For people who love languages, or would but were discouraged.
- Believe in yourself and have the right attitude
- Put in an hour a day
- Use a system that works... like LingQ
Free22Sep
22 Sep 2021
Don’t Speak in Your Target Language
I think very often in the standard classroom there's a tremendous emphasis placed on producing the language, speaking the language, which is fine because that's what people want to do. But what I think is more important is what will I be able to do with the language in a year from now? And from that perspective, I'm not tremendously motivated to speak.
Read more Don’t Speak in Your Target Language15Sep
15 Sep 2021
English Grammar 101
In order to speak English well you need to learn how words are used and how they come together to form phrases and sentences. Only a lot of listening and reading can help you learn this. You need to train yourself to notice how the words are used when you listen and read.
Read more English Grammar 10108Sep
8 Sep 2021
Morning Routine for Language Learning
If you can get stuff done in the morning, first thing that kind of sets you up for the day so that even if it's not a very active day, from a language learning point of view, at least you've taken that first step. So typically what I do in the morning is I might, first of all, review a couple of lessons on my iPad from the day before in whichever language I'm learning. Nowadays it's either [...]
Read more Morning Routine for Language Learning01Sep
1 Sep 2021
Tips for Learning Russian
I wanted give some important tips for learning Russian. First I'll explain about the writing system, then some interesting things to remember about Russian verbs of motion, aspects of verbs and cases.
Read more Tips for Learning Russian25Aug
25 Aug 2021
The Importance of Repetition in Language Learning
First of all, obviously when you start in a language, whatever you're listening to is not comprehensible. So you can't begin with comprehensible input. You'll begin with input, which is not comprehensible, but which gradually becomes more and more comprehensible. However, if you have access to the text, so you can look up words, then you have a chance. And if you can use LingQ for example, [...]
Read more The Importance of Repetition in Language Learning19Aug
19 Aug 2021
All You Need to Truly Ace the TOEIC Test
TOEIC, the Test of English for International Communication, is probably the most widely taken test of English language proficiency in the world. TOEIC is taken by around seven million people every year, according to this article in the Wall Street Journal. It is my observation that most people who take TOEIC, especially in […]
Read more All You Need to Truly Ace the TOEIC Test11Aug
11 Aug 2021
Why Many People Fail at Language Learning
Right now I've been at my Arabic for three years and my Persian for two, I can't say that I speak either language particularly well. I really struggle. My Farsi is now better. I've had the opportunity to use it a bit here and there around Vancouver, North Vancouver, especially West Vancouver. I'm now exploring Egypt in Arabic with Mohammed, my tutor, and I do struggle in our conversations, [...]
Read more Why Many People Fail at Language Learning02Aug
2 Aug 2021
5 Tips to Help You Learn Japanese
If you are going to learn Japanese, you need to decide why you are learning the language. I learned Japanese because my work took me there in 1971. I lived there for nine years, mostly during the 1970s. I learned in Japan, surrounded by the language, on my own, largely by listening and reading and using […]
Read more 5 Tips to Help You Learn Japanese28Jul
28 Jul 2021
How To Improve Your Listening Skills
Reading helps you acquire more words, but listening gets your brain used to the language. And of course listening comprehension is a tremendously important skill because if you're speaking to someone, and we all want to speak in the language, if you can't understand what the other person is saying, then it's very uncomfortable and you can't have a very meaningful conversation.
Read more How To Improve Your Listening Skills21Jul
21 Jul 2021
Comprehensible Input and Compelling Input (CI)
What is CI? What is meant by comprehensible input in language learning? Stephen Krashen uses this term, as well as the term compelling input, to refer to the kind of language exposure we need in order to learn a language. The term CI, in language learning, can apply to both. What do they mean? […]
Read more Comprehensible Input and Compelling Input (CI)