What makes long distance hard on language
In a shared city you pick up your partner's language on the side: at dinner, with their friends, in the supermarket. At a distance there is no on the side. You talk in a third language and both of you are translating yourselves.
That costs closeness. You say watered-down things in sentences that do not sound like your own voice. And when the call ends, the sentence you could not find stays with you.
The conversations you need
These are not small sentences. They are the big ones, in a language you do not have yet.
- Telling them your day: work, family, what happened today.
- Arguing and making up: what bothers you, what you need, I'm sorry.
- Making plans: when, how long, who flies where, what comes next.
- Their family: greeting, asking after them, thanking, showing interest.
- Meeting their friends: introducing yourself, small talk, holding your ground.
- Saying goodbye: at the airport, after the visit, the first night afterwards.
The visit is the real test
At home on the phone, English carries you both. At dinner with their family it does not. There you sit, politely quiet, while everyone laughs in their own language.
A visit where you manage five sentences in their language is a different visit. Not because your grammar holds, but because someone noticed you came to be with them.
How you practise across the distance
In the evening, write down the sentences you could not find during the call. SprechoMio puts them into their language and says them to you. Notes in brackets such as “(woman)” or “(man)” fit the form to you.
Listen on the way to work, in Drive Mode, offline with the screen locked. Your deck grows with the relationship: whatever you two discuss becomes what you are learning.
What is realistic
At around 30 minutes a day, your first 50 sentences sit after one month. After about three months you hold short everyday conversations, after about six months you reach A1. Guide values, faster or slower depending on the language and your practice.
For the next visit you need less. The sentences for their family and for that evening are around thirty, and in a few weeks they are good enough to say out loud.
Sentences you will learn for this
You write them in your own language, SprechoMio translates them and speaks them for you.
- “Tell me about your day.”How every call starts
- “I didn't catch what you just said.”Asking without breaking the moment
- “I'm learning your language so I can understand your family.”The promise that lands
- “I'd like to meet your parents.”Taking a step forward
- “That was wrong of me, I'm sorry.”Ending the row in their language
- “I'm staying two weeks this time.”Making plans in their language
- “Thank you for making us feel so at home.”Saying goodbye on the last night
How you learn with SprechoMio
Your own sentences, translated naturally and spoken aloud. Recall instead of rereading, spaced repetition, speaking along: methods proven by learning research. 30 minutes a day, even in the car with your screen locked.
More about the method →Frequently asked questions
We manage fine in English. Do I still need this?
For the two of you, maybe not. For their family and your place in it, the language is the difference between being a guest and being one of them.
Their family speaks good English anyway.
Then your two sentences in their language stand out all the more. It was never about being understood, it is the gesture.
I am learning for someone where nothing is settled.
That is yours to decide. Whatever you learn stays with you: the language, not the relationship.
Which languages can I choose?
Croatian, Serbian, Spanish, Italian, French, Romanian, Polish, Slovak, Czech, English, Dutch and Greek.
You might also like
Cancel any month