Lesson Transcript

Intro

Becky: Welcome to a special Inner Circle Audio Lesson! I'm Becky and I'll be your host. My co-host today is the founder of InnovativeLanguage.com... Peter Galante!
Peter: Hi everyone! Peter here.
Becky: In this Inner Circle, we’re talking about How to Get a Big Head Start.....
Peter: ....with Your Language Profile Cheat Sheet
Becky: You’ll learn Why You Need a Language Profile
Peter: How I Started Learning German in 2016 with this Method
Becky: AND How You Can Make Your Own Language Profile Cheat Sheet.
Peter: ...All so you can master your target language and finally reach your goals!
Body
Becky: Listeners, welcome to the Inner Circle.
Peter: This is for those of you who took the 2016 Challenge.
Becky: And this is the monthly, no-holds-barred newsletter giving you tried and tested learning methods...
Peter: ...to help you reach your language goals this year.
Becky: Now, I don’t know how many of you were around, but last year, Peter took on the challenge of learning Spanish...
Peter: That’s right. Listeners, you can access last year’s Inner Circle on the site inside the Bonus Courses Category.
Becky: ...and just to recap, last year, your goal was to reach 30 minutes of Spanish conversation.
Peter: That was the plan, Becky.
Becky: And you ended up reaching 45 minutes. So, what’s your plan for this year?
Peter: Well, for this year Becky, I’m learning German. 30 minutes by December 2016.
Becky: Oh, wow. So you did Chinese, Italian, and Spanish. Why German?
Peter: To be completely honest, I wanted something a little similar to English.
Becky: You just wanted something easy... Admit it.
Peter: Is that bad thing, Becky? You know German and English have a lot in common.
Becky: Ah, that is true. And you can take advantage of the common points.
Peter: ...right, so learning becomes a lot easier. The previous languages didn’t exactly have so much in common with English.
Becky: Alright, so – new year, new languages.
Peter: Listeners, let us know what languages you’re learning this year.
Becky: And let us know what your goals are and how you’re learning.
Peter: I’ve already actually started learning, Becky...
Becky: Oh, any progress with German?
Peter: Well, this year, I wanted to try something new. I spent January building my Language Profile.
Becky: A profile?
Peter: Think of it as a personal cheat sheet for making fast progress ...and speaking the phrases that are most relevant for you.
Becky: And listeners, this is the topic of this Inner Circle...
Peter: How to Get a Big Head Start with Your Language Profile Cheat Sheet
Becky: You’re going to learn...
Peter: One: Why You Need a Language Profile When You Start Learning
Becky: Two: How Peter Started Learning German in 2016 with this Method
Peter: and Three: How You Can Make Your Own Language Profile Cheat Sheet
Becky: So let’s get into the first part, Peter.
Peter: One: Why You Need a Language Profile When You Start Learning
Becky: What exactly do you mean by a language profile? And don’t you typically start a language with writing a self-introduction?
Peter: Great questions, Becky. You’re right. In the past, we talked about why you should write a self-introduction and your interests in your target language.
Becky: Listeners, that’s because you’re going talk about yourself a lot...
Peter: ...in every almost conversation that you have. So, yes, Becky, that’s a great first step for any learner. I always do it. You have immediate talking points that you can use when you write your self-introduction and your interests.
Becky: Right. We all introduce and talk about ourselves when we meet new people.
Peter: So I still say that you should write out your introduction. But to answer your question about what your language profile is...
Becky: Is it like.. your age, gender, and interests? Like a user profile?
Peter: Actually... exactly! In my case, I’m a 40-year-old working male. And I’m pretty busy.
Becky: Right.
Peter: So the phrases and language that I would want to learn would be much different than say...
Becky: ...like a 20-year-old?
Peter: Exactly. I’m 40, Becky. I often talk about my daily life which involves my kids, my work and those type of things would go into my language profile.
Becky: That makes sense. A 20-year-old would want to learn slang and talk about hanging out...
Peter: ...which is nice to know, but probably not that applicable to me.
Becky: Got it.
Peter: So, listeners, a language profile is your cheat sheet with all of the relevant phrases you need, based on who you are...
Becky: ...and what you’re interested in.
Peter: I now have a list of 20 which was actually whittled down from 60. Listeners, this gives you a big head start on speaking your target language. It gives you...
Becky: ...Relevant phrases and lines to use in conversation....
Peter: ...Plus it helps you select phrases that are right for the language profile that you want to build, so you don’t have to use textbook examples.
Becky: And so you don’t use expressions that don’t fit the context or are outdated.
Peter: Listeners, this is why you need to start with a language profile.
Becky: That’s very true though. When I was learning Japanese, I’d learn phrases that were meant for guys.. or were too casual for some situations...
Peter: And you’d use them, right?
Becky: Yeah. I had to learn the hard way about what was right and what wasn’t.
Peter: So listeners, when you start learning a language...
Becky: Definitely write out a self-introduction and write out your interests.
Peter: You can cheat with Google Translate or get help from your Premium PLUS teacher...
Becky: ...or just check out our Survival Phrases lessons.
Peter: The Top 25 Questions series is also a great starting point for beginners.
Becky: These will help you come up with an introduction...
Peter: ...and help you build part of your language profile.
Becky: How can our listeners do this? How did YOU create your language learning profile, Peter?
Peter: Okay, let’s get into the second point.
Becky: Two: How Peter Started Learning German in 2016 with this Method
Peter: Well, actually, I did it the hard way. So listeners, you don’t have to follow this.
Becky: Really? How so?
Peter: I started out with a book of expressions I have. It has thousands of German expressions inside with the translations.
Becky: That’s a bit too much, don’t you think?
Peter: It really is! But here’s what I did. I started with 20 topics. Topics that are practical and relevant. For example, “Common questions” is one topic. “Common answers” is another. “Reactions” is also good. And as i mentioned before, I say “That’s great” in English a lot. So, I wanted to know how to say that in German. So, for each topic, I chose 3 relevant expressions based on the English translation.
Becky: Why 3?
Peter: Well, there are thousands, Becky. So, I could dig through the book all day long. There are probably 30 ways to say that’s great. In fact, there are tons of ways we can express one thing in English, right?
Becky: Yeah, that’s true.
Peter: So, based on the translation, I just chose the ones that most matched phrases that I used in English.
Becky: Ah, yes, that makes sense.
Peter: One topic was on how to respond to the common question, “How are you?” So, I know from experience when studying a language, that a teacher asks me that a lot. And usually people study the line, “I’m good.” That’s what’s in the textbooks. But in my case, I’m actually really tired. You know, between work, the kids and just life. So I actually study, “I’m tired” or “I’m hanging in there” which are not exactly typical responses but fit my language profile based on my lifestyle.
Becky: So you’re looking for phrases that fit you best.
Peter: Exactly.
Becky: Okay, 20 topics and 3 phrases for each one. That comes out to 60. Are you using all of them?
Peter: Well, when I had my lessons with my German Premium PLUS teacher... I’d ask them... “which of these 3 expressions do you use?” or “which of these 3 is most common? ” and “which of these 3 would suit me?” So....
Becky: I guess that way you can weed out phrases that aren’t useful.
Peter: Exactly. So one of the phrases that I had chosen was probably more suited for writing. Another one was a little outdated and one was a little too casual. So some of the phrases that I selected didn’t... even though the English translation matched exactly what I wanted to say... they were the right phrases but they didn’t have the exact nuance that I wanted. So my teacher helped me to pick the one expression that I’m going to master and use for the first, at least 3 to 6 months, of my learning experience and then I may replace that later in my language profile, but for early stage learning, this will be an important part of my language profile.
Becky: ...and then you memorized those phrases.
Peter: Exactly. In fact, listeners, you should check out the PDF bonus that comes with this Inner Circle to find my Language Profile. You’ll find my top 20 German phrases. This can serve as a template for your own language profile.
Becky: Be sure to check the webpage for this Inner Circle for the PDF, listeners.
Peter: But the point is... I have 20 set phrases, most of which I already use in English. They’re relevant to me and my personality. If someone asks how I am, I typically say I’m tired.
Becky: ...and now you can say that in German.
Peter: You got it, Becky. 20 phrases might not be much... but this lets me express myself honestly in German....
Becky: ...instead of using expressions that you’d find in a textbook example.
Peter: So that’s how I came up with my language profile.
Becky: Alright, how can our listeners do the same?
Peter: Let’s get to the third point.
Becky: Three: How You Can Make Your Own Language Profile Cheat Sheet
Peter: Now, listeners, this mostly depends on you, your personality, and your interests. Look at the topics in my PDF.
Becky: For example, common reactions, answering something like “how are you, ” hobbies, common questions...
Peter: If you have kids... you’re probably going to want to talk about them a lot when you use a foreign language.
Becky: If you’re a college student... you might want to talk about your major or future career.
Peter: Topics like that.
Becky: The kinds of topics that are relevant to you.
Peter: And there are 4 ways you can instantly develop your language profile cheat sheet with our learning system.
Becky: Right, so once you have your list of topics you can...
Peter: 1) If you’re a Premium PLUS member, you can ask your teacher. They’ll help you come up with a list of phrases...
Becky: ...or even translate them from English to your target language...
Peter: Great point, Becky. Yes, they’ll translate them. They’ll choose or give you phrases and expressions that sound natural.
Becky: 2) Use our advanced lesson search. You’ll find it in the upper right corner of the site...
Peter: ...and with this, you’ll find phrases and lines from our lessons that are most relevant to you.
Becky: Since our lessons focus on conversation, you can definitely use them in most situations. Write these down.
Peter: 3) Check out our Vocabulary Lists in the Resources section.
Becky: There are a ton of vocab and phrase lists based on all kinds of topics, holidays and situations.
Peter: Listeners, look for the phrase lists especially. These will give you the proper lines to say.
Becky: and 4) Take advantage of our audio and video lessons.
Peter: That’s right. They’re conversation-based, so you’ll definitely find lines you like. And if you hear an expression that you like, write that down and make that part of your language profile.
Becky: Finally, listeners, be sure to check out Peter’s language profile for German and use it as an example.
Peter: You’ll find it in the bonus PDF for this Inner Circle Lesson.
Becky: Oh, Peter, we never talked about your monthly goals. Did you set one?
Peter: I did. I had a goal to reach 3 minutes of German conversation with my teacher.
Becky: Right... So... Did you reach it?
Peter: Not at all. I actually was building my language profile, Becky.
Becky: Oh... Well, looks like we know what your February goal is though!
Peter: You can hold me to that, Becky.
Becky: And listeners, make sure to set small, measurable monthly goals with a deadline as well.
Peter: They should be small so that they’re easy enough to do. I’m aiming for 3 minutes. A lot of people fail because they have big, vague goals like “I want to be fluent in a language.”
Becky: And they should be measurable so you know when you reach it. 3 minutes is measurable. You can time it.
Peter: Or learning 100 words.
Becky: That’s measurable.
Peter: And it needs a deadline. So, either you hit it or you don’t...
Becky: ... instead of hoping to learn “someday.”
Peter: My deadline to hit 3 minutes of German conversation is February 29th, 2016.
Becky: Listeners, you can learn more about successful goal setting in 2014’s Inner Circle January lesson.
Peter: And also, let us know what language you’re learning in 2016.
Becky: ...and what your goals and first steps to learning are.
Peter: Do you write out your self introduction? Do you do a learner profile based on your interests? Remember, I did these things and even though I didn’t reach my goal this month, I guarantee, this is going to set a base to allow me reach every single one of my remaining goals. So let’s see if that comes to fruition.
Becky: Email us and tell us at inner dot circle at innovativelanguage dot com.
Peter: And stay tuned for the next Inner Circle.

Outro

Becky: Well, that’s going to do it for this special Inner Circle lesson!
Peter: Bye everyone!
Becky: Thanks for listening, and we’ll see you next time.

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