Episode 68

Gabriel Wyner is NOT a Robot (with Fluent Forever author Gabriel Wyner)

00:00:00
/
00:57:38

November 6th, 2017

57 mins 38 secs

Your Host
Special Guest
Tags

About this Episode

On this show, I spoke to Gabriel (Gabe) Wyner, a well known name to many language learners thanks to his bestselling book "Fluent Forever".

In this interview, you will get to know the story of "Fluent Forever", the approach he takes to language learning, and a little bit about what makes him tick as a person.

The theme I saw come through in Gabe's approach was that of engineering language learning to be as efficient and productive as it can possibly be. He's an engineer by trade and it shows in how he approaches language learning: find the problem, find a way to solve it, set, and go.

It made me curious about his human side, so we also discussed where he finds the joy in learning. Beyond the app, I also took the opportunity to ask Gabe about the inner monologue of self-doubt, and courage in creation and in language learning.
But that is not all we talked about...we also discussed what this app is all about

In our interview touched on..

how Gabe's own experience of creating over 45,000 (!) flash cards in Anki is going to make language learning so much more efficient
what it's like to have created a book that more than 120,000 people have read
why the Fluent Forever method started with pronunciation training...then progressed via word lists...and is now ready to take app-based learning to a new level
the big, obvious, annoying problem of using ready-made flashcards (this is why you won't remember words)
the place for apps in everyday language learning -- is immersion better than apps? is an app better than immersion? Do language learners have to do everything at the same time?
how the Fluent Forever has standing based on actual science (and a research book tip if you want to find out more)
what to do when you're too scared to start speaking to someone in your target language
a Q&A on learning two languages at the same time, where the Fluent Forever app is headed after its HUGE Kickstarter success, and what rewards there are for you when you pledge to support its big Crowdfunding campaign

Episode Links