You Can Study with Native Resources… even as a beginner!

It can be so intimidating to look at content of any sort that’s not specifically aimed at learners. Even something simple seems to be so out of reach???

Does this sound familiar…?

• How come I understand all the words but still don’t understand???
• If I look at the subtitles, it’s so obvious but if I just listen it’s impossible to decipher…
• Why does it seem that native speakers are always using phrases completely different from what I learned??

Join us in a short and manageable language challenge aimed at helping you widen your comfort zone in your TA!

Here are the benefits:

🧚🏼‍♂️ Study from native resources, no matter your level!
🧚🏼‍♂️ Gain more cultural perspectives through this exercise
🧚🏼‍♂️ Get inspired by others in the community
🧚🏼‍♂️ Collect new recommendations for content through this community challenge

How it Works:

Commit & Tell Everyone! (Bonus: Tag a friend to do it with you!)

If you’re participating, let everyone know by responding to our pinned tweet or Instagram post with the language you’re going to be focusing on. Bonus points if you share in your stories to out yourself and get that extra bit of accountability from your inner circle and followers.

Set goals for the challenge

Remember that you’ll always get more out of whatever you do language-wise when you set super-specific goals. Is your goal to learn more vocabulary? Is it to widen your comfort zone? Is it to try something new? To feel less anxious when listening to native speakers? Set an intention before you jump in.

Set aside time to participate in advance

You’re more likely to stick to the challenge if you make a space for it beforehand. We recommend using a commute or stapling the task to another routine you already have established.

Decide where you’re going to post your updates

A core part of the challenge is sharing with everyone else in the space! We have a few places you can share, either on Twitter or Instagram OR in our discord server community, where we will have a special channel just for updates! We’ll also set up an auto re-post for anyone using the hashtag #reallanguagechallenge.

Follow the hashtags: #reallanguagechallenge to see other participants’ posts!

The fun is seeing how everyone interprets the different prompts! Follow us on social media, and follow the hashtag to see all the excitement whenever we host a Real Language Challenge!

Comment and support each other all week long!

Our personal favourite part of the challenge is seeing everyone support each other, no matter where we are on our journeys. Comment on each other’s posts, give a compliment, give corrections, give insight! Remember, sharing is caring, and community is power!

On the Sunday after the challenge…

We have a special event to top off the whole excitement and continue to help support your language acquisition journey!

Join our special seminar answering the question, “How and Why Does Anxiety Affect L2 Oral Fluency?” with Jasrael Stokes

The seminar is about the mechanisms by which anxiety affects second-language oral communication. Stokes will first present her experimental research focusing on international students using English at higher education institutions in the UK. The study investigates how anxiety may lead to certain disfluencies when communicating in a second language.

After the presentation, there will be a Q&A, followed by a chance to discuss your own experiences with anxiety while communicating in your own target languages!

The presentation will discuss:

• The relationship between anxiety and language fluency

• What working memory is and how it’s related to language learning

• How anxiety and working memory are related

• The Attentional Control Theory, which explains how anxiety consumes attentional and working memory resources, leading to performance deficits

• The results of a research study using this theory to examine these relationships in an online experiment

• The implications of the results and suggestions for future steps

About the Presenter…

Jasrael is an American living, working, and studying in the United Kingdom. She has been a member of the Gladly Global community for nearly two years. Jasrael speaks English and Japanese fluently and is also learning Spanish, Korean, and Mandarin. She is currently a final year Ph.D. student in psychology and education, with research focusing on second language learning. Her hobbies include traveling, language learning (of course!), reading, and taking care of her two cats!

Purchase a ticket for the event here: https://ko-fi.com/s/53062fb89f

Follow for more blog posts and future events or challenges!