Lately I’ve been experimenting a lot with the 1.5-speed feature on YouTube. I’m now watching most videos in speed x1.5 in order to improve my oral comprehension skills with the languages I speak.   I’ve also tried this with Finnish, that I’m currently learning. I can’t understand a thing even in normal speed. But when I watch a video or…

My religion is audio input, when it comes to language learning. Text input is useful, if not necessary, but it shouldn’t be the main focus. Learning a language is like learning how to walk. You need your hands at first, or crutches after an injury. But the end goal is to walk without those. Just with your legs. The legs…

Speaking a language is like a game of golf. Hit the ball too far left, and it ends up in the lake. Put your tongue too far forward, and you end up saying “beau cul” instead of “beaucoup” in French (“beautiful ass” instead of “a lot”). “Beau cul” in IPA is [boky], and “beaucoup” is [boku]. The difference between [y]…

This TED Talk talks about our brains and conscious reality. At ~6’00”, the speaker shows us an example of how we perceive reality with audio samples. It is very similar to how a language learner perceives his/her new target language. Remember when you’re hearing a phrase where you can’t distinguish anything, and it just seems like noise. Then you’re going to…

Whether you want to learn how to work out, ride a bike or speak a new language, you will have to face repetition. Unless you’re a robot, you’ll need to get exposed to a new word or grammatical structure again, and again, and again. In other words, there’s no other way than drilling. Maybe one day we will come up…