There are some language learning resources that stand out above others. Glossika is one of them. But for a long time, I’d heard of it, but I’d never used it. Thankfully, that’s now changed. In this post, I’ll be sharing 12 different ways to add Glossika to your language learning routine.

What is Glossika?

**PLEASE NOTE: Shortly after writing this blog article, Glossika changed their model and some features mentioned below may not be relevant now. I will update this in the future as soon as I’ve had a chance to take a proper look at new Glossika. Thank you!

At first Glossika doesn’t seem much different to other audio-based language learning resources out there. However, once you get in and look a little deeper, it soon becomes clear that it’s much more versatile than that.

The first big difference is that you get two sets of audio: Glossika Mass Sentences and Glossika Spaced Repetition. This is clearly a company that recognises and respects that learners and learning styles differ and adjusts their product to fit.

As well as the audio, you get either a digital ebook or a physical book of the sentences heard on the audio.

That’s right sentences. Whereas other audio courses may focus on either vocabulary, which can get repetitive and dull, or dialogues, which can be way too overwhelming on day one, Glossika gives you sentences. Just enough new stuff to handle (especially, since you’re in charge of how much you choose to learn each day) and just enough context to help you remember the new vocabulary and understand how it works in real language.

Glossika suggests two main methods, Mass Sentences and Spaced Repetition, which we’ll discuss in detail further down this post. One thing I would recommend for all the methods below, is to make Glossika into a daily habit and keep track of your progress using the free habit tracker above.

When you get Glossika, as well as the audio, you also get the Schedule Guide, which is an awesome and really thorough part of the whole package. But for now, let’s get started with other ways you can use this resource.

Method 1: Listen to audio passively

Of course, you may want to start things really simply and put the audio onto your phone, tablet, CD, whatever and listen passively wherever you are. This is a great way to begin to use the product especially the first time you’re using it as it will get you used to the structure of the content provided and give you a little comfort when you’re ready to go deep with it.

Maybe you’re walking the dog, maybe you’re cooking, maybe you’re washing up. We all have time when we could incorporate passive listening into our day.

Method 2: Listen and read

One thing I found personally with Glossika is that I enjoyed it much more when I was able to read as well as listen. As a visual learner, having the sentences written in the ebook really helped me to consolidate what I was hearing.

This method would also work really well as a gentle progression from listening passively, as will the rest of the methods as from here they’re all getting more and more active. Yay!

Method 3: Listen then write

Going beyond simply listening and reading, you can then attempt to write the Glossika sentences you hear.

There are multiple ways you could play with this. Perhaps you prefer to listen and read and then pause the audio and write. Or perhaps you prefer the challenge of only listening and then pausing and writing without reading beforehand.

When we’re talking about such a versatile resource, the joy is finding what works best for you at the level you’re at.

Another thing to play with here is how you write the sentences. Will you simply jot them down as you go for the practice or will you make the writing its own exercise and keep things neat in a nice notebook? Your call.

Method 4: Listen then speak (shadowing)

Once you’ve worked on some input of the language with Glossika either by listening or reading, you’ll probably want to move on to speaking the sentences you hear.

Have you heard of shadowing? This is a great technique for language learning that involves speaking just after you hear what’s being say (rather than waiting for a sentence to be finished fully first). This video here shows how it’s done.

As with all the methods, flexibility is key here: maybe for you it’s about actively listening and shadowing out loud, maybe it’s about also including reading in there. You’re probably getting the idea by now, but it’s your call.

Method 5: Speak then listen

Next up, it’s time to reverse things. Start by reading each sentence, then speaking it out loud and listening to check you got pronunciation right.

Alternatively here, listen to the English first, then pause and say the sentence in your target language and listen to check.

Method 6: Use sentence structures as a model to write others with different vocabulary

As you learn other vocabulary with other tools and resources, use the sentence structures in Glossika to build your own sets of sentences using the grammar given.

For example, one of the first Glossika sentences in the Indonesian course is “Saya tidak kaya” meaning “I’m not rich”.

Once you’ve confirmed the word order using Google Translate or a dictionary and you learn that “Saya tidak…” means “I’m not…”, you can then use other adjectives to create near endless examples using the same sentence structure. Simple, huh?

When this stage is complete, go even further and re-write the sentences or speak them out loud and record yourself doing it.

Method 7: Glossika Spaced Repetition

If you are learning more casually, the GSR method is probably best. This is one of the two methods Glossika outline in their product info and the set of audio you get in the course labelled ‘GSR’ is designed for this purpose.

So how does it work?

It’s pretty simple. It takes about just 20 minutes per day for roughly 3 months per book.

All you have to do is listen to the ‘GSR’ tracks, which are also labelled by day number and try to repeat and remember what you hear. No worries if you can’t remember something though as you’ll hear it many times of the next few days to follow.

Told you it was simple.

Method 8: Glossika Mass Sentences

If you’re learning actively, this is the best set of audio tracks to use. Glossika recommend the steps to use here.

You’ll notice and A, B and C version of each track, each a little shorter than the last. A tracks are for the initial stages recommended by Glossika – preparing and listening. C tracks are for taking the time to write sentences and also use as a guide when you want to record yourself. Finally, B tracks for for recalling sentences in your target language after you here them in English.

Method 9: Build a memory palace

As you listen to the sentences, you may be worried about how you’ll remember everything. One way to help you do this is to incorporate memory palaces into the mix. Anthony Metivier is the man in the know when it comes to this topic so you should totally head over there if you’re after more info on the topic.

However, here’s a basic outline of how this works.

Think of a place you’re been in your life. Let’s say your living room. This will become the memory palace we’ll use in this example. Picture yourself walking around the room and see all the notable things there and places in it.

Now go back to the entrance and walk in and around. Place that first sentence somewhere. For example, the first sentence in Glossika Indonesian is “Cuaca baik hari ini” (the weather’s nice today). Well, in our living room memory palace, there’s a beautiful photo on the wall to the left as we enter of a scene with a cloud-free blue sky. The weather’s nice today.

Now think of a way we can relate this to the Indonesian we need to remember, “cuaca baik hari ini”.

Despite the ‘c’ at the start of ‘cuaca’, it sounds almost like ‘Georgia’.

‘Baik’ sounds like ‘bike’.

‘Hari’ sounds like ‘hairy’.

And ‘ini’ sounds like ‘innit?’.

Well now when I imagine the photo on the wall of the cloud-free sky, there’s also Georgia riding her hairy bike on the path with a group of onlookers questioning how hairy it is saying, “Georgia’s bike’s hairy, innit?”.

Repeat this for each sentence as you imagine yourself walking around the living room that has now become a memory palace for you. Like I said, I can’t recommend checking out Anthony Metivier’s work on this stuff. He explains it much better than I do so be sure to get your free Memory Improvement Kit over here.

Method 10: Create a Memrise course with the vocab list in the book

As well as the sentences heard on the audio files, the book actually also contains a vocab list of all the words you’ll hear in the Glossika course materials. The list is well organised and the vocab is relevant for people who want to learn the language to actually use it rather than pass an exam. Make use of the well-ordered list and create a Memrise course (or Anki or Quizlet or flashcards, whichever you prefer).

Doing this will not only help to reinforce the vocab for you as you create the course, but also give you a valuable resource that you can keep using as you progress in your studies. Yay!

Method 11: Make your own recording

As you listen to each sentence, pause the track and record yourself saying it and then listen to the track to check. It could simply be an audio recording on your phone or computer or it could be video too. Video is great as you can also see your face, which not only helps with mouth position etc for pronunciation but is a great indicator of how comfortable you are speaking the language.

Keep these recordings as a way of documenting your study, which is one of the 4 key factors to successful language learning. You can save them privately for your eyes only or you can share on social media, either as part of the Instagram Language Challenge or just as a way to track your own progress.

Method 12: Triangulation

Something so unique about Glossika as a product is their triangulation packages.

If you need (or want) to learn multiple languages at once, tell Glossika which ones (your source language + up to 4 languages), and they custom build your course. It’s pretty much the best way to make a polyglot smile.

I’m so excited by this I can’t even tell you. As you may know, I’ve spent the majority of my time learning languages learning multiple languages at once, initially via need from school but later via personal choice. If that sounds like you too, then the triangulation packages are worth checking out as they actually work out a lot cheaper than if you were to buy each language individually. Not to mention the time you’ll save learning multiple languages at once. Woop!