: You’ll Learn... |
| Peter: One, Why Your Reason for Learning is Crucial for Motivation |
| Chigusa: Two, How to Use Anchor Points to Succeed |
| Peter: Three, How I’m Learning French in 2018 |
| Chigusa: and Four - Your First Step to Learning a Language- Routines and Goals. |
| Peter: All so you can master your target language and reach your goals! |
| Body |
| Chigusa: Listeners, welcome to the Inner Circle. |
| Peter: This is for those of you who took the 2018 Challenge. |
| Chigusa: And this is the monthly, no-holds-barred newsletter giving you tried and tested learning methods... |
| Peter: ...to help you reach your language goals this year. |
| Chigusa: Now, I don’t know how many of you were around, but last year, Peter took on the challenge of learning Chinese... |
| Peter: Well... Chigusa, actually, re-visiting Chinese. |
| Chigusa: Oh, you’ve studied it before. And before that? |
| Peter: The year before, that I did German, Italian before that. |
| Chigusa: By the way, listeners, if you’re a Premium or Premium PLUS member, |
| Peter: You can access prior Inner Circle series inside the Lesson Library. Just choose “Bonus” from the Level drop-down menu. |
| Chigusa: So, what’s your plan for 2018? What language are you learning this time? |
| Peter: Chigusa, this year.. I am taking on.... French. |
| Chigusa: Ooh la la la, why French? Is it because it’s a popular language? |
| Peter: Actually, it’s a bit of a personal reason. And it’s the topic of today’s Inner circle. |
| Chigusa: Your First Steps to Learning a Language |
| Peter: Let’s jump into the first point. |
| Chigusa: One - Why Your Reason for Learning is Crucial for Motivation |
| Peter: Listeners, what language are you learning this year... and what’s your reason? |
| Chigusa: I think most people learn out of self-interest. They’re doing it for themselves. |
| Peter: I agree. Self interest is a strong motivator. Improving yourself is definitely on top of the list. |
| Chigusa: What about you, Peter? |
| Peter: Well, can i say this? I’m not really interested in going to France at this particular time... |
| Chigusa:...yet. |
| Peter: ...yet! But, I decided to learn because my son is learning French right now. And I thought it’d be an interesting dynamic to learn with him. |
| Chigusa: Hmm, what about your son? Why is he learning? |
| Peter: He’s learning because his 2 best friends speak French. |
| Chigusa: Ah, I see. |
| Peter: And we have some close family friends that speak French... so it kind of made sense. Also, my son’s Jiu Jitsu coach is French too. |
| Chigusa: Yeah, I think your reason is solid enough. |
| Peter: Now, listeners, here’s why we ask about your reason for learning. |
| Chigusa: Your reason is directly related to your motivation. |
| Peter: The greater your motivation, the better your results, and the more likely you’ll succeed. |
| Chigusa: So the reason plays a big part in mastering a language. |
| Peter: Exactly. For example, if your reason is because you live in that country... |
| Chigusa: ...then your motivation is probably high. |
| Peter: You’re in survival mode and you’re hungry to learn. |
| Chigusa: That makes a lot of sense. |
| Peter: Self improvement, learning for love, or for a relative are also strong reasons. |
| Chigusa: Peter, I’d say, you have a good reason. Because your son’s learning. |
| Peter: I think it’s a good reason. I’ll let you know in a year, Chigusa. But listeners before you worry about not having an urgent reason like ... |
| Chigusa: “I live in that country” |
| Peter: Don’t worry. There are ways to boost your motivation... regardless of your reason. |
| Chigusa: So listeners, once you have a reason for learning... |
| Peter: ...Next, you need your anchor points. |
| Chigusa: What are anchor points? |
| Peter: Let’s jump into the second part. |
| Chigusa: Part 2. How to Use Anchor Points to Succeed |
| Peter: Listeners, picture this. Picture a small ship in the middle of a big lake. It’s windy. So the boat is actually drifting around. Now... here’s a question - what can you use to stop the boat from drifting? |
| Chigusa: The anchor. |
| Peter: Exactly. And just like an anchor in a boat, anchor points keep you from drifting away from your goal. |
| Chigusa: An anchor point is what keeps you motivated |
| Peter: ...and committed to your language goal. |
| Chigusa: It makes your life revolve around your language goals... |
| Peter: ...and not the other way around. So, an anchor point can be language classes. |
| Chigusa: That’s a good example because classes and school dictate your schedule. |
| Peter: You have to wake up earlier to get there on time... |
| Chigusa: ...you have to make time to do homework. You have to go to sleep earlier. |
| Peter: An anchor point can be a family member, a significant other and you’re learning because of them. In my case, my son... he’s really into French because of his friends... and because he’s expecting me to learn with him... |
| Chigusa: ...and you can’t really back out. |
| Peter: Nope. I am anchored in. Listeners, another example is... investing in a book or a learning program... |
| Chigusa: Since you’ve invested your hard-earned money, you want to get as much value as possible... |
| Peter: ...you’re more motivated and committed... |
| Chigusa: ...and you use that resource to the fullest. |
| Peter: The more anchor points you have, the better off you are. I actually have a few more. |
| Chigusa: Really? What are they? |
| Peter: So, one of my son’s best friends... we’re friends with the family and... we’re planning to visit them in Belgium this year. In the summer. |
| Chigusa: Ah, travel. |
| Peter: Travel is a great anchor point. Setting a goal, selecting a destination where they speak the language, that is an extremely powerful anchor point. Also, we have family friends that speak French. That gives me more exposure and opportunity to practice. |
| Chigusa: So 3 anchor points in total. Now, how about your routine? How are you learning French this year? |
| Peter: Good question. I have a NEW way of learning. Let’s get into the 3rd part. |
| Chigusa: Part 3 - How Peter is Learning French in 2018. |
| Peter: So, since January will be my first month, it’ll mostly be about input. That’s step 1. |
| Chigusa: What do you mean by input exactly? |
| Peter: Simply consuming the language. Taking it in. Input is everything that you hear, see or read. |
| Chigusa: Ah I see. Then output would be writing or speaking. |
| Peter: Exactly. So my goal is to do input and I’ll be doing that by taking 1 FrenchPod101 lesson a day. That’s my daily goal. |
| Chigusa: What about output? |
| Peter: I won’t be focusing on output as much... I want just get familiar with French. But, let’s make one goal. My goal is to speak 1 minute of French conversation and.... I also learn 50 words by January 31st. |
| Chigusa: Okay, so then your daily routine is doing 1 FrenchPod101 lesson a day? |
| Peter: Exactly. But, the medium I’m using to execute on this goal... is brand new. |
| Chigusa: What’s this new way of learning that I don’t know about? |
| Peter: Well, Chigusa, we just released it, so it’s okay if you don’t know, but...., you can now take our lessons with Alexa...on the Amazon Echo. |
| Chigusa: Oh, that’s like the Siri, right? |
| Peter: You got it. It’s a voice controlled digital assistant... except for your home. |
| Chigusa: And there are apps for it... called skills. |
| Peter: And that’s what i’m learning with. We recently released our own skill, “Daily Dose by Innovative Language.” |
| Chigusa: By the way listeners, if you have an amazon echo, be sure to download this skill... |
| Peter: ...and with it, you can listen to our lessons and get the word of the day. |
| Chigusa: For all 34 languages? |
| Peter: All 34. And that’s how i’m learning with my son. Chigusa, we listen together at the dinner table... we repeat the phrases and actually it’s a lot of fun. That is my learning routine. |
| Chigusa: Oh wow! So here, you’re mostly practicing speaking and listening, right? |
| Peter: Well, I do come back to the site afterwards, to read the lesson notes and the grammar point. So, I do review, but, yes. |
| Chigusa: I see. Yea, you prefer to learn by listening and speaking right away. |
| Peter: And with Alexa, that’s all you do. There is one more POWERFUL advantage, at least for me, with learning on Alexa. |
| Chigusa: What is it? |
| Peter: Convenience. In fact, I’ve been hitting my goal every day simply because of how easy it is to learn. You can literally learn without touching anything. You just say “Alexa, open daily dose..” |
| What language would you like to learn? |
| “French” |
| Would you like to learn with lessons or words? |
| “Lessons” |
| Playing lesson of the day by FrenchPod101.com |
| Alexa, stop. You can start learning with 3 simple phrases. |
| Chigusa: Is this more convenient than learning on your iPhone? |
| Peter: Chigusa, you’re not going to say anything about that? That was pretty cool, no? |
| Chigusa: It’s my first time to see Alexa speaking. It’s amazing. |
| Peter: But that’s the point. It’s just so easy. Jumping back to your question about... a smartphone. In some ways, it is easier because the challenge of a smartphone is... You could open it with intention of learning but wind up on a completely different app, an email, or a bit distracted. With Alexa, it just starts so fast. |
| Chigusa: Ah, yes.... And then your messenger... Every app is trying to steal your attention. |
| Peter: And before you know it, 40 minutes are gone. But with Alexa, I can be lying in bed and learning. Or at the dinner table and learning. It’s that easy. |
| Chigusa: Got it! Alright, so what can our listeners take away from this? |
| Peter: Okay, I’ve set my goals, my routines, and started listening to lessons... |
| Chigusa: Right. |
| Peter: And that’s exactly what you should do, listeners. Let’s jump into the final part. |
| Chigusa: Part 4 - Your First Step to Learning a Language. Routines and Goals. |
| Peter: If you’re just starting to learn a language, here is step one... |
| Chigusa: ...your first month should be all about input. Start learning from day one. |
| Peter: Meaning, just taking language in. It could be reading, listening... |
| Chigusa: ....learning words or watching lessons... |
| Peter: Get familiar with the language and try not to overwhelm yourself. |
| Chigusa: So, how can you start doing language input? |
| Peter: Listeners, there are a ton of ways to start learning with our program. |
| Chigusa: Just visit the lesson library and start watching video lessons, listening to audio lessons... |
| Peter: You can practice reading our extensive reading books... |
| Chigusa: You can learn new words and phrases with our vocab lists and flashcards... |
| Peter: Or learn on the go with our app. |
| Chigusa: There are a ton of ways to start learning right now |
| Peter: So listeners, see what works for you. |
| Chigusa: And now that you’ve started doing language input... |
| Peter: It’s time to set goals and routines to turn your language dream into reality. |
| Chigusa: First, you need to set a small, measurable monthly goal.. |
| Peter :...with a deadline. |
| Chigusa: Listeners, avoid big, vague, unrealistic goals like “I want to be fluent” because they’ll only set you up for failure. |
| Peter: Right. Fluency is hard to define. You don’t really know how you’ll reach the goal.. |
| Chigusa: Or when. There’s no action plan. |
| Peter: That’s actually why most learners fail with their New Year’s Resolutions. |
| Chigusa: They set big, vague goals. |
| Peter: Now, take a small goal, measurable goal like... something like speak 1 minute of conversation or learn 50 words. |
| Chigusa: This sets you up for success because it’s small enough to accomplish... |
| Peter: You can measure it. Either you’re at 1 minute, or at 50 words, or you’re not. |
| Chigusa: And the deadline is the mark of success. |
| Peter: Here are some more examples of small, measurable, monthly goals |
| Chigusa: Reach 1 minute of conversation by January 31st |
| Peter: Finish 30 Absolute Beginners Audio Lessons by January 31st |
| Chigusa: Learn and master new 50 words by January 31st |
| Peter: Or... complete 10 assignments from your Premium PLUS teacher by January 31st |
| Chigusa: Once you set your goal, you need to create a routine that you can stick to. |
| Peter: Let’s say your goal is to learn 50 words in a month. Let’s create a routine. |
| Chigusa: If you want to learn 50 words in a month, how many should you learn a day? |
| Peter: Let’s do some simple math. 50 words divided by 30 days in a month is 1.6 words. |
| Chigusa: So, you need to learn 1-2 new words a day. Listeners, we’re just dividing your goal to see how it fits inside a month. |
| Peter: And learning 1 or 2 words a day is easy to do. |
| Chigusa; Now that you know how much you need to study per day, make a routine. |
| Peter: So, answer these questions. |
| Chigusa: When will you study? |
| How long will you study every day? |
| Where do you plan to study? |
| How will you study? |
| What is your study schedule? |
| Peter: Let’s answer them. When will you study? I’ll study at 9PM every day, after the kids are in bed. How long will you study every day? I’ll study, sorry Chigusa, just 5 minutes. Where do you plan to study? At home, at the dinner table ,with JapanesePod101. How will you study? I’ll use the JapanesePod101 flashcards. What is your study schedule? Learn 1 or 2 words a day, every day at 9PM. |
| Peter: And that’s it. Even though it doesn’t seem like a lot, sticking to that routine will give me 50 words by the end of the month. |
| Chigusa: Now that you know how to set successful goals, how to create routines |
| Peter: ...and you’re on your way to reaching your goals |
| Chigusa: So, Peter, what about you? What are your small, measurable goals for February again? |
| Peter: 1 minute of conversation, I’ll learn 50 french words, and do 1 lesson a day. |
| Chigusa: Deadline? |
| Peter: End of January. By January 31st, 2018. |
| Chigusa: Listeners, what about you? What language are you learning in 2018? |
| Peter: What are your reasons for learning? |
| Chigusa: And what’s your small, measurable monthly goal? Just set one goal for the month. |
| 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 for this year! |
| Peter: Bye everyone! |
| Chigusa: Thanks for listening, and we’ll see you next time. |
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