Intro
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| Chigusa: Welcome to a special Inner Circle Audio Lesson! I'm Chigusa and I'll be your host. My co-host today is the founder of InnovativeLanguage.com... Peter Galante! |
| Peter: Hi everyone! Peter here. |
| Chigusa: In this Inner Circle, we’re talking about... |
| Peter: Tipping Points - The Secret Signposts of Language Progress &Success |
| Chigusa: And you’ll learn... |
| Peter: One: Why tipping points are crucial for confidence and language learning. |
| Chigusa: Two: How you can tell when you’re reaching one... |
| Peter: ...And Three: How I reached my tipping points this month with Hindi. |
| Chigusa: All so you can master your target language and reach your goals! |
| Body |
| Chigusa: Listeners, welcome to the Inner Circle. |
| Peter: Last time, you learned how to create long-lasting habits for language learning… |
| Chigusa: …and tactics like the 2-minute rule, piggybacking, habit tracking, and commitment devices. |
| Peter: And Chigusa, I promised 3 minutes of Hindi conversation. That was my small, measurable goal for the month. |
| Chigusa: Yes, and how’d you do? |
| Peter: Not well. 3 minutes seems… it seems short but - each language presents its own challenges. So, this particular language - I have a little more time on the pronunciation. Again, in the past, I’ve spoken about this but this time I decided to dedicate a bit more time to the pronunciation in the beginning. |
| Chigusa: Right. So, what are you going to do next time? Are you going to try to do something differently? |
| Peter: Well, I finally got a teacher this past month and I’ve been spending more and more time on HindiPod101 and with the Premium PLUS teacher… so I think I’ve been starting to reach some tipping points with my Hindi. |
| Chigusa: Tipping points. Are those kind of like anchor points? |
| Peter: Let’s get into today’s inner Circle and talk about what tipping points are. |
| Chigusa: Part One: Why tipping points are crucial for confidence and language learning. |
| Chigusa: Alright. So first, what’s a tipping point? |
| Peter: So, Chigusa, imagine you’ve started learning a language… |
| Chigusa: Okay. |
| Peter: And the routine you’re sticking with is… let’s say… you want to learn for 10 minutes at home a day after you get back from work. Some days you do it and some days you don’t. But the point is that you’re trying. You’re trying to build a routine and stick to it. |
| Chigusa: Alright. |
| Peter: Now, because you applied the tips from the last Inner Circle about habits… after a few weeks of sticking with it… you start to naturally jump into the language without a second thought. It becomes part of that routine, so it’s like that daily coffee or whatever your routine is. It’s now the thing you do on weeknights… even including Friday evenings. That’s a tipping point. |
| Chigusa: Okay, I don’t know about Friday nights! But, it’s like you’ve reached a point of progress… or a breakthrough? |
| Peter: Chigusa, without a Friday night, it's not a breakthrough! Exactly. So, a tipping point is a small victory within your language learning. It lets you know that you’re on the right track and you’re going to make it. So even if you’re not making a tremendous amount of progress in those nightly lessons, the fact that you’re carved out that time and can stick with it - that’s it - you’ve added it to the routine, and now it’s just a matter of time. |
| Chigusa: Okay, so if you are learning a language on a Friday night… How is that a victory though? |
| Peter: Here’s an example, if you’ve ever been to a gym on a Friday night, there’s a very interesting group of people there at that time. Chigusa, have you been? |
| Chigusa: Hmm. No, what kind of people? |
| Peter: Well, Chigusa, they're the most fit people you’ll EVER see, and they're there on Friday night. |
| Chigusa: I wouldn’t have guessed that, but… they’re the most committed, it makes sense, yes because I’ve never been there on a Friday. |
| Peter: I went once for research for this but yes. But if you think about it… there are a million and one ways to spend your Friday night, right? |
| Chigusa: Right, exactly. You could be watching TV or grabbing a drink with friends. |
| Peter: Exactly. So if you made a choice in favor of language… or in the case we were just talking about, the gym… or whatever goal you have… over everything else, that’s a good sign. Kind of reinforcing that you’re going to make it. Something inside you has changed for the better. |
| Chigusa: So, it’d also be something like… instead of playing a game on your smartphone, you use our Innovative Language Learning App... |
| Peter: That’s a big one because everyone can relate. If you open up your app, most people aren’t gravitating towards the productive apps. So if you’re watching, if you open the app, if you’re watching our Video Lessons on the site instead of watching random YouTube videos. Basically, when your free time shifts from usual routines like watching TV, not productive, … towards the goals you really want, productive, like mastering a language… |
| Chigusa: ….that’s a tipping point. |
| Peter: And, listeners, these tipping points are crucial for your confidence and overall language learning. It’s evidence. It’s positive reinforcement that you’re on the right track and you’re going to make it. |
| Chigusa: Peter, can you explain that a little more? How is it evidence that you’re going to make it? |
| Peter: Okay, The answer is simple. Language learning is... like life. It comes down to where you put in your time. Or, not like life, or when you grow in life. It comes down to where you put your time. |
| Chigusa: Right, you succeed with whatever you put most of your time into. |
| Peter: Exactly. It’s like Malcolm Gladwell’s 10,000-hour rule. You need time. Again, if you’re not familiar with that rule, in short, I think the way it is… is,10,000 is for absolute expert but 1,000 into something - you’re pretty, pretty good. It applies to anything, skiing, any sport, 1,000 hours is a very big benchmark. 10,000 is that master level. And the principle is the same. So, once you start choosing to pursue your goals in your free time, that’s a good sign because those hours, those minutes, those seconds, are starting to add up. It may not feel like it at the moment because, again, with many things, with many life things, language learning is a matter of time… you will get better eventually. But these little tipping points can propel you and can be hard to notice. But that’s why they call them the secret signposts to success. |
| Chigusa: Yeah, I wanted to ask how can our listeners know they’re on the right track and hitting these tipping points? |
| Peter: Let’s get into the second part. |
| Chigusa: Part 2: How you can tell when you’re reaching a tipping point... |
| Peter: Imagine it like this. You’re learning a language in your free time. You have a small goal set. |
| Chigusa: Right. |
| Peter: Now, within your daily routines... you start making certain choices. And people with goals and interests see their time differently. They choose tasks differently. Between watching Netflix and mastering a language... |
| Chigusa: ...they start putting more time into language. |
| Peter: Exactly. Because you’re interested, you choose language over something else. Imagine... Last week, you started with 10 minutes of learning and 50 minutes of TV. Then, it grows. 20 minutes on language, 40 on TV. |
| Chigusa: And then, 30 minutes, 40 minutes, and soon it overtakes your typical routines. |
| Peter: And Chigusa, that’s exactly how tipping points happen. |
| Chigusa: So, listeners, take a look at how much time you spend on a language... |
| Peter: ...Take a look at your recent choices of activities. |
| Chigusa: If you’re choosing a language workbook over a typical book... |
| Peter: ...if you’re learning a language in the evenings… on a Friday night instead of watching Netflix... |
| Chigusa: ...that’s how you know you’ve reached a tipping point. |
| Peter: And listeners, this is something you won’t notice immediately. Everyone starts small... |
| Chigusa: ...But when you find yourself choosing language over something else... |
| Peter: ...That’s a sign that you’re going to make it. |
| Chigusa: Peter, can our listeners actually try and reach these tipping points? |
| Peter: Definitely. It’s just a matter of putting in more time. Again, if you started with 10 minutes a day last week, bring yourself up to 20 minutes a day this week. Or even 11 this week. Slowly try to build… |
| Chigusa: And keep going. |
| Peter: Listeners, simply adjust your routine and add more time. |
| Chigusa: We ask you to set small, measurable goals with a deadline every month. |
| Peter: Aim a little higher with your next goal. Add an extra 5 minutes to your routines. |
| Chigusa: How about you, Peter? Did you have any tipping points this past month? |
| Peter: Let’s get into the 3rd point, Chigusa. |
| Chigusa: Number 3 - How Peter reached his tipping points with Hindi. |
| Peter: So, I think we discussed in the beginning of the lesson that the 3 minutes was not achieved. So again, It’s very hard to go one way. It’s not a linear progression upwards. It’s spike up, spike down, but we want to always trend upwards. But even though I didn’t reach my goal, I had a few small victories. Here’s what happened. |
| Chigusa: Alright. |
| Peter: First, I’m using our Innovative Language Learning App and listening to HindiPod101 lessons whenever I go out. So, more than before. And as I mentioned before, I now have a Hindi teacher to practice with. |
| Chigusa: And that’s also kind of a tipping point, isn’t it? Where you decide you need an actual person… and then you start learning from them. |
| Peter: I think we’re trying to fit that into the narrative, I’m not sure if that’s an actual tipping but.. But I think inside myself, looking forward to that lesson and wanting to do that, that’s a good tipping point because sometimes those lessons can be tough to go to. And some beginners may not be ready for this… and that’s OK… but eventually, you start feeling like you need real practice… and again, feeling like you need real practice, then taking a step… that’s a tipping point. Planning your class, and looking forward to it, that’s another tipping point. So, again, small victories but take time to appreciate them and appreciate how far you’ve come in your journey because each one is a milestone. In addition, I’ve also started watching HindiPod101 video lessons… I do the conversation practice. So more and more time that I’m trying to find towards learning more Hindi. |
| Chigusa: Right and overall, you’re spending more time on Hindi, right? |
| Peter: Right. Exactly. And this is ON TOP of the other languages that I’m maintaining. So, hopefully, that’s a good sign that I’m on the right track for next month. |
| Chigusa: Good! And speaking of next month… What is your next goal, Peter? |
| Peter: And This is a great…one of our… I think the most valuable lesson. So, last month I wanted to get 3 minutes in conversation. I didn’t. So rather than doubling down and saying, “I'm going to go higher,” I’m going to try and reach that goal again. You know when you can't reach a goal, don’t add more to it. Kind of stick with the same goal and see if you can achieve that one. |
| Chigusa: Deadline? |
| Peter: Deadline, April 30th, 2022. |
| Chigusa: Sounds good. And listeners, let us know what your small, measurable, monthly goal is… email us at inner dot circle at innovative language dot com and stay tuned for the next Inner Circle. |
Outro
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| Chigusa: Well, that’s going to do it for this special Inner Circle lesson for this month! |
| Peter: Bye everyone! |
| Chigusa: Thank you for listening, and we’ll see you next time. |
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