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In This Episode

In this episode, Rebecca and Lisa break down the seven language skills that every learner needs to know about to become more confident and self-directed in their studies. Starting with Listening, they explore how identifying specific sub-skills can help you improve more strategically, even if you're learning on your own. Whether you’re a parent, a student, or a lifelong language enthusiast, this episode is packed with tools to get you unstuck and moving forward.

Key insights in this episode

• The Seven Language Skills are: Listening, Speaking, Reading, Pronunciation, Vocabulary, Grammar, Writing (including both composition and handwriting)
• Language learning as an adult requires self-teaching strategies—you’re not just learning content; you're learning how to learn.
• Metalanguage—the words we use to describe language—can be a powerful tool when used in moderation. It helps streamline your ability to ask better questions and seek targeted help.
• Listening Skill Deep Dive: Rebecca and Lisa walk through four key subcategories of listening which are Cognitive Skills (e.g. predictive listening, working memory), Linguistic Skills (e.g. prosody recognition, grammar parsing), Pragmatic & Social Skills (e.g. inference, turn-taking), Strategic Skills (e.g. repair strategies, selective listening)

Your Joy Builder: the takeaway

This should serve as the focal point of what you take away from this episode in order to continue to build perseverance: It’s a lot harder to fix something if you can only sense that there is a problem but can’t actually define or specifically identify it. When you feel your listening skills have stalled, you now have a set of questions to refer back to in order to identify the perfect sub-skill to exercise next and get you, or you and your kids if you are raising a bilingual household, off of your plateau, at your own speed, on your terms.

Links

• Episode 5 is brought to you by Flodesk
• Theme music is provided by Milk Fangs
• Our Bu Bu Bu mentioned Duolingo
• Share your thoughts and language-learning journey with us on social media: continue the conversation by connecting on LinkedIn, BlueSky, Instagram, or Pinterest
• Watch the vlog on YouTube
• Sign up for materials and resources we've created just for you!

Reminders and acknowledgements

If you're found value in this episode and you haven't already subscribed make sure you tap that button to keep on breaking new ground in your language learning. Please take a moment to review the show on your podcast app, or to send this episode to someone you think could use it: It all helps us continue to build a safe-space for the fluent and Fluent•ish that is free of snobbery and filled with joy!

Fluent•ish the Podcast is brought to you by Little Crab Educational Press. Thank you to the language learning communities on BlueSky, Reddit, and Instagram for sharing openly about the struggles that people have to overcome to persevere in the pursuit of becoming fluent (or fluentish) in an additional language. Remember to Subscribe, Rate, Review, and Share from wherever you get this podcast.

Fluent•ish the Podcast is recorded remotely (most of the time) between Victoria and Vancouver which sit in the unceded traditional territories of several Coast Salish nations, across which we are grateful to live and work.