If someone were to ask me “How did you become fluent in English?”, I would simply answer “I started learning it one day and I never quit. I just kept going”.

Persistence.

That’s how it happened. I was persistent and I never gave up.

I genuinely believe that motivation and persistence are the most important things when learning a language.

Giving up is the only thing that will prevent you from speaking a language fluently or speaking a language at all.

If you stick with the language and put in the hours, you’ll get there.

Sometimes, though, life makes it hard to focus on language learning.

You’re pumped at first and you’re going steady for a while, and then something gets in the way, be it university, work, family, you name it.

I struggle with this problem all the time.

I find myself going through phases where I’m super excited to learn French and I’m full of great ideas, and then I’m suddenly too busy or too lazy to do anything.

Truth to be told, I’ve been feeling like this recently.

I’ve been working so hard to create an online course that my French has been put on the back burner.

My motivation slowed down and my commitment to la langue française has fallen a bit to the wayside.

I knew I had to find a way to refocus and reassess my goals.

That’s why I jumped at the opportunity to try the Language Habit Toolkit.

What is the Language Habit Toolkit?

The Language Habit Toolkit is all about getting organized and creating a language routine.

It is designed to track your progress and it includes five wonderfully designed worksheets to evaluate and plan.

First Things First: Visualize.

“The most important thing you need to become fluent is a reason.” – Kerstin Cable

This is why the Vision Goals Worksheet comes first in the Language Habit Toolkit.

Imagine this.

It’s 9 am on a Sunday morning.

You are abroad – in a foreign country, deeply immersed in a foreign culture, and you can effortlessly interact and connect with the locals.

Doesn’t it feel good to think about that? That’s the power of visualization.  

Now, perhaps this is not your dream.

Perhaps this is not the reason why you’re studying a foreign language in the first place.

That’s fine.

All that matters is that you have your own reason, your own why.

Something that resonates with you and that will push you through the difficult times that you may face when learning a language.

Whatever that reason may be, you need to keep it in mind. You need to write it down and go back to it once things get rough.

Put Your Vision + Your Mission Into Practice

“If you trust the process and trust yourself, you can count on the fact that progress is inevitable.” – Kerstin Cable

Vision Goals are simply stepping stones on the path that will lead you to success.

What really helped me to get unstuck was what comes next, the Language Habit Tracker.

You see, tracking is something that I have overlooked in the past.

No wonder I had been lacking motivation!  

It wasn’t until I started tracking my progress with the Language Habit Toolkit that I realized what I was missing.

Seeing everything laid out this way made it easier for me to focus and plan ahead. It got me back to that long-lost excitement I used to have.

The tracking also made me aware of what was working and what not. By tracking my activities, I realized that I would skip reading in French over and over because I wasn’t involved at all in the reading materials that I was using.

In a nutshell then, the kit provides you with clarity, focus, and direction which are essential if you want to build a language learning habit for the long haul.

Want to take a peek at the routine that I created?

There you go.

My Path Goals for May:

Listening: Listen to the first six episodes of the podcast “Change ma vie : Outils pour l’esprit” by Chocolate & Zucchini.

Speaking: Record myself speaking French for two minutes.

Reading: Read one article per week on Paris ZigZag.

Writing: Watch “Sous Les Jupes Des Filles (French Women)” and write down new vocabulary words (the film was sooo disappointing, by the way!).

Quick tip: Don’t go overboard when you set your path goals. Only choose the number activities that you realistically have time to complete each month.

Fancy getting yourself a copy of the the Language Habit Toolkit?

Awesome! Click here to grab it + check out all its features.

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P.S. Consider yourself lucky if you’re reading this before 2nd June 2017 because that means you can join the giveaway to win your copy of the Language Habit Toolkit.  Yay!

Full disclaimer: Some of the links above are affiliate links, meaning that if you purchase I will make a commission at no extra cost to you. This allows me to keep Runaway Daydreamer up and running so if you do like the blog and want to support it, then this is a great way – thank you SO much!

Rest assured, I only recommend products that I myself use.

The post How I created my ideal language learning routine with the Language Habit Toolkit appeared first on Learn a new language while having fun and exploring the world | Runaway Daydreamer.

One thing you may have noticed about me is that I get ridiculously excited about holidays.

I love holidays and traditions.

Traditions are one of the reasons why foreign cultures intrigue me so much. I always ask myself: “What is it like to spend New Year’s Eve in Spain?” or “I eat Pandoro for Christmas, what do they eat in Croatia?”.

Since holidays are the best time to take a break, relax, and enjoy time with the family, some people find it harder to keep practicing their target language.

You too? Well, fear not!

I’ve prepared some fun Easter-themed activities so you can get your Italian language practice even when your mouth is full of chocolate and you’re surrounded by eccentric Easter eggs.

In this article we’ll review together:

• Prepositions of place

• Open Questions

• Gender Agreement

Before we get started, don’t forget to download your fill-in-the-blank workbook!

Get your free workbook to practice Italian!

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Italian Prepositions of Place

Bunnies like to move around and this gives us the perfect excuse to review the main prepositions of place in Italian – le preposizioni di luogo.

Shall we look for Easter bunny together? Where is he? Where did he go? Dov’è il coniglio di Pasqua? 

Il coniglio di Pasqua è dentro l’uovo. Easter bunny is inside the egg.
Il coniglio di Pasqua è sotto l’uovo. Easter bunny is under the egg.

• sopra – on
• sotto – under
• davanti – in front of
• dentro – inside
• dietro – behind
• tra/fra – between
• a sinistra – on the left
• a destra – on the right
• al centro – in the middle
• accanto / di fianco a – next to
• vicino – near
• intorno – around

Open Questions

We use open questions every time we want to formulate questions that can’t be answered with a simple yes or no answer.

We need interrogative words in order to do that, also known as WH-questions in English. Let’s see if you remember the Italian ones.

• Chi? – Who? Whom?
• Che?/Cosa? – What?
• Quando? – When?
• Dove? – Where?
• Perché? – Why?
• Come? – How?
• Qual/Quali? – Which?
• Quanto/a/i/e? – How much?

Genders & Agreement

In Italian, every noun has a gender – either masculine or feminine.  Nouns that end in -o are usually masculine, and those ending in -a are usually feminine.

Italian articles and adjectives must “agree” with nouns in terms of number and gender. So, if we’re talking about una casa – a house – we can use adjectives like bella and spaziosa to describe it. The endings always have to match.

Another example?

A nice boy is simpatico. → Il ragazzo è simpatico [masculine, singular]
A nice girl is simpatica. → La ragazza è simpatica [feminine, singular]
Nice boys are simpatici. → I ragazzi sono simpatici [masculine, plural]
Nice girls aresimpatiche. → Le ragazze sono simpatiche [feminine, plural]

Ahh, if only it were that simple!

Every rule has its exceptions and so does this one. There are words in Italian ending with -a or -e that are used to indicate both feminine and masculine subjects. There are also words ending in -a that are actually masculine instead of feminine (like il clima – the weather) and vice-versa. The article used will reveal you the gender.

Did you have fun?

If so, you would be doing me a HUGE FAVOR by sharing this post via Twitter, Facebook, Google + or Pinterest. Let’s spread the love for the Italian language

Italian Vocabulary for Other Holidays

• Valentine’s Day

• Carnevale

Get your free workbook to practice Italian!

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The post Fun Easter Activities to Review Grammar + Vocabulary in Italian appeared first on Learn a new language while having fun and exploring the world | Runaway Daydreamer.

Learning new languages at superspeed is probably the dream of every aspiring polyglot.

Lingvist offers you just that – or at least that’s what it promises.

What’s Lingvist? I hear you ask. Lingvist is a brand new platform, launched in 2014 and still in its beta version.

Lingvist is also the tool I am currently using to practice French – I am on a 10-day streak and I have no intention of stopping!

Overview

The big claim behind Lingvist is: “Learn a language in just 200 hours”.

For any skeptic out there – like me! – the website also adds that “it’s no magic, just pure science!”.

What’s the formula, then? A scientific, technical, data-driven approach.  The tool uses a smart algorithm that teaches you the important words and phrases that matter first. As if that wasn’t enough, this is a proven method. It was tested by the co-founder himself, Mait Müntel. He was looking for a quick way to learn French while working at CERN in Switzerland that didn’t demand as much time as a class would. He developed a prototype of Lingvist, he put himself to the test and took a high-school level French exam. He passed.

First impressions

Can you learn French in 200 hours, then? Umm, I don’t believe so. Certainly not by using this platform alone. You can learn some French in 200 hours but I think this claim misrepresents what you’ll be actually able to do once you complete the program (according to them you’ll reach a B2 level proficiency).  

First of all, each one of us is different so every learning experience is different. Secondly, there is no speaking practice on Lingvist. You won’t have any conversation with native speakers because most of the emphasis is on listening, reading and vocabulary. Nonetheless, Lingvist is a magnificent tool.

What do you get when you log into the website?

Let’s have a closer look.

The dashboard

Audio Files on Lingvist

Lingvist consists of three sections:

• ‘Memorize’ which is where you’ll find lots of interactive fill in the blank exercises.
• ‘Listen’ which is full of good listening material.  The bite-sized audio recordings also come with transcripts (awesome!).
• ‘Read’ which provides a variety of texts – from articles to funny jokes and dialogues. To be completely honest, I usually prefer finding materials to read in a foreign language by myself so I didn’t spend much time on this section.

I really like the interface because it’s very sleek and modern-looking, extremely easy to navigate.

Grammar in a nutshell  

A feature that I’ve found to be quite useful is the grammar guide on top. It’s called “Grammar Hints and Tips” and you can find it in the header under the button with quotation marks.  It doesn’t focus extensively on grammar explanations, it just covers the basics and it goes straight to the point by answering some of the most common grammar-related questions.

The Good Stuff

The best part for me is the memorization system. It forces you to come up with the right words and to actively remember them. Keyword: actively. There’s nothing passive about this; if you misspell a word, you are required to re-type the correct answer.  

Type ’till you get it right!

Lingvist picks up learning where you left off and you can see your daily progress on the dashboard. You can also sort the words you’ve learnt by “last practiced” and “times practiced”.

The learning experience is adaptive and fully personalized.

Lingvist is free (yes, free!) while in public beta but things may change in the future. If I were you I would jump at the chance to use it without spending any money.

Psst! I’ve found out that they’ve also developed an app available for iOS and Android but I still have to try it out!

Your progress on Lingvist

Is it possible to learn a language in 200 hours? That’s what it promises Lingvist. Tempted to try it out? Check our review here for an inside peak!
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The post Review: Learning French with Lingvist appeared first on Learn a new language while having fun and exploring the world | Runaway Daydreamer.

This workbook was designed for beginners but despite the word “débutant” displayed on the cover it assumes some knowledge of the language. As a matter of fact, it is completely written in French – grammar explanations included – so if you use no other book or dictionary, you may find yourself a bit lost at times.

You can still be a beginner and use it, but I believe it works better as a refresher for upper-beginners or intermediate French learners. If you have studied French in the past and are looking for a quick and efficient reminder of things once known, you certainly won’t be disappointed.

I was already able to understand French when I started using this workbook, so I was actually glad that there was no English at all. I enjoyed being fully immersed in the language while reading grammar points, rules and related exercises.

“Niveau Débutant” is divided into 60 chapters and eight sections. It takes you right from the basics – introducing yourself, telling the time, describing common situations – to the use of verb tenses (including le present, futur, passe compose, imparfait).

Brushing up on my previous knowledge with this workbook turned out to be a great idea since it’s packed with exercises (440 in total). Keep in mind that the grammar explanations are pretty concise, even if very clearly laid out, hence it’s best to use it to supplement your studies, not in isolation.

Preview of the workbook

Strong Points

What I love about the “Niveau Débutant” workbook is that you can work through it sequentially or skim through pages and use it as a reference manual.

In addition, I applaud the choice of including an audio CD. The accompanying audio contains 38 exercises that you can load onto your iPod and listen to whenever you want and wherever you are.
The Downside

It should be noted that you’ll need to buy the answer book separately which is quite a bummer but it is necessary if you are going down the path of self-study.

Further Studying

Grammaire progressive du français is a series composed of three volumes. The one I’ve just reviewed, Niveau Débutant, is the most basic one. Once you’ve made some progress in French, you may be interested in advanced textbooks like Niveau Intermediaire and Niveau Advanced.

The post Review: Grammaire progressive du français – Niveau Débutant appeared first on Learn a new language while having fun and exploring the world | Runaway Daydreamer.

Native speakers play a huge role in your language learning journey.

You can buy all the textbooks you want, watch all the foreign movies you like, but nothing beats conversing directly with native speakers. It’s undoubtedly one of the most important steps in acquiring a new language and yet one of the most dreaded ones!

The problem is… where do you find someone to talk to, especially if you’re not in the country where your target language is spoken and won’t be in the near future?

This is where the HelloTalk App comes in.

WHAT’S HELLOTALK AND HOW DOES IT WORK?

Finding a language exchange partner is not always an easy task. It can be frustrating, to say the least, due to completely different time zones and different lifestyles. HelloTalk makes it easier.

I’ve been using this app for quite a while now and I’ve really enjoyed it thus far. Since I’m focused on French at the moment, I’ve only looked for French native speakers but HelloTalk gives you the opportunity to connect with language exchange partners in over 100 different languages. Not bad, uh?

But wait! There’s more…

The app has several strong points that make it particularly good to use.

1. It’s user-friendly: The design is intuitive and appealing, hence engaging with other users is incredibly easy.
2. Personalized: You can totally customize your profile by deciding whether or not to display your age or gender.
3. There’s a huge community: 2 million users worldwide. ‘Nuff said.
4. It’s safe: The app has a privacy filter function that allows you to block any undesired incoming calls and limit those who contact you to a certain gender, age range or location.

My Favorite Features:

The thing I love the most about HelloTalk is that it’s an app particularly interactive.

I took my time to test every single feature and I found them all very useful. Two features, in particular, caught my attention:

1. You can send both text and voice messages to other learners as well as you can send doodle and photos or take instant pictures to make everything more fun and personal. In this way you can learn more about your fellow language partners and their country/culture.
2. You can correct your partners’ writing mistakes by using Correct Sentences function.

HelloTalk is free but it should be noted that you can only add one native language and one language that you’re learning on your profile. You need to pay an extra ($1.99) to add more languages.

There are also other optional paid upgrades such as unlimited translation, transliteration and voice recognition.
If you want to unlock everything and use the app as a paying premium member, there is a small fee of $9.99 per year (or $0.99 per month or $2.99 per 3 months). Pretty convenient, if you ask me!

Wrapping Up

As you can tell from my previous words, I’m completely satisfied with the app and I will continue to chat with French native speakers through HelloTalk. I have yet to find a flaw, to be honest…

Now it’s up to you to download HelloTalk and try it out if you haven’t already!

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