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I know that many of you guys have spent hours studying new words only to forget everything a week later. That learning grammar is sometimes very confusing and that it's often really hard to enjoy the process of language learning. But I really hope this video will change the way you see fluency forever because I've been there too. I read the first edition of this book, Fluent Forever, in 2023, and it completely changed my approach to language learning. And now the revised 2024 edition of Fluent Forever just made it even better. So today I really want to share my biggest
takeaways from this book with you and how I'm using all of the methods and principles to learn faster, remember more, and actually enjoy the process. Hey friends, welcome to my channel. I'm Veronica and here I make videos to help you learn languages in a more sustainable way. If you want to go deeper, I have a few things linked for you below. My notion template for language learners. It's designed to help you organize your study routine, track progress, and stay consistent. My language mastery program about the science behind language learning and an affiliate link to Flint
Forever on Amazon. It's the book that helped me build a real system for learning languages. And if you grab it through my link, it also supports the channel at no extra cost to you. All right, let's get into the book and first talk about why I think this book even matters. When I moved to Mexico in 2022, I did not speak any Spanish. Even though I already had a lot of experience learning a lot of different languages in the past and no one had ever taught me how to learn a language, you know, how to work with your memory because for me, a big aspect of language learning is working
with your memory, understanding how this process of forgetting works and how to help your memory retain information for longer. And so I remember in 2022 2023 when I just started learning Spanish completely from scratch as an adult. I felt really overwhelmed. I was trying a lot of different approaches to see which one would work for me. And yeah, I think at the very beginning my process was like very messy. I was guessing a lot of things. I was trying to piece together a better method from like a 100 different places, 100 different resources. And then one day I remember I was on
Amazon and I was like I wonder what will happen if I just type in how to become fluent or like how to learn a language. And that is how I found this first edition of fluent forever. Honestly reading this book has felt like somebody has finally sat me down and told me yes your method works. You're on the right track and here is why. I'm going to tell you why this works and what to do next. So, even though I actually read the 2014 edition, yeah, this book came out a very long time ago, I still decided to purchase this 2024 edition. It's updated, and I honestly think it's so
worth revisiting. It teaches you how to work with your memory, not against it. And for me, that is always my biggest goal when it comes to learning a foreign language. After reading Fluent Forever, I started paying attention to how I was learning, not just what I was learning, because there are tools that can really accelerate our progress. And that is why I've been loving FluentU, and I'm so excited that they're sponsoring a portion of today's video. FluentU is one of the platforms that is really aligned with how I like to learn languages. First of all, it is amazing
for ear training. You're constantly hearing real language the way it's actually spoken through native content like YouTube clips, interviews, and movie scenes. Second, FluentU uses images, not just translations, wherever possible. When you click on a word, you get visuals, example sentences, tips, and most importantly, links to other real videos that use that word. Third, it has a built-in space repetition system. You're not just watching, you're reviewing in a smart and effective way. And the reviews go from single words to phrases and full sentences,
so you're always leveling up. And finally, FluentU has closebased quizzes and comprehensible input in their content. So instead of flashcards that feel like a chore, you're learning through meaningful real life content with interactive exercises that actually help you use the language. If that sounds like something you'd like to try, I've linked a free trial and a 40% discount in the description below so you can explore Fluent You for yourself. All right, so let's actually talk about the five biggest lessons that I have personally learned from this book. The first lesson is if you learn
the sounds of a language first, that will mean better retention. Because yes, languages are made of sounds. We all know that. But still a lot of us pay so much attention to spelling, you know, the correct spelling instead of actually training our ears. And the reason why ear training is so important is because it helps you avoid accent fossilization. I'm going to explain what this word means. Accent fossilization is when you get used to saying a word the wrong way and then your brain locks it in like that. And then even if you learn later that this pronunciation is completely wrong,
it becomes so freaking hard to fix that because your brain has made it a habit. Think of it like muscle memory but for your brain. And obviously your mouth and tongue are also going to remember the pronunciation that you actually learn. I'm a native Russian speaker, so for me it is really hard to make the soft D and T sounds in Spanish. They're actually called dental in Spanish, like your tongue touches the back of your teeth. But in Russian, these are aler sounds. I think this is how you say it, which are basically a little bit further back in my mouth. I'm reprogramming
everything. You know, the way my mouth works, the way my tongue works, and the way my brain thinks about certain letters. And so obviously in Spanish you have to pronounce them as t like you don't say [__] And so basically what I'm trying to get to here is when I am really focusing on the pronunciation the sounds it really helps me understand the language better. When I start to incorporate more and more and more comprehensible input, immersion, it just becomes easier for me to understand all of these words and actually notice them, you know, when native speakers talk with
each other. Okay, the next lesson from this book is that using images over translation is so much more valuable because when I'm connecting a word to an image, a feeling or a real life example, it actually becomes faster for me to memorize this word because this word becomes more memorable. Our memory really likes images and emotions. And because I'm all for hacking my memory and helping my memory remember words faster, I really like using images. And now with the help of AI, a lot of different AI tools, we can actually use pneumonics in a more precise way because I can
ask AI to generate a very crazy image for me. I'm going to give you guys an example with a word I've been trying to memorize recently and this word is elenanche which means a down payment for a house. If I just think about this word in terms of word in Spanish translation this link is so weak for me like it's not linking. I cannot memorize what this word actually means. And I as to create me a crazy pneummonic to actually memorize this word. And this is what Chachi gave me. Enanche getting caught in gancho on a big hook because you want the house so badly. Imagine a person dangling by
their wallet on a giant hook like a crane in front of a beautiful dream house. They're screaming, "Take all of my money. Just let me live here." But the hook is labeled down payment trap. Enanchar means to hook or get hooked. So elenanche is the hook financially that gets you attached to the house. When I read all of that, when I see this image, I'm like, "Oh, I think I will remember this word forever now." Because of the very beautiful explanation, like a very crazy AI generated image that actually helps me memorize this word. And I have talked to a lot of people who actually like
generate the craziest images in the world. And for me, those images mean absolutely nothing. But if they work for them, that is amazing. Like the most important thing is the pneumonics you're creating, they have to work for you. They have to help you create a concept in your brain and memorize this word more effectively. Okay. The next principle is also going to be connected to your memory. Space repetition plus the forgetting curve. I really like how Gabrielle in this book, he says that learning is the process of almost forgetting. And oh my god, I really agree with
this statement because when you're learning, a lot of people think that, okay, once I see this word, once I memorize it, that is exactly what's going to happen. I'm going to memorize this word once and for all. Sometimes it does happen this way. But most of the time it happens this way. Like first you see a word and then it goes down until you just don't remember this word at all and your retention is at a zero. We forget things fast and that is exactly what the Ebinghouse forgetting curve shows. So this forgetting curve was discovered by German
scientist named Herman Ebanaus in the 1800s. He tested how quickly people forget information after learning it once. It's kind of like water that's just leaking super fast. But to be able to stop this water from leaking, what we have to do is we have to review the information. Because every time you review the information, the leak gets slower and the curve gets flatter. And if you space out your reviews at the right time, you stop forgetting altogether. Space repetition is basically learning method that shows you things right before you're about to
forget them. So it works exactly like this phrase learning is the process of almost forgetting. So you almost forgot this word and then you see it again and then naturally you acquire this word. SRS tools like Ani are built on this principle. They calculate when you're likely to forget and show you the card at exactly the right moment. And honestly, I know a lot of people who don't use Anki, but who still learn the language. And the reason why it happens is because they just surround themselves with a lot of comprehensible input all the time. That's fine. Like, as long as you have enough comprehensible input, you're going to see the
words that you need to see over and over again in all of the content you're consuming. But I think if you want to hack your memory, if you want to learn faster, if maybe you're preparing for an exam and you have to memorize a lot of different words and grammatical structures and phrases, I think in those cases, SRS tools become incredibly important. And so, one new thing from this book that I did that I had never done before was I actually downloaded the 625 frequency word list and I used Ani. I generated images to memorize all of these words because at the very beginning
in 2022 when I did not speak any Spanish, that list actually helped me so much. I usually say that I'm not a very big fan of frequency lists just because I think if I rely on them too much, I actually don't practice comprehensible input enough. I just surround myself with lists and lists of random vocabulary out of context and that doesn't help me a lot. However, the 625 word list that Gabrielle shares in his book, it helped me a lot when I was a complete beginner. Like, I didn't know what to do. I didn't know where to start. I just started with ear training with his
list. And then when I actually memorized all of those words, I could start watching YouTube videos and reading very simple books and this whole process just felt a little bit easier. Okay, now let's talk about grammar, which is going to be my lesson number four from this book. Grammar through comprehensible input. I think for a very long time, I really struggled with finding a solution to how I should be learning grammar. Gabrielle shares in his book that adults actually don't need to study grammar. We need to understand meaning. And if we want to create
structure in our life, again, if you surround yourself with enough comprehensible input, you are going to start noticing some grammar patterns, grammar structures, and then you can go deeper and look up the explanation in one single grammar book. Use Chad GBT. I really like how Gabrielle says that your brain is a grammar machine. If you feed it well, it learns naturally. And that makes me feel really calm to be honest because I don't like sitting over a lot of grammar exercises and just like pouring over grammar all the time. I do prefer comprehensible input. And if I can learn
absolutely everything through comprehensible input, that is what I'm going to do. However, sometimes I do use my one and only grammar book if I want to see like an explanation. Honestly, usually I just ask Chad GBT. And when it comes to learning new vocabulary and also learning grammar, I have recently shifted to using close deletion cards on Anki, I think 99% of all of the cards I create are close deletions because I really like them. Like they really help me recall information better and notice it more often when I then go out there and immerse myself in all of my
comprehensible input. Okay. And finally, I really want to talk about devotion over discipline. I don't think Gabrielle Winer talked about this in his book. For me, when it comes to any kind of habit or anything I do in life, I come to this conclusion all the time that you just need this very strong desire, this very strong passion to show up. If I try to build all of my language learning on this principle of discipline, like I have to discipline myself, I just have to do it. I have to make myself do it. It just makes me feel like I'm suffering. I'm suffering through the
process of language learning. And that is not for me personally. Like if this works for you, that is great. But I'm just sharing my journey here. What works for me and what doesn't. And what works for me is devotion. Like finding different tools and resources. I can actually be consistent in something if I do something that I love. For example, right now I live in Mexico City. And how I personally integrate this principle of devotion over discipline into my Spanish learning is I follow a lot of YouTubers who live in Mexico City, who talk about their lives in Mexico City,
who share interesting places. Because when I watch their videos, I don't feel like I am making myself learn Spanish. I'm so interested in their content that the fact that it isn't Spanish, it's okay. Like it doesn't feel like I'm making myself do it. It just feels like it's effortless. And of course, I still pause. I practice shadowing. I try to, you know, save all of the new words to an use chatbt because for me, language learning first and foremost is culture. It's connecting to real people. So guys, I think it's going to be it for today's video. If you liked it,
please don't forget to give it a thumbs up and subscribe to my channel. If you want to go deeper into this fluent forever method, I actually made a video about the first edition of this book back in 2023. And there I shared some other lessons. And also guys, you can compare how much my English has improved, like how much my English has changed because since then I have been using a lot of the principles and I even had a chance to interview Gabrielle Winer himself. So, if you're curious, both of these videos are going to be linked here on the screen and also in the description below.
