Podcast Episode 95

Eleanor Wroblewski: US Language Learning

Kris Broholm welcomes Eleanor Wroblewski to discuss language learning in the United States. They explore challenges and opportunities for learners within the US education system and broader culture. Eleanor shares her experiences as a student and observations on American approaches to multilingualism.

Travel Motivation Culture

May 15, 2016 · 1 hr 38 min

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EP 95: Eleanor Wroblewski: US Language Learning

0:00 / 1:37:41

Guest

Eleanor Wroblewski

What You'll Hear

1 Polyglot Gathering Recap & Kris's Language Progress
2 Meet Eleanor: Her Language Journey Begins
3 Eleanor's Specific Language Learning Strategies Revealed
4 Comedy and Language: Eleanor's Unique Connection
5 Academic Learning vs. Self-Study Approaches
6 Overcoming Plateaus, Staying Motivated in Languages
7 Future Language Goals and Final Insights

Links Mentioned

Actual Fluency Podcast Guest Application

Questions Covered in the Show

What happened at the Polyglot Gathering in Berlin?- 0m

Kris Broholm attended the Polyglot Gathering in Berlin, describing it as a fun event where he mingled with many people. He used some of his Hungarian skills and, as expected, caught a cold from the extensive mingling. He also expressed gratitude to the organizers and listeners who approached him during the event.

What is Kris Broholm's current language proficiency in Hungarian and Russian?- 1m

Kris describes his Hungarian as "feeble" and "very basic," yet he enjoyed using it and understood a significant portion of conversations. His Russian is "steady and stagnant" at a level "just above useless" due to a limited vocabulary, particularly struggling with verbs, which he recognizes as a key area for improvement.

Why are some Actual Fluency podcast episodes titled 'Learner Profiles'?- 2m

Kris explains that he uses the title "Learner Profiles" for episodes because they often cover a wide range of random topics about language learning, making it challenging to assign a single, precise title. He notes it's like having a lengthy conversation with a friend where one specific topic doesn't encompass the entire discussion.

How can I apply to be a guest on the Actual Fluency podcast?- 3m

To apply to be a guest on the Actual Fluency podcast, interested individuals should visit actualfluency.com/guest and fill out a short application. Kris encourages listeners to come on the show to share their language learning experiences.

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Kris Broholm

Founder, Actual Fluency

Kris is the founder of Actual Fluency, and has spent the last 10+ years becoming an expert in language learning software, methods, and techniques.

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Transcript generated by AI and may contain minor errors.

Kris

Season 4 episode 3 with Eleanor Roblevsky. Learner profiles 8. Hello everyone. It's time for another actual fluency podcast and I'm just home from the Polygot Gathering in Berlin, that was last week. I'm on the back of a cold here, which is a little bit annoying, but when you've had so much fun for five, six days, then I guess coming home with a cold is uh, it's quite okay on balance and it's to be expected. I usually get a cold when I mingle with a lot of people from all over the world and I had such a great time and I want to thank everyone for making it such a good event, especially the organizers. Great job on that. Uh, I can't believe they run it so well. Uh, huge shout out to Udet, Chuck and Martin, of course, who are really pulling in all all the weight on that and all the other organizers and volunteers as well, without whom it wouldn't be possible. So thank you guys. And also thank you to the people who came up to me and said that they were listening to the show and they really like what I'm doing and want me to keep going because it really boosts my mojo, so to say, that I I put a face on some of the listeners out there and and that that you guys appreciate it, I really appreciate it twice as much, you know. It really means a lot to me and as long as there are people who want to listen to the actual flu actual flucy podcast, can't even say my own podcast name anymore. Uh, then I'll keep doing it, so don't worry about it.

And I had a great time in Berlin as well. Used some of my Hungarian, my feeble Hungarian, which was exciting. There was an American whose name I forgot. Uh, he spoke really great Hungarian and then there were a few native speakers and uh, one or two other learners and we sat in a circle and I got to use some of my very basic Hungarian and I understood a lot of what the others were saying too, which was exciting. My Russian is a little bit steady and stagnant at the level just above useless. I can say a few things and I do understand a few a few things, but my vocabulary is so limited that I I'm really struggling to understand, especially verbs, long verbs. I'm really not too sure on. So I know at least I know what to to work on.

Today I've got a a great episode for you. It's uh learner profiles again and I wanted to just comment quickly on the learner profiles episodes. Yes, half of the reason that they're called learner profiles is that I'm not sure what to call them. So in a sense it is a bit of a cop out, but on the other hand, they just contain so many random topics. As you would, it would be like, can you imagine talking to your best friend for an hour and then putting a topic to the conversation? Sometimes you can do it and I have done it in the past, but other times it's just like, well, general language learning. Yeah, well, that's not a title. So that's why I call it learner profiles. It's not it's not because I I don't want to put a title on it or because I don't know it, it's just simply because we're talking about so many random things, so many different things about language learning that yeah, I could just call it language learning, but then every single episode would be called that or most of them anyway.

So, thank you for being a listener as always. I really appreciate it. And, um, one last thing, if you want to come on the podcast, I'd love to hear from you. Go to actualfluency.com/guest and, uh, fill out a short application and hopefully I'll get to talk to you. So, enjoy this episode with Eleanor and I'll see you in the next one. All right, we're back with another episode of the Actual Fluency Podcast and today I'm happy to welcome Eleanor onto the podcast and, uh, Eleanor has been keeping me in check on Twitter and, uh, she's also in school learning languages and is, uh, working to be a comedian on something we'll hear about in just a minute. But before that all that, uh, why don't you give the listeners a little story on how you got into language learning and where you are today and, yeah, what made you, uh, come on the podcast?