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 Speak More of a Language with “Can-Do” Lessons
Chigusa: You’ll Learn...
Peter: One, An Easy Way to Boost Your Speaking Time
Chigusa: Two, How Peter Hit 3 Minutes of Conversation
Peter: And Three, How to Speak More with “Can Do” Lessons
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 anchor points...
Chigusa: ...and language profiles.
Peter: For those of you that sent in your language profiles. Thank you so much...
Chigusa: And if you haven't - if you want to get phrases that are relevant to you...
Peter: ...lines for who you are, where you’re from, phrases about your hobbies...
Chigusa: ...so you can talk about yourself in your target language...
Peter: Then, revisit last month’s Inner Circle to find out how to submit your profile.
Chigusa: Now, what about this month, Peter?
Peter: So, I promised 3 minutes of Korean conversation...
Chigusa: Yes, and how did it go?
Peter: Hit it. 3 minutes isn’t so hard Chigusa.
Chigusa: It’s not hard?
Peter: It’s very easy to make progress when you’re a beginner.
Chigusa: Really? I feel like most learners struggle with seeing progress.
Peter: Well, there are a lot of really easy wins you can make as a beginner. For example, how to introduce yourself. How to talk about your family. How to talk about wellbeing. We all do these in our native language, right?
Chigusa: Yes. We do. All the time.
Peter: So, if you can use these in your native language: these little everyday conversations and tasks
Chigusa: ...then you should learn how to do it in your target language.
Peter: And by learning them, you get to speak more.
Chigusa: Then the next question is... how? What’s the next step?
Peter: So, let’s get into today’s Inner Circle.
Chigusa: How to Speak More of a Language with “Can-Do” Lessons
Peter: And let’s get into the first part.
Chigusa: Part 1: An Easy Way to Boost Your Speaking Time
Peter: So, imagine this Chigusa. Let’s say you’re traveling to another country.
Chigusa: Ooh, how exciting.
Peter: As soon as you land, you need to go to the bathroom. Now, finding a bathroom isn’t hard to do in your native language. But here...
Chigusa: But here I have to ask about in the target language....
Peter: Exactly. And after the bathroom, you want to buy a bottle of water. Another common thing you do in your everyday life...
Chigusa: ....Hmm, I’d need the phrases so I can do all of that.
Peter: So, what’s going on here from a language learning perspective?
Chigusa: I need to be able to do these things in the target language. I need the right phrases.
Peter: Exactly. Now, imagine you had all the vocab and phrases you need for the airport. Getting through customs. Finding a bathroom. Baggage claim. Et cetera.
Chigusa: That sounds good. But Peter, the problem is most resources don’t offer this.
Peter: That’s a great point, Chigusa. With most resources, like textbooks, you’ll learn greetings, some grammar..
Chigusa: ...some vocabulary, some sample dialogue....
Peter: And things progress in a linear fashion. You’re building on what you’ve learned before. But if you wanted all the relevant lines and phrases... for example, traveling to another country, they’re kind of scattered through the textbook. You don’t get them all at once.
Chigusa: Yeah, you could learn how to say “my name is....” on page 1. Then 1 week later, on page 30, you learn how to say “what about you?”
Peter: And that’s a phrase you’d want to know if you were getting to know someone
Chigusa: So true.
Peter: So, this is where our “Can Do Lessons” and Learning Paths come in.
Chigusa: Oh, are these new?
Peter: They are. The goal of these lessons is to teach you how to do something in your target language.
Chigusa: For example, introduce yourself, how to ask for a phone number,
Peter: ...how to talk about the weather or your family.
Chigusa: So, by the end of the lesson or learning path...?
Peter: ...You can do it. You can introduce yourself. You can give or ask for a number.
Chigusa: So you know what you’ve achieved. Is that how you reached 3 minutes?

Peter: That’s how i did it. Let’s jump into the 2nd part.
Chigusa: Part 2: How Peter Hit 3 Minutes of Conversation
Peter: So, last time we talked about the Language Profile.
Chigusa: Right... and that was enough to get you to 1 minute.
Peter: And this time, i hit 3 minutes with my Skype teacher.
Chigusa: Now, just so the listeners know: How does this work exactly? How do you know you hit 3 minutes?
Peter: So, I have a skype teacher to practice speaking. We have weekly calls. And at the end of our sessions, we set a timer. So, literally, a stopwatch. And, I try a bit of conversation.
Chigusa: Ah, so it’s timed. How did you boost your speaking time this time?
Peter: Chigusa, if you want to speak more of a language, what would you do?
Chigusa: Hmm. Personally, I’d think of topics ahead of time, and then learn the lines.
Peter: That’s a great approach. But, like we said, with most resources... you don’t get all the words, lines and conversations for that topic.
Chigusa: Yeah, you get bits and pieces...
Peter: ...and you have to piece most of it together yourself.
Chigusa: So, is this where the Can Do Learning Pathways come in?
Peter: Exactly. In my conversations, we start off with greetings and a bit of catching up. So, there’s a pathway called “Asking About Well-being.” This one covers all the ways to ask how are you and answer the question.
Chigusa: Wow. So, how did that help your conversation?
Peter: We spent a minute on catching up. Just the basics: how are you? How was your weekend? You give an answer. Then you ask them the same question.
Chigusa: Sounds like a normal conversation we’d have outside of language learning.
Peter: It is. And I’m able to handle it because of that Can Do Pathway.
Chigusa: What about the next 2 minutes or so?
Peter: So, like you said, in order to speak more...
Chigusa: ...you need some topics.
Peter: Exactly. My go-to topic is my family and my sons. So we have a Can Do Pathway called “Talking About Your Family.” So, I just take the lessons. I review the vocab and conversations. I learn the lines. Then, I try them out on my Premium PLUS teacher first and get corrections.
Chigusa: And was that enough to hit 3 minutes?
Peter: It was. I talked about my family for about a minute. And then, I asked about my teacher’s.
Chigusa: Yeah, I can see why you call these easy wins. The “Can Do” Lessons give you what you need to say.
Peter: And by the end, you can do certain tasks in your target language.
Chigusa: You can finally talk about yourself.
Peter: About your family. About the weather.
Chigusa: Alright, now what about our listeners. What can they take away from this?
Peter: Let’s jump into part 3.
Chigusa: Part 3: How to Speak with “Can Do” Lessons
Peter: Now that you’re in your 3rd month of learning...
Chigusa: You probably want to speak more, past the basics and greetings.
Peter: The easiest way to do this...
Chigusa: ...is with the Can Do Lessons.
Peter: Can Do lessons teach you how to do something in your target language.
Chigusa: For example, introduce yourself, ask for a phone number, talk about the weather, talk about your family, order at a restaurant...
Peter: You get all of the must-know words and phrases for these topics.
Chigusa: And, by the end of the lesson or learning path, you can do it.
Peter: You CAN introduce yourself. You CAN give or ask for a number.
Chigusa: To access the Can Do Learning Pathways..
Peter: Send us an email at inner dot circle at innovativelanguage dot com
Chigusa: and we’ll provide you with the direct links.
Peter: Chigusa, these pathways, or this way to learn, is not yet live, meaning we’re still working on them..
Chigusa: ...but we will give you exclusive access.
Peter: Another way you can learn the can-do way is... with our regular lessons.
Chigusa: Here’s how. Every lesson comes with a “can do statement” ...
Peter: ...or what you’ll achieve by the end.
Chigusa: For example, if you visit the Survival Phrases Pathway, for each lesson...
Peter: .. you’ll see statements like “how to say thank you, how to say you’re welcome”...
Chigusa: ...or “how to ask for something.”
Peter: You can also use our advanced lesson search to find lessons that cover specific topics.
Chigusa: ...that you want to talk about in your target language.
Peter: For example, how to order food, go shopping, get through customs
Chigusa: ...or book a hotel.
Peter: Listeners, the point here is, you learn how to “do” these things
Chigusa: ...in your target language.
Peter: And as a result, you learn more, you speak more...
Chigusa: ...you learn words and grammar indirectly, which makes it a lot easier...
Peter: ...and you get to know what you’ve achieved with the lessons.
Chigusa: Alright Peter, let’s talk about your next small, measurable, monthly goal.
Peter. Okay, for April, let’s aim for 6 minutes of Korean conversation.
Chigusa: Great! Deadline?
Peter: April 30th. And Chigusa, I think I’m pretty confident about this one. Think one topic we’ll talk about another time is - does speaking a second language help you learn another language? And I have some thoughts on this because the Korean is going quite fast compared to some of the other languages I’ve studied in the past because of the similarity to Japanese.
Chigusa: Sounds good, Peter. And listeners, let us know what your small, measurable monthly goal is.
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 Inner Circle lesson!
Peter: Bye everyone!
Chigusa: Thanks for listening, and we’ll see you next time.

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