The Fluent Show - Episodes Tagged with “Interview”

Ask A Linguist: Your Language Questions Answered By Linguists From Talk The Talk

Kerstin Cable — Mon, 21 Jan 2019 07:00:00 +0000

Linguist hour! Lindsay and I bring you an interview with one of our favourite podcasts, the linguistics show Talk the Talk from Australia.

Please take 5 minutes to take our Fluent Show survey!

We don't often have research scientists on the show, so this was a huge opportunity for the Fluent Show to go into science.

We posed your "Ask a Linguist" questions on these topics:

Is it a language? Is it a dialect?

Talk the Talk had a few insights that I had never heard before.

What determines the prestige of a dialect within a language?

We looked into how politics and social developments can directly influence how you speak, and how you feel about it.

Are there common language learning stages across all languages, for example grammar needed to communicate something?

In fact, there are two ways to approach language learning: analysis and pattern-spotting, and learning and copying useful chunks. Which one works? Talk the Talk gave us the science perspective. Plus: What is "glottochronology?"

Hedvig quoted this research paper.

If we come across a language in the same area that uses different words for the same concepts, does that language come from a different family of languages?

In essence, yes. For this one, you need a basic vocabulary list - but they're not all that straightforward. Hedvig and Kylie explain more on this episode.

Finally: Podcasting!

Also: We talk about what it's like to podcast about languages, and about podcasting in general. If you're not interested in the wider context of language and podcasting authentically...then skip it and you won't miss the linguistics. We do know that many listeners love podcasts and think about starting their own, so for you this discussion is going to be both useful and interesting.

Ultimately, we love and support community radio and podcasting. And in that sense...

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Special Guests: Kylie Sturgess and Talk The Talk.

Learning and Speaking 20+ Languages in New York City

Kerstin Cable — Mon, 07 May 2018 07:00:00 +0100

This week, I talk to language and grammar fanatic Ellen Jovin. Ellen has spent the last (nearly) decade learning and forgetting over 20 languages, and reviewing hundreds of language learning materials.

In this interview, you will learn about

How to select the best materials for teaching yourself a language
How to grow as a person through using Facebook
Why it doesn't matter if a language is hard
Why Ellen stopped going to language classes
How even the best book can be one you don't enjoy, and what to do when that happens
How to use the city, even the building you live in, to learn more languages
Why Ellen has reviewed hundreds of materials, but won't tell me (or you!) which one is the best one
Why being true to yourself is a better way to learn languages

Quotes from Ellen Jovin

Ellen is a joy to talk to and to listen to. She has so much love for language and a great way with words, so this interview was packed full of great quotes.

"In 2009 I suddenly realised (..) that I can really learn a lot without ever going to class."

"I feel a kinship with Slavic languages. There's so much grammar and I love grammar so much that I'm sitting there with my eyes open in disbelief that they could possibly have this many forms."

"I feel as though it might really transform my life outlook if I took Latin."

"I feel like what I'm doing is true. It's honest. I'm not studying languages because I think I should study them. I'm studying them because it makes me feel happy."

"I don't really care about [forgetting languages I've studied]. I did it because I enjoyed the process. It opens up a world into another culture, it enables you to make new friends who are native speakers of other languages....and how is that not worthwhile?"

"In a teach yourself environment you really have to tap into the interesting capacity for play, for humour."

Special Guest: Ellen Jovin.

Chilled out Success with Language Surfer Ron Gullekson

Kerstin Cable — Sun, 05 Jul 2015 15:00:00 +0100

“Languages are ultimately designed to bring people together.” Welcome to an inspiring interview with one of my favourite language bloggers: Ron Gullekson from Language Surfer. His relaxed language learning attitude will make you so comfortable.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

Why Ron's blog is called Language Surfer
How formal language learners all know what "drawing a line down the middle" means :)
How Ron structures his on curriculum for language learning
Which level of language learning you might be at if you studied Arabic for 8 hours a day..for 64 weeks!
Free listening, and how soon you can start doing this in your own study routine
How to create your organic SRS system

"I want to get used to the idea of being lost as soon as possible."

Article of the week

Tips of the Week

I had secretly expected Ron to choose tip 3 as a music fan, but his own choice was tip 1: Get out and talk to people.

1) Meet up in conversation groups offline

2) Find local podcasts by switching itunes to the country's store

3) Learn with music on Spotify

Tips and Links from this Podcast

L anguage Surfer
Language Master Key: How to Unlock your Brain's Ability to Learn any Language on Amazon UK or Amazon US
Forvo, a website helping you learn new pronunciations
Readlang, to help you analyze texts and create Flashcards based on what you learn
Readlang review from Fluent's guest writer Ricky Rutledge