Learn Australian English in this vlog episode of the Aussie English Podcast where I talk about language learning habits, goals, & rewards. It’s a crucial aspect of learning any language quickly and efficiently.

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AE 458 – Vlog: Language Learning Habits, Goals, & Rewards

Try that again, the second time that I’ve done that now, where I’ve started filming and I forgot to turn the stupid microphone on. What is going on, guys? Welcome to this video of the English! I want to talk to you today about setting goals, habits, how I’m obviously going with the repetition system that I have set up, and, I guess, giving yourself rewards, ok? Anyway, don’t forget to subscribe, guys, hit the bell notification if you want to see more videos like this. Let’s get started.

Alright, so… I want to talk to you about goal setting, ok? And habit building. So, for the last few weeks, probably two weeks, I have to check, but I have been using a website Glossika. So, just so you know, this is not sponsored by Glossika, it’s just a program that I really like. So, this website is really nifty, it’s really… It’s really cool. Hopefully, you can see that there, guys. But it is a little bit laborious. It requires a bit of work. Every day when I do these repetitions, and, I guess, let me just see if I can show you what this looks like. Let me just adjust this camera for a sec. Alright. So, what you’re going to see here if I can reverse use this mouse, upside down, let’s see if I can get it… Boom! There we go! Alright! So, what’s happening here is that I have English above that I’ve muted, I don’t want to sound, and then below I have: (French audio). I have French below ok? I’ll just hit space.

So, what’s happening here is that you can set it up where you have the English playing, so you can hear at least your native language, right? So, you can have your native language here, and then, below you can hear, I guess for you guys it would be English. I have French in this example.

Anyway, so I have here, where can I see it? About 150 repetitions that I need to do and it takes about 18 minutes to complete. Every single day I’ve been doing this. It takes 18 minutes of my day give or take. And it’s just a really good exercise. I really like the repetition. I like the fact that it’s a native speaker. (French audio). “Does the film please you? Yeah, it’s really funny”. I like the fact that it’s a native speaker. You can hear his voice, you can hear the intonation, you can hear the rhythm, you can follow it, and it does well, because it gives you time to repeat the sentence. So, as you’ll hear, if I press space here, (French audio). So, firstly they’ve got (French), a question, with a bit of intonation, and then they have the answer to it, (French), and again you can hear the intonation dropping, (French).

So, it is good because it gives you natural content, it gives you someone who’s asking a question, quite often the answer to that question. I think that’s awesome! And what’s more, is that it gives you time to say it out loud. So, you get to hear in native, the content is really good and it’s natural, and you have time to listen and repeat, listen and repeat, listen and repeat. So, this is really good for pronunciation. It’s good for passively learning the patterns, to French, to English for you guys, and it’s really good too, because it’s set up as an SRS program, a Spaced Repetition System, meaning that you see the same sentences again and again and again, except that they are seen less frequently as you go through this system. So, it’s kind of like they’re little reminders so that you are reminded of sentences you learnt yesterday, that you leant a week ago, that you learnt a month ago, etc..

So, that’s a really good system. I really enjoy it. I’ve been working my pronunciation like crazy recently. Just listen repeat, listen repeat. So, that’s the first thing: I like this program. I’ve been doing it every single day and I have tried to remain consistent. I’ve missed one or two days where, for instance, I’ve driven from Canberra to Melbourne, I get here and it’s, you know, late in the evening and I’m just wrecked. So, I’ve missed days every now and then, but I usually try and do it every single day. So, consistency here is the key, guys, consistency is the key.

So, habit building. They say that you need to do something probably for, I think it’s up to two months, so about 60 days or so for it to become a habit that you do every single day. So, if you go to the gym you need to go for about two months consistently for it to become this ingrained, entrenched habit that you’re going to consistently do with very little effort required to keep you maintaining that habit.

So, for me at the moment with this kind of course I have to consistently be trying to do it every single day, put in the effort to remind myself to do it, pick a certain time of the day when I do it, and then just keep doing that every single day, and that’s slowly getting easier for me. It’s been about two weeks. I try and do it usually in the morning, though today, I haven’t done it yet.

And then, I guess, moving on to rewards. It’s important to have a reward set up so that when you finish the task you get something, so that you can feel anticipation for something that you want and that when you get the thing that you want, you didn’t get it for nothing, you worked for it, right? People appreciate something that they have to work for or that they have to pay for a lot more than if they are just given that thing for free or without having to work for it, right?

So, a perfect example for the day, and the reason that I wanted to make this video, was that today I thought it’s 12:23. You can see that on the clock there. 12:23, guys, 12:23, lunchtime. That’s the point. So, it’s lunchtime, it’s lunchtime. I want to go get some lunch. I want to go down and get some Mexican at a place called Zambrero. It’s a franchise here in Australia. I want to grab some Mexican and I thought, “Oh, yeah or I’ll just nick off down the shops, I’ll go grab it. Who cares? I’ve worked a little bit this morning.”. Then I thought, “No. I haven’t done my language learning. I haven’t practised my French. I haven’t practised my Portuguese. I don’t deserve the food yet, ok? So, I can do something for the next 20 minutes, I can work on one of these languages, and then I can reward myself by going down and grabbing some lunch.”.

So, that’s about all I really wanted to talk to you about today, guys, building habits, especially habits involving this kind of language learning. I really like the passive learning of vocabulary, of grammar. I really, really, really like the fact that you just listen and repeat, listen and repeat. I always am emphasizing this for anyone learning languages.

If you’re on your own. There’s no one here right now. Set your computer, set your phone up, get your language learning whatever it is out there and just listen, repeat, listen and repeat.

(French) So, the point is keep doing that again, again and again and work on your… (Portuguese). …and work on your pronunciation it is a never-ending task, guys. And then beyond that, build a habit, take about two months to force yourself to do it every single day until it becomes ingrained, entrenched, you’re going to do this every single day with very little effort. And then, on top of that, don’t forget to reward yourself, guys, even if it is things that you normally give yourself. Make it that you have to learn those things by studying and you’re going to feel a hell of a lot better when you get those things, especially, if it’s junk food or Mexican food.

Anyway, guys. That is it for today. I hope you have an amazing day and I would love to know down below in the comments, what is a reward that you guys give yourself for studying really hard? Is it Mexican food? Anyway, I see you in the next one. Peace!

Alright! Homework complete. It is time to go get some Mexican food. However, it is a little bit chilly outside. I tell you what, guys, that is why I am wearing this jacket, and I probably need some sunglasses as well.

I have to show you this… to show you this house, guys, here. That every time I the street, I’ll pass this house… So, it would be over 100 years old, two balconies, like, right around the house, all wood, absolutely beautiful, but very old.

More pretty houses.

This is what I am talking about. Enjoy your day.

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