Language learning depends mostly on three factors, the attitude of the learner, the time available, and learner’s attentiveness to the language. If we assume a positive attitude on the part of the learner, and a reasonable and growing attentivenes…
You are unlikely to learn to speak a new language perfectly, but perfection should not be your goal. Your main goal should be effective communication. I am not perfect in any of the languages that I speak, but I can communicate. And whenever I communicate in another language I’m satisfied. I also know from experience that my ability to speak and to pronounce well will only improve with time, as long as I remain alert to what I hear and read, and how I use the language.
When it comes to language learning, everyone wants to know how to speak better. Whether you’re just getting started or several months into your journey, speaking ability is always top of mind….
My hierarchy of goals is what I consider to be more important at what stage in my learning. There are seven of them and I’m going talk about the seven today, and then I’ve been giving some thought to doing one video on each of these seven goals. In other words, how do we achieve those goals? How do we use those goals to improve our ability in the language that we’re learning?
One of the most common questions I hear is: “How do I learn to think in another language?” It’s a great question—and it touches on something deeper: our desire to achieve perfection…
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.
It’s a common assumption that learning similar languages makes for an easier path to fluency. For example, a Spanish speaker learning Portuguese should have less trouble than an English speaker pursuing Japanese….
Are you interested in how to learn Chinese effectively? I studied Mandarin Chinese 50 years ago. Within nine months, I could translate newspaper editorials, read novels, and interpret for others. I accomplished…
The Pareto principle, also known as the 80/20 rule, is often cited in productivity and business circles—but it has powerful implications for how we learn languages, too. In this post, I want…
I recently watched a video which features polyglots Luca Lampariello and Anthony Lauder. In it they make the point that you don’t need to have a large vocabulary in order to be fluent. Anthony has said in the past that even with a few hundred words you can be fluent, or you can be fluent at a relatively low level of proficiency in a language. I don’t agree at all.
