How Learning Languages Has Changed my Life (with Bec from Language Chats AU)

EP239_FLUENTSHOW_FINAL.mp3
Kerstin: [00:00:00]
Kerstin: [00:00:49] Welcome to the Fluent Show a podcast about learning languages and reaching your potential. Hello. Hello. My name is Kerstin Cable from Fluentlanguage.co.uk and here with my wonderful guests on the show. We talked about languages, communication, curiosity and enriching our lives through the challenge of learning something new and also about Eurovision. My guest today is Bec - Rebecca from Australia. How are you Bec?
Bec: [00:01:19] Hello. I'm so happy to be on the Fluent Show. How exciting.
Kerstin: [00:01:23] I'm just delighted to have you. I can't believe it took this long.
Bec: [00:01:26] Long time listener. First time guest.
Kerstin: [00:01:30] Yes, yes. Although I have got an audio recording from you in one of the women in language episodes.
Bec: [00:01:35] Yes, that is true.
Kerstin: [00:01:36] Yes. Mental archive is accurate. Oh Bec, how come you are a long time listener of the Fluent Show?
Bec: [00:01:44] Actually, that's a great question. I don't know. I've just been listening to it for so long now and I think as somebody who is interested in languages and learning languages and listening to other people talk about them, The Fluent Show for such a long time has been my one of my go to podcasts about languages.
Kerstin: [00:02:03] Oh, and in all the time I've known you, you have always been such a language enthusiast and you're also a podcast host yourself. So listeners, if you've never heard about Bec before, Bec is you have actually heard Bec's podcast made Penny on the podcast. Bec and Penny both live in Australia. You both live in Melbourne, right?
Bec: [00:02:21] I live in Melbourne and Penny lives just outside of Melbourne in another city called Geelong.
Kerstin: [00:02:25] Is it the kind of just outside like they have in the USA where it's actually 50 miles or is it just outside like in the UK where you could walk?
Bec: [00:02:34] It's it's just outside. Like it's about an hour and a half drive from my home. Just outside. Okay. Actually, probably not quite like maybe like an hour and 15 minutes.
Kerstin: [00:02:48] And Bec is, like I said, a podcast host herself hosts the podcast language chats a few which you will find in the show notes. Show notes for this episode are going to be at Fluent.Show/239. And all the time I've known you have been super excited and you've been just really into languages. You totally fly the flag for languages. You also have got a little event sideline and for a long time maybe still you have been designing language obsessed stationery. So I guess we need a very short history of Bec when did you start doing what in all things
Bec: [00:03:26] So as in learning languages or doing the other stuff?
Kerstin: [00:03:30] Everything together.
Bec: [00:03:31] Everything together. Okay, in I'll try to keep it. I'll try to keep it brief. So yes, I grew up in in Australia. I've been here basically my whole life. My first experience with learning languages was learning French at school. And I think that's kind of that was sort of my my gateway into the language learning world, although I didn't realise it at the time. Like I had to learn French right through my entire schooling and I didn't really enjoy it very much until I was kind of a teenager. And really it kind of went on from there, but with a little bit of a hiatus, I was sort of studying and I started working and I actually kind of let the language enjoyment side of my life go for a little while and I realised how much I missed it. And that was when I decided to start learning some. And after I started learning some German I thought, Wow, I've really missed learning something new like this, but in particular languages just really get me excited. I'm really interested in this. And then I started making some little paper based things that I mainly wanted to use myself to begin with. So I'm just like flashcards and greeting cards and things like that. And then irregular endings happened, and that was initially just a bit of a passion project to channel my love of languages and love of creative things into something else. And then I met Penny and we became really good friends. And then we started Language Lovers AU and started the podcast language chats, and we started running some events and doing some other things to kind of help some people who are like us and interested in languages in Australia get to know each other and sort of get in contact and then yeah, since then I yeah, learnt some Italian as well. And then I thought, well this is fun. Maybe I'll just keep going, learning a few other things. So more recently I started learning Danish and I guess that's the story in a nutshell.
Kerstin: [00:05:18] That was good, that was good, quick.
Bec: [00:05:21] I know, try to keep it short. I remember when I first came across irregular endings, maybe just, I don't know, a Twitter follower or whatever it was. And I remember thinking, Oh my God, that is the best name for a language focussed business that I've ever seen.
Bec: [00:05:40] So I can't even take full credit for it because it was actually my husband Chris who came up with the name. And initially I said to him, I wonder if it's a bit long. Like maybe it's a bit like it's a bit wordy. And then it kind of grew on me a bit and I was like, Yeah, I was like, Language learners will get it irregular endings, they'll get it. And we went with it irregular innings.
Kerstin: [00:06:06] Absolutely. Yeah. No, absolutely. We do get it. I like that. Yeah. It's clear you're talking to. Gosh, I couldn't even I couldn't even conceive of a world where you don't know what irregular endings are and why
Bec: [00:06:18] Although there would be lots of people out there who would be like, irregular endings what? Like,
Kerstin: [00:06:22] You are clever.Oh, my gosh, amazing, amazing. And so at the moment you're kind of active languages, like maybe Italian. Danish. We just tried to reactivate your Deutsch in the in the intro a little bit. Yeah, that was fun.
Bec: [00:06:37] Yeah. Yeah, I know. I think my Italian has just been kind of recently reignited because I realised I was losing it a bit. I had, I hadn't focussed on it for ages and there were a couple of years ago I like was I started learning Italian and then I was like really intense with it for like about 18 months. And then I took a break from it kind of almost entirely because I wanted to give my German a bit more time to, to get better again. And then I started learning Danish and then it just slipped away. And then just recently I was like, You know what? I think it might be time to bring some of the Italian back. So that's on its way back into the fold. But yeah, I would say actively learning Danish, kind of maintaining German at the moment. And yeah, that's where it's at.
Kerstin: [00:07:19] So there we have it. Listeners, very quick introduction to Bec, sort of polyglot yourself if we're going to use the P word polyglot yourself and also just such an active member in the language community with such a focus on Australia and your sort of continent/region, that gets forgotten a little bit maybe on the internet and I love what you're doing and I'm just forever inspired.
Kerstin: [00:07:44] OK Go stop comments. Good job. Bec you are into language learning with the apps a little bit, right?
Bec: [00:07:54] Yeah, I sure am.
Kerstin: [00:07:56] Oh, this is my segway into our sponsor read and announcement. And but before that, I wanted to ask you what kind of language learning apps do you use on the regular?
Bec: [00:08:05] I would say the language learning apps, I probably use the most regularly. I use Duolingo quite a lot. Probably like many people out there, I use Memrise a lot like that too. More on the like dictionary side of things. Would you include all of that as well?
Kerstin: [00:08:20] Sure. Yeah. Yeah.
Kerstin: [00:08:21] Like I use the Leo app a lot for. Oh, my gosh. Yeah. And I mean, you know, I think Google Translate has a place in this world. I still use it quite a bit in combination with other things and in combination with word reference. I like to refer to several different places where I need translations of things and dictionary assistance.
Kerstin: [00:08:41] Nice. Nice. This is this is interesting as well. I like asking people about their kind of app setup as well. And like you, I am such a like Leo, hands down. I mean, I am a native German speaker, so I've got a little bit all the languages that Leo has in it have there. Always worked those language pairs for German, aren't they. Because it's a German project. But if you are a German speaker or you are a German learner, then I don't. I think if you haven't got Leo, you're so missing out, so get yourself Leo. My most recently word looked up in Leo is trend cost.
Bec: [00:09:16] Oh, interesting.
Kerstin: [00:09:17] This is sort of nineties diet trend, fat fat diet trend which translates to food combining. Never heard about it. In my 20 something years in the UK, I've never heard about food combining, but cost was a big deal. So there are still words that even living here and living fairly monolingual and in my second language, there are still words that sometimes I just miss out and it's I always look them up in Leo Now have you first of all. I think I'll introduce you to or maybe reintroduce you to Clozemaster, if I may, because that's actually at the moment. You know how your phone undownloads apps to make space.
Bec: [00:09:58] Yes. Yes.
Kerstin: [00:09:59] So my only app that hasn't been undownloaded, confession apart from the dictionary. So Leo and the only app that is Language learning is Clozemaster on my phone is the only one I actively use and just so happens to be the Fluent Show sponsor. But I do enjoy using it. So if you haven't heard of Clozemaster listeners, Clozemaster is an app that is a little bit different. We'll talk about it for a second. But what I what they want you to know and what I want to tell you is that it is free. It is fun. I think it's really fun. Once you get into it, you can work through your sentences quickly and it's really fantastic for expanding your vocab is based on the cloze game, which is seeing a sentence with a blank in it and it's your job to fill in the blank, and the blank is in your target language and you can have it as a multiple choice option, or you can type it in and then you get more points if you type in your answer. Now, Clozemaster will help you really rapidly expand your vocabulary because it's designed to practise rather than necessarily teach you new stuff. But you can also infer a lot from context. So I like using the multiple choice options. It uses frequency lists and I've been using a Mandarin Chinese which is got HSK1 based list. HSK1 Being the sort of baby level that I am at. And this is really good because the frequency list determines which words go missing. So you haven't got a sentence where the word missing is like carburettor or something. Like nobody knows. It's always words you're actually going to miss. And there is a decent text to speech. It's a computer voice, but it's a decent text to speech. So if you can even do listening training so it won't show you the sentence, you listen and then you see the gap, the sentence with the gap, and then you can fill it in.
Kerstin: [00:11:37] So that is Clozemaster. It is a free app that you can get on Android phones, on iPhones, you can use it in your browser. I think the browser version does a few things that I've not seen on the app, so it's always worth checking out and it's available in over 50 languages. So it's range of languages compared to, you know, the mainstream. As that Bec mentioned, if you're a minority language learner, if you're a rare language learner, that range of languages are Clozemaster has is something I've rarely seen elsewhere in an app that is that is this that does its function so well so it's really worth checking out and they have a pro membership. So if you're already on there and you want to upgrade or you want to support them and keep them going, then do consider a pro membership and let me just give you the code. It is Fluentshow simple, very simple. You can get 10% off using the code Fluentshow you can also get that in the show notes page. And it's Clozemaster. clozemaster.com/fluentshow for more information and a little video now, Bec, you have tried Clozemaster in the past. Did you enjoy it? Did you find it good as a learning experience?
Bec: [00:12:44] I did, yeah. One thing that I one thing that I really liked about Clozemaster was that I found that the range of vocabulary, like the variety of vocabulary, was very good and nice and diverse. But I also really liked that the sentences seemed really real life to me, like things that I would actually use and hear somewhere. So yeah, that was probably the main thing that I really liked about Clozemaster when I gave it a try.
Kerstin: [00:13:12] Yeah, realistic sentences. Not necessarily stuff you'd say, but just not so outlandish that you would notice them. I think Duolingo does a thing where they're deliberately outlandish.
Bec: [00:13:23] Yes, exactly. And I think that was like for me, there was a real difference between the two, but I liked that. I liked it, you know, going to have something different.
Kerstin: [00:13:31] Yeah, I like that. It doesn't animate as much. Right. So on Duolingo, there's a lot of like, it's cute, right? You get the little owl flying in, you get a little congratulations. There's this sort of goth girl. There's the, you know, the guy. There's a lot going on. But what it means is it slows you down as you're actually working through the exercises, whereas with this one, you can just go like rush, rush. And for me as a sort of take it or leave it app user, usually I really enjoy that because I think it's challenging enough that I can't just like switch off and go on autopilot, but it still is quick.
Kerstin: [00:14:05] It's like my quiz shows. I like my quiz shows to be banter free.
Bec: [00:14:09] Yes, love it. Quick fire.
Kerstin: [00:14:10] In terms of the look, like you mentioned to me before the show, I think this is an interesting one because when people first come to Clozemaster, it does have a specific look. I've always really enjoyed that. But you said you're quite what would you like to change about it?
Bec: [00:14:23] I think this is a personal preference, but I'm a bit of a sucker for a really nice clean design. You like it? Not necessarily like I like the goth girl. I kind of like modern new X. Like when you see a nice looking website or app and you're like, Oh, just like the design makes you want to use it because it feels. You know, like I just like that kind of look. And I think that like with Clozemaster, I appreciated that the content was good. Once I started using it, I was like, Oh yeah, actually this is pretty good. This is very decent. But I'm the kind of person who gets put off by the design sometimes if I'm like, I just wish it looked a little slicker.
Kerstin: [00:15:07] It is super functional and.
Bec: [00:15:10] Yeah, exactly. Super functional. Yes. Don't fire me Clozemaster, because we I think that's fair enough. But I think it's good to mention as well and to say because that's like a little hurdle, especially when you first come to it, when you get to using it. Like I said, like I've often thought, Oh, I wish I could just switch the colours just to jazz it up a little bit for myself. But I think that is in production. I haven't got a timeline or anything, but it is in production. It's something that the Clozemaster would also would like to work on. But I think it's I think it's an interesting point. So I wanted to mention it as well. So here we go. The full, the honest, the 360 review, I'm only going to show. So listeners, if that made you curious and you want to see this interface and make your own opinion about it, let me just mention a link to you again. Do head over there Clozemaster.com/fluentshow and I've even made a little demo video and like I said, it's free to use to try out. But if you have been a long term user of Clozemaster and you want to support them, give them some money, maybe that would be great. And there's still a 10% discount that you can get using the code Fluentshow We have now talked about this long enough and let's get to all the other things because I have just the biggest list of things I need to cover.
Kerstin: [00:16:29] Okay. I think we're going to have to get serious for a minute and I'm going to have to like read the script listeners. I have a big announcement, Bec I have a big announcement.
Bec: [00:16:38] Big announcement?
Kerstin: [00:16:40] Bec has known this for five days listeners as we have recording at the moment, this is currently I'm recording episode 239 of the Fluent Show with Bec. I can't believe it took this long. Next episode is number 240 and that is pretty special. That is pretty special.
Bec: [00:16:55] It's a lot of episodes Kerstin.
Kerstin: [00:16:57] You know, it means that you could now listen to five episodes a month for four years. If my maths is accurate,
Bec: [00:17:05] that is a lot of episodes.
Kerstin: [00:17:08] So yeah, I've been making the show for nine years. It's mad. Yeah. Anyway, so next episode is special because I've decided it's going to be it's time, then it's the final episode of the Fluent Show. So this podcast that I have created and hosted for nine years, for all of you, it is coming to an end. Everybody's like, What? Why? I can't tell you how difficult it's been to make the decision. It is really hard and it took me a best part of a year and saying goodbye will be really full of emotion for me. But I feel like sometimes you just have an instinct and I know the time is right. It's really good to leave on a high. There are so many shows out there that just kind of pod fade.
Kerstin: [00:17:53] You know where the last episode is like suddenly it's five months ago and trust me, I know how it happens because podcasting, it's a lot of work. You really need to be there. It's fulfilling and delightful, but it doesn't just happen by itself. But you know this as a fellow podcaster, right?
Bec: [00:18:08] I sure do.
Kerstin: [00:18:10] Yeah. I've grown a lot as a podcaster, as a person, as a language professional in the last nine years hosting the show, I've learnt so much, I've had so many wonderful guests, it's such a treat. I think all this growth and stuff, it's time to like take that to the next level and take that to whatever, whatever's coming in the future. So this is the decision and I feel I feel really weird right now.
Bec: [00:18:35] I bet you do. It is a big decision. And Kirsten, I'm not going to speak on behalf of all of the listeners. I can only speak on my own behalf. But I have to say, having been a long time Fluent Show listener, I am really like grateful for all of the work that you've done in creating your show, because I think certainly for me, I feel like the Fluent Show has been a bit of a companion over the last many years. For people like me who enjoy learning languages and needed to find a community out there, needed to realise that you weren't just the only person who thought that languages were interesting.
Bec: [00:19:10] And the Fluent Show has always been there and you have always been there to show everybody that there were lots of other people who were interested in the same thing. So as well as just being like generally inspiring and encouraging and enthusiastic about all things language, thank you for having created this thing. It's really important to so many people.
Kerstin: [00:19:31] Oh, I'm going to miss I'm going to miss you all so much. The feedback, you know, everybody's voices. Like I love hearing people's voices when they send in intros and the questions and the long emails, the short emails that. You know, people said to me, I think we're in a very different sort of content landscape to where I started. I've recently got some advice on what to do with my blog and she said, You've got so many articles there that are blog articles, but they're not content because they were written before content was content. And I thought, Yeah, that's such a good way of putting it. It's just like there's been so much change. Everything's changed so much. I think it's I just want to hit reset, you know? So while this will be the final Fluent Show episode, I'm not going to tell you it's forever. I really love podcasting. There's a good chance I'm going to come back with some special episodes every now and then. So do stay.
Kerstin: [00:20:24] Please, please, please. Listeners, do you say subscribed to the feed for now, there's not going to be new episodes every two weeks as you have been come to expected. But I do want to tell you what's next when it comes next. And I do want to come back to podcasting. So that's just my first practical. Please stay subscribed if you are subscribed. Thank you so much. If you are a subscriber. And yeah, with all that being said, episode 240 will come out on the 30th of May. That's halfway through the year. And it's going to be it's going to be my last episode. Now, look, we better go out, right? Like I said, I don't want to fade away. I want to finish in style. Bec. Oh, my God.
Bec: [00:21:04] Okay, so you've done it. You've said it now.
Kerstin: [00:21:07] Yes, it's true. And thank you so much for saying such a nice thing in response. And your reaction was, Oh my God, that's exciting. Like, oh, shock. But also that's exciting. And I just I'm just so grateful to you for having that reaction, because you're right. It is. It's exciting. It's exciting. It is. It's freeing up a lot of space for my creativity and for what comes next.
Bec: [00:21:29] Absolutely. And I'm sure lots of your listeners will identify with this. Things have their time and the end of one thing. It's always going to be followed by opportunities for other things. So I think that's really exciting for you that after so many years of working on a podcast that is so, you know, it's so valued in the language learning community, it must feel like a really fresh time where you can work on some different things.
Kerstin: [00:21:52] Yeah, and you know what I feel like? I feel like it's a really good time as well because there are other shows out there now that have started and that are exciting and that I can kind of signpost people to and that are bringing new voices. So I'm loving that and I'm going to make a little playlist. So there is actually already a playlist of podcasts for language lovers that are made on podchasers. So I'm going to put that in the show notes. It's got language chats AU you on it, it's got speaking tongues on it, it's got lots of other podcasts on when I started this for years, I've said this before, I was like the only female podcaster, not on the world of podcasts, of course, but in this sort of language learning space. And that's just not the case anymore. It's a different world and I'm just so excited about it. Okay, now. Chances are in the last episode, Lindsay and I have talked that there will be a quiz if you want to send a question that you want Lindsay and me to answer as a quiz. We do want to hear it. So that's the first thing.
Kerstin: [00:22:51] For episode 240, I want as much listener participation as I can possibly get. So if you're going to send us a question for the quiz, please do it by looking at my diary. Please do it by the 23rd. That is Monday, the 23rd of May. Send a question if you want to and you can email it to me and then I'll ask it to Lindsay. You have to send me the answer, of course, as well. Or you can email it to Lindsay if you want Lindsay to ask me. And then she won't tell me the answer until I have tried to answer it. Lindsay's email address is Lindsay@Lindsayloveslanguages.com and mine is Kerstin@fluentlanguage.co.uk. If you want to be part of the Fluent Show quiz, if nobody sends questions in, don't worry we're going to prepare some for each other as well. Now, I also want your voices. Bec you've gone first. You've gone ahead. It's like you've shared what the show means to you, which is just I hope it's more than just me getting complimented, but it's also a celebration of the Fluent Show as something that is more than just me sitting in my spare room, which is nice. So I want your voices. I want your stories listeners, if you're listening right now, I want your feedback on the last episode and I want to read it out, or even better, hear you.
Kerstin: [00:24:15] You can send me absolutely anything. Even your nudes. Look, I'm old enough. I can handle it. Don't do that. Now, it sounds like I want that nudes, right? I don't want to just.
Bec: [00:24:23] It's just so not what I was expecting you to say, but you surprised me again.
Kerstin: [00:24:30] Anything. And then my head went even dick picks, and I'm like, look, yeah, I can delete, but don't actually want anybody. Jesus Christ. Okay. Hello, editor. Okay, so. I want your voices. If you're listening to this right now, I want your voice, your story, your feedback. Bec has just gone first and shared a little bit of what the Fluent Show meant to her. It's fair enough to take time and to just recognise if the Fluent Show has been helpful, special, meaningful to you in any kind of way. Or you just had a lot of fun with me and Lindsay and Bec and all the wonderful guests that we've had over the years. Then please send me either an email, a note, I'll give you all my social media if you've found it yet. Just get in touch in some kind of way again do it by the 23rd place of May 2022, so I can read it out on the last episode and you can also send me an audio file. You can record yourself in a little video. It's absolutely fine. Which episodes did you like? Which episode stood out to you? Have you made any friends who are also listeners? How did you discover the show? What's the weirdest place you've ever listened? I just really want to know.
Kerstin: [00:25:43] Email me ideally with audio. Again, it is Kristin@fluentlanguage.co.uk and I will be just so delighted to add your story to the last episode. Maybe you've met me, maybe I've met you at some point. Just let me hear from you and it's really nice. Bec do you have a favourite episode?
Bec: [00:26:04] Actually, I have favourite episodes, although I feel like they are part of a series, so maybe it's grouping them anyway. My favourite episodes of the Fluent Show have always been word of the year
Kerstin: [00:26:17] Oh our international words of the year. They are so much fun
Bec: [00:26:20] Every every year. I have looked forward to listening to the Word of the year episode.
Kerstin: [00:26:25] Oh, my God. Maybe we'll do a special at the end of the year, I don't know.
Bec: [00:26:28] That would be great.
Kerstin: [00:26:31] In Germany, I've just heard somebody mention their candidate for word of the year sort of a thing or like a word does come through where they've said Zeitenwende. I can imagine that's going to come up as a word of the year or on the word of the year list. Do you know Zeitenwende? Have you heard of this?
Bec: [00:26:49] No, I have not heard of this.
Kerstin: [00:26:51] Wende is like a really important word for the Germans because Wende we normally say Wende it like it means the change, like the change periods, like a period where something changed, like wenden it's when you turn around and or like when you turn in your car, wenden is like if you turn around and you do a u-y so you and in Germany when we say wie wende, it usually refers to like the time when Germany got reunited in the nineties.
Bec: [00:27:17] Mm hmm.
Kerstin: [00:27:18] Yeah, I know the dates, can't remember when. And the Zeitenwende, it's the changing of times, but like, with a word that actually sounds quite ominous and meaningful and all that stuff. And it was in a speech that the Chancellor made, the man chancellor that we have now, that was the chancellor made when the war broke out in Ukraine.
Bec: [00:27:40] Aha. Interesting. So it does kind of have a bit of an ominous feel about it. Yeah.
Kerstin: [00:27:47] It's a bad word of the year vibe to it, doesn't it? Like this is a clear it's a good word choice. A lot of people are, like you say that and then, you know, not sending weapons and none of that. But I'm not going into any of those things like everything is controversial right now. The world is controversial, but certainly it's an interesting word. And watch out for that, whether it is a Fluent Show or not at the end of the year to see if it makes it onto Germany's word of the year list. I love word of you as well.
Bec: [00:28:14] I know it's just so fun. Sometimes they are very different and then other times they can be, you know, there's a bit of synergy. Is that the word that we use to describe this like across different countries and regions, I feel like last year it was all COVID related, but then this year has been like random.
Kerstin: [00:28:34] Yeah, strollout. Milkshake Duck.
Bec: [00:28:39] Milkshake duck. Honestly, milkshake duck was like my most hated word of the year. Like, I'm sorry Macquarie Dictionary or Australian National Dictionary Centre or whoever it was who came up with that one but come on, milkshake duck. Still no one knows what that means.
Kerstin: [00:28:56] I've already forgotten as well. But it was dictionary word of the year. There's a British expression that I hear on the politics podcast that is dead cat strategy.
Bec: [00:29:08] Dead cat strategy. What does that mean?
Kerstin: [00:29:10] It's sort of...It's not like. I don't think there's a specific like time. Relation. Like it's not timely enough to make it for the word of the year, but it's a cool expression and it's when I believe there's a scandal or something happening. Say maybe you've been having parties in lockdown, I don't know. And everybody else is in lockdown and you're like here going boozing where you mates and you also happen to be the prime minister. So the press comes and goes, Hey, you're a prime minister. Didn't you make the rules? And then you go, Yeah, but look over there and you come up with something like, I don't know, maybe you leak something to the press about your Oh, my God, this actually happened.
Kerstin: [00:29:53] Geez, like the opposition, we have an opposition politician who's a woman and somebody briefed the press that she crosses and uncross her legs to distract the prime minister.
Bec: [00:30:03] So it's just like like deflection.
Kerstin: [00:30:06] It's deflection, basically, but deflection with, like, something really ludicrous as well.
Bec: [00:30:13] Yeah. Okay.
Kerstin: [00:30:14] It's like deflection that is kind of really whip up and yeah, it's mental, but it gets used here a lot. Dead cat strategy. Listeners, let me know if you knew about this one. Oh, my God. Maybe I'll just do words of the year, the podcast is fun. What a good choice. Now, because of this nine years of making the show, I have been reflecting on what podcasting, this last year too, reflecting all the ways of podcasting has changed my life and changed me as a language learner as well and changed me as a person. It's always fun to start something that you are really bad at, but where you can have a good go at it. And I feel like that's how I feel about most languages when I first start. But I've also been reflecting on how learning languages in the bigger picture has changed my life. I wondered what that had it been like for you in terms of learning languages has such a big impact? If I hadn't been a language learner, I would have never been a language teacher, wouldn't have become passionate about whether it's easy or not, and people talk themselves out of it, which is sort of something that really first got me going.
Kerstin: [00:31:20] And I don't think I would have ever started this show because I just wouldn't be...I would have that enthusiasm in me. It's changed a lot in terms of my career, of course. But what about you? What about, not a person who is a full time language obsessed person, but only part time?
Bec: [00:31:37] Well, I really identify with what you were saying just then, because I absolutely feel that languages have changed my life too, both personally but also professionally. Like my interest in languages has completely changed my my career, I feel like. But in the first instance, I was thinking about this the other day and even just at its most basic level learning languages really does open up your world. I think it really opens up your perspectives on things and maybe that's why often people associate language learning with travel. And I think that travel is also something that really opens up your world. But when you learn a language as well, or even you learn a language and maybe there's an element of travel to it, but learning a language is like a levelling up, I feel like, of that open door, you haven't just opened the door.
Bec: [00:32:39] You can now also go up some stairs and that's something that like now as an adult, I appreciate because I don't think that as a kid and when I was first learning another language at school, other languages, I mean, I started with French, but then my I was quite lucky at my school we had two other languages offered to us at the time, so you could learn Indonesian if you wanted to, and you could also learn Japanese. And I got to try Japanese too, and I don't think I appreciated at all at that stage of my life when I was still so young. Just considering that other people can experience the world just like you do, but that they process that and communicate it using different words and sounds and structures. And for me that realisation came later, but it was quite a like dumbfounding experience when I was like, whoa! Like there are things that I never would have been able to experience or to see or to understand if I didn't have the aspect of my life that is learning languages and I'm really grateful for that.
Kerstin: [00:33:53] You've said some really interesting stuff there. And, first of all, what a choice of languages to, you know, to be offered in your school. That's so good
Bec: [00:34:00] Well I guess in Australia it's, it's a bit different, it's like there more and certainly I mean that was in like in the early 2000s. It's changed a little bit now. I know for a fact that at the school that I went to, now they also offer Italian and they no longer offer Japanese and they've replaced that with Mandarin Chinese. So like you kind of see that there are changes for us it's regional, often that is the the key to like why Asian languages are offered in Australian schools and that's pretty normal these days. But then of course there are the more like traditionally studied languages, things like French and Italian in Australia.
Kerstin: [00:34:36] Yeah. Even to be offered for it to be given a status where it said like look this is, it's not weird to do to at the same time I think that sends a very important message that like here in the UK it's you, you sort of do one. Although now in the primary schools they do bits and bobs more, but it still is very much like what you do, German or French. And if you're really, really into it, like to the point of you're a bit unusual, then maybe you'll do another one. Whereas for me it was like, you do English and you do another one, and then we'll see sort of a thing. But it was very normal, it was considered very normal. The status of it was higher.
Bec: [00:35:18] I sort of wish it was more like that here, to be honest. I mean, again, I say that I'm lucky that there were multiple languages at my school. Like now I think that's more like maybe that's more common now, but I don't think that like without jumping on my soapbox completely about the status of language learning in Australia, there are other places where you can hear me talk about that. I would love if it were normal in Australia for people to be learning more than one language. I think even learning one at school is...there would still be a lot of people who would not see the value of learning another language. I think that's something that we have to overcome.
Kerstin: [00:35:55] You mentioned the kind of, this realisation that other people, they can live the same, but somehow it's, it's like indifferent code that'ss like a different
Bec: [00:36:08] Yeah
Kerstin: [00:36:08] feel to it all because they speak a different language. And I remembered when you said that I remembered being a kid and we would drive across the border. I grew up near Luxembourg. Petrol is cheaper in Luxembourg because the taxes are lower so one day. But we used to drive up there and Luxembourg is closely associated with Belgium, so I think they used to share a currency with Belgium. Lots of stuff is labelled in French, German often Luxembourgish. So even as a very small kid, I kind of had this very limited experience of entering a world where suddenly everything around you is different because it's in a different language and it might be the same items on the shelf, but somehow everything is a little bit different. When was that experience for you that you remember?
Bec: [00:36:53] I didn't have that experience until much, like relatively later. So yeah, like having grown up in Australia, like it's until you get the opportunity to travel. I think the first time I went overseas I was maybe about five. I have an auntie who lives in the US and so that was my first big trip and I remember being really excited for that trip as a kid. But then when I was a bit older, so I was probably about 14 and I went to France for the first time and it was actually just for like kind of a weekend with my older sister who was living in London at the time, and she took me over to Paris for a weekend and it just, like, I don't know. It was like something just ignited in me a little bit. I remember just really noticing that the environment felt different to me. When you do actually see somewhere with signs in another language, that was really my first experience of going somewhere where the signs were not in English and where everywhere you walked people weren't just speaking in English. And like that was again, a very short, brief experience. As I got older, you know, I got a chance to travel to Japan when I was about 16, and then I kind of had that experience again, but different.
Bec: [00:38:12] I did a student exchange when I was about 17 to France again, but because my skills in French by that stage were at a point where I could communicate and I could independently try and communicate with people, that cemented that feeling where I was like, I can now engage in the same world that I was still in and I could do it in English, but I can do all of the same things in a different language and achieve the same kind of outcome, right? Like I'm still me living my life, but if I want to, I could think and speak and write in another language. That was the first time I could really do that. I learnt a lot from that experience.
Kerstin: [00:38:57] Yeah, it's so rewarding and enriching. I think if you're, I think everybody must have that reaction of sort of going to a place the first time where everything, the signs, the labels, what you hear in the street is in a different language that you might not understand. I think it's it's almost like a given that you don't understand for this experience to really be like, whoa. And, and I think maybe there are just those people that go, Oh, cool! and they're all of us nerds.
Bec: [00:39:31] Yeah, I think it might be because I'm sure that a lot of like if I talk to friends of mine and stuff and I was like, Did you think that when the first time you got to travel somewhere where they don't speak English and they'd just be like, No, that is not what I thought I was, I was confused and I didn't know where to go and I couldn't ask anyone for help. And then, and I think like it is the nerds like us, hey, they're just like blown away by, by that experience
Kerstin: [00:39:55] because I just go, Oh, my God, adventure!
Bec: [00:39:58] Yeah, exactly. I'm just, like, challenged in a good way. It didn't scare me. It scares you a little bit because you know, that first experience when you go in somewhere and you're like, Ooh, I don't know whether my language skills are going to be able to deal with this whole situation, but you have to just step into the cold water and try. I've always found that quite exhilarating. I know that's not how it is for everybody, but that's the kind of thrill that I've always gotten from learning and then trying to communicate in another language, even if I do a really bad job of it and make lots of mistakes. But I do find it still like thrilling.
Kerstin: [00:40:35] Absolutely. I think you can recreate it in many ways and like people can find their own comfort levels as well. Like, we're not saying you need to throw yourself at it and get uncomfortable all the time.
Kerstin: [00:40:45] I don't really advocate for that. But because a lot of people and I think there's a lot of benefit but you know, if you're having fun, that's a benefit end of story, like a lot of people just like to more sit at home, be alone, but like have a book or have the video or something like that and just kind of puzzle it out. And I do. It's a different kind of thrill. You can use language like you might use a Sudoku for a little bit and that can also work. It's such a multidimensional, incredible thing to learn, such a gift. And when I think about how has learning languages changed my life, there's the practical stuff like, Wow, my career is different. Also, I speak to my husband in a language. When I was a kid, the music on the radio was in English, and I remember exactly that. I thought Western girls might be about a man called Vincent, because that was the only sense I could make of it, because I didn't understand English, right? And now this is my life and my husband's English and my sister in law's from Lithuania. Had she not learnt German, she wouldn't have been able to. You know, it might have not gone like that with my brother. It's just so much that language has really practically changed my life but there is the other aspect is where it's like something inside the, this sort of, the part of me that gets this challenging environment goes, whoa, right, let's woo.
Kerstin: [00:42:04] You know, that part gets satisfied when I engage with my foreign languages and there is just infinite opportunity to scratch that itch and take that further and to engage with that challenge, like you say.
Bec: [00:42:17] Yeah, absolutely. I mean, infinite opportunity, I think is a really great way to describe it because languages have always felt like the gift that just keeps on giving. Like you can do so many things in a language, in any language. And I think that this is what often people fantasise about learning a language, but they never get around to it because there are lots of people out there who are like, Oh, it would be so good to learn another language. That's something I must do, something I'd like to do before I die. Or like, you know, during lockdown, for example, when lots of people are like, this is my time where I'm going to learn another language. And it's, I think it's very easy to not realise actually that everything that you regularly do you could do in another language. All of the things that you enjoy doing in your regular life, in your native language, you could do in another one as well. And for so many people, they think that learning a language, the extent of it is just the physical, like the kind of academic aspect of the learning or the classic kind of classroom feel the books and exercises and, you know, maybe passing an exam because that's kind of what they associate with the idea of learning from school and university and whatever else.
Bec: [00:43:38] It's, you know, languages are a tool, they're not a thing to be learnt that you like, put it on a shelf and you're like, okay, that's done now. Like they are something that you can use to do other things. And that's why like they're so there's so much potential because there are literally just any activity that you can think of, if you wanted to try and do that in a language that you are learning, you could. It might take some time, but you could get there.
Kerstin: [00:44:05] Yeah, absolutely. And they're also just this they like they're a tool for opening up the outside world but I think they're also this thing that opens up something inside of you. And I think you're right, it really helps. When I think back, it really helped me that when I came to languages in a school classroom environment, I had already had interaction with language in lots of ways outside, right? Could be music on radio was a huge thing, like just music, pop music for me was a huge thing because it was where English lived really. And then like I had lots of interactions with French because I'm from near France and that is such a big like part.
Kerstin: [00:44:50] And maybe one of the reasons I just so enjoy Wales as a part of the UK because things are in front of you like Welsh is in front of you all the time. They really fought for it. But like your road signs are bilingual, your signage is bilingual. It just constantly it's important in a way to create an environment that makes people aware that other languages exist and have a right to exist, and they are with us in the world. I wanted to actually ask you about this. I don't know. Is there somewhere in Australia where the road signs like New Zealand, maybe? Where the road signs are bilingual in the sense of Indigenous languages? I don't know whether there is that much progress.
Bec: [00:45:33] I wouldn't say that in...that's happened in a large way. So road signs, it's a really good question. I can't answer that because I don't know. But I would say that like there's probably a little more visibility, for example, at the like I'm thinking what's local to me sometimes on a sign, how would you describe this if you are moving from one local government area to another, does that make sense? Like from one local council to another, they might have a sign that's like, welcome to our council and they might have welcome written in whatever the local indigenous language is, so like I feel like you do see that quite often.
Bec: [00:46:17] But beyond that I think there's a very, very long way to go in the context of like visibility and appreciation, probably respect for languages in Australia that were here before all of us arrived. Yeah, there's a lot of work to be done there.
Kerstin: [00:46:36] You'll always get people like this, this still happens with most minority languages. You'll always get the people who don't quite access it and who feel like it's being rammed down their throat, who feel like it's, you know, it's why. But I do think the enrichment that you can get and the connection to your origins and where you are from or where you live. Right? Like, I'm not from this country, but I just, I feel like it's given me more depth to it that it's such a wonderful, like, rich connection. And I really hope that's going to come in the future and it can be done in small, simple ways. Yeah. In Australia do you think people know or is there an easy way to know to say, okay, this used to be the land of this and that. Is there a sort of ancient map that people have agreed on?
Bec: [00:47:25] There is actually a map, and I'll have to give you the link to it later but I'm fairly certain that it's been developed by AIATSIS, which is kind of a like an organisation.
Kerstin: [00:47:36] Carla sent that to me for women in language one.
Bec: [00:47:38] Yes, I was going to say Carla is the person to talk to about this. But yeah, there is a map and I can picture it. So like distinctly in my mind it is like a map of Australia. I think that probably anyone who doesn't know a lot about the sort of many Indigenous communities and groups and languages that there were in Australia prior to colonisation like you'd be very surprised probably to see this map of Australia that's quite colourful. It's got all of these marked out areas and of course I think it's very much based on lots of information. It's not a map with borders in the same way that we would consider other maps of countries, because I don't think the understanding of exact areas is quite established. But we do know that there were communities and groups that were in particular areas and this map does a really good job of trying to, trying to show where all of those were.
Kerstin: [00:48:34] I love it. Yeah, I've actually found it. I've had a little Google around. This is super interesting and instantly it has this thing at the top that says Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people should be aware that this website may contain images, voices and names of deceased persons instantly making you aware whether you are Aboriginal or Torres Strait or not people think differently. Different people experience and value and interpret the world in different ways.
Bec: [00:49:02] Yes, absolutely.
Kerstin: [00:49:04] Oh, this is fascinating. Listeners, the show notes where I'm going to link this so that you can explore a little bit more. You can sort of have a little look and if you are in Australia, it might give you the opportunity to work out whose original land you were on. It might give you the opportunity to trace family history and just to recognise that just how much there is, how much oh, just this is. I think it's fascinating and I think that again, I think it is the world could be completely different and this is amazing. I think that is the gift, that language as the key to all of this is giving us.
Bec: [00:49:41] You've just reminded me because when you were asking about signs and things before, I was like, I can't really, you know, like there's not, not a whole lot in terms of signs that I feel like I can think of that come to mind. But something that I have noticed relatively recently, the ABC, which is the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, our black national funded broadcaster, have started now, including the traditional country. So the traditional land that they are reporting from or that the, you know, that an interview is taking place on in their broadcasts, even at that level, just people knowing what land they are currently on is a small but important way for people to just have.
Bec: [00:50:25] A bit of awareness and to make them think about the fact that, yeah, here in Australia the vast majority of our population are people who have arrived at some point or other, or their parents or their grandparents or their great grandparents did. And we do need to remember that it's a place that there used to be a really diverse and many people used to live here and had cultures and things that persisted for a very long time. So when you see on the news that they're reporting from Sydney and they say that they're reporting from Gadigal country, then it's just a quick way for people to have that flagged in their mind. I think it's really good.
Kerstin: [00:51:05] Yes, absolutely. Absolutely. And this is not...it's also a reminder, I think, and I think of Welsh, like when I first moved to the UK, I thought which was a dead language. My understanding was not like sophisticated with as in like endangered and like. It was just people told me dead and I was like, I believe that. And now like last week I travelled there and I went for a swim and I ran into someone told them that I'm a Welsh learner. And then we just chatted away in Welsh and then she chatted to somebody else and the kids were there and they were, they were chatting back in Welsh and I was like, this is like this is so far from dead and so far from something that we haven't got access to anymore.
Kerstin: [00:51:46] And Australia, like many countries, not just Australia, have this opportunity right now to not let it die and to, you know, to keep things accessible and to keep memories alive. And not just memories, but to embrace the fact that, this is also here, and it's just it's such an exciting time if we let it be.
Bec: [00:52:07] I agree.
Kerstin: [00:52:08] Yeah. It's just really cool. It's really, really cool. I didn't mean for this to be like the Language Gratitude episode, but like, really, this is where we are, right? It's I'm grateful for language. It's done so much for me, for you, and hopefully for all of your listeners. Yeah. Wow. Gratitude episode. Good. This is a good fit. Now I have to kind of we did say beforehand, like if we're still recording at 5 a.m. Australian time, then so be it. But I'll be easy on the editor, easy on the listeners, let's try and round this off. Right. I would not be able to round off this episode without asking you, an Australian for your hot takes on this year's Eurovision and I've got because as we're recording this listeners it's Friday morning UK time and the Eurovision final is on Saturday. So when you listen to this on Monday Magic might future won Eurovision we all have a strong suspicion here, but let's all just kind of talk through our tips and I have this morning I've received out of the press received Lindsay's hot takes and tips as well so I'll be able to share those as well.
Kerstin: [00:53:14] But first, you tell me, what's your thought on Eurovision 2022?
Bec: [00:53:19] Okay, let's preface this by saying I bloody love Eurovision. I actually am very, very into it and I realise that might sound very strange to many European listeners because why would Australians be interested in Eurovision? Let me tell you, there are lots of people in Australia who are interested in Eurovision and actually so for those who don't know, Australia has been quite lucky to be a part of Eurovision, actually partake in having a contestant in Eurovision for quite a few years now. And I was pretty sad because this morning the Australian entrant this year made it through to the final. So I'm sending my alarm for 5 a.m. my time on Sunday morning so that I can watch the broadcast live. I know. I'm so excited. It's going to be great. And if you haven't watched Sheldon Riley yet in his performance of Not the Same, do yourself a favour and watch the video because it basically makes me cry every time I watch it.
Kerstin: [00:54:20] Oh really?
Bec: [00:54:22] It's so good.
Kerstin: [00:54:23] What's the Aussie entry like this year? Do you have do you think Australia would not? Do you think they would win? Of course can win, but like can you imagine them winning and then all these European countries having to send their acts to every so.
Bec: [00:54:34] No. My understanding is that I think if Australia were to win then actually it would not be held in Australia, it would be actually held with another partner broadcaster in somewhere else in Europe. It's possible that Australia can win obviously, but it is yeah, like if it does happen it would not mean everybody trekking out to Australia. I mean, as much as I would love that, I would so love if they had Eurovision Australia like wouldn't that be just the most like extra thing ever.
Kerstin: [00:55:12] It'd be so good if you I think it's episode 215 but I'll put it and put it in the show notes as well. If you want to listen to a little bit more about what Eurovision is and also the language perspectives, Lindsey and I did an episode on it last year here on the Fluent Show, so I'm going to pop that in the show notes. And one thing I realised researching that one is that how much this is broadcaster heavy, like everybody's like the broadcasters are very involved in this. So Australian entry one hot take - I've got a few. I'm keeping my eye out for, have you seen the Serbian entry.
Bec: [00:55:43] Yes, I watched it earlier today. Yes. I thought it was quite good. Quite good, yeah.
Kerstin: [00:55:48] So the Serbian entry, if you you'll have already all seen it. If you missed Eurovision and you want to catch up, it's a good one to catch up with because it's the entire stage show. It's a lady washing her hands and then some monks coming with towels and drying her hands and then waving the towels about. And that's it. It's and it's very effective.
Bec: [00:56:08] It is. And the other one that actually I really enjoyed, I quite liked Spain's entry. It's very fun and some good listening, controversial. I quite liked the UK's entry this year.
Kerstin: [00:56:21] That's apparently very high, highly favoured in the betting circle. So you better always like all the odds are like this, like that. The odds are that he'll do well. I think it's boring, but I think a lot of Lindsay I don't
Bec: [00:56:33] Think of the other ones that I watched I quite liked as well. I watching yesterday. Oh, the Netherlands. They had a good entry. I mean, there have been some great ones, I have to say, actually, in the lead up to Eurovision, I've been listening very heavily to some of last year's Eurovision entries, just like reminiscing over the 2021 Eurovision Song Contest. And I just think it was basically daylight robbery that Ukraine didn't win last year. I what a fantastic song...
Kerstin: [00:57:05] ...my playlist and absolutely adore it. I was listening to it yesterday morning.
Bec: [00:57:10] I love it.
Kerstin: [00:57:11] A band called Go_A with a song called Shum and it's just sort of it has a lot of the elements that make a Eurovision song great, which is that it's a bit of a banger. Yeah, sort of. It's got a beat as danceable. It's got the folky element, it's got this little whistle thingy which again is in the European, in the Ukrainian entry this year. Correct me...
Bec: [00:57:32] I don't know what it's called.
Kerstin: [00:57:34] Yeah. It's like a very traditional folk instrument, I think. So it had that and it has a kind of outlandish quality and it was in Ukrainian. So there's just so much going right. And this is like
Bec: [00:57:46] I know
Kerstin: [00:57:47] last year's Ukrainian and this year of course like...so Lindsey's hot take on the Ukrainian entry this year which is also going go in the direction of I think it's it has some protest song hints but, but Eurovision is quite deliberately not political. They have excluded Russia, but otherwise they don't really let you do political lyrics or something like that. And it says, like Lindsey says, they're going to win the public for obvious reasons. I think Ukraine is just they could start, I don't know, a pigeon this year and they would still probably do extremely well out of solidarity, which is entirely right. They're going to win the public but she thinks they might not win the jury. You never know how it breaks down, but the public vote would be so massive so she still thinks the other high scoring songs are going to be all just overwhelmed and Ukraine is going to win.
Kerstin: [00:58:41] And I also feel like, yes, this is maybe more about who do we think is going to come second after Ukraine? And I think I'd actually really enjoyed a Ukrainian entry, so I was quite excited about that because it's the folky dance, it's something that I enjoy.
Bec: [00:58:57] Yeah, it's kind of like I found because it's sort of it's sort of rap like as well, isn't it? After the initial part, which is quite folky, it then sort of goes into this like deeper rap type feel, which isn't like usually my kind of music. Like I enjoyed the song, but I would say that like, yeah, personally, like Ukraine's entry last year was like so up my alley and that more I don't know, I always associate Eurovision with a very. I don't know. I like a really upbeat kind of that sort of clubby feel, kind of. I was like, Yeah, this is great.
Kerstin: [00:59:34] Yeah, you do get because it's you do get the power ballad. There's always a bit of a power ballad. I usually find the winner a bit of a letdown. So Lindsey, who I think Lindsey loves the UK to do well at Eurovision last year they got nil points from everywhere or something. So even though it wasn't bad either. But she says being brave and following the odds and with the given that the full performance is very strong, the song is good.
Kerstin: [01:00:00] She thinks Sam Rider think his name is yep doesn't get lost. Perform me between the other male big voices that he's in in the running or she's even looked at running order. This is like in-depth and she thinks the UK might second place this year. Personally, I don't really believe in it, but I think songs that I think are boring tend to do, they always do well, so...I think second place might be the Greek entry because it's been stuck in my head for two days, even though I didn't like it.
Bec: [01:00:31] But yeah, it's pretty like. I did watch the Greek one actually, and it was also it was also pretty good. It was also pretty good.
Kerstin: [01:00:38] Yeah. I thought it was, I don't know. Not inspired but catchy
Bec: [01:00:43] but catchy Eurovision is always very like. It is very it's a real celebration of diversity. It is I feel like every year you see this like mixture of entries from all the different countries. They always have a Eurovision feel. I always think that everything fits in, but they're all so different. And I love that. I love that it's like this singing, dancing, costuming, spectacular. Like it's not Eurovision enough if it doesn't have all of the elements going on. But the fact that like Europe even has, that we have something like again, I guess Australia is not part of Europe and yet we still get to participate.
Bec: [01:01:22] But the world has something like the Eurovision Song Contest that is so open and that allows everybody to enjoy this mixture of just fun. Like it's always so fun. Everything about it just makes me want to get up and and dance and kind of sing with them and, you know, get involved. And I think like, Oh, we should all be really happy and grateful for that.
Kerstin: [01:01:46] I have so many happy memories as well as a kid just watching this like and again, you know, we talked about the languages and opening world before. Like, I loved the bit where they're like calling talent hello. And, but like I used to love that even in the eighties when I was a little kid, it was they've always done it this way. And it's just, it's, it was just the most mesmerising thing was, oh, god, there's another country and oh, Bulgaria. Oh, wow. You know, I just, I love it. I absolutely love the really boring bit where they give all the points and
Bec: [01:02:23] It's not the really boring bit.
Kerstin: [01:02:25] It's just so much good to it. So Eurovision, it's weird, right? Because we're recording this too late to give a recommendation but listeners if you have also watched Eurovision, I hope you enjoyed it. No, let me close out this episode with a big reminder. As I've already told you, next episode is pretty special and also your last chance to be heard on this show.
Kerstin: [01:02:47] Please, listeners, I want to hear your voices. I want to hear your stories. I want to hear your feedback. Get in touch with me on Twitter. I am @thefluentshow, on Instagram, I am @kerstin_fluent. Sorry, it's weird, but that's what it is and on the email I am kerstin@fluentlanguage.co.uk and there's also a facebook profile for me. Just find me Kerstin Cable on Facebook. There's only one Kerstin Cable in the world as far as I'm aware, so I'm easy to find. And there's a fluent language learners Facebook group, so lots and lots of places you can get in touch with me. I would love to hear your stories and yeah, get in touch with me. Send me some audio where have you listened? What episodes do you enjoy? What does the Fluent Show mean to you?
Bec: [01:03:33] Your inbox is just going to be overwhelmed this week.
Kerstin: [01:03:36] I don't think so
Bec: [01:03:38] I think you're going to get lots of questions and lots of comments and lots of audio and lots of people wanting to get involved in the last episode of The Fluent Show.
Kerstin: [01:03:49] I appreciate you all so much. I appreciate you all so much who are listening and please make it come true, right? Make Bec's prediction come true and do overwhelm my inbox. I want to hear it all.
Kerstin: [01:04:02] This is a special time in my life as your podcast host, but also in the life of this episode, of this show, and also in the life of this episode, which is now coming to an end. Ha! Now, Rebecca Howie, people can find you in lots, lots of places. Where would you like people to find your most easily?
Bec: [01:04:18] You can probably find me most easily on Instagram. I feel like that's where I live on social media mostly these days. So personally you can find me @bec_language and if you want to have a look at irregular endings, which is one of the other things that I do that's @irregular.endings, like irregular verb endings. That's how that is spelt. Yep, just irregular.endings. Otherwise, if you want to hear more about Language Chats, which is the podcast that I co-host with Penny, who you might have heard previously on the Fluent Show, then you can find us on Instagram we're languagelovers.AU, but you can find our podcast Language Chats wherever you listen to your podcast. So wherever you might be listening to this podcast, you can just search Language Chats and you'll find us there.
Kerstin: [01:05:01] As a long term listener, I don't need to explain to you how to sign off works, and I'm pretty sure you're ready for this. So listeners get in touch. The DMS are open and it is good bye from me for episode 239. Goodbye, Goodbye from Bec.
Bec: [01:05:19] Goodbye.
Kerstin: [01:05:19] Yeah.
Kerstin: [01:05:20] Thank you for listening to the Fluent Show. If you enjoyed this episode, please support the show by subscribing for new episodes and leaving a rating and review in your podcast app. You can visit us at fluentlanguage.co.uk anytime. Don't forget that you can send us your questions and feedback to Hello@Fluentlanguage.co.uk or you can find the show on Twitter and say Hello over there. It's @theFluentShow and on Instagram it's #TheFluentShow. We're always happy to hear from you and we read every message and review. See you next episode.