James Hutchinson

If you're struggling to learn new words and phrases while you're learning a different language this could be the reason:

It could be because you're learning it in isolation.

You might have used ChatGPT or maybe a textbook or something on how to learn a certain language and you're memorizing it based on a chart or a little picture next to it.



That is good but contextual learning is so much better.

So instead learn it next to something or associate something weird or funny with the word.

So if you're trying to remember the word for staircase or something random like that imagine a load of clowns or people running up and down it or being weird or imagine someone running naked upstairs and you'll remember it a lot better then.

What that does is it helps your mind associate it with something it already knows and emotional association is really powerful.


To get daily tips on how to learn any language over the next 30 days, head here: jameshutchinson.kit.com/30days.

Cheers,

James.

5 days ago | [YT] | 3

James Hutchinson

If you're trying to learn a language from listening to the language or watching online content and videos, here's a tip for you that no one seems to talk about:

Listen to the voice intonation and the way a native speaker speaks while they're in a conversation.

So you might be watching something on Netflix or something and two native speakers are speaking with each other.

Pay attention to their emotions - are they asking a question? Are they saying a statement? Are they angry? Are they curious?

A lot of their voice intonation and the way in which someone speaks like the flow and speed of it and where they put the emphasis on the words can determine what they're saying without needing to know the words.

And that's super useful because 70% of communication is non-verbal so it's just body language without words

So if you can work out what the general conversation is about if someone's having an argument or something and you can listen to words and phrases that are said in that moment you can then work out...

"Okay so in this language when they say this or when they're angry this phrase is said quite often"

"Or when they're curious this phrase is said quite often."

If you watch it a lot and you watch a lot of movies, that's why they say watching content can be super useful and helpful when learning a different language.

For more tips, I send out an email every day over the next 30 days (for free) on how to learn any language in less time:

jameshutchinson.kit.com/30days.

Cheers,

James.

1 week ago | [YT] | 3

James Hutchinson

99% of people learn a language the wrong way.

They start by learning the grammar and the structure of sentences and that realistically isn't the most interesting thing.

It's not motivating and it hurts a little bit as well because you're looking at grammar tables trying to remember things and they don't make sense and you have to be mentally awake.

Especially if you're doing it after work it takes a lot of mental energy that you don't have.

So instead, focus on ready-made phrases focus on conversations that you're going to say and the practical side of it.

The benefit of using phrases that are ready-made is you don't have to know the grammar behind it If you say something like "How are you?" or "What is your name?" or "How old are you?" or "What do you like to do in your spare time?" then you don't need to know how that sentence is constructed.

You just need to say it and then you get a response from the native speaker.

You don't need to know about the grammar. The benefit of this as well is that you're more motivated because if you say that to someone and you get a response you feel good about being able to learn the practical bits of it.

Whereas if you start by learning the grammar and the dry bit of it you're going to give up before you even get a chance to practice it.

That's why living in the country is the absolute best thing because you're surrounded by it and you can see how things are used how words and phrases and informal phrases are used in daily life.

Whereas if you're learning the grammar side of it it's not that obvious in daily life.

Ps. I created a 2 minute quiz that tells you the exact next step that you should take to learn your target language in less time. It's free: nextstep.jameshutchinsonlanguages.com/.

Cheers,
James.

1 week ago | [YT] | 2

James Hutchinson

What we tend to do as humans is overthink what we're doing...

If you approach a group of native speakers or to a single native speaker with the idea of practicing a language with them, you may already have a feeling that they're going to reply in a nasty way. This is only because of negative past experiences where your mind has learnt to protect you in the future.

However, this is a better approach:

Say, "Hi, I'm practicing a bit of," insert target language, whether it's Italian or Spanish, "and I'd like to practice with you if that's okay, if you've got some spare time."

Then you'll either get 2 responses:

You'll get, "Oh, yeah, that's fine. Absolutely. Yeah. It's great to practice."

Or you'll get, "Oh, sorry, I'm just in a conversation," or, "I'm just busy at the moment, do you mind if, if we do it a bit later?"

And then that's fine because that's not you that's being bad at the language.

That's them not having enough time.

They might be a nice person just busy at the moment. But what happens then if they say yes is you can practice with them and then you can build up more evidence that they're actually nice people, native speakers.

A lot of people think that native speakers are horrible and if you make a single mistake they'll be really annoyed at you.

In some cultures that might be true, but most of the time they'll appreciate you putting effort in to speak with them in their native language anyway, and that outweighs any negativities.

It also means that you build proof to yourself that you can speak the language.

Ps. I created a 2 minute quiz that tells you the exact next step that you should take to learn your target language in less time. It's free: nextstep.jameshutchinsonlanguages.com/.

Cheers,

James.

1 week ago | [YT] | 2

James Hutchinson

It's very common if you're learning a different language and you're watching TV shows and movies to look up words, to pause what you're watching and look up a word.

However, the drawback is that that interrupts your mid-flow and it's more important to stay in the flow of what's going on than to pause it and look up words, because that takes effort and it takes effort getting back in to understand what's happening.

Imagine when you're watching something, a movie, and someone steps up and interrupts you, you've lost the flow....


You can't quite remember what was going on.
You're having to get back into it.

You might even, if you're watching Netflix and, and your partner offers you a snack or something, you might have to pause it, answer their question, and then get back to it.

But you might find you even have to rewind a few seconds to remember what was last said and get back into the emotional flow of it.

And that's the reason why you shouldn't look up words when watching your TV show or movies in a different language, because it's more important to stay in the flow, than to try and understand every single word.

It's fine as long as you get what's happening and you can see subtitles and you understand 70% of it.

Just move on from words that you don't know.

And if it's a common word spoken in everyday conversation, you get exposure to that word over time, so you'll learn it anyway.


If you want to learn a language quickly, then over the next 30 days I'll send you a daily practical tip via email, for free, so you can learn any language in less time. Here's the link: jameshutchinson.kit.com/30days.

Cheers,
James.

2 weeks ago | [YT] | 3

James Hutchinson

Learning a language can be overwhelming. How do you know if what you're learning right now is the best thing to get you closer to your goal?

- What if there's a quicker route?
- What if there's a more enjoyable route?
- What if there's a better way to learn more aligned with your learning style?

There's a lot of options. How do you know which one to pick next?

I've created this short free quiz to help you understand the next step you should take, to help you reach your language goal in less time: nextstep.jameshutchinsonlanguages.com/.

It's based on my 12 years of language learning experience.

Cheers,
James.

2 weeks ago (edited) | [YT] | 2

James Hutchinson

I recently made a free language learning quiz that can identify the exact next step that you should take to reach your language goal.

Here's the link: nextstep.jameshutchinsonlanguages.com/

It takes less than 2 mins, and works for any language.

Cheers,

James.

2 weeks ago | [YT] | 3

James Hutchinson

I've made a free tool that tells you exactly what next step you should take, to get you closer to your language goal in less time. Here's the link:

nextstep.jameshutchinsonlanguages.com/

Takes 2 mins: asks you a few questions then gives you a tailored recommendation at the end based on your answers.

Give it a try...let me know what you think!

Cheers,

James.

3 weeks ago | [YT] | 3

James Hutchinson

When you're learning a language it can be tempting to compare your progress to others.

Don't.

If you've spent 2 years learning Spanish but you chat with someone and they say they've started learning it 3 months ago, but when you hear them speak they seem fluent....

You also have to consider:

- How many hours a day have they committed?
- Are they using a method they know they're naturally good at (eg. speaking/listing/reading/writing).
- Which parts of the language have they studied? (have they focused on a specific area which would take less time).

There's so many factors that you don't know about when someone just gives you a hight level 'I've been learning for X time period'.

The risk is, it demotivates you. You think you're bad at language learning because you've spent more time and made less progress.

However, to make comparisons it has to be in equal environments. Otherwise, it's not fair.

If you want to compare, compare you NOW to how you were X months or years ago. You versus you.

P.S. For 30 days of free language learning advice, delivered to you every day via email, head here: jameshutchinson.kit.com/30days.

Cheers,

James.

3 weeks ago | [YT] | 2

James Hutchinson

The idea that courses from language schools are sized and priced based on the 'hours' that they include doesn't make sense to me.

It should be based on the outcome that you achieve as a student, as your progress through the course and also at the end.

Firstly because 'hours spent learning' does not directly equate to progress. Different people progress at different speeds, and using different methods.

Secondly, many course promise that they'll get you to a certain level (eg B1) by taking their course. However, if you don't reach that level the risk is on you, not them.

Therefore, it should be 'We'll make sure you reach level B1 or we'll refund you' because after all, the students goal is to 'reach level B1', not to 'spend 40 hours learning the language'.

It's charged based on time, rather than how effective it is. That makes that the quality of the language course can drop, but as it's the same time period, the cost is the same.

If they charged based on OUTCOME of each student, it would be a win-win. The language school would have an incredibly high standard to make sure every student reaches the desired level, and each student would then feel the benefits and spread the word about how good the school is.

My advice: Taking a language course is great, but it's not the be all and end all, and it might not be suitable for everyone's learning style. It's a cost effective way of 'giving it a go' learning a language, but really it's what you do OUTSIDE the classroom that counts (watching TV, listening to podcast in target language etc).

Anyway - if you want 30 days worth of language learning advice based on my 12 years of experience learning Spanish and Italian (for free), here's the link:

jameshutchinson.kit.com/30days.

Cheers,

James.

3 weeks ago | [YT] | 2