PCS Series: Getting stationed overseas? How to learn a new language as quickly as possible with language consultant Lindsay

[00:00:00] Alison: Today's a fun episode and I'm super excited. , so this is coming towards the end of our PCs series that we're doing for the show. And , we're gonna talk to Lindsay. Of Lindsay. Does languages, and Lindsay is a language consultant. You're not affiliated with military in any way, shape or form.

[00:00:18] Alison: So this is a first, , I usually only have military spouses or veterans on the podcast. So this is a first, but I think this is a really cool topic to talk about because , Lindsay, , we connected through email, but you reached out because you're like, Hey, I've been working with this military spouse and are there other like, Would, do you guys have any help when you're moving to another country learning a language?

[00:00:40] Alison: And the answer is no. There is no help. You just get sent out. And so Lindsay's gonna share with us the best , advice as far as like what. Programs you might wanna use or, , what's the best way to get socially fluid, as quickly as possible. So, okay. We'll get into all of that stuff, but Lindsay, welcome to the show.

[00:01:01] Alison: I'm so glad that you're here. 

[00:01:03] Lindsay: Yeah, thank you. Thanks for having me. I'm, I'm so excited. Like, and, and like you said, And when you replied back to me and said, oh, there's, I, I asked around in some groups and there's just no support. I was like, mm-hmm. Wow. Okay. We need to, we need to talk. 

[00:01:18] Alison: Yeah, for sure. Okay. And so in case you can't tell, Lindsay is not in the United States.

[00:01:23] Alison: Lindsay, Lindsay is in the uk. So, so that's exciting. , we get to hear a different accent, so that's fun.

[00:01:30] Alison: So Lindsay, tell us a little bit about your business. Lindsay does languages, what kind of stuff do you do? And just kinda give us a little bit of background on yourself. I. 

[00:01:39] Lindsay: Yeah, I mean, languages have been a part of my life for a very long time. It all started, I was about eight years old. I went to French club in primary school, and when my mom would say, do you wanna keep going to French club?

[00:01:51] Lindsay: Should I keep paying for that? I'd say yes, because they gave us quants at the end of term, and that was reason enough. Back then, and so I just kind of kept going and then I later on wanted to do Spanish for when I had to pick exams, um, because I wanted to translate Shakira songs. It was just the simplest of reasons that got me started on this path, and my school said, To do Spanish, you have to keep doing French.

[00:02:18] Lindsay: So I was like, eh, okay, why not? It's fine if I can do what I can do the other, no big deal. And it really just snowballed from there at that, you know, that experience of having to do French if I wanted to do Spanish and then having to do two at once, kind of taught me that actually once you get the process down and you work on that, it just gets easier and easier.

[00:02:42] Lindsay: My first degree and my master's as well, actually distance learning part-time. So I've was working, you know, throughout and I started Lindy's languages back in 2012, which Wow, it was like such a long time ago now. Yeah, yeah. But initially I was doing something quite different.

[00:02:58] Lindsay: I was teaching, I was doing private tuition, I was going out and teaching French, Spanish, and English, driving all around in the dark in the evenings, you know, because most. People don't want their children private tutored in the school daytime. So you instantly gain these very unsociable hours. Mm-hmm. And um, a couple of years into that, I was like, Hmm, this is great.

[00:03:20] Lindsay: This is fun. I enjoy the teaching, but it's not sustainable. There's no room for growth here. Yeah. Let's move online. And, you know, a little bit later then I was like, Hmm, okay, well I'm enjoying. Teaching but teaching the language stuff, like I don't wanna just talk about English, French, and Spanish. I wanna work with people learning all languages.

[00:03:44] Lindsay: Cuz to me that was interesting. You know, I was continually learning new languages for myself and, and discovering and exploring in that way. And I realized as well that. The thing that is missing, you know, rather than me just like, oh, I'm just gonna, um, teach French online, or Spanish online, or English online, the thing that was missing, because there's loads of amazing tutors and teachers already doing that stuff.

[00:04:08] Lindsay: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. But there's less in terms of teaching you how to learn a language. And when you have that knowledge, you can go and you can use any resource. And as we said before, we hit record, like oftentimes, you know, People that are listening to this in, in the situation that you might be in, it's a case of you are there, you land in a country, how long are you gonna be there?

[00:04:30] Lindsay: You don't wanna invest lots of money in a, in a course. You kind of just want the quickest and cheapest and easiest way to get the foundations down. Sure. So when you know how to learn, You can do that and you can repeat, you know, that method again and again and again, as many times as you need or want, because I do believe that once you get started and you do it once, you're like, oh, actually I can learn this language and maybe I can learn that one that I've always had on the The bucket list.

[00:04:59] Lindsay: The dream list. So yeah, it does, um, once it becomes possible, it becomes. Kind of addictive in a, in the best way. 

[00:05:09] Alison: Okay. Yeah, that's, so that's interesting because we were, we were talking a little bit beforehand and I was telling you, so, uh, the interview that I did with Liz from Liston file, she's stationed in Korea and she was a translator for a li while, and she's the same.

[00:05:21] Alison: She loves languages, she speaks multiple languages. And she says the same thing. She loves to learn and it's so, I think that's real. I've never thought about it that way. But there is a way, like if you can figure out how that works and, and you shared an awesome resource, , that I will definitely link in the show notes.

[00:05:39] Alison: . Live Lingua. Yeah, there are, like, there are, so I didn't know there were that many languages. So, and there's tons of, there you can pay, you can find someone and pay for courses, but they also have a ton of free stuff on there too, which is fantastic.

[00:05:50] Alison: Mm-hmm. And I just started poking around a little bit. And I was looking at, , Spanish, because I'm like, okay, I feel like that we all really should get on board with that. , it's so prolific, we really need to get on board and, and learn that one. I feel like, , and that, and that's part of what they were saying is they were like, you have to.

[00:06:10] Alison: You have to start, there's like, there's something in your brain where, and where like you, how you're perceiving something. Like you can't just go into autopilot and be like, yes, this, no, this the, like, you have to allow your brain to kind of settle in and think in that language and pause before you respond so that you're really, and that kind of.

[00:06:34] Alison: Internalization. It's not just a repeat after what I say, repeat, and then like you just that repetitive, there's a part like if you can wrap your brain around how the language works. It's like, you know, it's like a, a, a revelation Exactly. 

[00:06:50] Lindsay: Of the language. Yeah. Because so much of our memory of language learning comes from school and it's not always quants at the end of term.

[00:07:00] Lindsay: For most people, you know, it is, here's a list of words. Test on Monday. Go learn them. But without being told how to learn them. And so what that ends up being is just repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat. And we try and learn, oftentimes with language, by rote we're told that just repeat, repeat, repeat is the best way.

[00:07:20] Lindsay: Um, you know, make flashcards. Make flashcards. And there's just so much more. If flashcards work for you, if repeat works for you mm-hmm. Amazing. Do it. But for so many people that. Isn't gonna be enough on its own. Mm-hmm. And so understanding more about how we learn in general, but also how we can then apply all of that knowledge to language learning and also understanding how we are as individuals, like, uh, the, the core foundation of the way that I work with people and how I teach this is that you have to put you at the center.

[00:07:55] Lindsay: Of this whole experience. Mm-hmm. Because if you are thinking, okay, well I've read that to be a one level in French, you need to be able to do this, this, this, this, and it. If you are working through someone else's checklist, That isn't gonna work for you because actually what are the experiences, what are the scenarios that you are gonna encounter or you are more likely to encounter mm-hmm.

[00:08:19] Lindsay: In the world around you as you use the language, you know? Mm-hmm. So really thinking about you is core to the whole process. Mm-hmm. And often that gets. Kind of diluted with, with lots of traditional resources through no fault of their own, like mm-hmm. Don't get me wrong, there's so many great resources out there.

[00:08:40] Lindsay: Mm-hmm. Um, but it, it has to be more sort of neutral. It has to be Mr. Smith going on a business trip to Spain. Because, because that's the, the kind of standard, you know, oh, I'm learning for travel, I'm learning for work, et cetera, et cetera. Okay. That's what we are gonna put in the course. Right. Um, But that isn't always the case for everyone, you know?

[00:09:04] Lindsay: Yeah. 

[00:09:06] Alison: I feel like, cuz I took French, I loved French. I thought I did. I feel it. It's such a beautiful language and I took it through high school and then I had to take two years of it in college as well. And it was so hard for me because my brain wants their word to equal our word. So if I wanna say I wanna go to school, How I would write that is not how it is how you would write that sentence in French.

[00:09:35] Alison: It's not the same. It's their, they say it differently, like it's written differently. It means the same thing, but it's written. And so that, like, I couldn't, I, I was, I barely scraped. Through. I barely passed because it was so hard. I just couldn't, because once you get to like French too, now you're in, you're writing a composition and you're like doing, and I just like my, it, my brain was like, I, I, I wanted to translate word for word.

[00:10:00] Alison: And they don't, languages don't work that way. Yeah. 

[00:10:04] Lindsay: And, and again, like no fault of the teachers because they have to get you through the course of the particular time and the timeframe. Mm-hmm. But by the time you then move on to French too, The whole class might not quite be ready, you know, and, but you, you've gotta go there anyway.

[00:10:19] Lindsay: There's no time to, to kind of make sure that everyone's on board and in the same place. Mm-hmm. And so then that just leaves people feeling like, I'm not a language person. Yeah. I sucked at languages at school, therefore, I. I'm not gonna bother. Wouldn't it be lovely? I'd love it if I could. I, I read a headline actually just this week that was something like 70 something or 80% of, um, British adults regret not learning a language.

[00:10:46] Lindsay: And I read the headline. I was like, are they dead? Like it's not too late what they regret. Like they have, they, they're still alive and they can still do it. 

[00:10:56] Alison: Right. I wonder if it's like in your brain, because everybody says like, put your kids and languages early, because you can learn them so much easier when you're younger.

[00:11:05] Alison: So I think that then def as default when we're adults, we're like, oh, we're we passed, our brains won't do that anymore. Right. So we we can't do it. 

[00:11:13] Lindsay: Yeah. There's two things. That children continually have found in like all of the research. There's a whole ton of research on, on kids and age and language learning.

[00:11:23] Lindsay: Um, but there's two things that I've noticed come through a lot. The first one is kids are less of, in fact, I'll do it the other way around. Kids are better at pronunciation. Right. And the reason for that, the second thing that kids are better at is that they're not afraid of making mistakes. Mm-hmm. Which is why they're better at pronunciation, right?

[00:11:43] Lindsay: Mm-hmm. Because they try, they do it, they give it a go, and then they improve through that process. Sure. And both of these things, as adults, we have the advantage of age and wisdom. Mm-hmm. So when we know that kids do pronunciation better and they make mistakes better, then we can think, okay, well then.

[00:12:02] Lindsay: Actually pronunciation. It's important, you know, I wanna be understood, but it's not the be all and end all. So I can sort of put that to one side for now. But making mistakes, I can do that. If I, I can learn how to put that kind of conscious fear aside. Yeah. And get comfortable with making mistakes in a foreign language, then I can be on a par and I can learn, you know.

[00:12:27] Lindsay: Like a, not, not like a child. I think that's a bit of a, sort of misnomer, but I can learn and, and not regret. Mm-hmm. You know, like this not be part of that 

[00:12:36] Alison: headline. Yeah. I love that. I, I, I agree. I think we need to let go of some of that. I think it's ego, I think. Right? It's like, it's not so much, you know, and it's just let it go.

[00:12:47] Alison: It's okay to not, we tell our kids and we tell our kids that all the time. You don't have to be perfect. Yeah. It's okay to make mistakes and then. But we don't allow ourselves that same grace. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah. It's, it's backwards. It for sure is. Okay. So then, okay, so now speaking to our military spouses, we've got orders and we're going to Germany, or we're going to Spain, and I am, again, I'm trying to get my family internationally.

[00:13:14] Alison: How does that work? I gotta get my dogs, do I have my car? What am I packing? Like all of the logistics that go into actually physically getting your family into a new country. Really the language is the back end of it. What would you, what would your recommendations be for that male spouse that is like, they're in the hot seat, like, okay, we're getting there in like a couple of weeks and I, how, what, what can I do to set myself up to be really socially fluid?

[00:13:41] Alison: Right? Where you can kind of, I can pass at the grocery store, I can ask for a direction, I can, you know, what, what is the, what is the best strategy to getting to that level? The 

[00:13:51] Lindsay: first thing I would say, Top of the list of that strategy would be not to panic. So to recognize that if you've managed all of that life admin stuff mm-hmm.

[00:14:04] Lindsay: Moving abroad, like, wow, pat on the back first of all, but second, you've then not got much time, so you are not gonna be fluent. You are gonna still make mistakes in German or, or Spanish, or whatever the language might be. Mm-hmm. And so just. Not panicking and accepting that and giving yourself a bit of self-compassion.

[00:14:24] Lindsay: Like you say, give yourself a bit of grace. Right. You know, recognize that you're gonna be trying and that alone is, is completely valid and completely like awesome. Yeah. So that's the first thing. The second thing is, I would say, and actually maybe I can, uh, get the link to you for this too. I have a list of essential vocabulary.

[00:14:43] Lindsay: And actually this would be useful too, a list of. I don't know how many languages now, but like starter page of sort of essential vocab in certain languages. So you don't even have to do the groundwork if you're lucky enough. And it's, and it's on that list that I've got. Um, but there's also like, So many of these lists.

[00:15:01] Lindsay: Omni Glot is a really great website that I would recommend where they have, if you type into Google useful Georgian phrases, useful German phrases, useful, Japanese phrases, Omni Glot is gonna come up. They've got a page for. All of those languages with useful insert language here, phrases and those pages really, really useful because what you don't wanna do is try and overwhelm yourself If you try and start with, um, a sort of traditional resource or even like an app sometimes, like if you think, oh, we are moving to Germany in two weeks.

[00:15:34] Lindsay: Let me get on the German du lingo. It's gonna start with like the dog eats bread and. That like long term, those sort of random sentences are really good cuz they teach you the structure. But if you just want quick and easy starter phrases, that's not gonna necessarily be the best starting point. Okay. Um.

[00:15:56] Lindsay: Some apps do it better than others. I would say like drops kind of orders things really well. So there's some nice starter packs on, on the Drops app. Mm-hmm. Um, but yeah, generally start with some basic vocab. And you mentioned earlier about when you were doing French in school Right. And it was like, you want that word for word translation?

[00:16:14] Lindsay: Yeah. As well as, when I say vocab, I don't just mean. Word, word, word. I'm thinking as well about phrase, phrase, phrase or chunk. Chunk. Chunk. So for example, if you learn how to say, um, there is often, or like there is, there are often that can be really easily converted to a question in a lot of languages. So in English it might be, there is, we'll say a dog for argument's sake.

[00:16:40] Lindsay: Mm-hmm. There is a dog. And then you just say, is there. So you turn those words around, and that's the question form. So if you can learn a few of those things, , and if, if you are wanting to be, , conversational as well, and I have these, all of these suggestions that I'm saying are in that list of essential vocab.

[00:17:00] Lindsay: Um, okay. I, if you have a few things lined up of like, it's right and I learned this from. When I went to, um, Myanma, there was like this old, I think it was called Burmese by Ear. It was like an old P D F with some audio, and I downloaded the mp3 s this was like 2011. There was no internet in the hotels or anything, so I had to entertain myself in the evenings.

[00:17:24] Lindsay: So I downloaded this to learn some in the evenings, and, um, it started off rather than like, hello, my name is, it started with like, it's hot, it's cold. It's hot, isn't it? Yes, it's hot. It's cold, isn't it? Yes, it's cold and you think, oh, this is weird. But the amount of times that I used those little phrases with people in the street and to just spark that interaction, it wasn't like, you know, you don't walk up to someone and go, hello, my name is Lindsay.

[00:17:53] Lindsay: I am from England. I speak English. Like, that's not how we introduce ourselves in real life. Right, right. You know? So thinking slightly differently about the language that's gonna be useful is. Gonna be a really, really useful approach. And then the, the third thing, so that's kind of, that's a lot to explain, but that's the second thing is, is thinking about that essential vocabulary quite tactically.

[00:18:18] Lindsay: Then the third thing I would say is getting as much exposure as you can. And I, I'm, I'm not gonna tell you that passive listening will make you fluent, or if you put your headphones in overnight in the morning, boom, you'll be, You'll, you'll become well that be nice, professional, just like magic, like, no.

[00:18:36] Lindsay: Right. There's, there's work involved, but the more comfortable you can get with not understanding every word of a language, the better. So just being able to hear when you, when you first, if you, if you right now were to pause this podcast, but don't, because me and Alice are having a great chat, don't pause I now, but if you were to pause this podcast right now and go and listen to like a German one for example.

[00:19:03] Lindsay: And you don't speak German, that would be really jarring. That would be like quite sort of uncomfortable. Mm-hmm. If we're honest. Mm-hmm. , and so if you imagine that you don't expose yourself to any of this language and then you go to the country and all of a sudden. Everyone that you speak to is speaking in this new way.

[00:19:22] Lindsay: You'll be like, oh, oh, oh. Mm-hmm. Add that to the sort of fear that we have as adults of not wanting to make mistakes and boom. Mm-hmm. You're not gonna speak, you're not gonna communicate. You're gonna go home and stay. Stay on the base. Yeah. Right. Yeah. Which is. Is what we don't want. Right? You're right.

[00:19:40] Lindsay: You're in a new country. The the, the more you can embrace that opportunity, the better. Yes. And so instead of, ignoring the, the, the language, get as much exposure as you can listen to it. , there's a whole ton of podcast. Another, another thing I've made is a massive, massive list. There's like over 800.

[00:20:01] Lindsay: Podcast that I found in like over 123 languages as well. So I'll give you the link to that too. Oh my goodness. Resources. Um, yeah. But, but with that, you can just be listening. Like when you go for a walk or when you are, you know, around the house doing some chores or whatever it is just. Getting the sound in and music too is, is really useful to, to get it in, in a, a bit more comfortable way because you've got something else to, to listen to that you do understand.

[00:20:28] Lindsay: Cause we all can relate to music. Mm-hmm. So these sorts of things and film and tv, et cetera. Just to increase your exposure, get comfortable being uncomfortable. Get comfortable with not understanding everything, and that's the the third best piece of advice that I could give you for that sort of short term.

[00:20:47] Lindsay: Getting ready to getting ready to go.

[00:20:50] Alison: Yeah. Oh my gosh. Okay. Okay. So you g we're gonna, 

[00:20:54] Lindsay: there's a lot there to unpack. 

[00:20:56] Alison: We'll, we'll link all of those things in the show notes because you listened a ton of places that you can go and look for stuff. But I think that that's really good advice. You know, really just listen to the language, whether it's through music or a podcast or something.

[00:21:12] Alison: Just listening. And I feel like, I've kind of gotten that way with. French because like I I, if I'm listening to someone talking, I can gather what they're saying based on the few words that I know. So like, I feel like, but I think that's, I never would've thought about that, but I think that, You know, change your, as you're gearing up to maybe go overseas, change your podcast to a different language and just like, mm-hmm.

[00:21:34] Alison: So then you're hearing it and then you can kind of, and then again, it's, and then I, cause I've never really thought about it that way, but you're right. Like if you just go and listen to something straight off and you're like, holy cow. But it's the same thing. If you go to a country and you don't know the language at all, though, you're just like, so then you do, you would, I would, right.

[00:21:50] Alison: You wanna stay home or isolate or, or go with what, you know, stay on the base or whatever. , ideally if you're in that part of the, I think the beautiful part of, of, um, being stationed overseas is trying to embrace that. You know, this is where we are making the best of it. Like, that's such so cliche that we, but we say it all the time.

[00:22:09] Alison: But it's so true. You know, like if you, like when you have that op, cuz there's so many military families that don't have the opportunity to go overseas. Yeah. And so you're really lucky that you're getting that, that you're getting that time to do that and to explore and to, you know, and just really trying to make the most of it as possible.

[00:22:26] Alison: So I think that, I think that those are really great. So then, okay, so I'm. I'm gearing up to go. What is, like if you were like, okay, I am gonna be in Germany in two months. This is what I, this is what you should do, like right now, this is, what would your, what would your like first two things be that you should do as you're gearing up to leave?

[00:22:46] Lindsay: Mm-hmm. Okay, so you've got your vocab down, you've got your podcast subscribed and your feed, and you're okay. You're doing that already. That's ticking over. I would then think about looking for if, if you are the kind of person who maybe needs a bit of accountability with this, right? Mm-hmm. Maybe actually.

[00:23:06] Lindsay: You know, you've not learned a language in school, it feels kind of scary and a bit overwhelming. Mm-hmm. Then I would think about looking for some sort of support. So you could go down the line of, um, a, a tutor or teacher. There's loads of great websites. Mm-hmm. I, I call them, and I don't mean this derogatory, but like tutor marketplace websites, so something like I Talkie just because there's so many choice.

[00:23:26] Lindsay: So, so much choice, so many tutors on there. Mm-hmm. , so those kind of websites can be really useful to find someone. And once you've. Got like a lesson booked in the calendar. You gotta do it cuz you paid for it, right? Yeah. So you're gonna show up. Sure. If you know, if, if, if you're quite. Sort of self-motivated, you're quite, you know, a bit of intrinsic motivation works well for you, then that might not be as necessary.

[00:23:49] Lindsay: Mm-hmm. But it's still a good idea to, get some sort of, , maybe even like if you know someone that's already there, , on the base, maybe sort of creating a bit of a study buddy. Relationship where you're both kind of learning together, even from distance can be really useful. I did this, , when I learned Korean in sort of 2016 time.

[00:24:10] Lindsay: Yeah, it was, yeah, that far, that long ago. Um, and my friend Shannon lives in California, and we would meet once a week on Skype. This was pre zoom being cool, right? We would meet once a week on Skype and we'd chat with each other like, oh, what have you learned this week? And Oh, cool. I've got some new words too.

[00:24:29] Lindsay: And it was a really useful motivator to keep going because it would've been so easy for, like, even now for me with Korean, I'm like, Ooh, what is a tricky one? And it, I would've just been like, okay, I'll just, I'll just pause this one. Because I knew that I was gonna be showing up for Shannon each week. I knew I needed to bring some new.

[00:24:48] Lindsay: Something new to, to share with her. It really motivated me. So if you, you know, accountability can be useful and it can come in a few different forms, but a tutor can be good because then if it's an online tutor as well, you can continue to work together once you arrive in the country. Mm-hmm. So that can be really useful.

[00:25:04] Lindsay: Mm-hmm. , so that's, like I say, not necessarily gonna be the best fit for everyone. Mm-hmm. So if you do feel that you are more independent led and that you can. Use a resource without feeling overly tied to it. Mm-hmm. Then having something, you know, whether it's a, a combination of, , an app or two and like a, a coursebook.

[00:25:27] Lindsay: , I think audio courses can be really great. They're the one resource I wish that worked better for me. Like they worked really well for so many people. Okay. But I need. A visual to go alongside. I know that I need the book and the audio can be a dialogue in the book, but if I'm just on, you know, things like Pinsk, for example.

[00:25:50] Lindsay: Amazing. Mm-hmm. But I, it just doesn't work for 

[00:25:54] me. 

[00:25:54] Alison: I get it. I totally, I this whole, like, I know that we've dove into this distance learning, everything's online to, I, so I'm a, in the fitness profession now, and , everybody turn their trainings online. I cannot sit in front of a computer for eight hours.

[00:26:11] Alison: And get that information. Yeah. I need to be in the room. , I need to be in the room. I need to see it, I need to do it. I need to watch you do it. I need, you know, I ca I cannot learn that way. So I think that's really smart. Know yourself, so, yeah. Yeah. If you can listen to something and be like, oh yeah, cool, this is great.

[00:26:28] Alison: I'm getting it, but I'm just like, you are. I, I can't engage that way. I need to see it. I, there needs to be something else for me. So I, okay. So then pivoting off of that, so are there, what would you say. Are your top two or three apps that you would say are the best for learning a language in the, in this being able to be socially fluent as quickly as possible?

[00:26:52] Alison: What are your top, , couple of apps and then we can go onto. What are your top programs if you need more than that, cuz I need that. 

[00:27:02] Lindsay: So top apps for this specific scenario, I would say, I think I mentioned drops already. Yes. And the reason is like they have so many like lessons and they're typically very.

[00:27:17] Lindsay: Individually word based, right? So it's like, okay, word match. Word match. It can get a little tedious, it can feel a little boring. But if you want quick and easy, like travel starter conversation phrases, they have really good sets of lessons. , okay. What I would say is don't get too hung up on getting like a hundred percent, cuz some of them are like, On the plane, like I was doing the Russian on the plane lesson.

[00:27:46] Lindsay: Oh, for what felt like centuries. It was so like, you know, stuff like, aisle seat, middle seat, window seat. It's like, okay, that's, that's nice, but I'm, I don't need that right now. Yeah. , so making sure that whatever app you use, this, this goes across the board, that you are feeling selective, that you are keeping yourself in control.

[00:28:09] Lindsay: Yeah. Um, you're not just relying on it to tell you what it thinks you need and then you think, oh, I must need that cuz the app says so. Oh, so that's the first one. That's smart. Yeah. The travel stuff. I would say if you are. Going and your thinking of your thinking, it's probably gonna be something long-term or long-term ish, like mid-term, you know, a few months plus then duri lingo can be really useful.

[00:28:36] Lindsay: Okay. Partly because it's pretty easy to use, like. We all have probably at least downloaded it once, even if we, I haven't, I've, 

[00:28:48] Alison: I, I'm like way behind the, I need, I'm like, ok, lemme just do that now. Yeah. So most of military families that are coming over there, were there for two to three years. So maybe is it a little bit longer?

[00:28:59] Alison: It might be a year, but it's at least a year. So that's, I mean, it's a substantial amount of time that you're gonna be there. Yeah. And 

[00:29:05] Lindsay: in that case, dual lingo can be really useful because it builds things up quite gradually. Okay. So it doesn't necessarily start with the sort of travel useful quick conversation phrases that you might get from something like drops.

[00:29:18] Lindsay: But it does give you a fuller. Sort of spectrum of the language over a longer term. Okay. So that's, that's, it's a, it is a really useful resource. And then I think the third, I'd probably say memorize for two reasons. Firstly, if you are going somewhere that uses a language that they have made a course for, then their sort of initial courses are really pretty cool with conversational stuff.

[00:29:46] Lindsay: Things like, cheers and Shall we go or Let's Go. Those kinds of phrases that don't always get, yeah. Translated early on. But the cool thing about memorize is that they have their courses that they've built, but then you can also create courses. So there's a lot of user-generated courses that are of varying quality if we're honest.

[00:30:09] Lindsay: Okay. But the benefit is there's a range of languages. So, you know, if you are sort of, um, you know, d deployed somewhere that's maybe a little. Further a field where you're like, Hmm, is this language on an app? Oh, memorize is a good one to to check. Okay. Because it may well be. 

[00:30:28] Alison: Right. Yeah. Well it probably is on that, uh, lingua one as well, because holy crow there.

[00:30:34] Alison: I mean, geez. I'm like, I didn't even know there were all of these. There's languages I didn't even know that was a language like it was. Yeah. So I'm sure you could probably find it on that as well. 

[00:30:43] Lindsay: You reminded me a, a a, another really good one is you talk for the quantity of languages too. Okay. Um, so their lessons.

[00:30:52] Lindsay: Uh, it's probably reasonably organized, like if you want conversational stuff. So that's another good one 

[00:30:57] Alison: for the range. Is, is, is that an app as well? The you talk? Yeah. Yeah. That's also an app. Okay. Yeah. That's okay. So, okay, so that's a, that's a lot. Those are great. And I'll, again, they will all be linked in the show notes.

[00:31:07] Alison: So then if I'm like, I don't love my phone and I have a hard time, , I'm a visual and tactile learner. What are some resources that you would ? What are your top two or three that you would recommend for someone that doesn't, that, that learning through an app and just listening might not be, that might not be your speed.

[00:31:25] Alison: Mm-hmm. That might not be how you learn best. 

[00:31:27] Lindsay: I, and again, I mentioned this one already too, but I do really like, I talkie if okay, there's moments where I want to work with, , then that's a really useful resource. Mm-hmm. I also personally like my favorite as someone who is quite. , sort of quite a solo studier.

[00:31:45] Lindsay: Mm-hmm. Like I do a lot on my learning solo and then maybe I'll book a lesson after a while to check how I'm doing, you know? Okay. I also really like yourself courses. I think that they're great. They're often, they've got a yellow spine, so they're quite easy to find. , okay. They come in a range, so there's somewhere it's like, get started in, , or.

[00:32:08] Lindsay: Like, maybe conversational. , and then there's complete, so the complete ones are thorough. Okay. You know, they go from chapter one, hello, how are you? And then chapter four, it's like, boom, here's all the hard grammar you need. They really. Give you everything. , yeah. And so they can perhaps be a little overwhelming.

[00:32:27] Lindsay: They complete the ones we complete on the titles, but yeah, they get started in or get talking in, I think they're called, those sorts of, of series from teacher self can be really useful. And the great thing about that, , is that they have an app with. The audio from their courses. So, you know, in the olden days, the olden days when you get a language course with CDs or cassettes in a huge box.

[00:32:51] Lindsay: Oh yeah, yeah. Or now you just buy the book and the audio is on the app for teach yourself. Okay. The same for colloquial courses as well, where their audio is on their website. I don't think there's an app. , but yeah, they can be good too. , I've not had as much experience with them, but I do, I do really rate the teacher self ones.

[00:33:12] Lindsay: I think they're very good. Okay. 

[00:33:13] Alison: Okay. So you just gave us a ton of apps that are great if you're good with that kind of type of learning. We have a couple that if you really need that, like tactile, I need a book or something to accompany audio learnings. So if you're like, okay, I have a budget for this, , , I have some money that I'm willing to invest in helping me get to this faster.

[00:33:31] Alison: , would the fastest way be doing one of these options of like, taking one of the courses through the Drops app or dual lingo, or would it be finding a tutor and being able to talk to someone one-on-one? What is, , the quickest way to learn? Is it depending on the person maybe?

[00:33:47] Alison: Yeah. 

[00:33:48] Lindsay: Okay. Okay. Yeah, I asked that. I was like, oh, hold on. 

[00:33:52] Alison: There's a caveat to that. I 

[00:33:54] Lindsay: think there is. It really does. Yeah, it really does. , because the thing is as well, when we say quickest, it's really tricky because like you say, it depends on the person, but it depends not just on how you learn, but how much time you have and want to and can.

[00:34:11] Lindsay: Devote to it, you know? Yeah. So it is really tricky to give like a, this is the way, this is the best way to learn. Yeah, no, I get that. Yeah. But I, I would say honestly, if you do have a budget, work with, , and I don't mean to sound self-serving here, but work with a coach or, , , a language coach who can help to guide you through using any of these resources.

[00:34:32] Lindsay: Cuz then you actually don't need to spend. Money on the resources cuz there's so much out there as we've discussed already, a gazillion apps and, and sure PDFs on Live Lingua. But if you can work with someone who is then gonna guide you through how to use those things for you and to understand your best ways of learning, that's the best thing that you can do.

[00:34:54] Lindsay: Mm-hmm. And you know, like, I think I said at the beginning, you've then got skills that you can transfer for, for life. Like just sort of a very um, Sort of a template for yourself. Mm-hmm. And I wish, I wish that it would be so easiest to say, this is the method, this is the template, this is the blueprint.

[00:35:14] Lindsay: Right. But it's, it's just not, it's so dependent. Mm-hmm. 

[00:35:18] Alison: Yeah. It's so personal. I, I get, I think that's really smart though, because, , just circling back to the top that, , This is the word repeat. This is the word repeat. This is the word repeat. Like, most of us have been conditioned to learn a language in the, in the US anyways.

[00:35:32] Alison: , that, that's, that's not, that's, yeah. Right. That's not really how you, like, you have to. You have to understand more of the context and how the language works and, and, and that's, there's similar threads through every language. So if you can figure that part out, then, like you said at the beginning, you can not just learn German or Spanish or Italian, you can take it and learn whatever you want.

[00:35:59] Alison: Go learn Japanese too and learn whatever you wanna do . 

[00:36:02] Lindsay: Exactly the, the, the first time I learned German, it was the first language that wasn't, well, that's a lie I'd, I'd done French. It went in this order. French, Spanish, Italian, Mandarin, Chinese, and then German, right? Mm-hmm.

[00:36:16] Lindsay: So French, Spanish, Italian. Italian was real easy cuz I'd done French in Spanish. It was like, just, you know, same family. Lots of similarities. Mm-hmm. The structure as you're saying, Was basically the same, quick and easy boom. Amazing, right? Mandarin was like so different that I was giving it more time and attention and, and that's cool.

[00:36:36] Lindsay: But German was the first time I'd ever encountered this scary grammar thing called cases. And I was like, what is a case? I do not get this, this does not compute in my brain. And it wasn't until, oh, like I think. The sort of second year of, of German courses that I took where I had someone who was studying on the same course that lived locally, I think I mentioned it was, um, sort of distance learning.

[00:37:04] Lindsay: So we were all over regions dispersed. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. But luckily there was someone who lived quite near me and we met up at this pub, very British of us, and uh, and she just explained it to me. In a way that made sense for the first time, and it was this light bulb of, oh, it's, mm-hmm. That mm-hmm. And as soon as I could get past the, all the jargon, all the grammar jargon that was in the textbook and being presented to me and have someone who was in the same position as me learning it.

[00:37:36] Lindsay: Had learned it, had understood it, explain it to me. Then I was like, oh, got it. So when I then started learning Russian and they're like, Hey, so you know German has four cases. Well we have six. And it was like, okay, yeah. No big deal. I know what it is. It's fine. Yeah. And so when you catch those threads, when you understand a thing like that for the first time, it then becomes so, So much less intimidating.

[00:38:04] Lindsay: Is that a good sentence? Y you 

[00:38:06] Alison: know what I mean? So I know what you're saying. I, I, yes, I understand what you're saying. Yeah. And I feel like I would love, , cuz there's like, I wanna travel and I wanna go internationally and I wanna do all these things and , I think it would be so cool to be able to carry a conversation and all these different, , how cool would that be?

[00:38:22] Alison: I feel like a lot of people have that on their bucket list. , I wanna learn. Yeah, I wanna learn how to speak Italian.

[00:38:28] Alison: And I wanna go to Italy for a month, or , I wanna learn how to speak this language and then go on this trip or whatever. I feel like that's on a lot of people's bucket lists to do. So I think. Okay. So I think that's really cool. And then the other thing that came to my mind, and I don't, I I, we've never been stationed overseas.

[00:38:43] Alison: We've never had that opportunity in the job that my husband does. , but I feel like. You have had said a couple of times having another person in the same boat as you are that you can bounce ideas off of, and maybe the person that you, that was learning Russian, they, they picked it up in a different way.

[00:39:02] Alison: Were able to explain it to you. That made sense. Yeah. Whereas, you know, and I, I feel like. And I don't know, maybe there is something, and I don't, I haven't heard about it, where like you get matched or like maybe if you're gonna go, if you're going to Germany, like maybe whoever, whoever your spouse is gonna be, the unit that they're gonna be put with, like, Maybe throw it into the group.

[00:39:22] Alison: Hey, is anybody, do we wanna start a language group? Do we, I don't. And maybe that already happens and I don't know about it. But I think that that's so smart because if you, if you can connect with somebody else that's in the same boat that you are and you're both trying to do the same thing, you're only gonna, it's only gonna amplify learning for both of you.

[00:39:39] Alison: You know? I think that would be really awesome to 

[00:39:41] Lindsay: do. Exactly. And honestly, if it doesn't exist, Start it. Try it. If you want it, the chances are someone else will too. Yeah, I know. So yeah, like you say, ask around in the groups and, and mm-hmm. And, you know, just put the feelers out there and see if there's some interest.

[00:39:59] Lindsay: Yeah. Because even if, even if it's the, it's. You know, people who connect and have that accountability aren't on the same base or even in the same country. Just knowing that there's someone else out there in your similar position mm-hmm. Who wants to do this same thing that. They've felt for so many years isn't possible, or it's too late or they've missed the boat.

[00:40:22] Lindsay: Mm-hmm. You know, that's such a motivator. And like I said, my study buddy for Korean, California. Yeah. I'm in the middle of England. Like it worked 

[00:40:30] Alison: so well, but we're in that day and age. Right? Yeah. I mean, I can be in Colorado and you can be in the UK and we can have a conversation with each other.

[00:40:38] Alison: We could do that. So it doesn't necessarily have to be your neighbor, it could be. Somebody, or maybe, or if you're feeling inspired, maybe you're a spouse that is stationed overseas and that becomes your kind of pet project. Hey, new people coming in, talk to me I can, let's have a conversation.

[00:40:58] Alison: I can help you. This is what helped me. This is what you know. And, and have that be that person too. Cause I think you're right. And I feel like I saw, I saw something like that just recently that was like, if. If don't wait for someone else to start something that you wish was there, just do it. Do it yourself.

[00:41:13] Alison: Yeah. Why? Yeah, exactly. You don't have to Exactly. You don't have to wait for somebody else to come up with it. Right. I mean, if you're, because, because like you just said, if you're thinking it, I, odds are someone else's also being like, man, I wish there was whatever the resources, you know? Yeah. 

[00:41:27] Lindsay: Like how, how many times have you been in a room and someone says any questions and you're thinking Yes.

[00:41:32] Lindsay: I do. And then someone asks the question that you want, you're like, oh, thank you. Thank you. Yeah. You know? Yeah. Like there's no stupid question. There's no, no sort of solo thought. We're probably, probably probably someone else out there thinking 

[00:41:48] Alison: it. Think of the same thing too. Yeah. Yeah. For sure. Okay. Well, Lindsay, I think it has been so great talking to you, and you have given us so many resources.

[00:41:56] Alison: So many resources that are fantastic. So if people would like to learn more, Tell us a little bit more about what you have to offer specifically and with your website and, and how if people would like to work with you, how they can do that. 

[00:42:09] Lindsay: Hmm. Yeah, so Lindsay does languages.com is my website.

[00:42:14] Lindsay: , and there's a few different ways to work together. So I, I do, I do two things. I work with people that wanna teach online. That's one side. But most relevant for us is that I teach people how to learn languages, and I do that in a few ways. The main way, working more directly is in my program Language Life.

[00:42:32] Lindsay: And we have this. Really cool combination of self-study curriculum and human support and feedback and regular practice opportunities. So all of the things that, you know, we discussed all of these apps and resources like you can use all the free resources that you want, but you can use them in the most like, Sort of juiciest practical ways for you because you'll understand how to learn.

[00:42:58] Lindsay: So that's language life. And then I have other, , sort of mini courses and different products like that that. , for like one purpose. So for example, I have, , a mini course called Music Maestro, which is all about how to bring music into your language learning and combine those two. So if you're really into music, that is one to check out, but there's a few other options as well.

[00:43:19] Lindsay: So they're all on the website. , so yeah, Lindsay does languages.com. 

[00:43:23] Alison: Awesome. Okay. Well, Lindsay, thank you so much for reaching out and for taking the time to chat today. I appreciate 

[00:43:29] Lindsay: you being here. Yeah. Thank you. I really, I'm really, really excited to, to have had the chance to have this conversation.

[00:43:35] Lindsay: Thank you so much, Alison. Yeah, for 

[00:43:37] Alison: sure.