Hello my name is Abigail and welcome back to Polyglot Progress!
We are about halfway through winter here in the northern hemisphere which means
it is time for another one of my seasonal inspired language learning activities videos.
I have made two of these videos previously, one for summer and one for fall,
so if you're in the southern hemisphere and you're currently in summer and you
want something a little bit more relevant to that, you can go ahead and check this video out.
But in this video let's talk a little bit about my least favorite season: winter.
When I think about winter– and what ended up inspiring the 10 ideas that I have in this video–
I tend to think about a few things, the first one being the holidays, the second thing being the end
of the year/reflecting back on the past year and all of that, the third thing being new years and
everything that comes with that so new beginnings, new starts, new goals, new resolutions, all of
that type of thing, and the last thing being the cold, which for me means a lot of staying inside.
Which is why, starting off with the study location idea that I
always give at the start of these videos, I would recommend studying at the library.
Libraries are a great place to study. They're quiet,
other people are studying so you get that kind of external motivation from
other people doing it as well, and they can just have a really cozy atmosphere.
And even if your library isn't necessarily cozy, it's more of a big open space,
I feel like if we reach a little bit the library can represent a lot of winter.
It's a place full of books that are either reflections on things or opportunities to
learn new things, it's quiet and peaceful, a little bit like nature is in the winter, and
it's a good place to escape some of that busyness at the start of winter with the holiday season.
Overall, I would recommend studying at the library at any time of year
but I just feel like the winter is a really perfect time to do that.
I know not everyone is celebrating holidays in the winter and we're also mostly out of the
holiday season this year but, as someone who grew up celebrating Christmas, I can't really think of
winter without somewhat associating the holiday season with it and one way you can incorporate
the holiday season into your language learning, whether or not you're celebrating a holiday,
is spending a little bit of time using your target language to learn about different holidays than
you're used to or different traditions for holidays you do usually celebrate.
This can mean learning about holidays that are celebrated in a country that speaks one of your
target languages but aren't celebrated in your home country, this can mean learning about holiday
traditions that are totally different from the ones that you usually use to celebrate a holiday,
it could mean learning about how people in your home country celebrate a holiday that you don't,
there's a lot of different possibilities for whatever you choose to learn about but no
matter what it's a great way to practice reading or listening to something in your target language.
And the other thing that isn't holiday specific or even really
holiday season specific but something that I definitely associate with holiday season
is watching really cheesy romance movies in your target language.
I may have a degree in film,
but that does not mean I am not a sucker for those really predictable,
really often quite misogynistic holiday romance movies and I feel like those really predictable,
really trope-heavy holiday romance movies are perfect for learning a new language.
They're really predictable so even if you don't totally understand what characters are saying
you can easily still follow the plot of the movie, oftentimes they include work settings,
home settings, family, talk of holidays and food, a lot of different topics that are really relevant
and will teach you a lot of vocabulary that you'll probably end up using a lot.
Plus, they're usually so bad— in an entertaining way, of course,
that's why I watch them— that you will definitely remember when words are used. So it's just gonna
help you to remember all of that new vocabulary that you're learning as well and now that netflix
is putting out so many of these it's a lot easier to find films dubbed into your target
language and you also have the option of using something like language learning with netflix,
where you can have dual subtitles and continue to watch the films that way.
Overall, if you're someone who also really enjoys the train wreck that are those movies, I really
really suggest trying to find some in your target language because it is a great way to practice.
Moving out of holiday-season-inspired things and into things inspired by the end of the year,
winter is a great time to revisit old journal entries/old video entries that
you've made/just old pieces of output that you've done in your target language.
As your year comes to an end and you're reflecting on your last year of language learning it can be
really helpful to revisit things that you've done and this is also a really great time to
not only revisit those things but to try rewriting or re-recording them as well.
This is a great way again to see how far you've come since the time that you wrote or recorded
that thing, if you shared that journal entry or video diary it's a great way to
implement some of that feedback you received and work on that, and it's a great way to practice
talking a little bit more in depth about topics you've already previously visited.
And there's also a lot of ways to modify this.
You can choose if you want to have the old entry with you and kind of work on
correcting it as you're doing this new version or you can choose to just watch
or read over the old version and then redo it or you can just dive in with nothing and
compare exactly how you did just on a whim this time versus the old one.
There's so many different ways to approach this one but it's great for reflection and
it's also great for getting a little bit of practice with both old and new things.
Honestly when I think about language learning specifically in the winter a
lot of what I end up thinking about is New Year's related.
I just feel like New Year's provides so many great language learning opportunities.
For example, you can create and write a list of your New Year's resolutions
or goals for the new year in your target language.
Most New Year's resolutions contain some sort of action or thing that you want to be doing,
so this is a great way to learn new verbs, and any other vocabulary you learn related
to these is going to be really relevant to your life because you are talking about
things that you care about, you're talking about things that you want to achieve.
Plus, New Year's resolutions can go beyond just creating a list.
You can write a journal entry or talk to a friend or a tutor about why you want to
accomplish those goals, you can talk about the steps you'll take to accomplish those goals,
you can talk about things that you think might keep you from accomplishing those goals… Again,
so many different ways you can approach this but no matter what it's a really great way to learn
vocabulary that's relevant to you and also a great way to practice speaking and writing.
Another thing you can do with your New Year's resolutions is to take any
non-language learning New Year's resolutions you have and combine them with your target languages.
For example, this year one of my resolutions is to read more
so I am doing that in my target languages, as well as in English.
I also started learning to crochet last year but didn't really get anywhere with it so i've
been meaning to pick that up again and that can also definitely include my target languages by
reading patterns or looking up how to do certain stitches in my target languages.
Even if at first it doesn't seem related to language learning at all,
like I know reading is a really easy one to tie in, you definitely can still find ways to
incorporate your target language, whether that's looking up tutorials on how to do a new skill,
taking an online class, or watching videos on youtube in your target language from
someone who has accomplished this New Year's resolution previously.
You might have to get a little creative, but incorporating your target language
in one of your New Year's resolutions is a really good way to work on both.
Another way you can incorporate your target language into things you might already be
doing at the start of this year is to bullet journal or write in your
planner or write your to-do list or just notes to yourself in your target language.
This is another great way to learn verbs and relevant vocabulary since
you'll always be writing about things that you will be doing.
Plus, if you're someone who always does write to-do lists or always does keep a planner,
this is a really good way to incorporate your
target language into your life even when you're really busy.
And another great way to write about the things that you do is to keep a diary of your year.
The really great thing about this is you can really customize it based on what you
want to be doing and your busyness level and your level in your target language.
It can be as simple as making a bullet point list of the things you did that day, it can be
a really elaborate journal entry about everything that you did and how you felt doing those things,
it could be telling a short story based on something that happened to you that day.
You have full control over it and you can also adjust just based on how your day-to-day is going,
but no matter what way you do it you'll again learn really relevant vocabulary
and you'll be left with a book that has all of your memories from the year
as well as a way to just see your progress in your target language over the course of the year.
And then maybe next year you can revisit it and rewrite some of those entries!
In the whole spirit of new year, new you why not try
a podcast about something that you know nothing about in any language.
This is definitely more of a suggestion for people who are advanced in their target language.
Obviously a podcast on something that you know nothing about is going to have a lot of new
words and you also won't be able to rely really on context or prior knowledge since you won't
have any of that, but if you are at an advanced level this is a great way to really expand your
vocabulary in your target language and also just learn about something completely new to you.
And even if you're not at an advanced level, you can always use this for other purposes.
For example, you could listen to an episode and transcribe it just as a listening activity or
you could try shadowing it to work on your pronunciation or you could just pop it on
passively in the background and just practice getting used to listening to your target language.
You won't necessarily have the same experience as if you were listening
at an advanced level or going into it with prior knowledge,
but there's still a lot of useful ways that you could incorporate it into your language learning.
And lastly, in the spirit of staying inside in the winter,
you can try playing a video game in your target language.
I love doing this, especially if it is a game like the sims or animal crossing that involves a lot of
dialogue/involves a lot of pop-ups you can read and involves a lot of just day-to-day vocabulary.
Some games are a little bit more helpful than others, so I would recommend simulation games
or games like that that involve a lot of reading and involve a lot of really relevant vocabulary
to your life, but no matter what you're playing as long as you have to read a little bit it's a
great way to incorporate your target languages into something really fun.
So those are my 10 ideas for ways that you can change up your language learning this winter.
I would love to know any other ideas that you have based on winter and I would also love
to spark the debate of how you feel about winter. I will start sparking outrage by saying that I
hate winter and one of the number one deciding factors in where I moved when
I left New England was where it wouldn't snow.
My apologies to all winter fanatics but
I will see you next Wednesday and remember practice makes progress.