Language Chats

Making language learning accessible & exciting: A chat with Philippa Kruger from Education Perfect

The world of EdTech is growing and dynamic, offering greater access to exciting and diverse learning materials to students around the world. In this episode of Language Chats, we had the pleasure of speaking with Philippa Kruger, Global Head of Languages at Education Perfect. We chat about Philippa’s background as a French teacher and how she progressed into the exciting world of EdTech, what EP is, how it came to be what it is today (hint: it started with languages!) and how it can help students, teachers, parents and adult learners all around the world.Tune in and let us know your thoughts - we’d love to hear from you! If you haven’t already, follow us on Instagram or Facebook, and join our community on Facebook here - Language Lovers AU. Episode LinksEducation PerfectContact PhilippaLanguage Lovers AU episode #044 shownotesFollow Penny @lingo_mama and Bec @bec_languages

Introduction to Australian indigenous languages: A chat with Karla Zuluaga (Part 2)

If you haven’t already listened to Part 1 of this conversation, you can listen to it here.This is Part 2 of our chat with linguist Karla Zuluaga, who gives us an introduction to Australian indigenous languages and their current context, based on her studies, knowledge and experience to date.In this second half of our conversation, we chat about bringing indigenous languages into education in indigenous and non-indigenous communities, as well as how we can better inform ourselves on indigenous languages and cultures in our local areas or all around Australia.Check out the episode links below for the resources mentioned in this chat!Episode Links‘Dreamtime’ and ‘The Dreaming’ – an introduction - The ConversationAIATSIS (Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies)AIATSIS - Map of Indigenous AustraliaWelcome to Country: A Travel Guide to Indigenous Australia | Website | InstagramFirst Languages AustraliaGambay Indigenous Language Map50 Words ProjectWord Up Podcast - ABCGet in touch with Karla: Email | LinkedIn Language Lovers AU website and shownotes for this episodeFind Penny @lingo_mama and Bec @bec_languages

Introduction to Australian indigenous languages: A chat with Karla Zuluaga (Part 1)

There are over 250 indigenous languages in Australia, but most Australians know very little (if anything at all) about them. There is important work being done around the country to document, revitalise, revive and share the languages which have existed in Australia since long before colonisation, but if you’re like us and you want to know more - where does one even begin?In this episode of Language Chats, we speak with linguist Karla Zuluaga who gives us an introduction to Australian indigenous languages and their current context, based on her studies, knowledge and experience to date. We chat about learning about indigenous languages as a non-indigenous person, language revitalisation and revival in indigenous communities, and bringing indigenous languages into education. This chat was so interesting that we spoke for longer than our usual episode length, so we’ve split our discussion with Karla into two parts - the remainder will follow in Episode 43!Karla is an aspiring linguist and a lifelong learner. She holds a Bachelor of International Studies, Bachelor of Arts in Linguistics and Anthropology and a Master of International Public Diplomacy. She has studied over 10 languages from around the world to varying levels of proficiency. Karla has a special interest in endangered languages and is pursuing a career in language revitalisation.This episode starts with an acknowledgment of country in both Darkinjung and English.Would you like to share your knowledge of Australian indigenous languages with us? Or is there a particular topic regarding indigenous languages that you’d like to know more about? Get in touch - we’d love to hear from you.Episode LinksWomen In LanguageUNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in DangerDarkinjung Aboriginal Land CouncilIndigenous language programs: Charles Sturt University, Charles Darwin University, Curtin University edX course: Noongar Language and Culture (Curtin University)Language Death by David CrystalAIATSIS - Living LanguagesShow notes and all the episode links available at our website - Language Lovers AUFollow Language Lovers AU @languagelovers.au Follow Penny @lingo_mamaFollow Bec @bec_languages

Finding support & solidarity in language challenges: A chat with Debs Bensaul

Have you ever taken part in an online language challenge to keep yourself on track and stay motivated in your learning?Debs Bensaul (@franklyfrancophone | @essentiallyitalian | @towardsfluency ) is a long-time Language Chats listener and member of our Language Lovers AU Community. Based in Sydney, Debs is a committed learner of French and Italian who regularly takes part in the Fluent in 3 Months Challenge as a learner and volunteer community coach. We talk about her experiences of learning languages so far, why she’s found the Fluent in 3 Months Challenge and its community so helpful, some of her favourite resources for French and Italian, AND *drumroll*… Her language cubby house! (Is it a language lover’s paradise? Are we both jealous? Oh yes, we certainly are.)Have you had a similar or a different experience to Debs of taking part in an online (or offline!) language learning challenge? Did it help you too? Let us know - we’d love to hear from you!PS: Wondering why Bec is so quiet in this episode? Well… We had a little technical issue during our recording and it turns out that we lost almost all of Bec’s audio from this recording. Doh! Luckily this didn’t impact the rest of the audio for Debs and Penny, so we’ve edited the episode just a little bit so that you can still enjoy all the great info that Debs shared with us. Fluent in 3 Months (book) by Benny Lewis / Fluent in Three Months websiteThe Courage to Speak (course) with Shannon KennedyitalkiFluent in 3 Months Challenge: the Add1Challenge (previously run by Brian Kwong) became the Fluent in 3 Months Challenge in August 2017.Michel Thomas Method: FrenchCoffee Break Languages - and to find out more, tune into our chat with Mark from Coffee Break Languages (Episode 20)

Native or Non-Native Teachers/Tutors: The Pros & Cons

What’s been your experience with tutors and teachers? Have you had mostly native teachers or a mix of non-native and native teachers?In this episode of Language Chats, Bec and Penny chat about their experiences over the years, and the pros and cons of both.Plus are you going to be at the Women in Language online conference? It's from 4-7 March 2021 - you can get your ticket here! ItalkiGet your Women In Language ticket here! 4-7 March 2021Language Lovers AU Community on FacebookBec @bec.languages and Penny @lingo_mamaLanguage Lovers AU

Enthusiastic about linguistics: A chat with Gretchen & Lauren from Lingthusiasm

You might not know it yet, but you’re about to get very enthusiastic about linguistics.Yes, that’s right! The science of language and communication is fascinating and we recently had the pleasure of chatting with Gretchen McCulloch and Lauren Gawne, hosts of Lingthusiasm, a podcast that’s enthusiastic about linguistics. We talk about what linguistics is, why it is so interesting and relevant (especially to those who love learning other languages!), whether we should all learn the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), and more.Through their podcast and a number of other projects, Gretchen and Lauren make linguistics so accessible, interesting and fun that you can’t help but wonder if you made a terrible life decision if you didn’t study linguistics at university. But never fear - if you haven’t studied linguistics before, you haven’t missed the boat! See more in the links below about how they are helping everyone to learn more and get as enthusiastic about linguistics as they are.Episode LinksLingthusiasm - A podcast that’s enthusiastic about linguistics by Gretchen McCulloch and Lauren GawneFind out more about Gretchen: Website | All Things Linguistic | TwitterFind out more about Lauren: Website | Superlinguo | TwitterCrash Course LinguisticsBecause Internet by Gretchen McCullochOn familects: Kitchen Table Lingo by The English ProjectLanguage Lovers AU Community on FacebookBec @bec_languages and Penny @lingo_mama

Looking back to look ahead - our language plans for 2021

Was 2020 a year you needed a break from language learning? Did you step back and change your direction and plans? In this episode of Language Chats, Bec and Penny reflect on the past year and think about the learnings they will take with them into 2021.Consistency, not being hard on ourselves, getting back to what we love doing, not wanting to lose our sense of self and discovering what really works for us are just some of the learnings we talk about!Are you taking on something new this year? What have been your learnings from 2020? Share your plans with us for 2021!You can get in touch with on email, or on Instagram or Facebook.Episode LinksComme Une Française – 30 day listening challengeLindsay Does Languages – Solo Language Learners ToolkitEp #019 - Online language lessons (Part 1): Is this right for me?Ep #012 - Online Language lessons (Part 2): Getting the preparation rightLanguage Lovers AU Community on FacebookBec @bec.languages and Penny @lingo_mamaShownotes and more details on our Language Lovers website.

Embarrassing mistakes: Short-term pain, long-term gain

Mistakes are a natural part of the learning process but that doesn't mean that they are always pleasant! In this episode of Language Chats, we chat all about embarrassing mistakes we’ve made in our language learning, how we recovered and what we learned. From tonal mishaps to pronunciation blunders, we’ve made a few!What funny/embarrassing experiences have you had when trying to speak another language? Let us know! We love hearing from you. And don’t forget you can join our Facebook group to be part of future discussions just like this.Episode LinksFollow Language Lovers AU on Facebook and InstagramFollow Bec on InstagramFollow Penny on Instagram

Fascinated by sound: A chat with opera singer and speech pathologist, Sarah Lobegeiger de Rodriguez

How does a love of music and a love of language come together? In this episode of Language Chats, we speak with Melbourne-based speech pathologist and opera singer, Sarah Lobegeiger de Rodriguez, who describes herself as “a person with a complete and utter fascination with sound”. We chat about her love for music, words and sound, how this impacts her experience of learning other languages, fighting for empathy with respect to accents, and the complex way that our voice and language can influence how effectively we communicate.As a fully qualified speech pathologist, Sarah has a special interest in pronunciation clarification and vocal therapy / rehabilitation. You can find out more about Sarah and her work at Voice Science on their website or on social media, linked below.Links:Voice Science: https://thevoicescience.com/Find Voice Science on Instagram | Facebook | Youtube | Twitter | LinkedInLanguage Lovers AU: Language Lover AU website @languagelovers.auBec: @bec.irregular.endingsPenny: @lingo_mama

What to do when it all goes to and you lose your language learning mojo!

This year has been a test for us all! When life intervenes (and this is not just during pandemics, but other life changes can throw up big changes in how we approach language learning), it’s important to have a few reasons at your disposal to keep you going in language learning.In this episode, we chat about our different motivations for language learning and what has kept us on track this year during the pandemic and why even when we have lots of time we still find we get tripped up and find slumps of motivation hitting us.How has your language learning been going during this year? Has it all gone to sh!t for you and have you lost your mojo? Or are you discovering new ways of learning and new motivations?We love hearing from you! Please get in touch and let us know! And don’t forget to join our Facebook group to be part of future discussions just like this.For shownotes and episode links: Language Lover AU websiteFollow Language Lovers AU: @languagelovers.auFollow Penny: @lingo_mamaFollow Bec: @bec.irregular.endings