Demonstrating the effectiveness of passive listening
A 2-month case study of a French student
I taught a student today who just edged into a conversational level…within just 2 months. I was so impressed! Let’s take a look at what she did.
Her level in early October
Basically high-beginner
Clear pronunciation
Heavy reliance on English when conversing in French
Minimal errors when speaking, but only using 1 tense
Clunky speech and low comprehension
What has changed
Basically low-intermediate
Using 2 tenses instead of 1
Almost 2x her active vocabulary size (78% more)
Slow, yet fluent speech (no longer clunky and awkward)
Speaks almost 100% in French during our free-flowing conversations
Understands me at a natural speed (comprehension is not low anymore)
How she did it
She has progressed almost entirely due to passive listening. She watches videos on Instagram and YouTube. That’s it. Here’s a visual breakdown of how she has spent her study time. Speaking refers to conversational lessons with me.
And that’s it.
Do you see how straightforward learning a language is? Just do some daily passive study and have conversation with a tutor.
Passive study means…
Scroll social media
Listen to podcasts
Engage in self-talk
Conversation frequency
We have a conversation practice session once a week for 45 minutes. Let’s see how her progress continues to evolve over time! 😊
Final note
As I continue to measure student progress, it looks to me that learning a language should be simple. It should not be a complex rigamarole. For super simple self-study plan you can use yourself to reach your fluency goals, watch this video.
Have a great day!
Azren
Calgary Language Nerds owner
https://azrenthelanguagenerd.com
What do you think of the app Langua for self talk and self study at home?