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

21Apr
How I Learned Russian
I was about 60 when I started learning Russian and my approach to language learning had always been that you shouldn't focus on grammar. You need to get used to the language through lots of listening and reading. I had done that with Chinese, with Japanese.
Read more How I Learned Russian
14Apr
Spanisch lernen – wie lange braucht man?
Wie lange braucht man, um Spanisch zu lernen? Wie lange dauert es generell, irgendeine Sprache zu lernen? Ich höre diese Frage ziemlich oft und es gibt keine universelle Antwort darauf. Es liegt ganz an dir. Das US-amerikanische Foreign Service Language Institut (FSI) hat einige Zahlen bezüglich der Stunden, die erforderlich sind, um verschiedene Sprachen […]
Read more Spanisch lernen – wie lange braucht man?
07Apr
What is the Hardest Language to Learn?
What is the hardest language to learn? I think that's a very difficult question because there are so many factors that enter into that.
Read more What is the Hardest Language to Learn?
31Mar
¿Cuánto tiempo se tarda en aprender un idioma?
El aprendizaje de un idioma depende fundamentalmente de tres factores: La actitud del estudiante, el tiempo disponible y la atención que ponga éste en el idioma. Si asumimos una actitud positiva, razonable y una atención creciente hacia el idioma por parte del estudiante. ¿Cuánto tiempo tomaría en aprender un idioma? El FSI, el estadounidense […]
Read more ¿Cuánto tiempo se tarda en aprender un idioma?
24Mar
How to Build a Step By Step Language Study Plan
The biggest thing in a study plan is that you want to develop new habits. I've said many times that language learning is a matter of attitude and spending the time with the language. So we want to have habits that reinforce a positive attitude that give us a sense of success.
Read more How to Build a Step By Step Language Study Plan
18Mar
Ser Vs Estar in Spanish
Every language has some issues, often grammar issues, that cause learners difficulty. In the case of Spanish, one thing that gives people special trouble is the existence of two forms of the verb “to be”. Both ser and estar translate into English as “to be”. Ser vs estar, here’s how to get them straight. […]
Read more Ser Vs Estar in Spanish
09Mar
Is It Hard to Learn Japanese?
Japanese, simply in terms of the vocabulary, the structure being very different from say English, if you're an English speaker, is going to be more difficult. However, there are a number of things that make Japanese easier, in my opinion.
Read more Is It Hard to Learn Japanese?
02Mar
The Definition of a Polyglot
As people who speak multiple languages, polyglots like to use those languages; we like to see how we do. But there is an element of performance. Are you better than me? Am I better than you? For some people that’s fine. I think a lot of us are very happy, in fact, when we hear somebody speak better than we do.
Read more The Definition of a Polyglot
23Feb
The Best Way to Learn New Vocabulary
*** This post is a transcript of a video on my YouTube channel. Studying English? Here’s the transcript as a lesson to study on LingQ. Hi there, Steve Kaufmann here. Today I’m going to talk about vocabulary, words, the most important thing in language learning. Remember if you enjoy these videos, please […]
Read more The Best Way to Learn New Vocabulary
16Feb
Google Translate Doesn’t Work?
I hear all the time that Google Translate doesn’t work. It’s not accurate. It’s this and that. I think Google Translate is a tremendous resource and not only for language learners. It’s not 100% and it’s better for some languages than others, but I find it extremely useful.
Read more Google Translate Doesn’t Work?