Polly Want Fluency! Learn Like a Parrot with Language Shadowing

Polly Want Fluency! Learn Like a Parrot with Language Shadowing Polly Want Fluency! Learn Like a Parrot with Language Shadowing Ever had a parrot?Even if you havent, you know what theyre famous for: repeating what you say, for better or worse.Depending on the conversations you have at home (or just to yourself) this could be enlightening, hilarious or embarrassingâ€"but no matter what, a parrots natural ability to mimic human language is downright impressive.But why are we talking about parrots?Because its time to parrot the parrots.With a technique called language shadowing, youll be acting like a parrot doesâ€"repeating what you hear in a foreign language, even if you dont fully understand it right away.Of course, as Im sure youll be glad to hear, the difference is that over time youll actually start to learn your target language through this repetition and imitation.Well show you how this unconventional learning method works and how you can start shadowing successfully in five steps. Polly Want Fluency! Learn Like a Parrot with Language ShadowingWhat Is Language Shadowing?Linguist Alexander Arguelles is considered the inventor of language shadowing. Hes created a series of videos focused on teaching and demonstrating the technique.Arguelles defines shadowing as a language learning technique where the student listens to a recording of target language audio, and simultaneously echoes what they hear. Shadowing is designed to force you to focus on the sounds of your target language and develop pronunciation that mimics a native speaker.Ideally, youll eventually also  start to absorb vocabulary, grammar rules and natural sentence structures.According to Arguelles, you wont get the best results from your desk. He recommends doing three things while shadowing to improve your focus and memory:Walking outside swiftlyMaintaining a good postureRepeating aloud in a loud, articulate mannerArguelles, himself a polyglot, has spent most of his academic career working with Korean, and has written several publications on the language and language in general.While Arguelles mayve developed the shadow ing technique into a concrete learning method, there are people whove been using shadowing prior to it having this name.Who Should Consider Language Shadowing?This technique works best for a few types of people:Auditory learnersStudents who learn best with structured study plansPolyglots (if youve already learned a foreign language, speaking with unfamiliar sounds isnt as scary)Even if you dont fall into one of those groups, this out-of-the-box learning method can help energize your same old, same old study plan. Plus, the focused pronunciation practice is inherently valuable, especially if you dont have lots of other opportunities for target language speaking practice.Youll also develop your target language intonation,  the natural melody or pattern of your speech. Depending on the emphasis you consciously or subconsciously place on certain syllables or words while speaking, a sentence can have a slightly different meaning. Intonation develops over time and is affected by how we he ar others speak.So with language shadowing, our intonation develops as we listen and repeat, the same way it does with our native language. Both accents and intonation are crucial to achieving language fluency, so you sound much more natural when you speak, instead of like youre reading from a textbook.Of course,  there are many different ways to approach learning a new language, and shadowing doesnt work for everyone. Like any other method, your individual success with shadowing is dependent on how much time, effort and dedication you put into it.How to Shadow SuccessfullyThe guide below is based on the structure laid out in  Arguelles video Shadowing Step by Step.1. Choose Your Audio ResourceWhat kind of audio should you be listening to?Audiobooks read by a native speaker in your target language are one great optionâ€"LibriVox is a great place to find audiobooks in many different languages. For shorter, more digestible listening, try podcasts in your target language.Youll also wan t to make sure your audio resource has a text component with an English translation  (for example, an e-book version of your audiobook in both languages). Youll see why in the steps below.Dont feel like going on a hunt for those types of resources? You can find perfect shadowing material on FluentU. FluentU provides authentic foreign language videos, like movie trailers, music videos, inspiring talks and more, that have been supercharged with language learning tools.FluentU really takes the grunt work out of learning languages, leaving you with nothing but engaging, effective and efficient learning. It’s already hand-picked the best videos for you and organized them by level and topic. All you have to do is choose any video that strikes your fancy to get started!Each video comes with interactive, bilingual captions in your target language and in English. You can click any word for an instant definition or toggle off the English versionâ€"both of these features will be very helpful for shadowing step number four, below. Youll also get visual learning aids and native pronunciations for every word you click on.The videos come with full transcripts you can refer to as youre shadowing or afterwards. There are even flashcards and exercises to help you remember new words when youre done listening. Dont want to be distracted by the video? You can listen to audio-only clips.The program even keeps track of what you’re learning and tells you exactly when it’s time for review, giving you a 100% personalized experience.FluentU has programs for languages including Mandarin Chinese, Spanish, Russian, French and several more. You can start shadowing with authentic videos for free with a FluentU trial.2. Listen and Repeat While Walking AroundAn unconventional but critical part of language shadowing is walking around while listening to and repeating your audio resource.As a non-native speaker, early on its tricky to speak in a foreign language while doing something else, even the simple task of walking. This exercise is designed to get you out of your comfort zone and focusing actively on what youre hearing. It also gives a regimented feel to your shadowing practice, making it harder for you to space out or get lazy with your pronunciation.Walking or pacing while shadowing will seem uncomfortable at first, especially since many of us are inclined to sit down while studying. But as you keep going itll become easier and more natural.Do this step several times until you feel comfortable repeating all of the sounds.3. Listen and Repeat While Reading the English TranslationNow you can start learning what youve actually been saying this whole time!Go back to the start of your audio passage and shadow while reading the English translation of your book or transcript. As Arguelles puts it, this will give you a global understanding of what youre listening to and saying. Youll start to associate meaning with the target language sounds in a natural way.Again, r epeat this stage several times. While you might want to stop pacing around for your own safety, Arguelles still recommends holding your text out in front of you rather than at your lap and keeping an upright posture.4. Listen and Repeat While Reading the Target Language TranscriptAt this stage, youll be reading the target language words as you speak them. If the audio is slow enough, you can actively move your eyes between the target language text and translation to compare the individual words and their meanings (Arguelles recommends you start this stage in this way).Eventually, you should be shadowing your target language and reading your target language only, but understanding what it is youre hearing and saying.The essential idea here is that over time, as you shadow with more and more material, youll learn how to speak and understand words and phrases in your target language in a big picture, natural way. You wont be translating one-to-one between English and your target langua ge, which means you can achieve fluency faster.5. Repeat DailyLanguage shadowing requires daily effort and dedication from the learner. It might feel laborious at first, but proponents of language shadowing say that with this method, learning a language is a much quicker process overall.Why? Along with the benefits noted above, Arguelles and his students say its because of the discipline required, as well as the immersive nature of this method.For me, language shadowing is another learning method to add to my bag of techniques. Shadowing is something I incorporate into learning a new language, but I also use other methods, like journaling for writing practice or language apps to learn grammar and vocabulary. I think one of the best things you can do when learning a new language is to try a variety of methods before homing in on the ones that work best for your unique learning style and lifestyle. As someone whos tried to learn languages using more conventional methods before, I woul d recommend that anyone interested in language shadowing give it a try.After all, if its good enough for parrots, its good enough for me!