Intro
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| Becky: Welcome to a special Inner Circle Audio Lesson! I'm Becky and I'll be your host. My co-host today is the founder of Innovative Language... Peter Galante! |
| Peter: Hi everyone! Peter here. |
| Becky: Today, we’re going to talk about three ways you can dramatically improve your speaking skills... |
| Peter: ...simply by preparing and reviewing lists. |
| Becky: You’ll learn about one powerful tool that you already have access to. |
| Body |
| Becky: So Peter, it’s been two months since you’ve been using a Skype and in-person tutor. |
| Peter: That’s right. |
| Becky: And last time, you got knocked down a peg by your in-person tutor. |
| Peter: Oh, that happened. But remember, now I’ve got the hang of real life conversations. |
| Becky: Ah, so how are your Italian Skype and in-person lessons going now? |
| Peter: Well. I told you last time that I had to double my preparation time, right? |
| Becky: Yeah, you really didn’t get into how you prepared. |
| Peter: We’re about to get into that, but first you should know that |
| I went beyond my 20 minute goal and reached 22 minutes of Italian conversation. |
| Becky: Really? Did that have something to do with the preparation? |
| Peter: It most certainly did, Becky. As they say, “preparation is the key to success” |
| and there were three ways I used to prepare. |
| Becky: Alright, let’s get into it. |
| Peter: Right, so last time we talked about the actual lessons... today, listeners, we will focus on preparation. |
| Becky: Why preparation? Because as much as we advise speaking from day one... |
| Peter: ...If you don’t prepare the topics, words, phrases, and grammar to use... |
| Becky: You can’t really speak much... except for maybe “hello” and “good bye.” |
| Peter: And that’s... not much of a conversation. In order to prepare for conversation, we have explore words and phrases related to our interests. Think about this example: A young child loves to play soccer. So as the kid grows up playing the game, he or she picks up on vocabulary and phrases that are unique to the sport. Eventually, the kid becomes fluent in conversation about soccer. |
| Becky: And it’s the same thing with foreign languages. We have to explore our interests so we can be prepared to talk about them in conversation. But, how can we do that? |
| Peter: So for me, a lot my preparation involves collecting and reviewing new words and phrases. I do all this with one great App... |
| Becky: ....which, listeners, you already have access to! It’s called Custom Lists. For those of you that don't know what it is... |
| Peter: ...It’s a mobile web app that you can use on any device: Android, iPhone, tablet, Computer... Basically any device with internet access. |
| Becky: With the Custom Lists app, you can create your own word lists and save them to review. |
| Peter: You can share your lists with other users... |
| Becky: ...or explore lists created by other users. You can also check out official word lists made by Innovative Language staff, discover newly added words... |
| Peter: ...and search for topics that you’re interested in. |
| Becky: It’s pretty much your one-stop source for vocabulary lists that are customizable and always expanding! |
| Peter: Great way to put it, Becky. |
| Becky: So, how do you prepare with Custom Lists, Peter? |
| Peter: So, there are three basic ways that I prepare for my Italian lessons with Custom Lists. |
| Becky: Alright. |
| Peter: Number 1: Building vocabulary lists based on my interests, Number 2: Building lists that are related to my Skype and In Person Lessons, and Number 3) Using Custom Lists to review and study |
| Becky: So, Number 1: Building Vocabulary that you’re Interested in. What do you mean by that? |
| Peter: Well Becky, here’s a question for you, and for you listeners: What are you interested in? |
| Becky: Like hobbies? |
| Peter: Exactly. Hobbies… Personal interests… Things you love talking about. |
| Becky: Well, I’m personally interested in food. I like eating. |
| Peter: Good choice. There are a ton of Custom Lists about food. What kind of food is your favorite? |
| Becky: Burgers. I just had one not too long ago. |
| Peter: Okay, lets say... you start learning a language. Imagine you have a list of words and phrases that teach you the names of different burgers, the ingredients, how to order, how to tell someone to hold the tomatoes... |
| Becky: I think I’d be well prepared to go order some burgers in that language! |
| Peter: Exactly. You can start talking... or in your case, eating, after you review this list. So, one of the things I’m interested in is personal finance. |
| Becky: Sounds like there’d be a lot of technical Italian words involved. |
| Peter: Yeah, and a typical learner usually wouldn’t focus on words like that. But, since I’m interested... I know it’ll be fun for me. |
| Becky: What do you do? |
| Peter: So, remember how I keep a list of words and phrases I want to use for my lessons? |
| Becky: Yep. In your NASA command center. |
| Peter: Good memory! Well, I do that with Custom Lists. ... |
| Becky: Which, listeners, you can access from the Resources drop-down menu or at customlists.innovativelanguage.com. |
| Peter: So, I open the app on my computer, log-in in under ItalianPod101 with my username and password. |
| Becky: Remember listeners, be sure to log in under the site you’re registered with. |
| Peter: Then, I click on “My Lists” and then click on the “plus” in the upper right corner. This lets me create a new list. I create a new one titled, “Personal Finance” and press save. Once that’s done, I scroll to the “Personal Finance” list, access it and start adding finance-related English words like, “account,” “open an account,” or “withdraw money.” |
| Becky: There’s a big button that says “Add New Word,” so this is really easy to do. Now, you have a list of English finance words that you want to use in Italian. |
| Peter: Right. As soon as I enter the English word, Custom Lists will translate it. And it translates most of these words to Italian, and it adds a relevant picture and the pronunciation. Then I click on the check icon in the top right corner to save the word. |
| Becky: And if it doesn’t translate them? |
| Peter: I can use Google Translate, get the translation, grab a relevant picture from Google and add it in. |
| Becky: Ok, so, you end up with a list of all the personal finance words and phrases in Italian that you didn’t know before? |
| Peter: Exactly. So now I’ve learned them and I can review them anytime from my iPhone or tablet or computer by accessing “My Lists” and scrolling through. |
| Becky: How about searching for your interests in Custom Lists to get other users’ lists? |
| Peter: That’s an even easier way to find vocabulary you’re interested in. For example, I found an Italian word list that another user created titled “Banking and Money.” |
| Becky: Oh, how’d you do that? |
| Peter: If you’re inside the app, tap or click “Discover.” Then, select User’s Lists. On the top of the screen, there is a space called “Filter Items” where you can search for topics. In fact, you can also search the Editor’s, Seasonal and Local lists that are available inside “Discover” as well. |
| Becky: That’s so convenient. Now, let’s get into the next way you use Custom Lists to prepare for Italian lessons. Number two was: Building lists that are related to Skype and In Person Lessons. |
| Peter: Actually, number one leads perfectly into number two. By doing number one, I have a ready-made list of topics and words I want to use with my tutor. And making these lists involves the same process I mentioned earlier. |
| Becky: Ah, I see. You have a list of topics and words you’re interested in, right? |
| Peter: That’s right. It just makes the lesson more fun. So, I have the list of words and I can share them with my tutor and put them to use during the lesson. For example, I’ll use my “Personal Finance” List. |
| Becky: What else do you do? |
| Peter: If you remember, I use ItalianPod101 lessons with my Skype tutor. They serve as the main focus of our lessons. |
| Becky: So, before each Skype lesson, you use ItalianPod101? |
| Peter: Right. I listen to the audio lesson, read the lesson notes. This takes about 10 to 15 minutes. |
| Becky: And then? |
| Peter: As I listen, all the Italian words or grammar points that I don’t know, I’ll create another list for them. This one’s called “New Words and Phrases.” And this is one list that doesn’t stop growing. |
| Becky: So, you also have another list of unknown words, phrases, and grammar related to the lesson topic. |
| Peter: I share this list with my tutor so that she can add her explanations to it. Usually these are words that I don’t quite understand the usage of or grammar that I’d like to practice more. |
| Becky: Ah, that makes sense. Sometimes dictionary definitions alone aren’t completely clear. |
| Peter: Right. But using them in conversation with my Skype Tutor really helps me master them. |
| Becky: Preparing then, is really important, huh? Is the process any different for your in-person lessons? |
| Peter: Well, I still create and review my Custom Lists before the each in-person lesson. |
| Becky: I remember you also said that you schedule your lessons at certain spots to help you set conversation topics. |
| Peter: Oh, yeah, I do… I create Custom Lists for those too. So, since we met at an Italian Restaurant last time, I prepared a list of all the Italian words and phrases I thought I’d need. Then I printed them out to have them at hand. |
| Becky: Did you have words like Pasta? Lasagna? |
| Peter: C’mon Becky. Those are obvious. More like... “this tastes great” or “what’s your favorite dish here?” And yeah, because it was in person, I had to spend more time reviewing my Custom Lists before our lesson. Though having a printed version is very helpful as well. |
| Becky: Alright. On to Number 3: Using Custom Lists to review and study. How is this done? |
| Peter: So, during a Skype or an in-person lesson, there’ll always be new Italian words and phrases. |
| Becky: Do you use Custom Lists for these? |
| Peter: Well, for my Skype Sessions, my tutor writes down all new words, grammar and so on, into the Skype chat box. |
| Becky: You can copy and paste that out of the Skype Chat and into a Custom List. |
| Peter: Exactly. I copy the words from Skype, switch over to the Custom Lists Window, and paste them into the “New Words and Phrases” list. |
| Becky: How about the in-person lessons? |
| Peter: That’s a bit different. My tutor will create that Custom List for me and then share it with me. |
| Becky: And after the lesson, you can review these lists as much as you want. |
| Peter: That’s right. So, aside from my pre-lesson list preparations, there’s the post-lesson reviews. |
| Becky: Reviewing after a lesson is a very important part of preparation. What do you do after your lessons? |
| Peter: That’s right. So, there are a few lists I focus on. |
| Becky: You review the “New Words and Phrases” list for everything new you’ve learned... |
| Peter: ...And, I’ll also come up with a new list of words and topics I want to talk about at a next lesson. |
| Becky: Like the Italian Restaurant list? |
| Peter: Exactly! I created that list because I knew we were going to have our lesson at an Italian Restaurant. |
| Becky: Nice, So Custom Lists really sounds like an awesome way to prepare ahead, capture everything new that you learn... |
| Peter: ...and review what you learn regular basis |
| Becky: These are huge advantages, listeners... |
| Peter: Preparing, capturing everything that you learn, and being able to review them anytime. |
| Becky: Because if you don’t, you’ll quickly forget what you’ve learned. |
| Peter: Listeners, this is why Custom Lists is such a great tool. |
| Becky: Take advantage of the App. It’s free for you as Premium members. |
| Peter: With Custom Lists, you can create lists of words or phrases you’re interested in... |
| Becky: ...You can search for topics inside the app, take advantage of other user’s lists |
| Peter: And best of all, you can review anywhere, anytime. |
| Becky: So, having access to this bank of Italian words and phrases boosted your conversations up to 22 minutes this month, huh? |
| Peter: It did. I was able to, one, build vocabulary based on my interests, two, prepare lists for my lessons, and, three, review everything I’d learned all in one spot. Lists are pretty powerful when it comes to learning, and even more so, when you can access them all on an app! |
| Becky: What’s your goal for July, Peter? |
| Peter: Let’s make it 25 minutes. |
| Becky: Listeners, let us know your goal too... |
| Peter: ...and start making your own Custom Word Lists. You can find the app on our site, under the Resources drop-down menu... |
| Becky: … or visit customlists.innovativelanguage.com and log in with your site user name and password. You can do this on your mobile web browser or from your computer. |
| Peter: Remember, it’s free to access for you as Premium members! |
Outro
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| Becky: Okay, well that’s going to do it for this special Inner Circle lesson! |
| Peter: Bye everyone! |
| Becky: Thanks for listening, and we’ll see you next time. |
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