Lesson Transcript

Intro

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: How to Boost Your Output - Speaking and Writing in Your Target Language
Chigusa: You’ll Learn...
Peter: One - How I Reached My Goals and the Importance of Starting Easy
Chigusa: Two - How I’m Expanding My Language Learning in Month 2
Peter: And Three - How to Add Language Output to Your Learning Routine
Chigusa: All so you can master your target language and reach your goals!
Body
Chigusa: Listeners, welcome back to the Inner Circle.
Peter: Last time, you learned all about language input...
Chigusa: ...how to set goals, routines...
Peter: And how I started doing language input for French with Alexa.
Peter: By the way, Listeners, just as a reminder on input and output.
Chigusa: Input is what you take in...
Peter: For example, listening, reading or watching video lessons. What you passively consume.
Chigusa: And output is what comes out. So, speaking and writing.
Peter: In other words, it's what you produce.
Chigusa: So, how did your goals go?
Peter: Let’s jump into the first part of this Inner Circle.
Chigusa: Part 1 - How Peter Reached His Goals and the Importance of Starting Easy
Peter: Last time, I promised to take 1 FrenchPod101 lesson a day with Alexa. And, also to reach 1 minute of conversation and learn 50 French words.
Chigusa: How’d it go?
Peter: I hit my goals..i reached 1 minute of conversation in French. With all of the language input I’ve been doing, I learned plenty of phrases and words for the conversation, and for my 50 word goal.
Chigusa: That’s good. So last month was all about input. You were listening to audio lessons.
Peter: Exactly. But to be honest, a 1 minute conversation isn’t that hard.
Chigusa: How so? I think it’d be hard for most beginners. I mean... what do you say after “Hello?”
Peter: Well, think about your own conversations. They tend to follow a pattern, right?
Chigusa: Yeah, like “Hello. How are you? How was your weekend?”
Peter: Exactly. So, if you prep these phrases ahead of time, it’s easy.
Chigusa: Yeah, that’s true.
Peter: And our lessons, like the Top 25 Questions Series, teach you all the common questions and phrases for conversation.
Chigusa: So if you know the most-commonly used phrases...
Peter: ...You can easily handle a 1-minute conversation, Chigusa.
Chigusa: Is that a good thing though? To make it too easy for yourself?
Peter: It is. Remember, language goals must be realistic enough to achieve. And for me personally, January was a busy month...
Chigusa: Right. You didn’t want to overwhelm yourself.
Peter: The second reason is... if something is easy to start...
Chigusa: ...it’s also easy to continue?
Peter: Exactly. That’s actually why most learners don’t continue. They set a hard goal, they fail, and lose confidence. And the third reason is Alexa. It just made it super easy for me to do the lessons at the dinner table.
Chigusa: I see. It sounds like your learning routine is locked in, Peter!
Peter: Actually that’s a great point. Listeners, you should also start with an easy goal....
Chigusa: ...so that you can get your routine set in place.
Peter: In my case, because it was SO easy to do, I had no problem sticking with doing a lesson every day
Chigusa: Okay, what about next month? This month was all about input.
Peter: Let’s jump into the second part.
Chigusa: Part 2 - How Peter’s Expanding His Language Learning in Month 2
Peter: This next month I want to start doing output.
Chigusa: Speaking and writing?
Peter: Right. Actually, I already started on my speaking goal last time... so I’m adding writing.
Chigusa: I think it makes sense. You were focused on input and it’s important to add output. For balance.
Peter: You’re right. As much as I want to read and understand French, I want to speak and write it too.
Chigusa: Do you have a routine set for writing?
Peter: I don’t have a finalized routine yet but my goal is to send 2 messages a week to my Premium PLUS teacher. Around 100 characters. I’m not setting a clear routine just yet because I want to see how it’ll fit into my schedule.
Chigusa: Got it. You have one successful in place...
Peter: ...and i don’t want to overload myself by forcing another in.
Chigusa: That makes sense.
Peter: Next, I’ll also add a bit input too. Reading.
Chigusa: Why reading?
Peter: Well, I like reading as a language learning tactic for two reasons. First, it’s the one skill you can practice all the time.
Chigusa: Yeah, you don’t really need a teacher for that. You can pull out a book and read anytime.
Peter: And second, a book forces you to fully focus. With Alexa and listening to lessons..
Chigusa: Can you focus?
Peter: It’s hard to tell. You’re listening but you don’t really know if you’re 100% engaged....
Chigusa: ...But with a book you have to pay attention.
Peter: Plus, we have new extensive reading books on FrenchPod101...
Chigusa: ...Ah yes, they should be up on all sites this year.
Peter: By the way listeners, extensive reading is a popular learning tactic for immersing yourself in language, reading more and boosting your vocabulary.
Chigusa: The goal is to read level appropriate books without stopping for every word you don’t know.
Peter: ...and without straining your brain over every word. So, it’s meant to be fun...
Chigusa: ...you should skip words, and continue reading as much as possible.
Peter: We have 9 Absolute Beginner level Extensive Reading books on FrenchPod101, so my goal is to finish 5 books by the end of February.
Chigusa: What about Alexa and the FrenchPod101 lessons?
Peter: Well it’s like they say, if it’s not broken, don’t fix it. I will maintain that routine and listen to a lesson every day.
Chigusa: Alright, you’re expanding your routines, adding output...
Peter: ..and a little bit more input.
Chigusa: Right, so what can our listeners take away? What can they do this month?
Peter: Let’s jump into the final part.
Chigusa: Par 3 - How to Add Language Output to Your Learning Routine
Peter: So, last time listeners, you set your small, measurable monthly goal...
Chigusa: ...with a deadline.
Peter: You created a routine based on your goal.
Chigusa: And you started doing language input. So, you’re taking the language in....
Peter: ...you’re consuming audio lessons, watching video, lessons, reading the extensive reading books or learning words with our vocab lists.
Chigusa: Now, your next step is to start doing output.
Peter: In other words, producing. Either by speaking the language or writing.
Chigusa: Here’s how you can start doing this with our learning program.
Peter: If you’re a Premium PLUS student, the first thing we ask you to do is write a self-introduction...
Chigusa: ...and send it to your Premium PLUS teacher.
Peter: Once you send it, they will review it, correct it and send you the feedback.
Chigusa: And now you have a perfect self-introduction which you can use any time.
Peter: You can also record yourself and send the audio to your teacher...
Chigusa: ...as a way to practice your speaking.
Peter: They’ll review your audio for mistakes and help you perfect your pronunciation.
Chigusa: See if you can send 2 or 3 recordings a week.
Peter: Next, you can write, in general, to your teacher and practice one on one.
Chigusa: For example, you can send a piece of writing to review....
Peter: ...or you can just send a message and get a conversation going. Make it a goal to send 5 messages a week.
Chigusa: Premium PLUS members also get weekly assignments...
Peter: ...and this another way you can practice output. Make it a goal to complete 1 assignment every week.
Chigusa: If you’re a Premium user or a Premium PLUS user, shadow the lesson conversations as a way to practice speaking.
Peter: In other words, listen and repeat.
Chigusa: You can also record yourself with the Voice Recorder in the Dialog tool...
Peter:...to perfect pronunciation by comparing it with native speakers/
Chigusa: For writing, you can leave a comment in our lessons and our teachers will get back to you.
Peter: Or, write out the lesson dialog by hand.
Chigusa: In fact, writing things out by hand helps you remember more because it fully engages your brain.
Peter: And you can even apply this to our study tools like Vocab Lists and the Word of the Day.
Chigusa: That’s right, just copy out the words by hand...
Peter: ...and you’ll be surprised how fast you’ll learn with this simple tactic.
Chigusa: Alright, Peter, so what about you? What’s your plan for next month?
Peter: You mean my goals?
Chigusa: Yes.
Peter: I’ll continue doing 1 FrenchPod101 lesson a day with Alexa. Next, I’ll send my introduction to my Premium PLUS teacher. Both, the writing and the recording. The goal is to send her 2 messages a week, 100 characters long. And, I want to finish 5 extensive reading books?
Chigusa: Listeners, what about you?
Peter: What’s your small, measurable monthly goal? And what’s the deadline?
Chigusa: Be sure to set a simple goal like... Finish 15 Audio Lessons, which is input...
Peter: ....or send 8 recordings this month to your Premium PLUS teacher. That’s output.
Chigusa: Let us know.
Peter: Email us at inner dot circle at innovative language dot com.
Chigusa: And stay tuned for the next Inner Circle.

Outro

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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