Practical progress
Sarah’s insights from a 642 day Golingo streak
Sarah, co-founder, is our Chief Learning Officer. With a 642 day streak on Golingo, her progress is absolutely phenomenal.
We talk a lot on the podcast about the things you can do around Golingo to help learn a language, so I asked Sarah how she structures her learning.
We’ve put this into a blog so it’s (i) searchable and (ii) you can cut and paste sections into your plan if you like.
Tim: We talk about learning languages…but perhaps not enough about why we’re doing it.
Sarah: Languages are amazing, they are the connection to new people, places and culture. I think one the best bits for me is the idioms of other languages, they pique my interest. Welsh have some crackers, see Dr Cymraeg!
And that’s the point, it needs to be something you like. You need some motivation because it will require stamina and commitment.
Tim: So, you have to know what your “why” is?
Sarah: Do you want to get a date? Do you need to get around? Do you want to make the effort for a short break? Do you want to work abroad?
Tim: We’ve met some great people on the Golingo Stories podcast. Which tips work for you?
Sarah: First up, Emily Nicole Boaler, her advice being write it all down and speak every day.
Check! Obviously I use Golingo, I do my lesson and on lesson two, I take my time and write down the key phrases or something new. I have some lovely stationary!
Next Sam Risebrow. Sam was good because he really made me accountable to do more tiny tasks. I make a list of 5 activities for the week and I try to do them daily. These are short tasks, for example::
- Golingo
- Write a sentence
- 3 x new vocabulary words
- Listen to something – Spotify is great for finding something you’ll like
- Speak – My very clever daughter sometimes humours me!
Tim: Ok, but you love a bit of structure right?
Sarah: Absolutely! Alexandra Irish was great – she loves a course and motivated me to sign up to learn! Her LinkedIn updates always flags ‘celebrate Alex completing XYZ course’ I find this very motivating just like the Golingo streak!
She advocates getting things done in the morning, so I have taken her advice to do something first thing. Her tool box of apps and pen and paper exercises are a great combination for learning.
Tim: I didn’t expect that but it feels right – if I want to get something done, I need to do it first thing. Isn’t it all a bit…academic? Is it practical enough?
Sarah: That depends on your “why”. I love idioms and so did Megan Nicholls. I really liked her advice about technical vocabulary and using real life marketing campaigns for teaching and learning. I’m always looking for these in the learning languages to see if I can work them out. Megan had some great learning tips on the podcast. I love that Megan talks about learners striving for fluency but sometimes the beauty lies in the imperfections!
That makes me think of Jerome Nogues who is the AI expert in language learning and is a champion of incorporating film into language learning. He is the reason I found Sous la Seine!
Tim: Yes, so somewhat controversially for a language app co-founder, you have a teacher too?
Sarah: Finding the right teacher for you is probably the final piece of the jigsaw. You need to find someone who gets your “why” and can tailor your learning to what motivates you. You need to like them and I also prefer to work in a group, it’s social and once the ice is broken it’s fun!
Adding in bitesize chunks of learning everyday soon becomes a habit and habits become repetition which in turn lead to learning.
I’m a believer in dual coding especially for vocabulary. I’ll draw a picture or print a visual, this is a great technique which uses verbal and non verbal channels, reducing congnitive load.
Tim: So as per Sam’s advice, it’s bitesize tasks but you’re doing them consistently, every day to get to a conversational standard.
Sarah: I would love to dedicate so much more time to langauges but work, family and a very energetic dog means I have some restrictions. I am committed, it’s part of my daily routine. I used to allocate time in my dairy so it was booked in for the week. I’m habitual now so I just do it.
Over the week I probably clock up about 2 /3 hours of ‘tasks’ each week. Sometimes more sometimes less. I don’t give myself a hard time if I don’t d everything, I just go again the next day.
I would LOVE to become fluent, it would be amazing! I’m not there yet, but I’m far more confident and sometimes surprise myself! In nearly all cases if you speak and give it a go, the recipient will adjust their language to help you. Be brave, speak and build your confidence.