GGILI - Growing in Globally Important Language Instruction
Welcome to your Honest Language Learning Podcast!
Welcome to Giggly, which stands for "Growing Globally Important Language Instruction." And we use that acronym because laughter and giggles are the same for any humans in any language the whole world over. This program is designed for busy families who want to expose themselves to language learning in a way that doesn't take too much time. The audio portions can be done in the car in 10-minute quick audio lessons, and the paid version will come with just 5-10-minute activities, short spurts, but this allows for children to have a chance to hear languages and build confidence. There are a million programs and apps out there that advertise maximum fluency in the least amount of time. Many of these are not false advertising if you have the opportunity to practice with other people's words, verbal and written. For many Americans who are interested in learning a foreign language, we do not have constant access to constant immersion. So while these programs that advertise for fluency are helpful, that promise of fluency is undeliverable. And so people who start the programs eventually quit, thinking they just aren't cut out for it, that learning a language is better meant for little kids whose brains are just right for it, or for other people who are just playing smarter. But this is simply not true. Yes, kids are sponges for information. But the two main reasons kids learn languages faster than adults is not because their brains are wired better. The reasons really are number one. Often, when children are absorbing language material, they are absorbing it in an immersive situation. Their brain has no choice but to focus on it, if it wants to get what it wants. Most people, after a certain age, are not subjected to this desperation when approaching language learning. Reason number two is that kids are unafraid to look stupid. So many young adults and older people don't achieve their language goals because they want to master it before they try to use it. This is ludicrous. We are so afraid of looking stupid or doing something incorrect that we don't really practice when we have the chance, nor do we seek out those opportunities. Kids are not afraid to mess up. They just do what they think works and the rest comes in time. So if you've tried to learn a language before and didn't achieve it, don't be fooled. You can. And even if you don't care to learn one, you can still help your children get exposed to it, even if you aren't a native speaker. That's where I come in. First, we have to start off with reasonable expectations. This is your honest language program. I am not going to sit here and promise you fluency. I can't do that. Fluency is only achieved when language is used, usually in immersion. What I can promise you is exposure and tools. I can promise you content and curriculum. What I can promise you is that I will give you easy and consistent ways to expose yourself and your kids to the accents, cultures, and rhythms of the languages I have studied. What I can promise you is that if you ever find yourself in a situation to practice, you will have the tools to do so if you have the courage to try it. With my own children, they have no place in their lives where Spanish and Mandarin are used regularly. They resist it when I speak to them in either language. They resist it when I turn on my own podcasts or books or songs in those languages to keep myself fresh. I can't promise even my own kids fluency because I can't promise them immersion in our lives. My expectations are that if my children have enough exposure to these languages, when they are older and have the opportunities to communicate with someone new or to study a language by choice, they won't be intimidated and it might come easier to them because of previous exposure and tools. If this sounds like a realistic expectation for your children, that you want to give them these things or you just even want to peak an interest and grow confidence in their learning ability, then this is the program for you. The free version will include the audio each week. Each audio will include a vocab list where I tell you the English and the Spanish and it will include a simple conversation done three different times. I'll run through the first conversation with just myself talking to myself so that you can hear the way it should sound. Once between myself and one of my kids, so you can hear a kid trying to form the words, and once with me speaking only one person's part with little blanks so that you and your family can try to respond in those quiet spaces. By the end of the week, if you and your family listen to it whenever you're in the car, you should be able to fill in at least parts of the conversation spaces with your own voices. Now the paid version will include activities that you can do at home each week, activities that will take you 10 minutes or less, and that will help solidify that vocabulary and practice conversational skills. The paid version will also include the transcript and any written materials I might pre-make for activities. It will also include a link to a flashcard app for your phone that you can keep working on the vocabulary and play little games. So if you're stuck in a waiting room at a doctor's office and your kids are begging to play on your phone, great! Do the flashcards with them because you'll have them on your phone. As far as the activities go that you would be paying for, depending on the age of the student you're trying to teach, each week will come with one activity that will require some ability to read, but also at least one activity that does not require reading except on the guide's part which would be you, so that the activity can be used to help children of all ages. After the first two lessons, there'll be readings in the target language for you and any older children to practice reading as well as maybe a quiz game online. The paid version I envision as being like a little mini curriculum to use as a family. New lessons will come out once a week, but you can always do them taking as many weeks as you need to feel good with each lesson's material before moving on, as long as you do them in order. Now Americans have the reputation around the world for being selfish in many senses, one of them being the fact that we expect everyone else to learn English, and we barely put forth an 18 to 36 month effort over the course of two to four years of high school to learn even one other language. Then we complain, "Oh, we took it in high school, but we don't remember any of it." Well duh, you have to use the language to remember it, and when we only spend at most 36 months looking at it sporadically, we're not going to learn it. But by offering our kids exposure at a young age, by showing them it is possible to learn a little of something new at a time, by modeling it ourselves, we can make a little bit of difference in any foreign relations we encounter on a personal level. Most foreigners here, or even overseas, are overjoyed to find any American who even tries to learn another language. Attempting another language and to understand the culture that goes with it can make a small difference in a big world, and hopefully if you've got kids, you've seen enough family films to know that small differences are never as small as they appear. Lastly, on a personal note, be patient with my voice during some lessons. I have been an educator and a coach for most of my life, and I have actually developed scar tissue on my vocal cords. So some lessons my voice was sound normal, and sometimes it won't. But I love teaching. I love languages, and I will always come out with lessons for you. So please join me on bymeacoffee.com, check out the free audio lessons every week, and consider being a paid member so that we can give your kids multiple ways to be exposed to other languages and other cultures. Please come grow with me, giggle with me, and let's grow together as a family in a globally relevant language.