The Actual Fluency Language Learning Podcast is a Podcast (in English) for language learners who want to be inspired, informed and entertained on a regular basis.
On the show you'll hear from some of the top minds of the language learning world, as well as industry leaders, innovators, and accomplished polyglots.
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The Actual Fluency Podcast is brought to you by OptiLingo!
With OptiLingo, you'll cover real-world expressions you can use in any situation right from the start. Each day, you'll listen, speak, and repeat useful phrases and high-frequency words. As you practice, you'll start speaking naturally, giving you the confidence to engage in any situation.
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- AFP 181 – Olle Linge: Hacking Chinese & Academic vs Non-Academic
- AFP 180 – Hēmi Kelly: Māori Language and Culture
- AFP 179 – Kerstin Cable: Women in Language and Teaching Careers in Languages
- AFP 178 – Lina Vasquez: Mindset, Psychology, and Self-development
- AFP 177 – Gloria Spagnoli: Find Your Confidence and Inner Resources
- AFP 176 – Maria Ortega Garcia: Connecting Deeper with Languages!
- AFP 175 – Tetsu Yung: Raising Children in 5 Languages
- AFP 174 – Peter Strang: From the UK to Russia
- AFP 173 – Anthony Metivier: Mental Well-Being and the Victorious Mind
- AFP 172 – Richard Howeson: From CD-ROM to App learning with uTalk
- AFP 171 – Matt vs Japan: The Mass Immersion Approach
- AFP 170 – Mark Pentleton: From Language Teacher to Language Podcaster
- AFP 169 – Sweeps Episode: Events and Plans for 2020
- AFP 168 – John Fotheringham: Inside the Language Podcaster's Studio (Part 2)
- AFP 167 – John Fotheringham: Inside the Language Podcaster's Studio (Part 1)
- AFP 166 – Ekaterina Matveeva: Language Alter Ego and Cultural Intelligence
- AFP 165 – Lea Tiralarc: 5000+ lessons as an online teacher and the staircase method
- AFP 164 – Scott Young: A Year Without English and Ultralearning Languages
- AFP 163 – Mait Müntel: From discovering the Higgs-Boson to language learning
- AFP 162 – Jonty Yamisha: Heritage language learning and practical advice
- AFP 161 – Jon Mahoney: Around the world in 900+ days and mastering Russian
- AFP 160 – Steve Kaufmann: YouTube, Travelling, and learning languages when retired
- AFP 159 – Nelson Dellis: Using Memory techniques for languages
- AFP 158 – Ben Worthington: Improve your English and pass the IELTS exam!
- AFP 157 – Pablo Roman: Japanese in 6 months and DreamingSpanish
- AFP 156 – Iker Uriarte: italki past, present, and future
- AFP 155 – Marija Dobrovolska: Confidence in language learning and teaching German
- AFP 154 – Silver Ilves: Language Startups and Development
- AFP 153 – Tamara Marie: Teaching Spanish through Music
- AFP 152 – Norbert Wierzbicki: Learning, teaching, and travelling!
- AFP 151 – Andrew Feinberg: Learning Japanese and Japanese Culture
- AFP 150 – Lindie Botes: Growing up in multiple languages and cultures
- AFP 149 – Gabriel Gelman: How to become a language hero
- AFP 148 – Àdhamh Ó Broin: The Languages of Scotland and Reclaiming Gaelic
- AFP 147 – Marek Kohn: The benefits of multiple languages in society
- AFP 146 – Shannon Kennedy: Women in Language
- AFP 145 – Katie Harris: The Joy of Languages
- AFP 144 – Sara Maria Hasbun: From Translator to Business Owner with 3000+ freelancers
- AFP 143 – Aviva Levin: Coincidental French Teacher in British Colombia
- AFP 142 – Pidgins and Creoles with Amarinder Grewal
- AFP 141 – Anja Spilker on using languages and travels as a reboot, and mental health
- AFP 140 – Kerstin Cable on Goal-setting and New Year's Resolutions
- AFP 139 – Lucas Bighetti: The silent method and parroting conversation
- AFP 138 – Elisa Polese: Teaching Multiple Languages at Once
- AFP 137 – Michele Frolla: Learning languages for travels
- AFP 136 – Maureen Millward: 1200+ tutoring lessons later and LingoFringo
- AFP 133 – Miroslav Šedivý: Seize every opportunity to learn languages!
- AFP 132 – Josh Koehn: Be inspired by your community
- AFP 131 – Conor Clyne: Eastern European Travels and Experiences
- AFP 129 & 130 Dave Prine: Polyglot Therapy
- AFP 128 – Mike Campbell: Glossika and Repetition Learning
- AFP 127 – Susanna Zaraysky: Language is music and endangered languages
- AFP 126 – Azren the Language Nerd
- AFP 125 – Joey Perugino: Billingual Upbring and LangFest
- AFP 124 – Alexander Mynzak: Start your own language school
- AFP 123 – Daniel Welsch on Spain, Spanish & Teaching English
- AFP 122 – Artem Nazarov on learning similar languages
- AFP 121 – Lukas van Vyve on learning languages
- AFP 120 – Mental Health Week
- AFP 119 – Quinn Taber: The power of Immersion
- AFP 118 – Mihalis Eleftheriou: Language Transfer
- AFP 117 – Robin MacPherson: How To Maintain Languages
- AFP 127 – Susanna Zaraysky: Music and endangered languages
- AFP 116 – Gabriel Wyner: Raising 500K on Kickstarter
- AFP 115 – Alex Voloza: Mindfulness and language learning
- AFP 114 – Kalle Wångstedt: Discovering Language Learning
- AFP 113 – Learning Languages with a Full-Time Job
- AFP 112 – Sarah Barrett: Introducing Foreign Languages to Children
- AFP 111 – Michael Mischkot: How an engineer learns languages
- AFP 110 – Chenelle Hancock: Visually impaired learning
- AFP 109 – Birthday Q&A with Kris
- AFP 108 – Richard DeLong: 14+ years in Eastern Europe
- AFP 106 – Moshe Sherizen on Yiddish
- AFP 105 – Lydia Machova on Language Mentoring
- AFP 104 – Alex Strick van Linschoten
- AFP 103 – Gareth Popkins from howtogetfluent
- AFP 102 – Dimitrios Polychronopoulos: Inspired by travelling
- AFP 101 – Agnieszka Murdoch: Back to Basics
- AFP 100 – Tim Keeley: Around the World in 40 Languages
- AFP 99 – Fiel Sahir: Indonesia and Indonesian
- AFP 98 – Andrew Feinberg: Duolingo and Norwegian
- AFP 97 – David James: Creator of the Gold List Method
- AFP 96 – Marcus Furness: Identity and Culture
- AFP 95 – Eleanor Wroblewski: US Language Learning
- AFP 94 – Noah Oskow: English teacher in Japan
- AFP 93 – Shannon Kennedy: Introvert language learning
- AFP 92 – Irina Pravet: Identity, finding home and learning Finnish
- AFP 91 – Fight depression by learning languages
- AFP 90 – André Liss: A journey through music
- AFP 89 – Amir Ordabayev: Why being lazy is great
- AFP 88 – Wouter Corduwener: Learning from Tourists
- AFP 87 – Tetsu Yung: Raising Multilingual Children
- AFP 86 – Lindsay Williams: From tutoring to language business
- AFP 85 – Keith Swayne: Teaching Languages over Coffee
- AFP 84 – Alex Rawlings: Where to live and expat problems
- AFP 82 – Richard Benton: Community impact of learning pt. 2
- AFP 81 – Richard Benton: Community impact of learning pt. 1
- AFP 80 – Ed Cooke: Memrise and the Membus project
- AFP 79 – Michael Levi-Harris: The Hyperglot Movie (2/2)
- AFP 78 – Michael Levi-Harris: The Hyperglot Movie (1/2)
- AFP 77 – EvilDea (Richard Delamore): Esperanto
- AFP 76 – Connor Grooms: Spanish in a month and Baselang
- AFP 75 – Steve Ridout: Language Learning Startup Readlang
- AFP 74 – Idahosa Ness: Pronunciation Mastery
- AFP 73 – Haikaa Yamamoto: Honour Yourself, others and the planet
- AFP 72 – Daniel Krasa: Language Vagabonding
- AFP 71 – Dr. Taghreed Al-Saraj: Language Anxiety Part 2
- AFP 70 – Kerstin Cable: German Pronunciation
- AFP 69 – Dr. Taghreed Al-Saraj: Language Anxiety
- AFP 67 – Roberto Salazar: More Latin and Ancient Greek
- AFP 66 – Sam Horrocks: Teaching languages abroad
- AFP 65 – Vladimir Skultety: 15+ Language Polyglot
- AFP 62 – Roberto Salazar: Latin and Ancient Greek
- AFP 61 – Michał Grześkowiak: Find and maintain motivation
- AFP 60 – Fabrício Carraro: Learning Russian in Brazil!
- AFP 59 – Carole Westerkamp: Language Learning and NLP
- AFP 57 – John Fotheringham: Language Mastery
- AFP 56 – Lauren Lewis: Fi3M and Learning Russian
- AFP 55 – Jimmy Mello: Language Teaching
- AFP 54 – Claudio Santori: Startups and viral learning
- AFP 53 – Anthony Metivier: Memory Palaces
- AFP 52 – Anthony Lauder: Being an Expat
- AFP 51 – Chuck Smith: Duolingo and The Polyglot Gathering
- AFP 50 – Benny Lewis: Language Encouragement
- AFP 48 – Mike Campbell: Sentence-based learning and Glossika
- AFP 47 – Dealing with burnouts in language learning
- AFP 46 – Gabriel Wyner: Perfect pronunciation and flashcards
- AFP 45 – Robin MacPherson: Developing the method
- AFP 44 – Vladimir Georgiev: Denmark and Learning Danish
- AFP 43 – Benson Hoi: Programming and language learning
- AFP 42 – Goals and Goal-Setting
- AFP 41 – Christopher Huff: Toki Pona and Polyglot Gatherings
- AFP 40 – 10 Language learning lessons learned so far
- AFP 39 – André Müller: Studying linguistics and learning scripts
- AFP 37 – Ladan Jiracek: Travel wisdom from 80 countries
- AFP 36 – Alex Rawlings: Most multilingual student of Britain
- AFP 35 – Conor Clyne: From monoglot to hyperpolyglot round 2
- AFP 34 – Conor Clyne: From monoglot to hyperpolyglot
- AFP 33 – Alberto Arrighini: Self-development and motivation
- AFP 32 – Kerstin Cable: How to become a (better) teacher
- AFP 31 – Leszek Trybała: The young polyglot revolution
- AFP 30 – Luca Lampariello: The Polyglot Dream
- AFP 29 – Judith Meyer: Learning Chinese and developing LearnYu.com
- AFP 28 – Victor Berrjod: Asian languages and gold listing!
- AFP 27 – Anthony Lauder: From polynot to polyglot
- AFP 26 – Andrew Williams: A language a year for life
- AFP 25 – Robert Bigler: Translation and Interpretation
- AFP 24 – Simon Ager: Omniglot and Learning minority languages
- AFP 23 – Jan van der Aa: Travel the world and learn languages
- AFP 22 – Chuck Smith: Polyglot Berlin and Esperanto
- AFP 21 – Richard Simcott: 20th Episode Special!
- AFP 20 – Sonja Lang: Toki Pona, Conlanging and the meaning of life
- AFP 19 – Brian Kwong: Add1Challenge and tips for success
- AFP 18 – Niels Iversen: A unique approach to language learning
- AFP 17 – Lauren Cutlip and Benny Lewis: Lauren's Esperanto
- AFP 16 – Gavan Fantom: Native Esperanto speaker
- AFP 15 – Ben Whately: Memrise, memory and learning
- AFP 12 – Bill Price: Language Learning Blogger
- AFP 11 – Olly Richards from IWillTeachYouALanguage.com
- AFP 10 – Robin MacPherson: How I Learn Languages 2/2
- AFP 09 – Robin MacPherson: Finding Home and Isolation Abroad (1/2)
- AFP 08 – Lindsay Dow: Language lover, blogger and TEFL-certified tutor
- AFP 07 – Dani Maizner: Austrian polyglot and blogger
- AFP 06 – The Basics of Independent Language Learning
- AFP 05 – Steve Kaufmann: Canadian superpolyglot and entreprenur
- AFP 04 – Seán Young: How to Teach Languages the Best Way
- AFP 03 – Judith Meyer: An Incredible Language Learning Journey
- AFP 02 – Ellen Jovin: Language Learning for Pure Enjoyment
What's the point of a Language Learning Podcast?
You might be wondering, what is the point of having a podcast (almost entirely in English) about learning languages?
Why not just listen to podcasts in your target language instead?
Those are both great questions.
When I started Actual Fluency I was aware that as much as learning a new language allows us to connect with other people, cultures, and countries it can also be a very isolating experience.
Many hours huddled over a textbook or vocabulary app.
So, I figured that it would be great for people who were passionate about languages and wanted to learn more languages, that there was a weekly conversational show with people who shared this passion and interest.
And in so doing hopefully inspire and motivate people to keep going, and putting in more time and energy into their own language learning projects.
I also wanted to highlight for people with less experience that the idea an adult could learn a language wasn't some myth or result reserved for a select few talented people. Anyone with the right amount of motivation and work can achieve this.
Other benefits to listening to the show
Discover new methods and techniques
A big part of the podcast is talking to succesful language learners and polyglots and discovering how they managed to learn such an amazing number of languages.
By listening to these segments, you gain inspiration for new methods, techniques, and resources to implement into your own language learning routines.
Learn about new cultures, languages, and countries
We try to feature as wide a selection of guests as possible so you can enjoy learning about foreign and unique languages, cultures, countries, and conventions.
Examples of this include Circassian and Maori, including the revitalisation efforts of both languages.
While the podcast is not designed with professional academic linguists in mind, we still have them on once in a while to share new and exciting research or findings.
Not just a language learning podcast
Being interested in learning new languages is usually connected to a general passion for other cultures, travel, and connecting across borders.
For the podcast this means that we feature episodes that heavily discuss how to use the new language skills to level up travel experiences.
Or, simply very unique and special travel experiences. It's not just a language learning podcast, but a complete travel, culture, and language podcast.
Who is the host of The Actual Fluency Podcast?
Kris Broholm has been hosting the podcast since its inception in 2014. You can read more about him and the story behind Actual Fluency here.
How to support the show
There are many ways you can support the show. Simply listening in every week is awesome! You can also share the episodes with your friends and leave a review on iTunes – all this really helps.