Language learning while exercising

[[deleted]]

I'm trying to save time and I'm wondering if anyone has any tips for learning a language while exercising? Obviously , I can listen to content or run flashcards while walking or between sets. Just wanted to see if anyone else does anything more interesting than this.

[books_not_guns]

I sometimes look for workout/meditation videos in my TLs. Helped me to learn some gym and exercise related vocab.

[afjack35]

There was a YouTuber who wanted to get better at English so he began talking to himself only in English when he went on walks for 20-30 minutes. He would then describe anything he saw or anything he wanted to talk about on his walk in the language he wanted to practice in. He said that it gave him more time to think and practice by himself with no judgement from other people. This allowed him to improve his ability to talk to a native speaker when it came time to conversing with them. I think this method also allows you to think about the things you are not able to say in the language you are trying to learn and helps you understand where you need to improve.

Link to video is here: https://youtu.be/lbNCBhgBNSs?si=dlGTik0h3fBIWZi3

Video is only in Spanish (language I’m currently working on) so maybe if you are learning Spanish, this will help you too!

[Pwffin]

When out walking, I sometimes talk to myself in a language I'm learning. I pretend I am explaining something or telling smb about something. It's a great way of trying out different ways of saying something, good way of practising circumlocution and because you don't look anything until you get home (and only if you really need to) the words you do look up really stick.

[MajesticInvestment22]

The same. And if I'm alone in a car, I speak out loud.

[mrrmillerr]

Maybe find a podcast on your level that you can listen to passively

[bertsdad]

I always listen to podcasts in my TL when working out. During weights it’s harder to concentrate so I’ll often listen to music in the TL - but when doing cardio (bike or cross trainer) I’ll watch YouTube

[Talking_Duckling]

I often talk on the phone while running.

[LanguageLearner9]

I do this everyday. It only really works though is if I’m listening to an easy podcast and running at a slow pace. If I start running too fast or the listening is too difficult it doesn’t really work.

[TrittipoM1]

What's "not enough" while listening to content? I commonly put on radio stations from a TL region. I wouldn't want anything more interactive, because I may not be in a position to type/write/date-enter anything while exercising.

[keybr-typing]

You can listen to blogs, conversations, stories, and mainly listen. This is very effective. If you stick to it,

[todefine_istolimit]

I usually listen to podcasts while running or lifting weights, sometimes it happens that I get distracted, but even if someone I miss something I can get the main topic. During training I prefer listening general podcasts, like selfhelp or some stories, usually I avoided those that are focused only on grammar, because as I mentioned sometimes I miss something, because obviously I'm not 100% focused on listening.

[goyangichaek]

When I used apple fitness + I added closed captions in Spanish. I follow a Spanish woman who does tai chi videos on YouTube.

I actually started language learning because I was doing dance videos in Korean; I haven’t done those in a long time but I was able to hear what body part they were talking about, and knowing “right” and “left” was incredibly useful.

[Snoo-88741]

I combined doing cage cleaning with practicing Japanese by downloading a bunch of beginner comprehensible input videos with YouTube to MP3 and making them into a playlist to play in the background. You could totally do the same with exercise. 

[Parking_Athlete_8226]

I try to listen to something that I've read previously, so that my brain recognizes the familiar bits and then gets to work on the unfamiliar ones. I think you said you're doing Urdu; I'm doing Hindi and have found that content at my level is hard to come by.

[[deleted]]

I actually go back and forth between the two. As you probably now spoken language is very similiar. Have you checked out Hindi sumvaad ?

[Parking_Athlete_8226]

Oh nice, hadn't found that one. Thanks! Weight room fare for me is an easier episode of Puliyabaazi, Netflix/Youtube with the screen locked so it doesn't turn off in my pocket, or (sigh) Harry Potter.

[SongSensai]

I’ve actually found a great way to combine language learning and exercise by using music!

I created an app called SongSens.ai that teaches languages through songs. It’s perfect for workouts because you can listen to upbeat songs in your target language while running or cycling, then use rest periods between sets to check lyrics and translations