Becoming Fluent

Book Notes from Kerstin at Fluent Language

Table of Contents:

Cognitive Science 2
Chapter 1: Myths About Adult Language Learning 3
Chapter 2: Sharpening Your Mind 3
Chapter 3: What You Need To Know About Language 5
What's Your Language Like As You Learn? 6
Chapter 4: Yourself, But In Another Language 6
Chapter 5: Language and Perception 7
Chapter 6: Cognition 8
Chapter 7: Making Memories 8
Becoming Fluent Action Plan 10

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 When most people ask me about language learning books that I would
recommend, they mean printed courses and phrasebooks

The tools that have knowledge printed in them, so in theory all you have to
do is to read the book and you’ll acquire that language. Read the B1 German
textbook -- there you go, now your German is at B1 level.

Sadly, most of us know from experience that this isn't really how things work.
Learning a language has so many moving parts, there's so much to learn and to
apply, that most learners who just buy a phrasebook will struggle to reach the cool
conversational level they've been dreaming of.

In other words, learning a language is also about learning how to learn a

language.

Cognitive Science

The academic world has been trying to figure out what exactly makes
language learners tick for many years, but I've rarely seen a summary of study tips
as good as the one presented in "Becoming Fluent" by Roger Kreuz and Richard
Roberts.

Their area of study is cognitive science, something they describe as a mix of

psychology, speech & hearing studies, educational research, linguistics and
anthropology. It makes for a really inspiring angle on language learning.

Becoming Fluent is a comprehensive summary of how language learning

works for adults in particular. If you're reading this article because you're trying to

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learn a language, chances are you're over 15 years old and this book is most
definitely worth a read.

In this article I'll be going through my own book notes to pull out what I
found most actionable and inspiring in each of Becoming Fluent's 8 chapters.

Chapter 1: Myths About Adult Language Learning

This was a chapter after my own heart, considering part 1 of my own

philosophy says "Language Learning is for everyone, not just young, rich, smart,
privileged people." Kreuz and Roberts have the research notes to prove our
theories, and focus on age in particular.

They highlight three of the most dominant myths about language learning.

I repeat, the following three sentences are MYTHS - not supported by

evidence:

1. Adults can't learn as easily as children

2. Adults should learn the way children learn
3. When learning your second language, try not to use your first language

Here on the blog, I took those headline conclusions and built them into the
The 5 Golden Rules of Adult Language Learning, which you should definitely
check out as a step-by-step answer to the question "How Should I Learn
Languages?"

Chapter 2: Sharpening Your Mind

Start by examining your own false beliefs and mental shortcuts that can stand
in the way of success. These heuristics include ideas like:

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 * confirmation bias (looking for evidence that a language is difficult because
you already believe it's difficult)
* the simulation heuristic (when it's hard to imagine something, it's harder to
do it)
* anchoring & adjustment (it's hard to change your mind, which can affect
your willingness to try new language learning strategies)
* the planning fallacy (focusing only on the results instead of the journey
causes frustration)
* counterfactual thinking (frustration because of what might have been)

The Most Effective Ways of Studying

The chapter goes on to talk about effective habit building strategies (habits are
something I've discussed on the Creative Language Learning Podcast and in the
context of speaking more fluently). They conclude that little & often is best, and
habits are more effective when you have sety yourself an ambitious goal.

Psychological studies have shown that goals that are more difficult have a
positive impact on most people's performance.

TIPS: Go public in order to boost your motivation, find yourself a study

buddy and try to focus on learning at the same time each day.

Beware of Self-Fulfilling Prophecies

This is the kind of thing that creeps in when adult language learners had a
bad experience in school, and tell themselves they're "not a language person" or
"haven't got the brain for it".

It is effectively "putting yourself down", but the scientists call it low self-
efficacy.

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 To overcome the low-self efficacy, the book suggests that you:

1. Take practical steps to improve in your target domain (which you are doing
because you're reading this article, right?)
2. Beware self-handicapping (don't try less just to avoid failing)
3. Select the right tasks (something "next to" what you already know, not
something super challenging)

Chapter 3: What You Need To Know About Language

The chapter starts off by making a strong case for a language learning method
that combines both written and spoken materials together. You can read my take on
this in detail and get a specific plan for putting it into action in Fluency Made
Achievable.

The key points from research published in the Modern Language Journal
made excellent arguments for building reading into your language routine. This
means no audio course alone will quite give you what you need, since cutting out
the visuals deprives adult learners of what they're most confident in.

Which Language Is The Hardest?

Some languages are slower and some are faster if you want to get to a specific
level (for example FSI levels in America). But no language is unlearnable.

Fluency is actually a question of speed, and you're also going to need to

establish high proficiency (i.e. being accurate so people understand you). So in
other words, most people think of “rapid speaking” when they speak of fluency.
But to communicate effectively, it’s also critical that you speak accurately.

“The real test of how well you speak a language is how easily you can communicate
when you are using that language and the pleasure you derive from speaking it.”

MICDROP

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 What's Your Language Like As You Learn?

When you speak a language as a learner, you are somewhere in between

elementary and functionally native on the FSI Proficiency Scale. That special
"learner language" you speak is called interlanguage, and most learners slow down
at some point, never quite reaching that level 5.

This could be due to common ground - the idea that speakers you learn with
get used to how you talk, and this is why it's also harder to speak a language "in
the wild".

To make things easier for yourself as you speak another language:

* Prep the other person with standard phrases, so that they get used to how
you express yourself
* Prep yourself for a bit of frustration as the other person isn't used to how
you express yourself
* Explain that you are a learner, where you are from etc. This will help the
other person bridge the gap between how you two speak.

Chapter 4: Yourself, But In Another Language

The chapter introduces the concept of pragmatics, which is the study of how
humans communicate and how they use language. As you know, language
learning tends to be about more than just the words and grammar.

I'm primed with Pragmatics from previous academic study, so these

summaries didn't offer as many new insights for me. If you want a 10 word
summary, it's kind of this:

“People have conversation rules, when people don't follow the rules it's usually because
they want something.”

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 In practice, this means that studying cultural norms and standard expressions
in another language is extremely effective because this is how you enable speaking
like an adult. Your language competency should be about who you are and how
you talk, and the goal is not to imitate native speakers literally, but instead to make
the most of the interpersonal skills you already have.

So be yourself, but learn how to fit it into your target language.

Chapter 5: Language and Perception

In adulthood, the speed at which you process information decreases, possibly

this affects your comfort levels with established teaching methods.

General inference: When exposed to one speaker/accent/voice, you become

really good at understanding them. One of the most important aspects of achieving
foreign language fluency is being able to understand the spoken language of
others. So make sure you always hear a variety of voices.

Accent becomes harder to acquire as we get older (several studies have shown
this). Grammar is not as affected by this. This means that the "critical period"
theory doesn't hold up at all - you're not too old to achieve fluency if you start
later.

Get support from a "language sherpa", someone who can help you think
strategically. You can potentially learn from a non-native, while children learn
better from a native.

Tutors and teachers are also best employed as more than a “walking
textbook”, as they are further along the way and can help you based on what they
learnt in the past. Remember: learning how to learn is what matters.

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 Chapter 6: Cognition

Adults learn a language better when they have more than just audio.

When you know related languages in the family of your target language, it's
easier to acquire a language because this cuts down on what you need to learn as
"entirely new".

*Knowledge transfer*: You can go low-road (which is repeating sounds or

phrases) or high-road (mindful and creative). The high-road knowledge transfer is
a lot more effective for learners, so the best TIP is to always learn/use a language
"in the wild".

Chapter 7: Making Memories

In short-term memory, the number of digits you can memorise is quite small.
But when you infer meaning (for Americans, for example 1492 - 1776 - 2011) you
can add a lot to that string of digits or vocab words you want to memorise.

Adults are better than children at "chunking" and should not rote learn. Study
the skill, don't blindly memorise words.

The thing that helps you remember a word is *deep processing*, which is
what connects words with meaning and helps you remember them. Also be aware
that you will forget words naturally and that **relearning them is actually what
will anchor them in your memory**.

Cognitive Overload

This occurs when your memory and processing brain are asked to do too
much at once, for example when you find yourself in a brand new environment
listening to many fast speakers.

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 TIP: Break down the input you are facing. Language is always complex, so try
to start with an easy task and add complexity. Introverted learners will have extra
processing demand in situations that include conversations with strangers, so
allow for that. Take recovery times.

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 Becoming Fluent Action Plan

Target Language:

Step 1: Set Your Next Language Learning Goal And Note It Here

Step 2: Go Through The Checklist & Make Sure Your Goal Meets All
Conditions. If it’s not quite right, work on rephrasing your goal.

This goal is small, but challenging (it’s in the Zone of Proximal

Development)


This goal pushes me to use spoken, written and visual resources

This goal is going to use my existing vocabulary

I’ve shared this goal with my tutor or language learning buddy.

This goal challenges me to re-learn something I’ve not studied in a

while.

Step 3: Rephrase Your Goal so it fits the Becoming Fluent plan.

Next Steps:

Today I will _______________________________________________________

Tomorrow I will ___________________________________________________
In the next 7 days, I will _____________________________________________

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