Shhh, I’m Learning!

S2 E9: Being Honest with Your Journey, an interview with Alexandria Robinson

My guest today is Alexandria Robinson, the host and creator of the Insecurities about Language podcast. Alexandria’s podcast talks about her journey with the European Portuguese language and is a space for talking about language insecurities and people’s relationship to languages that form a part of their identity but they don’t speak them for one reason or another. Alexandria has a passion to learn more about her own family's dynamics with regards to language and ethnic background. She titles these family dynamics the Death of Language. She is currently (on and off) learning European Portuguese and discusses that part of her journey in today’s episode.
One thing I greatly admired about Alexandria is her willingness to share her vulnerability about her language story. She has a lot to say about taking breaks and how to know when to push on versus when to step back. Her story reflects what’s reality for many of us but we don’t really talk about. I’ll let her tell her story as she knows and tells it best, but I do have to say I really admire it when people put their kids first. Our language story changes because our life changes. Adulting is hard and at some point we – at least most of us – have to step out of the comfortable bubble of having less responsibilities.
As always, reach out to me on Instagram @shhh_imlearning to let me know what you thought about the show, and consider buying me a coffee if you want to see me continuously improve my content and better serve YOU. A little goes a long way. :)
 
Resource mentioned in the episode:
Speakinspades website

S2 E8: On Not Following the Crowd and Other Thoughts, an interview with Kelli Connell

Hello, and welcome back to Shhh! I’m Learning. My guest today is Kelli Connell.
Kelli has been working with languages in various professional capacities for the past decade. From translator to project manager, her passion for all things languages and etymology is indisputable. She’s also what one might consider an outspoken introvert (soo…ambivert? She's not 100% sure at the moment, and that's okay, because personality is a very complicated thing). She greatly enjoys expressing herself in the languages she studies, which to date has included French, German, Russian, and Norwegian. She is currently focusing on Dutch and plans to add Brazilian Portuguese to the roster soon.
I thoroughly appreciate Kelli’s directness and precise communication. In today’s episode we chat about things like learning languages  as someone who thinks in images rather than words, the confusing situation of French in the United States, what it’s like being a sort of extroverted introverted/potentially ambivert/who knows post-pandemic and the importance of being exposed to various dialects in language learning.
After listening, please head over to Instagram and let me know what you thought of today’s episode!
 
Resources mentioned in the episode:
Languages with Renée
Coffee Break Languages: Portuguese podcast
BrazilianPolyglot on Instagram (she has wonderful, dialect-diverse English courses for Portuguese speakers)
 
 

S2 E7: Owning Your Accent, an interview with Barbara Czusz

Today's interview is with Barbara Czusz of @babs.speaks. Barbara is a language lover whose biggest love is the Finnish language. She created her studygram (previously @yoffelanguages) to meet others who share her passion. Besides that, she is a language coach who helps learners create structure and a good plan for their studies. She believes that everyone can learn a language and there is no such thing as “talent for languages.” When she is not talking about languages, you can usually find her with a cup of coffee and a good book in hand.
Today we talk about how sometimes inspiration for learning a language is random and that’s okay. We chat about setting boundaries and surrounding ourselves by supportive people as well as ask why we think of accents as so bad. After all, everyone has one. We go into not liking how we sound in a language – not that we have any solutions, but it’s a thing and we talk about it.
And as you listen I would like you to consider, what’s your stance on accents? Which do you think is more important, accent reduction or improving pronunciation? Or do you find each equally important or unimportant?
As always, reach out to me on Instagram @shhh_imlearning to let me know what you thought about the show, and consider buying me a coffee if you want to see me continuously improve my content and better serve YOU. A little goes a long way. :)

S2 E6: Compassionate Language Learning, an interview with Emily Harris

Today's interview is with Emily Harris, creator of the Mindful Multilinguals Collective and Language Travel Adoptee YouTube channel. As you'll hear today, Emily is passionate about language advice and habits that are good not just for your brain but also for your heart and your soul. Language learning isn't just about memorizing words and grammatical structures for Emily; it's about seeing yourself and taking care of yourself as a whole person.
Emily is also the host of the Language Wellness and Identity podcast (and you can find her on Patreon for bonus episodes) and she sometimes blesses us with her presence on Instagram (but is much more active on YouTube, as you'll hear today).
 
As always, reach out to me on Instagram @shhh_imlearning to let me know what you thought about the show, and consider buying me a coffee if you want to see me continuously improve my content and better serve YOU. A little goes a long way. :)

S2 E5: Book Review - Essentialism and The Introvert’s Way

Today's episode is a short review/summary of two books that have impacted me and my introverted language journey over the past year: Essentialism and The Introvert's Way. I find they are both full of insights to help support you on your own journey with languages. Reading is a way of interacting with and learning from people we'll probably never meet, and I am incredibly grateful for it.
If you don't have the time or inclination to actually read the books (although The Introvert's Way is mighty short), I've given links to audiovisual summaries of the books below (they're no more than 12 minutes long each).
Please note that I was recovering from a cold (or flu or something) when I recorded this episode, so apologies for my stuffy voice. I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me.
As always, let me know what you thought of the show! Reach out to me on Instagram @shhh_imlearning any time with questions, comments and ideas for future episodes. And please consider buying me a coffee if you want to see me continuously improve my content and better serve YOU. A little goes a long way. :)
 
Resources mentioned in the episode
A visual summary of Essentialism by Greg McKeown
An audio summary of The Introvert's Way by Sophia Dembling (I apologize profusely for it being a robot's voice)

S2 E4: Language Learning Over 50, an interview with Lisa Lyons

I cannot wait for you to hear today's episode with Lisa Lyons. Lisa came to me with the idea to chat about what it's like learning languages when you're over 50 and have more of a loose relationship with goals. This isn't a topic often discussed in language learning circles and Lisa has so much wisdom to share.
We go over Lisa's language learning journey, where to find baseball games broadcast in Spanish and the importance of learning at your own pace. Additionally, we go over how your needing subtitles even when you're at an advanced level is probably not your fault. Check out the resources list below for a video about how changing technology has made it harder for you to understand movies and TV shows, even in your native language(s).
As always, let me know what you thought of the show! Reach out to me on Instagram @shhh_imlearning any time with questions, comments and ideas for future episodes. And please consider buying me a coffee if you want to see me continuously improve my content and better serve YOU. A little goes a long way. :)
 
Resources mentioned in the episode:
Vice's video "Why We All Need Subtitles Now"
Accent's Way's video on why it's hard to understand tv without subtitles
Lisa's nonprofit supporting Nepal

S2 E3: Building Connections First, an interview with Heidi Lovejoy

Welcome back for another episode of Shhh, I'm Learning!
 
Today's episode is with Heidi Lovejoy, host of the Love, Joy and Languages podcast. In this episode we chat about what it's like learning languages abroad as an introvert, how learning languages as an adult is different from when you're younger and how learning languages in context in the country is dramatically different from classroom learning.
The main focus of today's episode revolves around what we're calling the introvert's dilemma: how to learn a language as an introvert in a much more reserved and introverted society? Heidi shares her experiences so far learning German in Germany, but if you have any tips and tricks to share, please reach out to her on Instagram @love.joyandlanguages. You can find links to her podcast here.
As always, let me know what you thought of today's episode! Let's connect on Instagram @shhh_imlearning and please consider buying me a coffee if you want to see me continuously improve my content and better serve YOU. A little goes a long way. :)

S2 E2: Finding Your Community, an interview with Oriana Domínguez

Today's guest is Oriana Domínguez, lover of books and languages. She shares her journey from Venezuela to Spain to Ireland and her passion for the languages she has picked up along the way, including English, Irish and Japanese (in no particular order). Oriana is also the founder of a book club for introverted women, The Book Club Chronicles. You can find her on her website and also on Instagram @thebookclubchronicles.
Let's connect on Instagram @shhh_imlearning and please consider buying me a coffee if you want to see me continuously improve my content and better serve YOU. A little goes a long way. :)
List of Resources Mentioned:
Slowly app
 
 

S2 E1: Welcome to Season 2!

Hey y'all! In this episode I let you in on what I've been doing over the break as well as what you can expect from Season 2.
Let's connect on Instagram @shhh_imlearning and please consider buying me a coffee if you want to see me continuously improve my content and better serve YOU. A little goes a long way. :)
 
List of Resources Mentioned:
Cat on my lap video
Gladly Global IG and website (Quite the introvert haven! They also have a Discord community.)
Jacqueline Sadberry (She teaches English, Spanish and Japanese and has very introvert-friendly class packages of 10, 20 or 30 minutes. She's been helping me with Japanese.)
Irish with Mollie self-paced Irish courses (includes access to a 24/7 Zoom room where you are more than welcome to just listen while you work up the courage to turn on your camera and speak) and IG
Languages with Renee IG and website
Bad Language Pod on IG
Inbetweenish podcast on IG and Spotify

S1 E10: Learning with Heart

Welcome to the last episode of season 1! It's truly an honor to have had you with me on the journey of this season. Today we're talking about 3 things that can help you evaluate how to learn with heart, namely:
1) Is personality change between languages really a thing? Is it a thing for everyone? Some people? Are there introverted/extroverted languages? Are we giving too much value to this last idea? What about people who grew up in a very conservative background in an "extroverted" language or vice versa?
2) You language learning routine can't stay static throughout your life. As your priorities and responsibilities outside of language change, re-evaluating your priorities within language will help you stay strong and avoid burnout.
3) Your abilities in language are a reflection of your experiences in that language, so I hereby give you permission to stop chasing that monolingual ideal and to instead see your language journey as a sort of map of where you've been linguistically.
I hope you enjoy today's episode! Reach out on IG @shhh_imlearning to let me know what you think. :)
 
Resources mentioned on today's show:
Talk on language alter egos
Language Wellness and Identity Podcast
Abundate podcast
inbetweenish podcast
Bilingual Parenting Podcast: episode on busting bilingualism myths
Bilinguitos on IG (look for post from March 24th)