Lesson Transcript

So Kyejin, did I reach my goal? These tactics have been around for a long time and the only way to perform is practice.
And the only way to practice well is preparation.
So what is the secret? Welcome to the Inner Circle.
This is the monthly No Holds Barred newsletter, giving you tried and tested learning methods to help you reach your language goals this year.
Great job.
I'm Kyejin and I'm joined by my co-host, the founder of Innovative Language, Peter Galante.
Hi everyone, Peter here.
And today we're talking about a powerful way to practice speaking.
And Kyejin, you can practice this even if you're on your own.
Exactly.
Now, it's a tactic that most learners, or maybe some users use already, but most users probably aren't doing because of how unusual it is.
Indeed.
So I'm looking forward to sharing that with viewers.
Okay, but first, let's talk about my previous language goals.
Kyejin, do you remember the goals? So the first goal was get a 80 to any Korean to English ratio in class.
And what do you think? That's a better question for my teacher.
What I like about this is in the past years, I was the one talking about my goals and then I was the one telling whether I had achieved those goals.
But this time, I have someone here who can verify if I reached the goals.
So Kyejin, did I reach my goal? Du-bu, du-bu, du-bu, du-bu, du-bu, du-bu.
Yes.
Actually, I was really surprised because you prepare a lot of sentences that you want to say, you want to use in the class, right? And you actually use them.
And that was very fun.
Plus that make you speak more Korean.
Like you say that line and make it a little longer with my help.
And you spoke a lot of Korean the last month.
Great job.
Yeah, thank you so much.
And all because of my great teacher.
But yeah, in February, we actually spoke about preparation.
And then as Kyejin said, and I think we showed last time, I usually take some time to write down the phrases that I want to say, but I always make an effort to include the words and vocabulary that Kyejin taught me in the previous lesson.
Right.
So I was very proud of you.
And it really, if you get in a very positive cycle where you put in the work and your teacher sees or the person you are practicing with sees the results, then it motivates you more.
So I'm in a very upward trend.
Yes.
And also I could see that you're enjoying the class more when you speak more Korean.
It makes it more and more fun.
And Kyejin actually had the chance to practice Korean first time outside of a lesson with two Korean friends.
So some of the phrases that we practiced, I got to use with them and they were quite surprised.
Did they understand well? So again, we go back to how I like to learn.
So I like to learn the not normal phrases.
So how are you? I'm fine.
That's like, oh yeah, good job.
Oh wow, you can speak.
But I like to elicit the response from the speaker.
So Kyejin taught me, or I prepared the phrase, I've seen better days.
So Kyejin asked me, how are you? And I've seen better days.
And your natural instinct as a compassionate human is, what's going on? Are you okay? Right? How did you react to those types of questions? Whenever I have a lesson with you, I'm always surprised.
Almost every sentence you use is not expected at all.
I think you are really creative.
So the reason I do that is because then when I see my friends, they're like, oh, ask me how I am in Korean.
And they do, and they're expecting I'm well.
And it's like, I've seen better days, are you okay? Naturally, they're prompted to ask the next question.
That's right.
And I think that's also one way to remember a little higher level words too, because you use a little difficult words at the beginner level.
And that's great.
Right, like have you ever heard this expression, what's the point of a title of an essay? No.
What is the main goal of the title of the essay is to get you to read the first line.
And what's the goal of the first line to get you to read? Next line.
So that's how I like to approach language learning.
The goal of what I say is to prompt the next response.
So it's meant to keep the conversation going.
When I think of our lessons, indeed, that's true.
Because we have a short ice breaking time and you talk about something unusual and that makes our conversation longer and longer.
It's a great practice.
It's fun, but to practice, you have to prepare.
And I think in this lesson, we're gonna talk about how I prepared and then Kyejin, you actually used this tactic in our last year when you were studying French.
So shall we talk about the kind of secret to getting good practice? Yes, of course.
So what is the secret? So the first is when you, preparation is the key to...
How does that? I like when they do this in other podcasts.
Hey, Yuri, when they go off camera, I like when they break the third wall.
What is that? The father of perfection is routine or what is...
You mean the enemy of a good plan is a better plan? That's not the one.
No, it's something to do with perfection.
The seeds of perfection are planted in routines or something along this, but a good routine helps with perfection and the routine is powered by preparation.
So I usually start with writing out what I want to say.
And these days, it's so amazing.
Google Translate, so many things can give you the actual how to say it.
So then I listen and then I'll make a recording of what I want to say.
Then I'll listen to the recording and then practice it.
And then lastly, I'll record myself saying it and then I'll listen to them side by side.
Ah, I see.
So that was your secret.
I watched your audio and video submissions and I was surprised that your pronunciation is very good.
I wrote it in the feedback and good pronunciation.
Yes, and that comes from the practice.
I see.
Kyejin, shall we talk about...
So maybe the listeners might not have followed or the viewers in this case, might not have followed that transition.
So shall we talk about the premium plus homework that I was assigned? And then I think what
you said will make, we can tie this all together.
So after each class, I assign homework to Peter.
It really depends on the lesson, but mostly it's writing or speaking practices.
So those are based on our lessons that Peter learned in the previous week.
So he can review himself by writing and speaking.
Yeah, so for example, last time we spoke about giving your phone number.
Yes, we studied the number and that was the practice.
So we did that inside the class and then of course the class ends and most of the time, depends how diligent I am, I can, so my class is on a Wednesday and then Thursday or Friday, if I get busy, then it goes two days without doing any Korean.
So the homework Kyejin sends through the chat in my account because I have a premium plus account.
So you can see here that I received the homework and it's a blank document and then my responsibility is to fill that in.
Oh boy, you're showing my, I don't know if my penmanship is the best there, but one thing that I did do, I didn't cheat.
I didn't just write the Arabic numerals, right? Look what I wrote above it.
Yes, good.
And I sent you the feedback here.
Ta-da, almost correct.
Almost correct.
Amazing work, however, eight is pal, not chill.
Ah.
So Kyejin, I just put some mistakes in there occasionally to test you, to see if you're really checking.
Yes, I know that.
You're checking if Kyejin is working or just saying good job all the time, but I was working hard.
So just to review, we go through the class, we practice live and that's the thing about practice.
It's okay, so with, I practice for the class then I perform in the class, but then after the class, it's important that I keep testing and refining.
So this was sent after the class and I really like to challenge myself to see if I can do it and it's very good to write in the language.
And one good thing is after this written form, you also sent me a video format.
You also recorded yourself and I could hear your clear pronunciation and wow, good job, again.
Wow, I give you a lot of compliments this year.
Yes, I feel like I need to work harder.
Definitely.
So what's important about this is the written stuff.
I mean, you can game the system.
You can use Google Translate.
And look and just write what you see.
I was like, oh, like this.
Without using your brain.
Actually, yeah.
But it's still your output.
It's still output, you're still performing and still doing it.
And then the next level is an audio file and I like to send audio files too, but again, you can kind of game the system.
You can be looking and reading.
That's still fine, in my opinion.
Still good, but the ultimate test is the video.
Why? Well, in theory, and when you're doing the video, you're looking at the camera and you're performing it and you're really doing memory recall and that's the most important, one of the most important acts, like aspects of learning, active recall.
Pulling it out of your brain, that action of pulling it where it's stored from your brain to your lips.
It's like, this is the very ultimate, like one of the most powerful ways to really train your language.
Really train, really learn how to learn a language.
So this active recall.
And in doing the video, there's more pressure on you and you have to do this.
You're looking at the camera.
Yeah, I agree.
And also one good thing is, I could see your body gesture too, like moving your hands or your eye contact.
So as a native speaker, that's also good to see someone speaking in the whole video.
Plus I can see the shape of your mouth and see how you are pronouncing the words, if it's correct or not.
Yeah, and when I watched the video back, it actually looks like my eyes because it looks like I'm reading it off something.
But everyone's why I'm looking up.
So you can tell when someone looks up to the side, they're really trying to pull that information out of their brain.
Yes.
So maybe if you have a chance, we can share your videos with viewers.
Yeah.
You know, actually now I think of it, I'm better off doing the videos with my eyes closed so you know it's proof I'm not reading it.
Ah, that's right.
Yes.
Please close your eyes and record the videos again.
That will be a test for you.
So we're talking about Premium Plus, which is a bit of a higher level feature in our learning system.
So, Kyejin, but these tactics that we spoke about, you can do them with your friends or like if someone's willing to help you learn a language, it doesn't have to be with a teacher per se.
These tactics have been around for a long time.
And I think we're just using new tools, applying new tools to them.
But they're very powerful ways to learn.
Right.
And actually, you know what, if you record yourself, you can assess yourself too.
Because when I learned French, I thought my French pronunciation was better, but I recorded myself and when I hear that, I was like, oh, I sound very Korean.
And I practice more and more until I'm satisfied and I could improve a little better.
So not only by a teacher or your friends or someone else, people can actually test theirself too.
Yeah.
Wow, I can't believe I'm going to say this.
Has it been 30 years? It's been 30 years ago when I started studying Japanese.
We had the Walkman with the cassette tapes.
Yes.
So I would use this to record myself.
So again, this tactic has been around for a very long time where you record yourself, listen to yourself back.
And at that time, it was kind of a disadvantage because I only had myself and kind of the pronunciations, what I imagined them to be.
But still, it was a very effective way to learn, to read something, record something, and then listen to it again and again, and then practice shadow while you're listening to it.
This tactic has been used for many, many years.
Yeah.
And now the technology is advanced and there are some more tools that help you, as Peter mentioned, Google Translate, or Depot or other translation tools, which also provide the pronunciation.
So you don't have to worry about how to pronounce this because there is something that helps you with the pronunciation.
And also, everyone has a phone these days.
They can use the recording tool or they can also record videos too.
Yeah.
So, for example, you can write what you want to say into a translation or into a translation software, then record it, then record yourself saying it, and you can listen to them side by side.
True.
That will prep you so that you could perform for, in my case, my premium plus teacher, which of course is Kejian.
So that's how you prepared.
So your preparation and this homework, do they improve you a lot? You know, language learning is not easy.
And it's kind of mathematical in a way.
It's a function of time.
You have to put in, if you don't put in any time, there's no progress.
But what we're discussing here is how to accelerate that progress instead of going like this, we're trying to give you techniques and tactics to go like this, so go much faster.
And this is a very, very powerful one.
Yep, I agree.
And I think you improved a lot in the last few months.
Yeah.
Thank you, Kejian.
But again, I'm focusing on areas that I like to do.
I need to learn from you and focus on some of the testing too, like some of the more standardized things, I think.
Yeah, we can learn both.
But for now, I think it's still good that you are practicing a lot of sentences that you actually want to use in your daily life.
Yeah.
And I think these things, it's interesting, a lot of this stuff also applies to public speaking.
And we think we're speaking in a certain way.
But in reality, I remember the first video we saw of our show on video.
How was it? Not quite what I thought.
Lots of hand gestures and constantly smiling.
So I'm trying to be a little more serious.
So this video tool, though, really changes the game.
Watching yourself, whether you're speaking your own language, public speaking, or if you're speaking in a language, seeing how you speak your body language, which is an important part of communication, you can see.
As you mentioned, you can see the lips move and the mouth movements.
And it really can help you.
Progress faster, but progressing faster is an equation of preparation plus practice.
Right.
So I have a question.
So your way of learning is great.
And how about our viewers? How can they apply your tactic for their learning? Or for premium plus users or premium users, can they use all of this, you think? Definitely.
I think the key is to utilize the features on your phone.
I mean, I'm guilty, too.
It's like at the end of the day, I don't think I've ever had my like usage for the day.
Fifty percent greater productivity.
It's usually mostly like YouTube video, like consuming or as we like to say, it's mostly input rather than the productive stuff.
But start by looking at that.
Look at your day.
See what the ratio is.
When I started, it was like ninety five percent input and five percent output.
And then I said, OK, this week I'll get to 10 percent.
And how I did that was I started to use the phone features, the recording tool to record Korean that we learned in the class.
So anything that I learned in the class, I would record.
Or Kyejin also sent me recordings via this phone, sorry, via the chat.
Right.
There are some parts that your pronunciation wasn't clear.
So I send this recording so you can record the pronunciation and repeat after me.
And so I would take the learning I did in class and or the learning from lessons.
Or if you're if you're not a member, you can learn anything, any way you learn from a friend, from information from somewhere else, then first write it.
And I start by typing it.
Then after I type it, I write it out from writing it out.
I then read it audio and then the ultimate after practicing that multiple times, using the tool to record it, listening, listening, listening, then speaking, listening, speaking.
Then I'll try the video of saying it.
Nice.
Powerful.
Yeah, indeed.
It's very powerful.
So if especially for premium plus users, they can also submit their handwriting or voice recording to their teachers so they can correct them.
Yeah.
And of course, the video, too.
And the reason video and the reason in person is so good is that you have to perform.
Right.
And the only way to perform is practice.
And the only way to practice well is preparation.
Right.
I did the similar tactic for my French learning.
And actually, when I did the audio recording, I don't record once.
I record many times until I feel this is acceptable.
You should show the users one of those because I think your definition of successful is like much tougher than mine.
I'm like, one, two, three.
All right, we're good.
I'm like, oh, no, I don't like this pronunciation.
I practice a lot.
So it looks like I practice just once.
But indeed, I practice that line for 10 times.
Yeah, double digits verse.
Yes.
All right, Cajun, this was so I think, yeah, there are many lessons.
If you listen to this and check out the PDF and we can give you a tour of my exchanges with Cajun.
It's a very, very powerful technique that has been not new, has been around for a long time.
We're just using new tools, applying new tools to old, tried and tested learning techniques.
Yes.
So I really hope our viewers can use these useful tools, too.
OK, so I don't know, Cajun, what's a good goal for next class? 90 percent? Oh, wow.
Yes.
Let's aim for that.
OK.
90 percent.
90 percent.
And am I doing OK on the lesson pace? I'll be honest.
It's not so easy to jump as fast as I thought.
Their holes start to appear.
So like words that I studied, I'm not holding on to them as long.
So I often do this.
If it's OK, I'll scale back my goal just a bit to consolidate some of the gains that we've had in our language progress.
Sounds good.
Yeah.
OK.
So then shall we say I should try to get seven lessons? OK, seven lessons.
It's one a day, but that's tough, but less than what I was doing before.
So.
OK, sounds good.
OK.
I'm looking forward to it.
Yeah.
And one one thing, too, is, you know, what really helps me and what's been most motivating is having Cajun for a teacher.
It's I actually look forward to my classes, so you need to find something that keeps your motivation high, whether it's listening to songs in your target language, watching videos in your target language, communicating with someone in your target language, of course, which is one of the most motivating things.
But.
Yeah, if you can get to the point where there's something in your week, leave routine that you enjoy about the language, then the preparation and practice, the hours you have to put in no longer become work, but they become.
Not enjoyable, not enjoyable per se, but.
It's not so hard anymore.
That's what I wanted to say.
Yeah, I agree.
I totally agree with you.
So thank you very much.
Listeners, what about you? Let us know.
Email us at inner dot circle at innovative language dot com and stay tuned for the next Senior Circle.
Bye, everyone.
Bye, everyone.

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